Hi there,

So I won this auction here: http://tinyurl.com/ajgluqy
Basically, a VB with AC adapter and 11 games (12 if you count Pinball twice). I feel like I got a good deal but I could be wrong.

Anyway, all the games are running fine and so is the system with the exception of one thing, on the left eye piece, there’s a small line(1/3 of the length of the screen) that’s only noticeable when you have a red background, meaning that it’s a black line.

It doesn’t appear to the the horizontal line issues that people normally have since these appear to be red lines and go completely from left to right. Also, that line seems to stay where it is if I move my head, meaning that it doesn’t seem to be part of the game screen, but more like in front of it.

Did anyone else ever get this issue?

Thanks

Welcome to the party! Great auction to win to get started, too! Insmouse is on my list, but prices tend to be a bit high…

Anyway, I have two units with glitchy displays and they both manifest differently. I’m inclined to say yours is also a glitchy display, but it also sounds like it could be a burn-out pixel (or one that’s not getting power or something). Very weird.

I’d say try to do the glitchy display fix anyway and see — just maybe you’ll end up with a fully functional unit! The soldering is tough (I’m too intimidated to attempt it on my units…), but I believe TheForce does repairs for people!

Again, welcome!

I’ll see if I can take a picture of this tonight, maybe it will help.

The black line issue is different from the typical glitchy display problem. See this thread here and be sure to click on the links mentioned in this thread:

http://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=21107#forumpost21107

Like I assumed, it may very well be something on the lenses itself since it doesn’t move when I move, like a crack in the window.

I have a couple dark spots on one of my displays, and initially thought it was a connection problem. It’s actually a scratch on the little clear plastic protecting the LEDs on only that display.

However, since they only appeared after I removed the display to perform maintenance, I figured it was my fault. Your Virtual Boy hasn’t been opened, has it?

I wouldn’t know since I bought it of ebay, who knows how many people owned that thing before I did.

Any VB first purchased has security screws on them. If the screws are phillips head your VB has been opened.

any 2nd, 3rd, or 10th hand vb that has been put back together with the original screws could still have been worked on. so you can’t say that they have only been opened if they have replacement screws.

Lester Knight wrote

Yes “Mr Chakin” you are right technically, but who on earth is going take the security screws out just to put them in again. I for one wouldn’t and I don’t know anyone who would.[\quote]

morintari wrote:
Any VB first purchased has security screws on them. If the screws are phillips head your VB has been opened.

Can’t really see inside the deep holes, but the visible screws are indeed security screws. That being said, I’ve opened my share of systems and games in the past few years using security bits, so it’s not really a way to know if my VB has been open or not.

morintari wrote:
Lester Knight wrote

Yes “Mr Chakin” you are right technically, but who on earth is going take the security screws out just to put them in again. I for one wouldn’t and I don’t know anyone who would.

I recently fixed a Virtual Boy for an American memeber here and he specifically instructed me to put the gamebit screws back in. So, there are purists out there that do put them, or let them put, back in those screws.

Lester Knight wrote:
any 2nd, 3rd, or 10th hand vb that has been put back together with the original screws could still have been worked on. so you can’t say that they have only been opened if they have replacement screws.

Actually, all morintari said originally was “if the screws are phillips head your VB has been opened.”

It’s definitely a completely true statement. If you see Phillips-head screws in your VB, you can rest assured that your VB was opened and was likely worked on because the original screws were not Phillips-head screws. He didn’t mention anything beyond that.

All of the security screws are supposed to have thread lock on them, though only one of my VB units had it on every screw. If you remove the screws yourself, at least *one* of them should make a loud crack when you first start to turn it. If they all come out real easy, and some or all have red stuff on the tips, then the unit has been opened.

For those interested in replacing the security screws with something decent and God-fearing, you can buy #4 x 1/2″ wood screws to do the job. All of the screws inside the unit are Philips.

I’ve opened one of my VBs a couple of times and I always put the security screws back in. Now, part of that is that it never occurred to me to put something different in, but the purist in me would want them, now that I’m thinking about it.

Any VB first purchased has security screws on them. If the screws are phillips head your VB has been opened.

Benjamin Stevens wrote:
Actually, all morintari said originally was “if the screws are phillips head your VB has been opened.”

It’s definitely a completely true statement. If you see Phillips-head screws in your VB, you can rest assured that your VB was opened and was likely worked on because the original screws were not Phillips-head screws. He didn’t mention anything beyond that.

that is your interpretation, not mine. i continue to read it that a “first purchased” (as in a new VB and/or never opened) has security screws and a “worked on” vb will not. as we have already discussed, that is not always the case.