So I picked up a mint condition Virtual boy for cheap the other day and was bummed to find that it didn’t power on when I got home. So I did what I usually do and opened her up for a look around. I found I was getting 9v at the input side of the DC converter but only .65v on the output. I set my power supply to 5 volts and disconnected the ac adapter from the controller before feeding 5v directly to the output side of the converter. The console immediately sprang to life with a whir and a tune from the game. I was able to verify the screens were working great and very crisp so now I need to replace the converter with something comparable. Anyone ever replace this part and how did you do it? Buck Converter? Linear Regulator? Feeding 5v direct from a 5v adapter? Any Help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Theres a bunch out there, you just need a standard step down that will handle the current

Yeah I know there are a lot of options. That’s why I asked if anyone has any actual experience with a certain product for a replacement.

The site actually has a very nice search engine. Here’s the thread you need:

https://www.planetvb.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=3661&forum=

Thank you for your help. Unfortunately, I had read through that before and only see mention of a 7805 for stepping down current. I was hoping that because of the heat problems associated with the 7805 someone had come up with a better way. I think I have pretty much exhausted the forum topics on this part at this point as I have tried every search word combo I can think of. I see mention of people replacing them, but they usually have a donor board or use a 7805.

Yes, but the main point of that thread is the pinout of the module, and the way the “power-good” signal works. With that info, you should be able to pick any DC-DC converter or other 5V source, and hook it up in place of the 7805. Do a search for “5v LDO” on your favorite electronics website. “LDO” means “low drop-out”. They’re more efficient.