Nice work! A bit too fiddly for me though. How long did it take to get it done from start to end?

Difficult to say for sure, but I recon it is due to the infamous glitchy display issue.

Can you make a picture of it? Shouldn’t be too hard in a dark room. I think it is some kind of a mirror glitch which is “normal” for a glitchy display. But please make a pic of it and place it here.

Good thing there is no difference between left or right, so either one would help you out.

^^^^^^^^
What he said, you will have to buy a new mainboard. No other fix, I couldn’t find one at least.

I highly suspect the mainboard, I have seen that once before on a lot of VB’s I had to fix for Mawa. When I replaced the mainboard, problems were gone.

Tough to say for sure of course, but it is pretty likely the issue.

Depends on what you consider dirt cheap, just contact HP LoveThrash (USA based, but has been busy with moving as I believe) or me (EU based) if it takes too long for your tastes 😉

I could do it as well if you get no response from HP, I am located in the Netherlands though, which will add to the shipping costs and time of course.

That sucks and reeks of scamming if you ask me… Not interested in buying it, but you could swap out the display with a correctly working one, will solve your problem with less hassle I think.

[TheForce81]

It is extremely rare in my opinion, though happens more on Japanese VBs than USA ones. Just saw it on one USA display and 7 times on a Japanese display.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by TheForce81.

Yup, now I am a 100%, have seen dead pixels about 8 times now and this definitely is one. Would bring it back if I were you.

If it is one line of pixels, you definitely bring it back, it most probably is a dead pixel which isn’t fixable!

Thanks, me too 😛

I am here, still doing repairs, need to respond to your PMs. The thing is, I have broken my left hand, which fortunately isn’t my soldering hand, but I still need it to keep things steady. Also, typing goes at the speed of a snail…
Cast will be removed in two weeks, so will be good to go then.

Will respond with details to you guys soon.

This is indeed a severe case of dead pixels. It is a very rare thing in my experience and haven’t seen it on US models yet. Is yours a JAP or USA model?

I think 99% of the displays should be fixable if you are good with soldering as you seem you are. So that could be a good solution, buying a broken one cheap and fix the displays.

My experience with buying broken VB’s “as is” isn’t all that good though, once had two VBs where one didn’t have its displays anymore. After some discussion with the seller, I got a partial refund (to my satisfactory as well), but I don’t like these kind of practices.

Pretty impossible to see from the picture you just shared here. I have come across a few displays that had one or a couple of dead pixels. If the repair has been done right, the dead pixels show as horizontal perfect lines and do not shift any time at all.

This problem really sucks as it is impossible to fix unfortunately and totally breaks the experience of playing your Virtual Boy the way it is supposed to play.

Only way is to indeed just replace it. I have no spare displays laying around for that though.

If you make a picture of it with a camera on a tri-pod in a total dark room, it is pretty easy to make a good photo of the picture the VB is displaying.

The reason it shows as a complete horizontal dead line, is because there is only one horizontal pixel over the whole display per vertical pixel. The VB makes the picture have more horizontal pixels by using the vibrating mirrors to create a full picture. Hence getting a completely dead horizontal line.

Hello and welcome, yes, you need a game inserted to the system for it to display anything. So you don’t really know anything about your system like this unfortunately.

Your problem is bigger than the glitchy display issue for sure. If the sound drops when the displays stop giving you an image, it the motherboard, power source or a combination of both.
What it is exactly, I cannot tell you here on the forum. I do have some spare VBs laying around which I can use parts for to repair your VB if you want me to. Just send me a PM and we will discuss the details if you are interested.

You know what, since you dared to experiment on the repairs and posting your findings here, which helps the community to know if there is another good method of repairing the displays and how, I am willing to repair them with the soldering method for free if you want me to.
You only have to pay for the shipping costs and if you send the displays without the head unit, that saves you a lot on shipping!

If you want to use my offer, just send me a PM and we will sort it out.

[TheForce81]

This is bad, nothing permanent and not really a fix. Sorry to say, but the problem will return, could take a year or two, but it unfortunately will happen.

Thanks for clearing up what he does to “repair” them. Too bad it cost you money to no avail.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by TheForce81.