As many others I had a Gameboy as a kid and forgot it for a couple years. Fast forward a few years and i found it again with batteries still in the battery compartment... long story short my childhood gameboy was defective because of the leaked batteries. Then i started out on my journey to bring exactly THIS Gameboy back to life. And as a lot of Gameboys out there have corrosion damage i decided to build the replacement boards also for the other gameboy versions. This page will also be used to document my projects and create a reference with all the information i collected over time.
I will extend the information posted in this repository over time. To seperate the different projects i will create subfolders which can be easily navigated by the below links.
Mod boards:
When battery powered devices are stored with batteries still in them they will start leaking one day. Once the acid is leaking from the battery it will start corroding the battery terminals and also the copper traces on the pcb. If this has just started the pcb should be fine after cleaning but if the acid could work for a couple month the motherboard will probably be damaged. Smaller damage can often be repaired easily but once the damage is too much they are beyond repair.
As i collected multiple gameboys over the years with pretty badly damaged pcbs i needed a solution to repair them. My final decision was to create a replacement pcb that i could transplant all the original parts to and have a fully working system again. And while i did all the work i could also choose the color! The below system is an example of how a repaired gameboy advance with such a new pcb looks like when fully assembled.
Short answer: Yes!
Single board: 10€ +shipping
5 boards: 40€ +shipping
I do offer the unpopulated replacement motherboards as mentioned above. The boards are a direct replacement for the original boards. To assemble them you can transplant all components one by one to the new boards and you have a great looking motherboard. For some of the boards a BOM is available (or will be available!) to assemble them with brand new components if you like. Some components like the CPU, DCDC converter and power switch for example have to be taken over from a donor board. If you want a custom amount or even have a special request feel free to contact me.
I do also offer assembled pcbs for 125€ (+shipping) on request and do sometims have assembled boards ready to ship. If i do have assembled boards directly available they are listed in the table below.
If you want to contact me feel free to drop me a mail: N64freak@gmx.de
Available blank replacement boards:
| Board version | Color |
|---|---|
| DMG (Original Gameboy) | Black, Purple, Green |
| MGB (Gameboy Pocket) | Black |
| MGL (Gameboy Light) | Black |
| CGB (Gameboy Color) | Black, Purple, Blue, Red, Green |
| AGB (32pin) (Gameboy Advance) | Black, Blue |
| AGB (40pin) (Gameboy Advance) | Black |
Available blank mod boards:
| Board version | Color |
|---|---|
| MGBC (Gameboy Pocket-Color) | Black, Red, Green, Blue, White, Yellow, Purple |
| MGLB (Gameboy Light-Pocket) | Black |
| MGLC (Gameboy Light-Color) | Black |
Available blank proto/test boards:
| Board version | Color |
|---|---|
| AGB (40pin) (Gameboy Advance) No Silkscreen | Black |
| AGB (40pin) (Gameboy Advance) No Silkscreen, tactile buttons, tantalum caps and power cleaner mod | Black |
Currently available assembled boards:
| Board version | Color |
|---|---|
| MGBC (Gameboy Pocket-Color) | 1x Black, 1x Red, 1x Green |
| DMG (Original Gameboy) | 1x Black |
| MGL (Gameboy Light) | 1x Black |
| MGLB (Gameboy Light-Pocket) | 1x Black |
| MGLC (Gameboy Light-Color) | 1x Black |
| MGB (Gameboy Pocket) | 1x Black |