A problem often encountered by Virtual Boy users are glitchy displays, leading to horizontal lines, reversed or generally distorted images, or even complete loss of display activity.
All those symptoms are usually caused by the ribbon cables connecting the LEDs to the motherboard becoming loose, or peeling away from the display PCB.
Fixing your Diplay: Oven method
DogP has come up with a way to fix the problem by opening the system up, removing the display, sticking it in the oven to re-melt the adhesive, and reassemble. It’s not a difficult procedure, except that the typical security bit can’t get to the deepest screws on the VB, so you either need a special screwdiver, a modified bit, or a modified screwdriver.
You can find a guide to fix your displays on DogP’s Project:VB.
Fixing your Diplay: Bypass method
Another way has been proposed by DanB. To permanently fix the problem, his idea was to replace the loosening ribbon cables with some better wires, which he soldered to the PCB. This solution requires much more skill, though, and should only be performed by solder experienced people with a steady hand and a huge portion of patience.
The complete guide can be found here.
Fixing your Diplay: New methods (RECOMMENDED)
Some more methods have recently been developed by DogP to permanently fix the cable problem (contrary to the probably non-permanent oven method): Thread.
I finished the model of mine tonight (I had the frame modeled, just needed to add a couple missing faces). It should be the right shape, and the holes should be in the right locations (according to measurements I had taken)… but I haven’t double-checked, and I haven’t printed it… so don’t expect perfection.
If I get a bit of spare time (maybe this weekend), I’ll do a test print to see how it looks. It should be easily printable on any 3D printer (thick walls, flat bottom, etc)… though you may need to drill out the holes if your printer isn’t perfect, since I think I made them the exact size (a lot of printers tend to print holes smaller than modeled).
Anyway, I attached a jpg of what it looks like, the Sketchup file in case you want to modify it, and the STL file if you want to print it. If you try it out, definitely post how it works.
DogP
Attachments:
I had a few spare minutes tonight, so I printed the clamp. Overall, it’s functional, and close to what I wanted… though not perfect. The good news is that my display works with it… the bad news is that the display is soldered, and was already working. 😉 Attached are a bunch of pics.
Improvements that I think should be made:
-Thicker back (it flexes more than I’d like, and since there are only two corners with screws, that’s a bit of a problem). On my printer, it’s only 4 layers thick. It can’t be too thick, or the screws won’t be long enough, though an option is to recess the screw holes.
-Thinner bulge. I was hoping the bulge would have a bit of a slope to it to press evenly on the cable, but it’s too thin for that to be realistic, and right now, pretty much the entire thing is two layers thick. I think that whole section should just be one layer thick. It might even be better with no bulge, since the cable already adds thickness between the clamp and the display PCB.
-Shorter curl. It doesn’t really stress the cable, but with the IPD all the way in, the cable has a tighter angle than I’d like. It really just needs to keep the cable bent toward the motherboard, which can be done with a much shorter curl.
One suggestion for printing… I’d recommend 100% infill. I had my default of 20%, and I noticed a slight bit of sagging in the bulge, where it added one layer of infill. Most of the time that’s not a problem, but here, we want to spread the force as evenly as possible, so the surface needs to be as even as possible.
Maybe I’ll get around to modifying this some day, or if any of you do it… please post it back up.
DogP
