I recently bought a Gameboy DMG01 and tested it with Japanese Pokemon Green.
The console is American, I think. The Nintendo logo sound plays and I hear the Pokemon intro too.
I can even hear the town. The problem is that nothing appears on the screen. I've tried isopropyl alcohol and cleaning the contacts, but nothing seems to work.
There's corrosion on the board, and it looks like one part is broken. I've attached images. I hope you can help me, or maybe I need a replacement part. However, I wouldn't want to replace the entire board and screen with "new mods." I like the retro experience. although I have not seen a replacement screen like the original one.
edit: tried also to move the contrast and nothing changes.
#Gameboy DMG01 - Screen Blank But the sound and game working
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I don't think this is easily fixable, I strongly recommend trying to source a replacement LCD board or doing an IPS mod.
Heyo @ashen plinth
Can you give us a close up of the broken area, both sides ?
Sorry I was busy, here it goes
I don't want a lcd mod and only if is the last option I could change all the board, but I don't want something modern, I like the retro style it's for collection also
there are still a few broken traces on the display side, you have to bridge them. lift up the display to see the whole area where you have to make repairs. you can try to pull the contacts of the ribbon cable over a piece of paper, this is similar to very fine sandpaper. then remove residues with alcohol
Yep Dirdey beat me to it, that's what I was checking π
That's probably what your crack is on the other side, so 3 broken lanes
That's OK tho, you can fix the top one the same way it has been fixed on the other side
As for the other two you can either do what Dirdey said, and there's the option of using a jumper wire
tell me where is the version and i can send a photo of it
uhm ok, first im going to tried to see under the screen, i will go watch a video of how to remove some part of it
I would try the bodges first if you are comfortable enough with soldering
At the very least, bodge the pink section first, that might be enough if you're lucky
is the same version, for solder i will have to wait, since i dont have the solder station rn, why i have to solder that pink part specifically? for the orange and blue i will have to remove de screen to access, but i dont know how
i mean, isn't that pink part board?, i solder something like this? edit: sorry for the bad english
there are clips on the sides of the white bracket, you can lift the whole screen assembly a bit to at least see what's underneath
those parts look like they need to be soldered, the ground plane the capacitor's connected to is currently not connected to anything
can't find it
how do i solder that, just superficial in that exact spots?, im a beginner
you'll need to scrape off the solder mask from those areas so that the copper is visible, then apply solder. if it doesn't look like it makes a bridge, you might need to add a little bit of wire to create a bridge over the crack
the plastic tabs are visible on the other side of the board, there's one right next to the cracked area. just push on it, it doesn't need a lot of force
and note, you can't lift it very much, just enough to see what's going on under the corner. the screen is soldered on the board with ribbon cables, so it has a little give
something like this
just scrape a bigger area right next to the crack on both sides
oh wait, you'll need to unscrew the two small screws on the bottom side of the screen bracket to be able to lift it properly
yes, as i thought, it's only that ground plane that's completely severed
oh right I had it upside down in my head, I thought they could access it without removing the screen
As for why the pink designated area, it's because it is very accessible and if that alone fixes your issue, it is worth trying it π
so, that means... what i have to solder?, (i had a brother in law that does the soldering i idk how to explain it to him, images would be appreciated, pls)
these parts here, that should be all that needs to be soldered on this side.
so the same spots i indicated on this picture, #1353236694886907975 message
You can (should) add a piece of bare wire in the fix
perfect, okey thank for all the help, should i mark with solved?, or i wait for the fix
Let's wait, you might have questions and we'd like to know the result π
Seem like you got away with only those two severed planes tho, lucky π
i dont want to claim victory until the solder, but the gameboy cost me like 8 dollars, btw i think there are a few missing screws, and also the screen is burned
@wise meteor can surely give you some info about the screen burn, but it's a chore π
that corner is the most likely reason for nothing happening on the screen, but we'll see!
and yeah, i can give advice on the screen burn, but it's not the easiest of jobs. likely it's just the front polarizer though, that can be done without desoldering the screen at least
hope for not replace the screen, i actually think is not possible
no need to replace the screen, only the polarizer is "burnt". there are other things that can be bad on the LCD, but we'll see when the ground plane is fixed. and yeah, it's super difficult to find a good completely working OEM screen other than just buying another Game Boy
(i've been actually hugely invested in fixing these original screens, i'm pretty obsessed with them...)
best kind of obsessed.
Hello, me again with updates, I already solder the parts that were broken, but stills the screen is blank
Only one thing change, when I turn off a horizon tal line appears for one sec sometimes and dissapears
have you tried adjusting the contrast?
the line indicates that it's at least functional in some manner
Yes
Screen gets power, might not be getting signals to draw anything...
I also think is the power of the screen, there is a chip that converts to 19v and I think is not working beacuse in the multimeter says 3. Something
clear pictures of all of the repairs would be good
where are you measuring exactly? the -19V from the power PCB gets converted into multiple bias voltages for the screen in the chip that's located under the screen.
First pictures iof the repair
This is the part I was measuring, I notice that a part needed to be solder but it end up worse, y solder 2 points of it and now I don't have a way to desolder /fix it
This is the audio amp
you should fix the error on the amp before you try to switch it on. you need flux for it
Yes I know, but it still will be the "same" I Mean I don't know the error
one step at a time. first make sure that the game boy starts at all. then you can turn your attention to the display if it still doesn't show anything
Fix it, still no image, I isolated the problem by turning on the console without the other screen board connected, put my headphones and I hear sound and game. What else could it be for the image?
Led is burned btw
When turn of after screen of the game, (im using pokemon so hear the main title) I turn it off and see a horizontal black line at the bottom, but that's all, no image
now you can check the board. are all voltages present at the display connector?
where should i check exactly?, i tried and when i connect the screen board to the other board. the power converter gives me -3v. but when its not connect all the voltages are normal. i dont see nothing wrong with the power converter
I think its something wrong with the screen or maybe the board, the flex its good