AGB I bought for repair has intermittent power, all 4 capacitors were missing on arrival and I have replaced them, there is very little dirt or corrosion on the motherboard battery contacts but the casing contacts are corroded. When stationary the console can run for an hour continuously but when held it resets randomly, anywhere from .5 seconds to several minutes, I have cleaned the power switch and the problem has not been fixed.
#[Ded]Gameboy advance is a lost cause
granite sierra
severe harnessBOT
Please remember to provide as much information as possible including all troubleshooting steps you have already taken. If this is a hardware issue, please provide clear in-focus images of the issue, PCB (circuit board), installation, and any soldering you have done. Help us help you, posts with insufficient information will be deleted
hearty spear
Can you take a picture of the switch itself? Sounds like there isn't enough pressure on the switch contacts so it resets when jostled.
granite sierra
Inside or outside
hearty spear
Outside for now. I suspect the shield isn't all the way down
granite sierra
hearty spear
I would open the switch again, then gently bend the prongs on the slider downwards. You want the prong contacts to put pressure on the switch contacts.
When re-soldering the shield on, push down so there's additional pressure.
granite sierra
I did that when I cleaned it this morning, needed good pressure to solder the switch
Had good power that lasted about 40 minutes of use but it suddenly reset again
hearty spear
Cool. Good luck then
granite sierra
Gameboy advance constant resetting
The GBA is now constantly failing at game startup, sometimes on load sometimes on loading into a file. the issue seemed to have happened after i desoldered the power switch housing to clean the switch. it runs fine for about 4 minutes until the issue starts.
dark wedge
The GBA is now constantly failing at game startup, sometimes on load sometimes o...
Is it your batteries? If you cut out the plastic barrier on the back for a rechargeable battery and using AA then they may be out of place enough to momentarily lose power. Either that or your batteries may be bad…? Have you tried a new pair of batteries?
granite sierra
i have tried numerous batteries, it hates some rechargeable ones i have. its running off of a normal pair of duracells. i dont think that bad battery connection would cause a constant reboot at the same part of a game startup
dark wedge
i have tried numerous batteries, it hates some rechargeable ones i have. its run...
Well it’s obviously power, otherwise it would not reset like that so it has to lose power somewhere. Have you checked the metal prongs for the batteries and make sure there isn’t a leak and it’s connected correctly?
granite sierra
There is some corrosion on the battery contacts in the case but the ones on the board seem pristine
dark wedge
There is some corrosion on the battery contacts in the case but the ones on the ...
I would replace the battery contacts (or at least clean them well) and try it now.
If that doesn’t work then you can at least know it’s not the contacts
granite sierra
oh my god i think you are right. i swapped out the batteries and the issue stopped. even if it doesnt fix it i at least know the issue is battery related
dark wedge
oh my god i think you are right. i swapped out the batteries and the issue stopp...
Did you clean/replace the contacts
granite sierra
the gunk on those contacts is undying and i dont have a donor to replace right now
dark wedge
the gunk on those contacts is undying and i dont have a donor to replace right n...
Maybe try soaking it?
granite sierra
I replaced the contacts, it hasn't had many issues since but it still will not boot with a pair of IKEA rechargeable batteries i have despite my light, color, and DMG running fine on them. They could just be low on power
granite sierra
Gameboy advance no sound.
Fixed the power issue (thanks mango) but I replaced the speaker, i heard popping on power up from speaker but no sound. Tried resoldering the speaker but I am terrible at soldering so it just balls up on the tip of the wire or pools out the hole. Speaker still reads continuity on multimeter but none of the speaker holes read continuity to any of the board. Is this cooked?
grand epoch
Do you have sound from headphones? Did you clean the headphone port? Check port continuity using a schematic?
Looking back this troubleshooting thread, it seems like you've skipped a lot of basic checks and maintenance tasks that can be found on the wiki or from searching the server's troubleshooting threads.
granite sierra
I have sound from headphones, it is crackly but I can hear it, the switch in the headphone jack is making contact, and I combat get continuity on the speaker holes with any part of the board
granite sierra
Terrible thing
Gameboy advance is evil and must be banished
The duracells are sitting at 2.75 volts
With the duracells I saw GA for a split second before it faded and wouldn't boot
NVM screen issue
dire dew
Screen power causing the reboot?
granite sierra
Put in brand new AAs and it has booted, acting normal with start select, the immediate hang was a loose ribbon cable I think
It will not boot off of the old batteries now
dire dew
Yeah but what game, an ezflash or everdrive?
granite sierra
OEM minish cap, even no game the console hangs before displaying logo, god I hate slow mode
dire dew
Not a great sign
granite sierra
Yup
The batteries it boots on are 3.35v where the ones it doesn't like are 2.75
Both are duracells from the same pack just some are drained from use, could the caps be to blane
hearty spear
This is incorrect.
granite sierra
The 2.75 v work on my good one
hearty spear
GBA runs off of two AAs. Fully charged AAs are nominally 1.5V+1.5V = 3V
granite sierra
I'm using a USB c battery bank and it is 3 v and the bad GBA will boot
hearty spear
What's the voltage across the power switch?
granite sierra
From points 1 to 3 right?
hearty spear
In the "On" position, what's the voltage on Pin 2?
granite sierra
Gimme a sec
Had to improve alligator clips
Getting about 2.98 out of a 3v battery
The rechargeable batteries it won't boot on are 2.7
They work in my good unit
hearty spear
Getting about 2.98 out of a 3v battery
So 2.98V on pin 2 of the power switch?
granite sierra
This one, 2.69 on the rechargeable batteries
hearty spear
What about the voltage across the left side of the fuse?
granite sierra
F1?
hearty spear
Yes
granite sierra
Looks like the same, 2.69
On the 2.69v it is not running, the light is green, flickers a bit goes red for a split second before going out
Is there any remote possibility that a notch in the screen ribbon cable could cause unstable voltage
Doesn't seem so, with no screen the unit still shuts down
granite sierra
It can run the backlight on 3 volts but on 2.70 it will not boot
If I put pressure on the start and select side of the board it causes resets
dire dew
pinched cable?