Does it give you a random word every time? With no save functionality, it won’t just repeat the same series of words the next time I boot the game up, will it?
My OEM stands allow for my Virtual Boy units to easily clip in from either direction. I have one replacement stand (from Hyperkin’s “Repair Box”) and it seems to be identical (aside from any Nintendo branding) but will only allow any of my Virtual Boys to easily clip in backwards.
I have found that I can “slide” the head unit into the replacement stand clip at a very direct angle and sort of pop it into place to get it on the correct way.
This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Fwow13.
Thank you for doing a video on soldering the ribbon cables.
If you have a flash cart, I would recommend grabbing the VUE-Master “Color Test No. 1” rom off the site. (https://www.virtual-boy.com/homebrew/vue-master/downloads/) It has full screen solid color images for each shade of red, and is really useful for finding dead or dim lines in the displays.
Otherwise, as far as retail carts go, I generally use Mario Clash for troubleshooting. It has a bright, full-screen opening, and is one of the games that makes sound right from boot (on the precautions screen). Makes for a good test cart.
Even if I disagree with your lukewarm stance on soldering the cables to the display boards, you did a great job here with this video. Hope it helps people that are brave enough to attempt it!
If you need to remove oxidation on the contacts, there are specific electrical contact cleaners that you can try to use.
I have used a product called “Deoxit” in the past (though not on any Virtual Boys), but its whole job is to de-oxidize electrical connections.
I hope you are able to clean up the cartridge port pins and solve your problem, I’ve never heard of a bad cart connection preventing a Virtual Boy from booting. Be prepared to keep hunting down the problem(s) if it still isn’t booting even after you clean things out.
You should definitely open it up and see if there’s any life at all in the unit when you try to power it on. It’s pretty difficult to pin down problems from the outside, and the Virtual Boy is a finnicky system with a lot of moving parts.
Thanks for reporting back Dr Honda! I’m sure this kind of detail will be beneficial to many in the future that are trying to diagnose issues with their Virtual Boys. It’s really good information to have documented on the forum.
It will involve soldering, but it’s still very easy to do. I would check a local game shop (if you have any). There are a lot of retro game stores that will replace batteries for you for a small fee.
Otherwise, it’s a pretty easy beginner soldering project!
If you go searching through the forums here, you should be able to find at least a couple more discussions regarding this.
It could be several things. Make sure there is no debris on or around the motor. Inspect and clean the sensor that monitors the mirror on start up, if it can’t see the mirror getting up to speed – the system won’t boot. Also make sure the cable connecting the main board to the the servo board is in good shape and connected well.