I tried searching the forum for this…

One of my Virtual Boys is very dim. It is not as bright as it should be. Any idea what kind of problem this is? I don’t think it has anything to do with the “glitchy display” problems.

I will open it up when I get my bit, but I am hoping someone has an idea for me.

Thanks,

It could be something as simple as dust or smoke on the lenses. I assume you could tell if it was on the outside, but if it’s on the inside, you can check once you have it open. Of course, if it’s gotten inside, it’s also probably on the mirrors and optical lenses, which will also need (careful! ;-)) cleaning.

There’s a small chance it could be the power supply not providing enough current to the LED arrays. I’m not sure how likely this is, though, since the supply is also running decoding circuitry in the arrays, and if that’s working fine, the LEDs should be normally lit. This could also be an FFC (flat flexible cable) problem, like the glitchy display syndrome, but if both eyes are affected equally, it’s more likely something on the mainboard, like an aging capacitor.

I can’t think of anything else it could be, but I hope it’s something easily reversible.

I’ve had that when I was fixing my glitchy display. If you think it could be a bad display. Play if you have them Mario Clash *Just Clouds Intro* or Golf *Main screen*. These games will show the first sign of a bad display.

Mario Clash *Just Clouds Intro* or Golf *Main screen* use almost all of the LEDs in each eye. If the flat flexible cable is comming off you can see it clearly. There will be lines but they will fade as the LED will shut off and the other will dem.

With Golf you can sit at the main screen and watch for flicker of scrambled graphics.

I opened it up and have it working correctly for now. One of the displays was not working. I didn’t really do anything other than disconnect the ribbons and unscrewed a few things and when I tried it again, it was working. After I screwed it back together with normal phillips head screws, I noticed I forgot a couple screws from the inside. For now it is working I guess. Anyone know why one display would go out and come back on?

Oh yeah, and to get the bit I ordered to work, I had to grind the sides smooth and put a notch at the end for a screw driver because some of the VB screw holes are too deep.