City of Amnesia

All of us here remember when the original GBA came out. Most of us here where teenages, I, however, was of the mere age of 7.

When the GBA came out I begged my mom to get me the violet one. But instead I got Pokemon Crystal. I was a little sad that Christmas, as I wanted the GBA more then Pokemon. But not all was lost. The next day my mom took me over to her parents, and for Christmas I got exactly what I wanted from them, a violet GBA. That turned out to be the best Christmas ever.

My best memories from childhood involve this old friend, from playing Megaman Zero and Battle Network to beating the E4 in the advanced generation pokemon games. Defeating Dr. Robutnik in Sonic and playing through KH:CoM.

As of yesterday, however, this old friend is no longer with me. I put some batteries in and it refused to power on. I tried with different batteries, but all to no avail. It will no longer work.

So I say goodbye to my old friend, and look for a replacement. 12 was a long run, but it had to end someday.

Here's to you, my GBA, one of the greatest friends of my childhood.

have you tried getting an adapter for it? I don't even bother with batteries much for anything.

Take my Game Gear for example...

Give her a Viking Funeral good Yuko.

God Speed GBA, God Speed! :salute:

Sorry, Yuko. That makes me sad as well...

DS Lite's still have GBA ports "It's what makes Guitar Hero Possible..." (Said in best Dr. Emmett Brown impersonation...)  8) I love the Simpsons Road Rage and Marvel Avengers GBA games that I borrowed from my sister (actually she game me the Simpsons game). I also have a GBA cartridge of Cartoon Network "Cartoon Cartoons". I would like to get more "Cartoon Cartoons" cartridges and maybe a Robotech GBA game

However, I can't see buying a DS Lite as an affordable solution... I suppose you could try the adapter, to see if it's a power issue? By the way, depending on the design of the battery contacts, you might have to occasionally bend them out to make good contact with the battery (they sometimes get crushed down on electronic devices that have seen lots of use). Get a small screwdriver and bend them out slightly, enough that the batteries push them in when installed (so you know the contacts are tight).

Also, make sure the battery contacts are clean. Clean them with a pencil eraser, wipe them with rubbing alcohol, clean them with contact cleaner (Radio Shack, Home Depot, other hardware stores), or all of the above. It sounds silly, but I once bought "*new* RAM modules" from eBay (i.e. *new* being an eBay term meaning "corroded" or "found under an IT desk") that produced boot errors on my brother-in-law's father's PC.  :o Desperate, I cleaned the gold contacts with some contact cleaner from "Home Depot", and suddenly no issues.  ;D

If worst come to worst, there is always "Virtual Boy Advance" a GBA emulator (you can Google "Virtual Boy Advance"). Owning an emulator is not illegal. Also, you are legally allowed to download the ROMs of games you have (just as you can legally make MP3's from your CD's). Also, I suppose you could see if Gamestop, other game shops, or eBay has any inexpensive used ones.

I tried the adapter, but it still refuses to power on. A store I frequent for older used games has one on hold for me. But still.
 
I already have a ds lite, but I loved that gba. I'll try opening it up. I've done it before, and after wards it was fine, but I think the screen may have come unpluged, or the battery port disconnected.

Both of these are fixable, just a pain to do.

I can get a classic GBA for...$15 from a guy I know who owns a popular video game store in the area. Or was it $20? I don't remember, because I want the SP, which he has for $30.

Ah...VBA...I use it CONSTANTLY...more than any of my other Emulators...oh, anyone know where I can find a ROM for Link's Awakening?

I know, your GBA has sentimental value. My wife got me an arcade collection for the DS (I think it's the Namco museum one) that includes Galaxian among it's games. While it's fun, I can't help thinking back to the 80's Galaxian LED-sprite game that my parents got me. It featured a two player mode, so you could fly Aliens ships into someone, or dive bomb someone. If I remember correctly, I think I even beat it (Several levels w/no save - Whew!).

Is there anyway to glue (temporarily or permanently) the battery port and/or screen connector plug(s)? That might save you the trouble of opening it again, at least for a while. I once did "field surgery" on my PC at a LAN party, because I inadvertently knocked off my floppy drive cable during an upgrade. Machines, machines...they're a pain sometimes...but so much fun...

-Final

P.S. Char, check your PM's. Merry Early Christmas.

Holy Epic ROM Files, Batman! Thanks!

Scanned the file. It's clean.

The battery port, cover and all that is fine. It's the screen that needs to be replaced. One of the microthin lines that makes the screen work has gone black. It should be orange.

If I can buy a replacement screen I would, but i may just be buying another used gba. :'(

The moment you replace a major part, it is no longer your old GBA. Or is it? I often wonder that about old cars or other devices that get many replacement parts. Where do you draw the line between your old possession and something unrecognizable? Must be subjective.

When talking cars, it's always your old car, no matter what you do to it. If you had an original `68 Camaro, and added a lot of chrome to the engine, threw in a supercharger, Edelbrock headers, a tank of NOS with a full wet purge system, Mickey Thompson street drag tires, etc, etc...then gave it a really nice paint job...It's still your old '68 Camaro...just a finished version.

Gamer's rigs/LAN rigs can be thought of the same way, since they're modifiable like cars. Mine is 2001 keyboard/case with new mouse (I have the original though), and 2007-2008 guts...

Then it's just an upgraded 2001. So yeah, it all shakes out.

Cars also have certain parts that are intended to be replaced. Filters, belts, tires, brakes all wear out over time and are meant to be removed and replaced. So I didn't get a new car every time I changed my oil. OR DID I?

If you have that kind of money, can I have some so I can fix my Red Comet?

Yuko, could the circuit trace be rejoined with one of these?
CAIG CircuitWriter Pen @ Radio Shack - $20 (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3964901)
Same CAIG CircuitWriter Pen @ Frys.com - $12.99 (http://www.frys.com/product/2931025)
CONDUCTIVE TRACE PEN @ Electronix.com - $21.99 (http://www.electronix.com/conductive-trace-pen-p-9249.html)

You would probably have to scratch off the plastic coating with a needle or push-pin. Depending on how wide the trace is though, it might work.


Not sure about that, but I run synthetic oil in my (now old) red coupe, and it rocks. In winter, it starts up like dirty regular oil in summer (i.e. less engine lag), and heats up alot quicker.


Sorry if I've mislead you Char, but most of these upgrades were done on the cheap (except for the GeF 7600GT, a little over $100, but was supposed to have 2 rebates, not 1. Darn Zipzoomfly.com...). If I remember it right, I think the CPU was ~$100, the HDD and mobo were each about half that, I got the DVD burner used off a buddy of mine for $20, and the 500W power supply was $0 ($28 w/ $28 rebate). Yeah, PS is cheap, but OK. Kept the 17" Trini used in my 2001 build...

My 2001 build cost me $1000+ at the time. (Would have been almost $1000 even, but for the new DVD-ROM, from a computer show, that turned out to be an unmarked refurbished drive and nonfunctional to boot. Even the replacement refurbished DVD didn't work. So I gave up, and shelled out money for another generic brand - $30+, but at least it worked. However, my 2007-2008 build ended up ~$400. At the time, my dad had suggested I buy a new PC for $400 rather than upgrade, so I researched what upgrades $400 would buy. Suffice it to say, my 2007-2008 build could blow the doors off that $400 new PC... 8)


UPDATE 12/20/2010: Here is a link to a user that has fixed a ribbon cable with a circuit pen:
Self Trained Computer Wizkid: How to repair broken ribbon cable (http://stcwk.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-repair-broken-ribbon-cable.html)