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

I don’t know what it is about these type of restoration videos, but I find them so relaxing to watch, almost like ASMR. His calm voice combined with the visual of soldering, I enjoy it

If you're seeing that problem only after applying the screw, it often implies a small crack in the board. Try using different levels of tension on the screw to see if that relieves or exacerbates the problem. If so look at the areas that the board would flex under stress and induce a light force to see if the crack becomes apparent or continuity fails. Also I hear acrylic nail polish works great as a mask.

I hate that kind of problem when it comes to tech. It’s just the same as calling out a plumber / electrician and you explain what’s wrong but when they turn up it starts working fine lol. It’s 10x harder to fix a reoccurring problem than a constant problem.

Looking back, it did make sense that the culprit would've been the memory bank controller. Here's the run-down on the Memory Bank Controller, for those unaware: The Gameboy's CPU only has a 16-bit address bus, meaning it can only "see," for lack of a better word, up to 65,535 bytes of data. But as games got more sophisticated, they in turn needed more space than the CPU could address. So they would use a large ROM chip and a memory bank controller that would split the ROM into 16kb "banks" and swap the banks in and out on the fly (this is done for any cartridge RAM as well, into 8kb banks). Up to two ROM banks can be loaded at a time, with the first bank always loaded. I believe the issue might've been in a pin or connection to a pin controlling the bank switching. Here's my theory: It was able to load the first bank, as shown by the complete Nintendo logo, which is stored there, and the second one. When it couldn't switch the second bank out, it used code in the second bank in unintended ways, as it assumed it was in a different bank, which caused an immediate crash.

Just found this channel. It reminds me of an even older RU-vid channel, retro game tech. Perhaps it was an inspiration for this channel?

Great vid, Adam! Thanks for bringing life back to this retro classic!

Really nice to have you back. Your videos are so relaxing and comfortable to watch.

Thank you sooo much for that video. A few years ago my childhood pokemon yellow edition stopt working. White screen after clear nintendo logo. I didnt know what to do. I found this video and tried to reflow the solder joints on the chips. Now it works like new. Changed even the battery for saving. Thank you for bringing back childhood memories. Keep up the good work. Thumbs up!

I'm impressed and geek out over this stuff. Great job and I have been enjoying the videos

Just found this channel. I ama tinkerer. I have binged everything I could! Great content. Keep it up! Thank you for teaching us

I'm in the army right now and seeing you upload saved my day.

Thank you so much for these videos; I really want to give repairing a shot! I watch your videos everyday at work :)

When I first purchased my pokemon yellow it was in very rough shape. After cleaning the entire board and reflowing all the main chips as you did it fires up and works no problem again! Thanks for the appreciated info and help!

Love that shell bought through your link. I have just started doing retro repairs myself just did a GameCube and an N64 both trash both now comfortably in my collection. From e-wase to treasure. Keep up the good work!

So glad to see more videos!

Love that you are posting videos again welcome back.

Nice to see you repairing stuff again.

very nice! I would've reflowed all the chips in the first go though. old solder is bound to be cracked.

Thank you dude. I really loved that you explain almost everything you did, helped me really understand the process. I’m a little more confident I can get into soldering now❤️

Hey there, thanks for the video. I'm mostly in very old repairs with Tubes and stuff :D But watching these videos is a nice change! One hint: You may set the whitebalance of your camera manually. Otherwise the colours are sometimes way off and/or change in the video. Best wishes from germany!

Thank you so much for this video! I have a gba sp I’m trying to fix up but the cartridge slot wasn’t working. After seeing this video I drag soldered the cartridge reader and that fixed it right up!

I can't believe I have memories of this game and others on shelf and in the used case 😅 where the thought of picking up a copy was no big deal. Easy to find. Basically in any game store

Nice video. Glad to see you back.

Just did this on a copy of final fantasy legends 3. Luckily it started up at the 2nd chip i did. Thanks for the video, it was very informative.

Another helpful video! I have a copy of Pokemon Red I bought off eBay that acts somewhat like this. Tried reflowing the solder last year but no dice. Kind of want to give it another go soon.

13:35 “tiny bit of solder on this square, that doesn’t matter” famous last words

Yes!!!!! Thanks! So glad you're back!!!

Another Gameboy cart saved ! This one was nice, as the damage wasnt obvious from the start. But you made it working again. Question is, does the battery still work?

Just fixed a GBC game by reflowing all the chips on the board, thanks!

Wow, thank you, i followed this and was able to fix my own copy of Pokemon Yellow that was having the same issue

Adam, why do you call it sodder?... there's an L in there mate, or is it spelt differently in Canada?

Great video Adam. I have the same problem my WWF WrestleMania 2000 (N64) but if I take it apart and clean it with IPA and put it together it boots up but Idk for how long. I played the most likely for 10 minutes. Have any idea 💡?

I lucked out with my blue version. Double checked all the pins on the chip and one knocked loose. Resolder'd it and it worked!

11:43 No, alcohol is non-conductive.

lol I had an electronics teacher in high school who said the exact opposite... "flux is bad, don't use it." ... I never listened

Nicely done Adam!

Hey! Good, you're back!!!

When you use the soldering iron, do you actually touch the connections or just get it really close

What type of tool and the size you use to rent he screw

Soldering beginner here, what temp should I normally be reflowing solder at on a Gameboy cart pcb?

I like how it fired once and you didn't just shut the camera off. You tried to get it to fail to be certain that it was right.

Wow the eraser trick worked. My pins did look a little too dirty so I hoped that was the only issue and it was!

How much would it to be hire to fix a none starting game?

What's happening with the turbografx16 cd never seen 1 of them repaired! are you still waiting on parts? as I noticed you are repairing your newest pickups

I have this same issue with Batman and will give the reflowing a try- the chips to me looked like the solder was skimped out a bit, but I couldn't see any broken joints.

Hey Adam, How do you get the beep sound on your multimeter? I've had a few cheap multimeters in the past but I haven't had any with the beep sound. Does anyone know?

I have a copy of Red, Gold, and Silver, and none of them go past the Nintendo logo, if it even shows up in the first place. Usually, when I turn it on, it’s either a completely blank, white screen, or the Gameboy Color sound plays, and then it’s just stuck there with a glitched out Nintendo logo beneath it. Are these fixable? If so, what do you think the issue is?

Can you please tell me where u found this specific type of screw driver? Thanks

Great video as always 🤣🤣😅

Do you do a save test to check the battery?

I've got a question: Can I use a Cr202 battery to replace a Cr1615 on the Pokemon Yellow Cartridge??

I have a copy with this exact problem. Except it won't boot to the GameFreaks Logo, but does show the Nintendo logo.

Is that a blue reduction filter you're applying to this video or is it my phone

I would have started either way with a battery swap first to prevent future complications. :) Matt

Where were you when I was constantly rebuy games jk pokemon crystal games does it alot too try repairing that one

I just had an idea if you ever get into doing merchandise. In my mind I am seeing a shirt that says "Flux it up and tin the tip"

I'm still watching the vid but looks like this cartridge is addicted to alcohol

If all traces are good, for my experience, 95% of the problems are bad ROM chip connection. So reflowing rom chip is the way. 3-4% bad RAM chip connection. Never had a mapper chip connection problem, only 3 cases (1%) with broken RTC on 2 gen pokemon games, replaced the quartz and fully working now.

This cartridge is such a troll.

Rossmann proves there’s no such thing as too much flux.

Awesome videos but your dynamic colour balance is horrific!

Great video👌

I have a pokemon blue with similar problems, is there a way you can help?

if in doubt, reflow it all haha

What works best for me is to completely desolder the chips and resolder them with fresh solder and it works perfectly for me and fixes issues reflows can’t

I'll often just add a small piece of Kapton tape where the cartridge shell is rubbing off the solder mask.

i love the mg chemicals no clean, it's thinner than iso

When reflowing a chip a lil sodder bead got stuck behind the pins, now with any slight movement the game will crash :v it boots however for what that's worth

Is a Pokémon Yellow a particularly valuable cartridge? Is there enough of a spread between the purchase price and the resale value to justify the amount of time/effort expended in fixing it?

I wish I could do repairs like these

wait so what was the issue? it seems intermittent

i usually just use a carbon pen to retrace bad traces. Works for 95% of all cases and lasts for ever.

what flux do you use for that work? does any kind of flux works?

I really need someone to explain to me fully why americans don't say the L in solder one day..

Just always clean the entire board with isopropyl alcohol and swap the battery. Works 90% of the time.

Can I send you my gbc game to get fixed?

I thought you would swap the battery out while you had it open.

you can use toilet paper to soak up the alcohol otherwise the alcohol dries up and it leaves sticky flux everywhere anyway

mine drains save batteries like super fast. They don't even last a night

the colors in the video seem off its really distracting

👍👍

Forgive me. But, why would you even use a paper towel to dry off isopropyl alcohol?

:D

Damn I got 2 ps2's one fat and slim It would be amazing if Some1 like u could fix them for me

Isopropyl alcohol helps with cleaning a lot! 😏👉✨🕹🖥✨

Are you an Oompa Loompa?

here at 33,333 views and 123 comments

Hi

Can you please use white lights in your videos? Omg

omg face reveal lol

Alcohol Is not conducting