Fixing eBay Junk - Game Boy Advance Game - Game Won't Boot Up - Pokemon Ruby 

Yeah, I don't like doing even easy solder jobs without my microscope. It just makes it so much easier to see tiny flaws.

Just a few weeks ago i fixed a copy of pokemon red by re-flowing the rom, i don't have much experience with this kind of thing like you do, so maybe look for other things first but re-flowing is sometimes the fix needed.

Yep, very often it's all that's needed if a simple cleaning doesnt work. Those boards are so slim, they bend and put stress on the rom and ram chips.

@@RetroRepairs It's also worth noting that thinner boards require a lot less heat, so there's less risk of damaging components. Unlike something like a PS4 motherboard, which is a HUGE heat sink and requires a ton of hot air to remove the HDMI port, for instance.

@@RetroRepairs I own one of these microscopes, and it is amazing. It also works as a pc camera, or can output to a tv www.amazon.com/Opti-Tekscope-OT-M-Microscope-1920x1080p-resolution/dp/B01JKHJRPM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=hdmi+microscope&qid=1556571860&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

that's not how this work mate :P Blowing in a cartridge will moisture it and damage the cartridge over time, instead of fixing it. Moisture conducts electricity as we all know, so when blowing in a cartridge, it is possible, that by the moisture all the pins get conducted, and your game works again (Depending on the issue it self ofcourse) for a period of time, that is. after a while, the game will most likely short circuit itself. Then after a while, we are presented with videos like these :P and i like it :P They inspire me :)

Lol sure hope this was a joke.

@@skins4thewin I think he was serious and I think he may just be a dip shit.

mentalfloss.com/article/12589/did-blowing-nintendo-cartridges-really-help

@@Chrispy9393 dead serious m8

Same

Cuz it's old af

3:52 am

Same

You re right!! Go fuck yourself!!!

Thank god, someone else respects the Micro. Definitely my favorite of the gba line...

@@LunarPurin the micro will always be my favorite

Micro is very under rated console, one of the best handheld to game on up to this day. Very comfy in hand and cool looking too!

That was my favorite game boy, and the only one I didn't break when I was 6. By the way, I broke 7 game boys. I cherished my GB Micro, I paid for about 100 dollars in repairs. (Yes I loved it that much). I even got a traveling case with all my pokemon games. I also even bought about 10 skins for it. But then my idiot brother sold it 2 years ago for 15 bucks. That was the worst day of my life.

Where i live they never sold that gameboy, only gameboy advance and advance sp.

same lol

Same here, I once fixed a broken VCR with superglue and scotch tape, worked (still works to this day) and have been fascinated by electronics ever since. Been too afraid to ever try anything this delicate. But like he said, it’s already broken, the worst thing can happen is it stays that way. I think I’m going to google a beginners kit lol

DeepFriedwater1 so how’s that going

~ EDIT ~ I see it now, sorry! here's a view lol

@@thalanoth Hey, thanks! :D

Jade Juniper I'd try cleaning the contacts with a q-tip to start.

@@antidote5125 It's definitely not the contacts. Trust me, I've had the cartridge for eight years. I've tried all of the easy remedies.

Jade Juniper Oh, okay, sorry. Hope you get it figured out some day :-)

Most likely Missingno. Pray for your sins.

Well,glitches are more often than not, by-products of faulty circuits. If the glitches are multiple and persistent, then something is definitely wrong with either the board, or a basic component on it. I don't know much about GBA cartridge boards, but from my limited knowledge I will assume that those glitches originate from faults within the graphics chip of the board. If the chip is faulty, find a new one (good luck with that) or fix it yourself (which is impossible, since the transistors inside it are smaller than the eye can see)

PinaPerfect Wasn’t all that bad honestly, I’ve seen far worse. I’ve seen old computers with corrosion covering sizeable chunks of the board, it’s especially common if the computer was used in industrial environments to control equipment. Those chips were the worst part of you ask me.

Where is the Game Boy Advance SP now?

@@rqyhae3340 Thrown away that same day all those years ago.

GBA SP saved it

Your SP sacrificed itself for Metroid Fusion.

F for the SP. What a hero.

Standard unleaded solder temps are 300c so I guess 310 should do it

300-350c. Not really a lot you can overheat or damage while desoldering as long as you are quick. Use leaded if you can. As well as flux which will keep the surface tension and stop the solder from peaking when you remove the tip. Best way i find is to use a large tip. I use a 2.4mm chisel type. Remove the battery one side at a time. Hold tab with tweezers, melt solder and lift up on the tab which will stop it from sticking back down. Remove old solder and tin the pads lightly. Fit the battery and melt into place. Then melt and add solder to each side with plenty flux, you can move the iron about a bit in the solder to fill the entire pad + tab nicely. You will also have to bend the tabs on the battery on gba carts as the rom chip is in the way.

No reason the legs would bend unless the solder isn't fully melted, or if I'm putting too much pressure.

@@RetroRepairs That is exactly what I told myself and then burned my fingers really, really bad, so take this as a friendly heads up. You don't want to unsolder the chip, straighten the legs out and then put it back on the board. It is terrible work :D

Don't listen to @@Krivulda he knows nothing about this stuff. Keep doing what you've been doing, it works. 😉

@@Jajuan44 Yeah, I do that for living for quite some years now and know nothing about it. Sure...

Those are quite giant and hefty chips, so yeah, there is not much of a risk, but if you try to do this on some more delicate chip, you are sooo screwed... I am way beyond bad ideas like soaking board in alcohol, reflowing the whole board and stuff like that. That's learning process. Found out that it is bad and now I am trying to pass the knowledge to others without them causing damage. But nope, there is always some know-it-all, whi talks crap about that. Okay, go ahead, destroy some equipment with price tag containing four zeros and then say 'oopsie, I broke it' and 'should have listened to the guy'. Making something work is very far from making something work and look nice. And doing a crap job is worth nothing.

Look up drag soldering. This is hardly an uncommon technique

I hear they won't break as long as they're not on while wet and they don't have a battery

Correct, unless corrosion sets in, then it causes problems

In a pinch that works. You could also use electrical tape to hold it

yea ive seen people use electrical tape, but ive found at least for gba games that the case is plenty to hold it in place, i still have pokemon red,blue, and yellow with factory batteries still ticking last time i checked.. got the saves backed up so im not worried.. all my gen 2 games have kicked the bucket along with gen 3

But am i wrong? But seriously, as a Canadian, paying $1.33 now per dollar sucks

Bro wtf🤣

Yup. And?

@@RetroRepairs Wtf how did you reply 4 minutes before Tyler made this comment??

It's a little known secret, once you get 10,000 subs, Google gives you the keys to the internet, which allows for infinite possibilities. Either that or something screwy is going on with the timestamps.

@@RetroRepairs Ah okay, btw my GBA SP has a problem. When I turn it on the power light flickers for a second and then goes off. You think a fuse might have blown?

Can't rule it out, but could also be a dead battery. Might be an issue with the charging circuit. I'm not familiar with the sp symptoms well enough to say for sure

You should never lose your save unless the file gets corrupted somehow or it's physically damaged. This type of save does not require a battery to maintain a charge.

i asked another tuber the same question . guess just start experimenting . i am going to purchase console /cartridge screw driver , solder tool,then check out some of my none working nes games.

They were still leaded. Im not positive what the impact of mixing chemistries its. It'll work, but sure how durable

the frames start when the save is loaded (or, in emerald, when a saved battle replay is opened. that's how people shiny hunt in emerald)

@@ksquidplaysminecraft Yeah, that. But they don't save the current frame when you save, instead always starting at 0, with the exception of the battle video save.

@@c08o.prkiua46 how about you read my comment thoroughly before responding because you literally just repeated what I said as if I was wrong

@@ksquidplaysminecraft That's not how it would've sounded if I had said it to you. If I had said it to you verbally, it would've sounded like I was agreeing with you. But because the audio aspect of this conversation in nonexistent, what I said came out in a different way than I meant it to.

@@c08o.prkiua46 understandable have a nice day