GBA SP Shoulder button

[bargora]

The left shoulder button on my GBA SP became intermittently unreliable. So I decided to take it apart and fix it somehow. I didn't know exactly how, but something had to be done.

Step one. Find that tri-wing screwdriver that came with your Afterburner kit. Don't have one? Rotsa ruck. The tri-wing bits from your standard security set probably (1) won't fit in the recesses and (2) are too big for the screw heads anyway. Anyway, unscrew the five visible tri-wing screws.

Step two. Curse when it won't open. Assume battery compartment treachery.

Step three. Realize that you cannot find a jeweler's screwdriver fine enough to remove the battery door screw. Grab Dremel, carve a groove in the screw head and battery door. Now grab any damn flat-head screwdriver you please and remove the screw. Pop out the battery and discover...

Step four. Eureka! The mysterious sixth tri-wing screw lives in the battery compartment. Finally, the halves come apart.

Step five. Realize that you should have opened up the GBA SP with the battery side down, since a shoulder button assembly and some random nut just fell out of the back shell onto the table. Where the hell did that nut come from?

Step six. Hold the battery in place while powering on the GBA with a GBC cart in to test the shoulder button function (since the shoulder buttons stretch/shrink the screen). Reinsert the cart when garbage comes up on the screen. Determine that the intermittent fault is still there.

Step seven. Come to the hairbrained conclusion that desoldering the shoulder button microswitch is the best thing to do. Apply soldering iron, and then realize that more than two solder dots are holding the thing in place. Realize further that the circuit board would likely need to be dismounted before the shoulder button microswitch could be taken out. Look at the screws holding circuit board in place, realize that the Dremel isn't going to save you this time. Think: "Screw that." Temporarily abandon hairbrained desoldering idea.

Step eight. Examine the shoulder button microswitch more carefully. Play around with the rubber nub sticking out until it pops out in your hand. Oh, shit. Was that supposed to happen? Can I get it back in there? Man.

Step nine. Use the mini-triwing screwdriver to actuate the switch (again, while holding the battery in place and using a GBC test cart). Notice that the metal plate in the switch has a fair degree of play. Blow vigorously into the microswitch in the hopes that any foreign debris futzing up the switch might come dislodged.

Step ten. Test repeatedly. Hey! The damn thing works now! Abandon hairbrained desoldering scheme entirely. Stuff the rubber nub back into the microswitch. Analyze and reassemble the shoulder button mount. Figure out where that damn loose nut is supposed to go. No, really, it goes there, not there. Reassemble the case.

Step eleven. Realize that you have an extra screw left over that should have gone into the battery compartment. Disassemble the GBA SP once again and put the screw in place, then reassemble.

Step twelve. Gloat over your successful cleaning/repair/whatever. Play Defender/Joust and Pac-Man Arrangement. Post your victorious repair story at DP. It's Miller Time.

[omnedon]

That sounds like some of my adventures, including abandoning hair brained ideas in mid attempt...

[§ Gideon §]

Step two. Curse when it won't open. Assume battery compartment treachery.

Heh heh. True!

Step one. Find that tri-wing screwdriver that came with your Afterburner kit. Don't have one? Rotsa ruck.

Step three. Realize that you cannot find a jeweler's screwdriver fine enough to remove the battery door screw.

That same tiny jeweler's screwdrivers can be used in lieu of the tri-wing driver. Trust me; it works pretty well in a pinch.

It's Miller Time.

Damn straight.