Hello,
I made a small comparison between the screen of Game Gear, both Atari Lynx models and Gameboys. I am lucky to have all these screens in good condition, all are original, not modded. Enjoy :)
Hey everyone,
I’m currently deep down the rabbit hole of a Sega Game Gear repair and I think I've reached the final boss. I’ve read the RetroSix wiki top to bottom, watched every YouTube tutorial, scoured forums, and even brainstormed the schematics with AI. I wanted to share my journey, what works so far, and see if you guys have any other suggestions while I wait for parts.
The Story & What Works: To give you some context, I bought this console as "junk" and it was absolutely disgusting inside. The capacitor and battery leakage was so bad that the corrosion literally looked like some kind of alien fungus growing on the board. It took me hours of tedious scrubbing with IPA just to get it clean enough to even see the traces.
Once it was finally clean, a standard full recap was done, but the screen and backlight remained dead, and the console would occasionally shut down (power board protection kicking in).
The VR1 Fix: I tracked down a corroded/shorted contrast wheel (VR1). Replacing it stabilized the power completely. The console no longer shuts down when adjusting contrast!
The Inverter Circuit: I verified that the 5V line is healthy and reaches the inverter (C31 -> L2 -> C81 = ~5V). Both fuses (FU1/FU2) are good, and the T1 transformer shows continuity. Q3 and Q4 have a healthy ~4.9V on their collectors and don't seem shorted.
The "Jumper" Miracle: Before fixing VR1, I experimentally jumped the 34V line to C35+ (contrast circuit). To my surprise, the CCFL tube actually fired up! This proved that the tube isn't completely dead and T1 can generate high voltage.
The Mistakes (How I learned the hard way):
The Probe Slip: While probing around the 34V line, my multimeter probe slipped and caused a tiny short. Now, whenever the 34V line is active/jumped, the power board immediately cuts off power to protect itself. I suspect I fried Q6 or Q8 in the contrast circuit.
The C32 Phantom Short: I measured C32 in-circuit and it beeped. I thought it was shorted, so I removed it (and mechanically damaged it in the process). I quickly realized it was just beeping through the T1 primary coil. Now the inverter's Royer oscillator is physically missing its resonant capacitor, so it has zero chance of starting.
The Current Plan: I’ve got a care package on the way from an electronics supplier. I ordered:
A proper 100nF 250V film capacitor to replace C32 and restore the LC tank circuit.
A whole set of NPN/PNP transistors (MMBT3904, MMBT3906, 2SCR533P, BCX53) to replace Q6/Q8 and clear that short, plus backups for the inverter and power board just in case.
Final Thoughts: Honestly, from a financial and time perspective, this stopped making sense a long time ago. I could have just bought a modern IPS or LED backlight mod, ripped out the high-voltage circuit, and been playing games by now. But at this point, it’s personal. I’ve learned an incredible amount about how DC-DC converters and Royer oscillators actually work, which is a win in itself.
Do you guys have any other suggestions or things I might have missed before I start replacing the transistors and C32? Any feedback is greatly appreciated!
*I also burned 2 power boards during the process xD
It’s the first Time I see this glitch after installing a Funny Playing kit.
I have sound and it seems to be the good Colors and movement.
What do you think ? Data bus problem ? I try to put a wire from the bottom of C61 to D2 on the IPS but it’s the same.
Any ideas ?
Hello folks,
I have a question regarding the CleanJuice mod for game gear.
A few years ago I managed to get an incredibly good deal on a original japanese Game Gear White, complete with case, on mercari japan. I bought it for about 25€ plus proxy service fees, from a woman who obviously didn't know that it was a valuable item. I replaced the capacitors myself, but because the GG drains batteries so fast, I only play it with an AC adapter, which is unfortunate for a "carriable" (portable is a stretch haha).
I don't want to use rechargeable batteries since charging and swapping batteries is also a bit too inconvenient.
I would love to install a CleanJuice usb C mod on my GG white, but this mod requires trimming some plastic off of the case and I couldn't bring myself to do this on such a rare model.
Is there a way I could install a rechargeable battery mod while keeping the integrity of the shell ? I really want to use this game gear as my main unit. It is a collection piece but I want to make use of it, just keeping it in its box is disappointing.
Thanks in advance
My retrospective look at Bonanza Brothers including arcade, all ports and spin-offs. What’s your thoughts of this 90s game?
This might be irrelevant to this subreddit but it’s the closest thing i could find to seek help on this crap. So basically there’s a line of dead pixels on my gg micro and idk what to do or how it even got there. Is there even a way to fix it???
Re-capped played for 20 mins then not booting get red light as normal screen is working but just light, no sound either, although it was working for around 20 mins, tried different games, just won't boot, have cleaned the cartridge port twice, checked correct power values on power board they are correct, I'm stumped Any help appreciated 👍
Even tho I know every other Sega character's that I know but I honestly never knew who tempo was until I looked it up and he's basically some type of grasshopper but has anyone ever played this game
I've been working on an Android app for my own needs to track my Game Gear collection. There are a lot of nice game apps out there but I found I couldn't customize them the way I wanted. My app shows me the 365 released games, in all regions, with all known names, and combines them into one list. Since I'm only building it for me I haven't pushed a release. If anyone wants to tailor it for their own desires feel free to grab the code from my GitHub.
I let a friend borrow my flashgear GG clone and it came back not bootable. I get the sega disclaimer so I know it recognizes the card. I wonder if it just needs to be reprogrammed with a jtag? I googled around but don't see much information. Should I just buy a new one?
Hi, I have one of those AliExpress USB-C boards lying around and a Game Gear that still uses AA batteries. I know these boards are not the best option, but it's what I've got. The only issue is, I can't seem to find any instructions for them. The board is marked '2S,' which would suggest you need to wire the batteries in series, but it also has two separate pairs of terminals to solder the batteries to. So, how is this supposed to be wired up? I don't want to fry anything on the Game Gear.
UPDATE: It works perfectly in the Retron5. I have no idea why.
My copy of Double Dragon was pretty dirty inside. I gave it a good scrub and cleaned the pins but I noticed it had missing background elements in-game. I cleaned it some more and then added flux and solder and reflowed the chip. No improvement at all. I then did a continuity check and all pins beeped out correctly.
What ya'll think? Faulty chip?
Summary:
Cleaned with IPA twice
Reflowed chip
Continuity on pins and chip tested good
No background elements in game.
Die s anyone have a cleanscreen that when you press left start and 2 that it just goes to a screen that says NO GG H, then cycles to numbers like 04 10 01 and then cycles to RESET. If I let go at anytime it cancels out. I just want to be able to add scanlines and it's hard to figure out.
This is George Michael. Literally. He looks badass here.
Edit: Three(3) games
*Note: the little one is 7-ish, but for personal reasons she isn't very good at reading/identifying letters/numbers yet.
**But due to her age, she is an AMAZING video game player! She's beaten most Mario games on our Wii U all by herself!!!
***She does, however, find all of the standard Sonic Game Gear games really boring. She only likes Sonic on Genesis.
For an upcoming road trip, I have the choice between:
- Tails' Adventure (I have never played)
I'm concerned about the need to type in a passcode each time she needs to start over to resume her progress... That can get tiring for a parent to support.
- Home Alone (I played a ton as a kid)
I'm concerned about her figuring out how to combine all the items to make weapons without being able to read their labels.
I feel both games will give her the complexity she so badly needs from games now, but the literacy may pose trouble?
Mockup of what a US release would've looked like, think it turned out pretty well. Used the screenshots and barcode from the JP box and found a full cover art photo without any text.
