Martel
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I bought a blue ASM Retro Density backlight, and installed it today following the guide here: http://oldsite.asmretro.com/mgb-backlight-tutorial. I soldered the two wires to the specified points on the front of the PCB, at VDD and ground. When I turn the system on with AC power before reassembling it, the backlight powers on, and there is sound, but no image displayed on the screen, even when viewed through the polarization filter. When I was removing the layers of film from the back of the LCD, I was very careful not to damage the ribbon cables, and there is no damage there that I can see. I have fiddled with the contrast dial also, to no avail.

What have I done wrong?

Last edited by Martel (Sep 13, 2014 11:18 pm)

stargazer
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SLC, UT

I doubt this is your problem, but to make sure, the polarized film goes in between the backlight and lcd. Like a sandwich. Starting from the farthest back you would have: pcb -> backlight -> polarized film -> lcd.

The way you said "even when viewed through the polarization filter" had me worried. You're not viewing the screen 'through' it as much as the light is shining through it.

Other than that, I don't know.

Martel
Offline
stargazer wrote:

I doubt this is your problem, but to make sure, the polarized film goes in between the backlight and lcd. Like a sandwich. Starting from the farthest back you would have: pcb -> backlight -> polarized film -> lcd.

The way you said "even when viewed through the polarization filter" had me worried. You're not viewing the screen 'through' it as much as the light is shining through it.

Other than that, I don't know.

I did as you suggested, and that was the problem. I now have an image on the screen.

However, when I reassemble the Gameboy, more problems arise. Sometimes I don't have sound, and sometimes there's no picture. When I take it apart again it works normally. Am I not putting this thing back together correctly?

I really appreciate your help!

EDIT: I've succeeded! The problem seemed to be the backlight wires being slightly beneath the button silicones. After reassembling it the Gameboy worked fine on AC power, but for some reason not on battery power. I changed the batteries and now it works well. This was my first Gameboy mod, so hopefully it holds together. Thanks for your suggestion stargazer.

Last edited by Martel (Sep 14, 2014 1:26 am)

toma
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nova scotia

When you reassamble the Gameboy, try putting the screws in lightly, and stop screwing as soon as you feel any resistance, especially the top ones around the screen. Screwing it in all the way puts pressure on the screen which can cause problems.

Last edited by toma (Sep 15, 2014 1:23 pm)