Atari Lynx in desperate need of repair: Help save christmas!

[Crush Crawfish]

Hello...I recently purchased an Atari Lynx with 10 games, a battery pack, and a carrying case off of ebay. Unfortunately, when I received it in the mail today, I tried some games and realized that only one of the four a&b buttons on the right side of the system actually works.

My main problem is that this is a christmas present for my little brother, and my parents spent $80 on it. I don't want to have to tell them it's broken and that they wasted $80 on it. Is there any easy way to fix it? I can't tell if it's a model 1 or 2 either.

Everything else about the system seems to fine though. The backlight works, the games turn on, the screen is good, etc. It's just the damned buttons. I searched on google and previous topics but found nothing useful. If anyone can help, you'll have my eternal gratitude. Hell, I might even send you a free game if I can get this thing working. Please someone, anyone...help!!!!

EDIT: I just checked ebay and saw that the jerk who sold me the lynx got NARU'd. Serves him right. He said it was in fine working order. bastard. I should have known not to buy from a guy named "Imrotn"....

[FABombjoy]

Easy? That's a relative term.

To fix it right, you'll have to open it up and check the buttons. Maybe they're gunked up, like someone spilled pop on that side of the lynx and cleaning the contacts & carbon pads will bring them back. Maybe they're damaged. No way to know until it's open. Probably gunk, tho.

NARU or not, I'd demand a partial refund from the seller.

[Crush Crawfish]

Thanks for the response, man. Anyway, how do you open up a lynx? I looked all over and I couldn't find a single screw. I really hope it's just gunk. Thanks again.

[FABombjoy]

Do you have a backlight button? If so, it's a Lynx 2 and the screws are under the rubber grippy dealies on the back.

[Crush Crawfish]

Yes, then it's a model 2. Thanks so much...now let's see If I can bring this lynx back to life!!

[FABombjoy]

Just go slow and work in a clean area. You really don't want to get any dust on the LCD. For that matter, you really don't want anything to touch the LCD. It's very tough to clean without putting tiny scratches in it.

[Crush Crawfish]

Oh my freakin' god!! Me and my dad fixed it!! It took us two hours of moving things around and unscrewing stuff, but now it works better than ever! I'm so glad. Christmas is saved!! I can't even begin to thank you enough, FABombjoy. I feel so proud!! Maybe I'll try and fix some other broken stuff now...

[FABombjoy]

Yay! A happy ending! Christmas is saved! So what was the problem?

[Duncan]

Oh my freakin' god!! Me and my dad fixed it!! It took us two hours of moving things around and unscrewing stuff, but now it works better than ever! I'm so glad. Christmas is saved!! I can't even begin to thank you enough, FABombjoy. I feel so proud!! Maybe I'll try and fix some other broken stuff now...

You should feel very good about that. The Lynx is one tough mother to work with. (I've still got dust under the screen cover.)

Congrats! The Lynx is awesome when it's working right, isn't it?

[Cauterize]

Oh my freakin' god!! Me and my dad fixed it!! It took us two hours of moving things around and unscrewing stuff, but now it works better than ever! I'm so glad. Christmas is saved!! I can't even begin to thank you enough, FABombjoy. I feel so proud!! Maybe I'll try and fix some other broken stuff now...

Merry Xmas!