mossy bear
I've attached a video of the problem that's occurring, I have no clue why it's happening
I've installed a new board, tested all the buttons beforehand and made sure they were working as usual, and practiced before I attempted this one and I believe I soldered it in as best as I could (I'll leave images). Any ideas?
halcyon steppeBOT
I've attached a video of the problem that's occurring, I have no clue why it's h...
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mossy bear
And just to confirm I just tested all the buttons with a game plugged in, they are all working fine too
frozen stratus
That wire is too thicc for that, maybe using something thinner would help? I think that when you close the shell the exposed wire is touching the capacitor under it, shorting the circuit and generating false presses
mossy bear
The capacitor under Q12B?
frozen stratus
I am not sure how the menu is triggered on that IPS version though...
mossy bear
The menu triggers when the brightness button is held down once it's soldered in
I'll open it up and place some Kapton tape over the capacitor and see what happens
So it wasn't the wire shorting out the capacitor underneath it either 😔
white kite
Which screen kit are you using? Does it have a capacitive touch sensor?
mossy bear
Hispeedido V5
I believe that it does have a touch sensor on that can adjust brightness/colour mode on the rim of the screen, but the menu can't be triggered from the touch controls
white kite
Is your shell aluminum? I’m no scientist, but I’m pretty sure aluminum can trigger capacitive sensors
whole meteor
Try the mod with only the screen and pcb. That will rule out if it's the shell or of it's the cable touching something.
It looks like it might be the mod circuit, though. The timing is very consistent
mossy bear
It is aluminum, and gotcha let me test that right now.
I didn't even consider that after soldering the screen in.
digital plank
A metal shell is probably the cause; it capacitively couples to the touch sensor and makes it too sensitive. Your choices are to change the shell or to disable the touch sensor. For the latter, I'm unfamiliar with the kit you are using so I can't tell you how to do that.
frozen stratus
oh, I didn't consider the shell material, but these guys are right
mossy bear
Would the shell around the screen effect it still? Even though the touch sensor aren't meant to trigger the menu?
digital plank
the screen is still coupled to the metal shell even with the pcb hanging out, so I don't regard this as a valid test. You need to completely deshell it, have the screen laying with the PCB on the table and not be touching them.
mossy bear
Alright lemme try that then
digital plank
Just to add that even if by chance your kit is faulty and you swap it out to solve the problem - putting it back into an alu shell is a terrible idea. Alu shells and touch sensors do not work together. If you really want to go with this alu shell you need to disable the touch sensor or if that's not possible, use a different screen kit where it's possible to disable it.
whole meteor
The shell looks anodized, though I don't know how anodized aluminium behaves with static electricity or capacitive sensors
digital plank
Also to add: testing it by holding the battery in might couple touch sensor signals as well if you're unlucky
Anodising does not alter the result. It still capacitively couples.
mossy bear
It is adonized yeah, before I soldered it in the touch sensor never triggered anything, almost done taking the shell off
I'll try and take a video of if but it's a bit finicky with one hand, but the menu still triggers even with the pcb and screen not touching the shell, again I have to mention the touch sensor aren't meant to trigger the menu to pop up
whole meteor
If you want to make 100% sure you could try another board but I think the kit is faulty
digital plank
Have you completely removed the shell? If wires are threading through it, it capacitively couples as well.
mossy bear
Only ribbon cable is wired through
digital plank
Yeah, remove everything. If you still have problems after doing that (show us in a video) then I'll agree you need the kit checked but - even if you replace the kit, the problems will come back with that alu shell. It's just the nature of touch sensors.
mossy bear
If you want to make 100% sure you could try another board but I think the kit is...
The same thing did happen to another board that I posted a couple days ago, but I thought it was a soldering issue as I didn't do a great job of soldering that one
digital plank
Touch sensors are surprisingly sensitive when you have big chunks of metal nearby or run your ribbons/wires through a hunk of metal. Trust me on this.
mossy bear
Ill remove the in between, just figured I'd show this too
I understand the touch sensor can be sensitive, but I'm a bit confused why the touch sensor would still trigger the menu to open
digital plank
Yeah, the shell is still part of the equation right now with it like this. I know it's annoying to disconnect it
whole meteor
Hmm, hopefully the store can give you a solution
digital plank
Sergio, the problem is almost certainly the shell at the moment, please dont confuse things here until we have completely ruled that out.
whole meteor
It's anodized and he's wearing gloves
digital plank
You dont understand how the touch sensor works electrically, and I mean no offense
mossy bear
Ah I just realised that means I'd have to de solder it doesn't it 😩
Or can I avoid it by making sure the ribbon cable isn't touching the shell
digital plank
Yes, im sorry, I know that's annoying.
@silent @whole meteor They are capacitive, not conductive, Conductive contact can make them even more sensitive sure, but they are capacitive sensors. Gloves and anodisation is so thin that it makes no difference. I do appreciate your input though and trust me, im not attacking you in any way
mossy bear
Gimme one sec to fire this iron up
digital plank
Or can I avoid it by making sure the ribbon cable isn't touching the shell
Sadly no - passing through the metal is enough sometimes. You#d need to desolder anyway if the kit was determined to be faulty - so go for it.
I'm not ruling out that your kit could be faulty, and we are going to determine that now by seeing what happens when you completely get rid of the shell. Because trust me - even if you get a brand new perfectly functioning kit and then slap it back into your shell you'll have issues again with the touch sensor. It's a combination that wont work 
mossy bear
Yep, it's definitely the kit I'll send a video
digital plank
What concerns me is why was it okay and now defective
mossy bear
digital plank
That isn't right, I agree with you 
Unless someone has another idea get that exchanged. When you get a replacement, do a full test before doing anything else with it
Please do keep in mind as I said, you'll probably have problems with your replacement kit if you try to put it back into an alu shell (unless there's a way to disable the touch sensor completely on that kit, im not familiar with that specific kit to show you how)
mossy bear
I'm not even sure I'll get reimbursed for a replacement, I did get this a good while ago bc I was waiting for all my components to come in from various countries so it took a bit of time
digital plank
Okay. Right now is the black wire disconnected? Can you show us close ups of your soldering work?
mossy bear
Yeah one sec, I didn't dewick when I removed the wire I just let it slide off hang on
It's hard to tell but I can confirm the two points aren't touching
digital plank
btw for the future, touch sensor in alu shell will cause one of 2 outcomes:
mossy bear
When I placed the kit in before soldering in this shell it just did nothing, it wouldn't change randomly and you couldn't even trigger it
digital plank
That's a useful to know, so you had the "deadened" effect which is actually desireable, maybe you'll be able to get away with this specific kit in that specific shell if we can solve the triggering problem
whole meteor
So the kit did not read the button press before and now it reads the button permanently pressed.
I'd still try to contact the store, maybe they can offer a replacement
mossy bear
So the kit did not read the button press before and now it reads the button perm...
Yeah I'm just baffled by the triggering, because again the the touch sensors are not meant to trigger the menu at all, you can only trigger than by soldering it in - and yes it didn't do anything before but for some reason the soldering now causes the menu to trigger without being pressed
digital plank
Humour me, can you clean up that blob a bit with some wick so that the solder isn't covering the ground plane above the solder point?
I wonder if for some reason there's a tiny gap in the flex there and it's making contact
mossy bear
Sure thing, gimme 1sec
digital plank
So the kit did not read the button press before and now it reads the button perm...
at the moment I agree with sergio here. the kit shouldn't be doing this.
whole meteor
I'm very unfamiliar with these kits. Is the wire soldered to the flex cable connected to the brightness button?
mossy bear
Huh okay maybe that has done something, while wicking it off I must have applied too much pressure and the bottom pad came off but the top ones okay - I plugged it back in and it's stopped triggering the menu from coming up
digital plank
Bingo 
whole meteor
Yeah, it's what Kotomi said, shorted the cable to the ground plane
mossy bear
Can you explain that sorry? Just to educate me on what that means
digital plank
okay, reassemble it and carefully solder a wire (do you have a thinner wire, that would be best), cross your fingers and hope that the alu shell combination keeps giving you the "deadened" touch sensor effect. You should be good to go 
mossy bear
I don't have a thinner wire but it's the same type of wire that came with the kit originally and I have used this same one with a different GBA I installed, from my previous research the top pad and bottom pad shouldn't make a difference to which I solder to Q12B
I'm sorry to leave you guys on your toes but I have to pick up the wife from work, but will definitely update once I put it all back together
digital plank
Yeah, it's what Kotomi said, shorted the cable to the ground plane
When you soldered the wire you accidentally caused it to bridge to the copper ground plane (the copper colour you can see around the edge of the circle pads). This shouldn't be possible normally but maybe your iron scratched the plastic flex and allowed it to bridge to the copper underneath.
Just be careful and try to keep the size of the solder joint as small as you can to avoid creating another short when you reattach the wire.
mossy bear
Just to humour you guys about how badly I did the first job 🙃 I've done GBA installs before and it went fine but took a break for a couple months and just completely forgot the basics and went into it - so a lesson for everyone please make sure you're confident before going into a project even if you've done one before 😬😬
digital plank
The green arrow is on the copper ground plane here, and is pointing to the solder blob that is bridging between the contact pad and the copper ground plane. Normally that shouldn't be possible as the plastic protects the ground plane, but somehow it bridged. Maybe you overheated the plastic or scratched it.
You get another try with the solder point to the left - try to keep the joint as small as possible, and solder it with a quick tap of the iron.
frozen stratus
that wire came with the kit? it's unusually thicc for that...
digital plank
that's what I thought also......
whole meteor
If the pad came off it's going to be quite harder to repair imo
frozen stratus
the pad on the board seems to be in good condition since it was sending it to the ribbon. That one, on the other hand...
digital plank
One pad did yeah, there's one pad remaining for a second go. I'd feel more confident if AminoAcxd could use a thinner wire for it because a thick wire will tug on the flex and might rip the other pad off
@mossy bear a suggestion if you don't have any thin wire handy: Got any old ethernet or telephone cable? One of the wires from inside will be better than the wire you were using.
mossy bear
I'll invest in a thinner wire, that wire isn't the exact same one as the one in the kit but it is the same thickness as the one that came with a previous kit I installed and that one sat fine, but I'll take your guys advice on this one!
whole meteor
I've also seen people use the shielding of coax wire (TV antenna)
mossy bear
The green arrow is on the copper ground plane here, and is pointing to the solde...
Thank you for enlightening me, that makes sense to me now 🙂
mossy bear
Huzzah it all works! All buttons (including the brightness menu) all functioning as normal now with no shortages as I can see.
Just a slight problemo, there is discolouration around the edge of the screen, is this because the screen is pressed too tightly/the borders screwed in too tightly?
digital plank
Yes that's from excessive pressure, sort that out immediately before it becomes permanent damage
mossy bear
Yep I took the border back off and the screens okay, I need to go out but I'll just let that rest for a while and assemble it again when I'm back a bit more loosely
Also don't worry about that weird residue near the hinge, I've wiped that off I was just in a rush to get some advice😅
digital plank
Looking good. You got this!
mossy bear
Just finished polishing this up, but I can confirm everything is functioning properly! Really happy with how the all metal build turned out - success ✅️
digital plank
Good job, I'm glad that's all sorted now