Let's Mod: Nintendo Gameboy Pocket Bivert and 5V Regulator Install
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- Опубликовано: 21 янв 2019
- My buddy Dustin has successfully removed the rear reflector and polarizing filter (no small feat) on his pocket and added a backlight but he wanted to try out adding a bivert and 5V regulator to improve contrast and brightness. So he sent me his gameboy and asked me to make a video chronicling these installs. So let's see how to go about fitting these modules in the rather petite pocket.
Note: keep in mind this video isn't a concise, exact step-by-step instruction on how you MUST to install the bivert or 5V regulator, it is just my process and I cannot be held liable for any damage if you decide to follow these steps.
Here's a link to the diagram I used to figure out how to wire the bivert module to the pocket: handheldlegend.com/products/g...
Bivert+Backlight Kits: ebay.to/2DpotcU
5V Boost Converter Module: ebay.to/2GKz4k0
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Special thanks to Eric Skiff for freely providing the music used in this video off his album Resistor Anthems. His music can be found at ericskiff.com/music/
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I don't know if you remember, but you helped me try to fix my Gameboy Pocket bivert on Elliot's server. Just saw this video, and I'm very happy I can finally get this project done after so many months!
Thank you for this video! I tried this mod for the voltage regulator last year and couldn't get it working. Doing it your way worked great. I'm not sure what I did wrong originally but I think I was following a guide that used the regulator to replace the onboard unit so the vout pin to the logic board in that unit needed to be cut and used to power the backlight. Anyway, your way is more cleaner and no pins needed to be cut.
im here because Retro Gaming Arts mentioned your channel in their live stream last night. nice work!
Sweet!
Thank you ive been waiting for a video like this!
Nice job! I usually use smaller bivert chips so I don't have to worry about them pressing on the screen, but the baby powder is a great tip. I'm going to try using the regulator only for the backlight too, I usually cut pin 6 on the built-in regulator and power everything.
Thank you, I've been looking for a video that shows how to do the 5V regulator installation properly.
Excelent, I must do this with my GB pocket.
Fantastic Video!
You make it look so easy. I've destroyed one already lol
Oh believe me I have a good 3 or 4 pockets I've destroyed in the name of practice backlighting and whatnot. We all start out with failures, you just gotta stick with it until you get comfortable and gain the necessary skills.
I'm Vietnamese, I really like your videos
Thanks, glad you enjoy them!
I installed a similar module. With aliexpress. And he created noise in the speaker (in the description of 150kHz). I had to buy another (in the description of 350kHz) and it works perfectly
I've had a similar problem with the noise. Do you have a link to the one that worked?
thanks a lot for mentioning this! I was about to get the 150kHz one LOL
Super helpful!! Thank you
Glad I could help!
Thank you for this :)
Whats the best spot to pick the power for the 5v amp. Some used the post at the existing 5v converter but removed a pin. I guess you dont have to do that? . some just add it in like you did to those points. So many ways to do it I guess all work? Basically the small 5v converter pick a battery voltage spot not a existing 5v spot. I have the pocket version bivert chip ever solder one of those on? Its tiny.
In general it's a good idea to pick points at or near a decoupling cap that is across the 5v rail. This helps supply peak currents and reduce potential noise.
@@sjm4306 Ok so no need to do this like here and remove the pin? imgur.com/a/o8ErbQo I frikken messed the cable too on my trash found pocket., The screen was trashed anyway burned front polarizer and rear polarizer had a dot in it. if I flex the cable down it works. and it no longer dead in the center. :D Have to tape it down now.
Congrats you reached 10k subs
Thanks, but my analytics still show me at 9,924 so I'm very close, not quite there yet. But thanks for the congratulations!
sjm4306 no problem
Almost February, still rockin the leprosy sponge.....
Rofl, we've been through a lot together (... especially the sponge) ... so sad to think we shall part ...
I've searched everywhere for someone that could help explain how to install a voltage regulator into a Pocket with a Funnyplaying IPS screen. I'm getting a strange freezing/kind of screen burn when using a Nintendo Power flash cart. I think the regulator will fix this issue but I have no idea how to install it T_T please help
Thanks for this great video. Im hoping in doing something like this in the future. Has Elliot seen it?😏
Not sure, I'll send him the link.
Hey there! First off, thank you! I recently started my own business doing restorations and mods, and I have learned a ton from your channel. I was curious what gauge wire you used in this. I attempted it with 28 using the pins on the back of the board and the chip on the speaker. I couldn't manage to get the wires flat enough on the board to allow for a clean close, so of course, heat spot.
I used 30 awg solidcore kynar wire
@@sjm4306 Awesome, thank you! I think the difference in the 30 should be just enough slack to make it work.
Thanks for this I followed along and it works great now. One question though, when the batteries run low the game stops working but the backlight stays on. I started timing it and got to 25 minutes and gave up. Is this because the backlight uses such a little amount of power?
Yep, a stock gbp draws around 80-100mA (depending on if it has the power indicator or not) while the backlight is probably pulling closer to ~20-30mA. Additionally the cpu will brown out when the regulated supply voltage starts dropping due to low battery, while the backlight can still run so long as the voltage is above the forward voltage of the leds (~3-4V).
@@sjm4306 thanks for the reply. I suspected that was the case. I just let it run backlight only for the last hour, it really doesnt quit. I just measured the batteries with my multimeter and they are down to 0.85v lol. I am so happy you made this video, I was very disappointed with the backlight when I first installed it and handheld legend told me to replace the caps.. then told me to use the cart slot for power etc and when they kept giving me advice that didnt work I found this video. perfect.
Still confused regarding the voltage regulators. Why do you (or other people) install another one instead of replacing the original one? Or am I mistaken?
Good question, because the original one is actually two regulators integrated onto the little daughter board (a 5V one for the logic and a ~-19V one for the lcd). If you were to entirely remove it and just replace it with a 5V reg then everything would work except the screen would be blank.
I've burned the internal voltage regulator on my DMG Game Boy because I installed a 3rd party Backlight, Bivert and the 1st gen Everdrive... too much power consumption for this baby :(
So I'm going to buy and install the independant 5V Backlight voltage regulator that handheldlegend.com recommends.
My question is: if I add for example the CleanAmp Audio Amplifier will I have the same problem again? (more power consumption = more stress for the game boy regulator).
Also, is necessary to install the extra voltage regulator on other consoles like the GBA AGB-001 with the AGS-101 mod? Or in this case is just to get more bright?
I don't want to damage another console again!
Thanks!
EDIT: I just discovered that I have the very 1st Everdrive version (Everdrive GB) and not the "X-series", this old version consumes between 3 and 4 times than the x-series, that's the problem.
Would it be possible to desolder pins 4 and 5 of the CPU and bend them up instead of cutting the traces on the pcb?
Yes you can do that, just be super careful to only bend them once or twice as they will snap off if strained too much and then it will be super difficult to fix. I find it easier to cut the traces and if I wanna go back to stock I can bridge the cuts again.
So do you leave the old dc/dc board on and just connect the new regulator on its backside, or do you remove it entirely? Because when you were figuring out the pinout you held it in your hand (or was it a unit from another GBP?), but when you started to solder the cables it couldn't be seen on the video.
I'm quite new to GB modding and could not find an answer for this anywhere.
You wire the new boost converter in parallel with the original one's 5V output. If you were to remove the old dcdc and just replace it with the new boost converter the screen wouldn't work because the original dcdc actually has 2 outputs (5v, -19v) and without the negative voltage the lcd contrast bias is gone.
@@sjm4306 I see, thanks for the fast answer :)
So Ive heard some people install the 5v regulator and they also install a capacitor? or 2 capacitors. what is this for an can you do a tutorial on it?
Older systems tend to have capacitors that are getting old or have outright failed, leading to odd behavior like quiet sound/a dim or flickering display/system randomly resetting/or just plain not turning on. So it is usually a good idea to replace capacitors in consoles older than 15 or so years. I haven't done a video specifically on replacing caps on a console but yeah the next time I do a repair I can film a quick tutorial on it.
Will this work on a IPS screen? If so where would I solder it
I haven't tried it myself with an ips screen, but in theory I don't see why it wouldn't work. The installation would be the same as shown in the video, but you would do the ips installation steps after you are done with the bivert and 5v regulator.
Did I miss where you grounded the back light? I see where you grounded the regulator, but aren't you supposed to also ground the backlight to the regulator as well?
The backlight can be grounded to any ground point in the gameboy since the regulator is not isolated and all grounds are common. I used the ground point at the pocket's original dcdc converter at the bottom right side of the gameboy.
@@sjm4306thanks a ton! I have to do this mod to my GBP and was a little confused. Would it be ok to ground the regulator and the backlight to the same point? My backlight is already installed and grounded to the point you used on the regulator. If it's ok to use the point for both, it'll make adding the regulator very easy!
Yep, absolutely no issue grounding both at the same point.
Would the voltage regulator fit in the front center like where the Gameboy light has a chip?
Possibly depending on how thick the regulator is
@@sjm4306 I ordered the same one you used in the video
I didn't check but I suspect the inductor may stick out a bit too much but should be possible if you desolder it and extend the wires so you can attach it to the side of the module
It just occurred to me, to reach ultimate efficiency, we could use a constant current boost converter and drop the current limiting resistor, possibly using some solar lights IC or by modifying the boost converter.
Yep you could totally do that.
@@sjm4306 yep, very simple, if my math is right, the MT3608 with a 0.6V Vref, using a 10ohm Rsense will yeld 60mA (15mA per LED, assuming they are wired in parallel) hackaday.io/project/29502/logs?sort=oldest
How long does it take in real time? Also what would you say are the easiest GB mods?
The owner had already removed the lcd rear reflector and polarizer so just in terms of wiring the bivert and boost converter I'd say it took me about an hour, maybe a little less. The easiest gameboy mods are probably shell/button swaps.
Awesome video! Can you fix the link to the diagram for wiring the bivert module? Appreciate it!
It's the 8th picture on the sales page that I used. The 9th pic is useful if you wanna wire from the front of the board for easier soldering.
@@sjm4306 Ah, gotcha! Thanks!
Yeah I might do this on my pocket instead of buying a ips screen mod kit
You should be able to fit the regulator on the bottom right by putting it at an angle thus freeing the space on the speaker to fit the bivert on it. That way you won't apply pressure on the CPU when closing the shell :)
It seems to just clear the backshell near the cpu (I got lucky) and only presses if I screw the back on tight, which isnt necessary anyway. I know everyone puts the bivert on the speaker but as a digital board designer putting ~4mhz dot clocked signals through 4" wires and back would've driven me nuts lol.
@@sjm4306 No problem ! Maybe you could make your own bivert chips for the Pocket and make a video about it showing the pcb designing process
Yeah that would actually be a pretty easy/fun thing to do. I could even do it with cheaper discrete tiny smd resistors and transistors for kicks (all the commercially available bivert modules I see use inverters/NOT gates).
You added the 5v booster, Does this make the back light brighter? I noticed that after biverting mine, the screen is much dimmer than my original DMG with the same mod.
THanks for the help.
It does make it brighter if the original dcdc in the DMG was struggling. Most noticeably though it helps with contrast/flickering on the lcd and brownout resets due to overburdening the old dcdc.
@@sjm4306 I have ordered a 5v booster, to try out. I just found it strange that my original DMG is really bright and vibrant and the Pocket is really dim. Thanks for the help.
Also keep in mind the DMG uses 6 beefy AA batteries while the pocket only has two puny AAAs so right from the gate it has the disadvantage of having less power available.
sjm4306 Thanks, That was my thought on this too. I hope this helps some. Does the color of the backlight effect it too? I got the teal one from Handheld Legends, Should I have gotten the white?
Color does have an effect for certain colors. Red is gonna be the most efficient electrically (has the lowest forward voltage), then greenish colors (human eyes are the most sensitive to green so it looks relatively brighter than other colors at the same actual brightness) and then white/blue (our eyes are least sensitive to blue and white is actually a blue led that is covered in yellow phosphor to generate roughly white light so it loses efficiency in that process).
Could you provide a link to the 5V Boost Converter Module again please, as it's no longer available on eBay. Or the name of it (so it's possible to search for it elsewhere)?
Do a search on eBay for the following without the quotes.
"DC-DC 1.8V 2.5V 3V 3.3V 3.7V To 5V step up power voltage boost converter board"
Josh Gifford thank you!
Need someone to do this to two of mine haha
Nice video, dude! You're the first on RUclips to provide a look at installing the 5v regulator, as far as I'm aware.
Is there any advantage to using the original regulator for the original components and the new regulator for the backlight as opposed to the other way around?
The original built in regulator is likely less efficient at higher currents than a modern boost converter. I did a video awhile ago testing gameboy pockets with backlights (one with extra 5V reg, one only stock reg) vs stock pockets (with or without power led) to see the current draw and estimated battery life and found having the extra 5V regulator to power the backlight accounted for something like an hour or so extra battery life (I cant remember the specific time but it was significant enough). Best thing to do would be to just redesign the entire little converter module using modern parts as a drop in replacement which would net even more power savings (I may give this a shot if I get bored one day).
@@sjm4306 I'll buy some if you do that!
I also never have seen an install video on the regulator, so when I asked Shawn for some help we made it part of the deal to record it for myself and others. :) I feel famous. ;)
@@DustinHamiltonSituatedAction Oh hey, we've been chatting in the post on the Retro Future Community group about these regulators (I'm James).
I installed one of the Pololu U1V10F5 regulator boards in my pocket at the weekend, which was nice and small.
I believe the tutorial I followed made it so that the original hardware was powered by the new Pololu board and the original regulator board powers the backlight only.
shinynewjb awesome - I remember you posting about that too... I don’t think I purchased that one, though, and honestly perhaps I could have found a smaller one. I’m a total novice at that level of electronics modding, so I clearly just plain don’t know. Hah. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Shawn is hooking it up for me, actually, in a way that may prevent my Pocket from browning-out when using my EverDrive GB X7.
hey that radio shack flux was the first flux I ever bought. I HATED IT!
Lol, I know what you mean and it never runs out (I bought mine a good 15 years ago and it's still half full)!
I biverted and backlit a Gameboy Pocket. With fresh batteries my Everdrive worked. Now it doesn't. So I'll have to install one of these. Should 5v regulators be installed on DMGs also?
Yeah, everdrives are pretty power hungry, sound like your dmg could use a 5v buck boost to help (you need a buck boost since the dmg 4x AA starts at 6V and drops below 5V as the batteries die).
@@sjm4306 I haven't had any problems running an Everdrive on a backlit DMG.
Usually dmgs can provide more current than a pocket, but depends on factors like cap and dcdc age/wear. The pockets are especially weak though in the power department due to the choice of AAA batteries.
@@sjm4306 How about GBA Original? I have a AGS 101 screen one that makes the led flicker to red. Add a regulator or a rechargeable battery or both?
I'd start with a rechargeable battery and see if that helps. If not then adding a switching regulator might be a good idea.
does any polarizing filter work?
Black and white gameboys use linear polarizers. Luckily the majority of filters you find online are linear.
@@sjm4306 guess the iPhone ones will work ill just have to cut it can do 2 gameboy screens with 1, ok I have tested the ok from iPhone 5, the screen looks green on the Poket but it would be perfect for the Classic.
If you slowly rotate the angle of the filter you can change the shade from greenish to white to bluish.
Just bought a purple atomic Gameboy color👍 I got two questions for you, my brother has a gameboy pocket, doesn't turn on. If he paid you money , would you try to fix it? 2nd question, if I paid you money, would you mod my gameboy color to be backlit? I understand if you wouldn't cause it's a pain in the ass hah, I also know I could pay someone else to do it, but I'd rather support someone I can trust like you.
Shoot me an email at sjm4306@gmail.com and we can chat about it.
@@sjm4306 I sent you the email 👍👍
Hey. Thank you for your videos. Im gonna do the same as you here. Upgrade my backlighted pocket with a bivert and a 5V boost.
I ordered from Deadpanrobot and they didnt have the pololu booster I saw in the handheldlegend guide. But the "big brother" to it. It's a little bit bigger but it has "true shutdown".
www.pololu.com/product/2562 Is that something I should use?
Yes, that dcdc looks fine
@@sjm4306 I hope I can fit it since its a little bigger. The only difference what I can tell is that it has "true shutdown". Im not that good at this stuff. I mostly follow guides from the wiser people like yourself :P You know if that is something I should wire in and use? And if so, how?
Maybe Im being stupid here. Is that shutdown function built in? No extra steps needed?
It reads in the description:
Additionally, unlike most boost regulators, this unit offers a true shutdown option that turns off power to the load (with typical boost regulators, the input voltage will pass directly through to the output when they are disabled).
And: True shutdown OPTION that turns off power to the load
Not necessary since the gameboy has its own hardware power switch. This is more for embedded microcontroller systems so that they have the ability to completely shut themselves or other electronics off (as opposed to soft powerdown where there would be non-negligible standby current).
Good vid but
NES Micro?
Sorry, the nes board I'm using is being a bit of a pain now and only intermittantly works. Kinda on the fence if I should get a new retro duo just for another nes board or if I can fix this one.
Hey! I really want to try this out. Your ebay link doesn't work anymore but I saw someone link to this regulator: www.pololu.com/product/2564 and it should work about the same don't you think? Right now the backlight is drawing power from the lower right hand corner and it gets noticeably warm
Yeah that pololu reg looks like it would do the job. Also thanks for the heads up, I've fixed the link.
sjm4306 I think I'll try it, thanks! love your channel btw
Thanks, that means a lot to me!
@@sjm4306 So excited, just finished installing it in my switch light colored pocket: imgur.com/a/9Zf6XWn
It still behaves "weird" (power cuts etc.) but I think once I replace the caps it will pretty much be perfect, thanks!
That looks really good, especially like the backlight color. The power cuts can also be due to the power switch being finicky so it could be helpful to use a qtip to drop a bit of isopropyl alchohol inside the power switch on the pcb and work it back and forth a bit to clean the contacts inside.
More game boy vids
Dustin... Dustin who? I might know who you’re talking about
Dustin who is a fellow moderator over at the retro future fb page/discord. I just didn't want to give his last name in the video without his consent.
Hmm, I thought the ~16V on PIN 5 of that converter was used for the display, but I saw that it still works after you've removed it. Why would they go through the trouble then o.O That's a monstrous bivert converter module, there are tiny ones on tindie that fit between chip and LCD connector.
The Vee pin (~16-19V) pin you are referring to is to bias the lcd (basically control contrast). I didn't remove it or change anything that the original converter is doing, I just wired an additional 5V converter in parallel to supply just the backlight. The two pins cut for the bivert mod are pixel data 0 and 1 (for the 4 shades of gray). Yes I've been hearing about the new tiny bivert modules, I'll have to get some to play around with. I only used the larger dmg one because that is what my friend sent over for me to use.
@@sjm4306 ohhhh, I didn't spot that there still is a converter board in there. Since you had one in your hand I thought you just took it out :D thanks for making me look twice.
Lol, I just happened to have a spare converter I pulled from another pocket that happened to be labelled so I could reference which pin did what (interesting not all pocket converters have the pins easily labelled).
I made a footprint for it once and always go back to one of my projects for reference hackaday.io/project/16188-game-boy-cartridge-plus-programmer
Very cool, I gave it a like!
Sjm please say hi to me
Hi Argcei Ps4!