GBA SP light flickering from red to green?

[Jorpho]

I was giving my GBA SP a whirl just now; I purchased it used, but never used it much.

I notice that the battery light seemed to flicker considerably: sometimes it would be red, sometimes it would be green, and there seemed to be no consistent pattern. This is after leaving it charging for a good long time; the light stays green if I play it while the adapter is plugged in.

Does this mean the battery is going bad or something? Is this typical of on older GBA SP?

[Blitzwing256]

sounds like your battery is losing its charge, might try replacing it, I THINK you can still order em from nintendo's website.

[Jorpho]

But if it was losing its charge, wouldn't it just stay red?

[retroman]

could just mean wiring in the lights is going bad...as long as it holds a charge who cares.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

I've experienced this myself with high drain games and especially with my flashcart. I don't think it means anything at all.

[Jorpho]

I've experienced this myself with high drain games and especially with my flashcart. I don't think it means anything at all.I am indeed using an EZ-Flash IV. (I'm also using a headphone adapter on the charge port.)

Perhaps this is some sort of less-publicized feature of the EZ-Flash?

[Shellshock!]

Nah, it happens to mine too. It usually happens when the battery charge is in the middle of switching from good (green) to low (orange). It's like its status is borderline. Try turning the back light off or down and the sound off to see if it remains green, then turn it all the way up together with the back light to see if it switches to orange.

Also, flash carts use more power than regular carts.

[Zing]

Flashcarts are known for causing high battery drain. They could even just be drawing a lot of voltage, causing the red light indicator to come on even though the battery still has decent amount of power remaining.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Yes. I have the superior M3 Perfect SD and that does the same thing you mention. Flashcarts are hard on the Li-ion battery and cause the power light to flicker. Try playing a standard GBA game. You probably won't have this issue, but it also might appear in some of the featured GBA games like Bokai or Drill Dozer.

[Jorpho]

I had no idea flash carts were unusually high-drain.

Unfortunately, not only did I experience the GBA abruptly switching off while I was using the flash cart, it did it a couple of times with Aria of Sorrow, too. Maybe the battery really isn't holding much of a charge anymore.

Maybe I'll just get one of those Y-adapters that let you charge the GBA and use headphones at the same time. Those work well enough, right?

[Jorpho]

Ahhh, f*ck.

So I was messing around with my GBA SP again (having found a copy of Super Mario Advance for $2 at a yard sale on the weekend – woohoo!). Merrily playing along with my nice little Y adapter, playing with headphones and running off the wall outlet... and the power light started flickering, and the unit started powering off by itself and resetting. Just like it always used to. (I did notice the flickering seemed to coincide with pressing on the back of the unit.)

I finally decided to plug in the replacement battery I bought ages ago when this whole mess started and the problem seems to be completely cured. The game did reset once when I was using my EZ Flash IV, but I think that was because the cart wasn't in all the way.

After all this time and all this dicking around with Y-adapters (http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?155575-Gameboy-Advance-SP-headphone-charger-splitter) it was the battery all along. Ugh.

[Jorpho]

...Nope, that was wishful thinking.

I think I've just got a bum unit here. I think the only thing that might be feasible is to take it apart and look for loose connections.

[Leo_A]

Did you try cleaning your power switch? It's problematic on SP's and could be the culprit of your intermittent power.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nintendo+Game+Boy+Advance+SP+Power+Switch+Replacem ent/12889

http://forum.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?155575-Gameboy-Advance-SP-headphone-charger-splitter&p=1993217&viewfull=1#post1993217

My backlit SP has symptoms just like yours with one addition. Oftentimes when sliding the power switch to the on position, the system will start for a split second and immediately turn off, forcing me to slide the switch down and try again. Otherwise, my issues are identical.

Frustrating for what is a very lightly used system that I bought new. Need to tackle the problem one of these days.

[Jorpho]

You're right, I shouldn't give up so easily.


The problem seems to be that the switch either becomes logged with dirt/dust/debris, or suffers from a little corrosion, care if its rather open design. This is what I/we do and it seems to solve the problem about 95% of the time. You'll really want a syringe with a needle attached. If you don't have a diabetic aunt or a serious drug problem, then you'll have to find another method by which to deliver the fluid. 91% or greater isopropyl injected right into the switch itself. Saturate it really well, then quickly flick the switch back and forth a few dozen times (a tweezers is really helpful here). Then blast the switch with canned air until you're certain that it's nice and dry, then give it a go. Like I said, this solves the problem almost every time. A large percentage of the GBAs that I purchase have this issue and this is the solution which has proven both very successful and quite simple.I gave this a whirl. (I got a needle and syringe from the pharmacist for only 80 cents, but I only have 70% isopropyl on hand, so I let it dry further overnight after blasting it with air.) It seems to be stable so far.

[Jorpho]

Nope, definitely not fixed. Flickering light and shut-down. I definitely get the impression that the flickering has something to do with the way I hold and squeeze the unit, but it could just be my imagination or some other sort of spurious correlation.

What if I do open it up? Is there something I can do to the internals?

[Tanooki]

Well it could be a loose ribbon cable wire, or solder point somewhere that could be buttoned up a bit properly. I doubt it's like some partial crack that kind of closes/opens depending how you squeeze the thing but you won't known until you crack it open.

[Jorpho]

The thing is, I don't seem to be the only person who has ever had this problem, so it seems like it ought to be some sort of common failure mode. But I guess no one here knows. (Any suggestions on where else I could ask..?)

It seems to be a little more prone to failure if I take the battery cover off and start pressing on the battery, but there's nothing definitive that suggests it will reset only if I press it in a particular spot. The battery contacts themselves look perfectly fine.

[goldenband]

For the record, I definitely have seen reboots when playing my GBA SP AGS-001 on batteries, and it's clearly related to flexing or squeezing the unit in some way. If you find a fix, let me know, as it's irritating as hell when it happens! I normally keep it plugged in when playing at home, but obviously that's not always possible when using it on the road.

[SparTonberry]

I have two, and even when playing them while plugged in they still reset (and I know I replaced the battery on at least one of them with a battery ordered straight from Nintendo).

[Leo_A]

You guys should start a thread over at AtariAge or somewhere similar where there's a lot of experts fully at home tinkering with the internals of their game systems. I don't think we have much in the way of that sort of knowledge and skills around here these days with our small crowd.

If we're going to figure out what's ailing these things, we need to hopefully attract someone with the skills to be able to figure out the issue and identify a fix.

Does Nintendo still repair these things? I wouldn't waste my money because I don't want someone else's system back in return (even though my lightly used backlit SP that I bought new isn't doing me much good anymore due to its finicky nature) or risk wasting ~$100 without the problem even getting resolved.

[Jorpho]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that they don't repair these anymore.

[Casati]

My GBA does this.

[RP2A03]

I wouldn't rule out a bad battery just yet. That replacement you popped in has been sitting around for three years. Li ion batteries will lose charge just sitting on the self and once a cell's voltage drops below a certain threshold it will become irrecoverably dead. If a recently manufactured replacement cannot be found, you may be able to rebuild the battery pack if it doesn't use custom made cells.

[Jorpho]

Except the same thing happens when I'm running it off an outlet.

Admittedly, one thing I haven't tested is whether the unit will still reset on its own, flickering light and all, if I just leave it sitting on a table without touching it.

[RP2A03]

Except that the battery is integral to the power circuit and if not functioning properly may cause problems; even if connected to the mains. Of course you could also have a suboptimal connection at the battery contacts or within the battery. The power switch could still be faulty, although this is unlikely at this point. This can be eliminated with all certainty by jumping the switch.

[Jorpho]

Except that the battery is integral to the power circuit and if not functioning properly may cause problems; even if connected to the mains. Of course you could also have a suboptimal connection at the battery contacts or within the battery. The power switch could still be faulty, although this is unlikely at this point. This can be eliminated with all certainty by jumping the switch.To be clear, I have observed the problem with two completely different batteries at this point.

Also, I have just verified that the unit did not reset on its own or otherwise stop working after being left alone on battery power for two hours.

[RP2A03]

I definitely get the impression that the flickering has something to do with the way I hold and squeeze the unit, but it could just be my imagination or some other sort of spurious correlation.


It seems to be a little more prone to failure if I take the battery cover off and start pressing on the battery, but there's nothing definitive that suggests it will reset only if I press it in a particular spot. The battery contacts themselves look perfectly fine.

Then I would say this is your best lead. It could be that the battery is unable to maintain good contact when the unit is flexed and bending the pins upward slightly might fix the problem. Failing that I would resolder the power pins.

[Leo_A]

Just to add something potentially useful for someone trying to diagnose an issue, I believe my backlit SP used the same battery as the original DS model did. If my recollections are accurate, it would be a useful way to test the condition of a battery if you also have an original DS around the house that you know is operable.

[darknezz19]

Hi, I registered an account just for this thread. I've had a gameboy SP do the same thing you are describing and it was the battery terminal connector was loose from the pcb. I had to open it up and reflow the solder and no more resets. Maybe that's what happened to your's too Jorpho.

[Jorpho]

Well, thank you for checking in, sir. May I ask if you read anything in particular to guide you down this path, or did you just crack it open and take a good look at it? And did you use a soldering iron, or stick it in a toaster oven?

That certainly would be a point that would be subject to some mechanical stress. But strangely, Google does not suggest this is a popular fix.

[Jorpho]

Welp, I didn't want to be a DenverCoder9 (https://xkcd.com/979/), so I thought I should report back here with my findings.

I finally got around to attacking my GBA SP with a soldering iron. These really do come apart quite easily (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lALpDl9gwQ) as long as you've got a tri-wing screwdriver and I should have tried that ages ago. It's worth noting that the power switch is a giant, solid piece of plastic; trying to inject isopropyl alcohol or anything else in there without opening up the unit isn't likely to do anything.

I wish I'd come back here first and noted that Mr. darknezz19 referred only to "reflowing", as I wound up accidentally putting a big ol' round (but isolated) blob of solder on one of the battery terminals. It looked quite promising as a source of the problem: the solder pads looked slightly discolored, and the battery terminals looked like they were floating daintily on top of them. But alas, my efforts came to naught: the battery light still flickers when the unit is in use, and occasionally it resets completely; the problems seem to be correlated with putting pressure on the bottom half of the system, but there's no particular sequence of motions that can reliably trigger the problem. (It's worth noting that this behavior appears even when there's no cartridge in the slot.)

I guess the only thing left to do is to slowly check all of the solder joints and see if I can find one that's problematic. (And I'll probably have to wick off that big solder blob.) There's one video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNXGrplz37E) which suggests a problematic charge port can be fixed by reflowing (see also https://gbatemp.net/threads/best-way-to-repair-the-solder-joints-on-the-em8-of-a-gba-sp-ags-001.393428/ ). Maybe it's time to buy one of those neato USB microscopes I've heard about.

[Tokimemofan]

The problem is the power switch. This is a common problem on units that have been stored in humid conditions or were used by people with sweaty or dirty hands. Rapidly fliping the switch a few dozen times usually fixes it rubbing the switch will often cause the light to blink. This is very common with the old gba units because the switch is less protected. It us less common on gba sp units but still is a routine problem.

[Tanooki]

I've never heard that before but it does make a lot of sense, good call. I'm trying to nail down another GBA at the moment, not a fan of being stuck using just the micro I have for general use and having to use non-lit GBC for older stuff.

[Gameguy]

Look for a Gameboy Player for the Gamecube. This will be the best way to play these games after the rechargeable batteries all die in the handhelds.

[Tanooki]

Or do as I had done, throw a 101 screen into a GBA, it uses 2 AAs. It was the perfect melding of form and screen along with no crappy OEM batteries to worry about.

[Leo_A]

Look for a Gameboy Player for the Gamecube. This will be the best way to play these games after the rechargeable batteries all die in the handhelds.

While an amazing accessory, the problem is even with three Game Boy Players, I still like to enjoy them on a handheld while laying back in bed sometimes.

So I'm sad that my power button is a problem with my backlit SP, which was bought new during the system's last Christmas as a mainstream product before the hardware supply dried up. Darn thing only ever saw perhaps 100 hours of use in total and is no doubt one of the youngest GBA's in the world.

Besides the fact that they don't even play GB/GBC titles, my DS and DS Lite aren't even very satisfactory for GBA games. Poor button mapping kills the enjoyment on a number of games like platformers while the screen of the DS is dimmer than a backlit SP and cartridges annoyingly stick out of a DS Lite.

It's one nice thing with the Wii U's touch screen. I've actually rebought much of my GBA collection off the Virtual Console and can lay back once again thanks to off-screen play and enjoy quite a few of those games and many more from the NES/SNES/N64 days whenever I feel lazy.

[Niku-Sama]

Problem with the game boy players is those damn discs and resellers

[fahlim003]

Problem with the game boy players is those damn discs and resellers

The problem is people are paying the resellers when there is a superior alternative that only costs the price of a modchip installation: http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2782

This is a more recent development but why anyone would choose the GBP over this at this time is likely down to lack of information. GameCube mod chips are also very easy to install and at $12 per chip a significantly lower priced investment than a pressed GBP disc.

[Jorpho]

I mentioned in another thread that the GBA Player disc can be launched from the SD Media Launcher, so it seems that chipping isn't necessary (though I didn't try it with a copy of the GBA Player disc).

I hadn't heard of Home Bros. (http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3023), but considering that requires being able to write to a Gamecube memory card, maybe it's not that useful.

My big beef with the GBA Player is that the D-pad on the Gamecube controller is just so crummy, and the analog stick isn't so good either. Is there a reliable third-party accessory whose D-pad is recommended?


The problem is the power switch. This is a common problem on units that have been stored in humid conditions or were used by people with sweaty or dirty hands. Rapidly fliping the switch a few dozen times usually fixes it rubbing the switch will often cause the light to blink.That was mentioned on the previous page, yes. It seems to me the switch is pretty well sealed, but then testing just now does suggest that rubbing the switch does indeed serve as a semi-reliable means of triggering a freeze/reset/flickering.

A bit more Googling turns up this switch replacement guide (http://www.instructables.com/id/Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-Power-Switch-Replacement/) which links to a thread that explicitly discusses exactly how to deep-clean a power switch (https://gbatemp.net/threads/gameboy-color-blown-fuse.366969/) – though it still requires a teensy bit of soldering. This looks really promising! (Of course, it's all technically GBC, but as discussed in the switch replacement guide, it's pretty much the same thing.)

[celerystalker]

I mentioned in another thread that the GBA Player disc can be launched from the SD Media Launcher, so it seems that chipping isn't necessary (though I didn't try it with a copy of the GBA Player disc).

I hadn't heard of Home Bros. (http://www.gc-forever.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=3023), but considering that requires being able to write to a Gamecube memory card, maybe it's not that useful.

My big beef with the GBA Player is that the D-pad on the Gamecube controller is just so crummy, and the analog stick isn't so good either. Is there a reliable third-party accessory whose D-pad is recommended?

That was mentioned on the previous page, yes. It seems to me the switch is pretty well sealed, but then testing just now does suggest that rubbing the switch does indeed serve as a semi-reliable means of triggering a freeze/reset/flickering.

A bit more Googling turns up this switch replacement guide (http://www.instructables.com/id/Nintendo-Game-Boy-Color-Power-Switch-Replacement/) which links to a thread that explicitly discusses exactly how to deep-clean a power switch (https://gbatemp.net/threads/gameboy-color-blown-fuse.366969/) – though it still requires a teensy bit of soldering. This looks really promising! (Of course, it's all technically GBC, but as discussed in the switch replacement guide, it's pretty much the same thing.)

8539
Yep.

[Jorpho]

The Hori Digital Pad, eh? Seems to be hella expensive, unfortunately.

[celerystalker]

Hadn't priced it out in awhile... didn't realize it was getting costly. I had the same complaint, and when that Hori pad came out, I grabbed one right away. That, and that Saturn PS2 pad. The Hori GC controller feels like a Super Nintendo controller other than the silly Gamecube button layout, so it was pretty great for the Metroids and Castlevanias.

[Niku-Sama]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hori-Game-Cube-Controller-Accessories-JP-GAME-/331785789085?hash=item4d3ff95e9d

I cant imagine that controller is going to go up a whole lot considering it didn't show up when I was searching hori and gamecube.
but you never know
you have to space out "game cube" like so and not many people seem to do that

[Jorpho]

Nicely done – but yes, with three days to go, there is much that may yet happen.

I take it that it's completely useless for games that require the analog stick?

[celerystalker]

Yes, it's useless for analog games. For GBA, though, it's tremendous.

[Jorpho]

You just know there's dozens of these things collecting dust at one Goodwill or another, and no one has the slightest idea what they're worth. Seems there's a "Pelican GC Retro Pad" that's fairly similar.

Did no one release any kind of adapter that would let you plug in a PSX pad or SNES pad, or pretty much anything else? Aside from the GC-to-GBA cable, of course.

[Jorpho]

My, my. Has it only been two years since I was last poking in this thread?

I finally decided to do something about my GBA SP. It seems there's some questonable information about this problem out there. I found this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrEBJCugzaQ) which advocates sticking sandpaper between the switch cover and the main body of the switch – but the cover is nonconductive and the lever beneath it is just plastic, so all that's going to do is put extra pressure on the lever. It's practically impossible to jam sandpaper (or even ordinary paper) into that space anyway.

It seems the only way to fix this thing properly is to desolder the switch cover and get in there with some isopropyl alcohol. Fortunately, there's a video for that now too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G946mQCkIQc

This guy did it a lot more gracefully than I did; I was fumbling around for a while with a desoldering pump. It doesn't help that the pads holding down the GBA SP switch cover are a whole lot smaller than the ones for the original GBA, as seen in the video.
10511

But here we see the contact pads in the switch of my unit, before and after a little rubbing with a cotton swab and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It's amazing those pads got so dirty; this seems like a big engineering oversight on the part of Nintendo.
1051210513

This picture illustrates what you should NOT do: I bent open the cover, but was unable to bend it back sufficiently afterwards, so it didn't fit quite as tightly as it did originally. It is probably best to desolder both sides of the cover instead.

Once I replaced the switch cover and reassembled everything, I was still getting a flickering power light, so I opened the GBA SP up again and managed to slide a small piece of sandpaper under the considerably looser switch cover. This, I presume, exerts the necessary pressure on the switch lever to ensure a good contact with the cleaned pads beneath. Everything seems to be fine now – the power light is a solid green, and no amount of squeezing or tapping can make it flick to red. As it should be!

10514
Another useful piece of advice: you might be tempted to swab the underside of the switch lever, but the contacts there are VERY fragile and I managed to bend them completely out of place with my cotton swab. :yipes: Don't do that. Fortunately it was just as easy to bend them back into place afterwards.

...By the way, are there any bold new initiatives for connecting something like the SNES Mini controller (or any other controller) to the Gamecube? Hori digital pads haven't come down in price at all.

[Gameguy]

But here we see the contact pads in the switch of my unit, before and after a little rubbing with a cotton swab and 99% isopropyl alcohol. It's amazing those pads got so dirty; this seems like a big engineering oversight on the part of Nintendo.
Nintendo does have some engineering problems from time to time with their portables. I dislike how the ribbon cables on their original Gameboys are just glued in place instead of being soldered as that's what always seems to fail with them now.


Everything seems to be fine now – the power light is a solid green, and no amount of squeezing or tapping can make it flick to red. As it should be!
Let's see what happens when the battery gets low, if it now stays green permanently and just goes dead.

[Aussie2B]

This was an interesting topic to read through. I'll have to keep it in mind for possible use down the road. I got my backlit SP brand-new when they were still sold in stores, and I've used the heck out of the thing since. The battery still works well and holds a fairly lengthy charge, plus it'll retain a charge even after months of sitting unused. But sometime within the last few years, my power switch has gotten finicky. Sometimes it'll switch to red and then back to green, even when it was just fully charged. Other times, I'll turn it on, and it'll be red immediately, even though it's fully charged. And then sometimes I'll flip the switch, and it won't turn on at all. I'll just have to move it back down and try again. I once in a great while will get random resets/shut downs, but those generally come within seconds of powering the system on. If I can get to the point where I've already loaded up my file or what have you, then I'm good to go and can play for hours. So all things considered, it's been pretty easy for me to just ignore this issue thus far, but it does bother me that it's not working 100% anymore and I worry about this issue growing more problematic.