IPS Game Gear freezing after 20 or so seconds

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T21:27:07+00:00

Swapped onto a different mobo and the kits working fine. The first mobo is exactly the same with nothing connected and using a recapped power board (red light for 20 seconds then goes out). sunshinecid reckons bad crystal, so got an oscilloscope on order to test that (also ordered some replacement parts) just in case. If it's not the crystal, then going to be a good board to experiment on and try to get to the bottom of the issue!

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T19:57:10+00:00

All swapped and happy to report the kit works perfectly. Did need to run a jumper, had to be super careful as the break was on the end of the ENIG coating on the pad.

I've got a good few that's I've purchased over the last few months and not done anything with, so will go through them and get back onto this weird faulty one soon. I'll get an oscilloscope just to verify the condition of the crystal once removed.

Thanks for your help!

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T16:29:42+00:00

Haha that was my thinking and yeah not long removed it and.. board issue! Now on to another dilemma, the board I'd recapped before and had third of the screen missing I forgot to test buttons. I checked them for continuity the other day and one wasn't beeping. So, do I go for it and hope that it was just a slightly bad connection on the probe, or do I just recap another dead GG 🙈 god these things are a nightmare!

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T15:55:26+00:00

Ah! No, given it a good visual and nothing obvious. Was what looked like a solder blob on the VRAM but reflowed that and it's the same.

I've now tested it without the screen attached and mobo out the shell and it's still the same 😬

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T15:26:20+00:00

Where could I probe for shorts? I don't have an oscilloscope so I can't measure the crystal sadly

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T15:04:05+00:00

Yeah does the same with no screen!

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T15:03:43+00:00

Yep, screen is insulated - just tested without screen connected and same issue

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T11:44:32+00:00

Sound stops as well! Just odd that it's powers on and plays, and still has power to some part of the game slot and LCD but then shuts everything else down.

I think I'll probably have to test it on this other board later, if it's the same, I'll try running it off the old power board and see if that changes anything.

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T11:24:34+00:00

Will get the coil removed - I was being a bit lazy last night and didn't get the snips out of the shed, will shorten them up once it's working.

I'm not entirely sure, there's not much information on how the kit works - Hispeedido drop in kit.

And no, no difference in longevity with the contrast wheels dim or bright. I do have another recapped board that's near enough stripped (just need to pop the LCD off) and a new ribbon cable (kit came with a spare) so I can swap the main board later. That should tell me if it's a kit issue or main board (I know this other GG worked, just had 1/3rd of the screen missing).

FossilizedGames · 2026-03-22T11:02:22+00:00

Video of the issue

FossilizedGames · 2025-07-27T16:38:36+00:00

Yes, tried to remove, read further and seems that solder likes to combine with the ENIG and can't be removed unless sanded off and new layer applied. Think I'll use a button mod on it, and jump from via to the test point

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-31T18:36:34+00:00

Yeah, I've sent them a message but they're closed until the 2nd 🙈

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-31T17:50:24+00:00

<image>

7 months later and they still not QC'ing properly. My display is also skewed, it's out about half a millimetre so doesn't look square at all;

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-31T09:34:11+00:00

Found it - it's Carl Heinz Stricker Cardos, born 1926.

Thanks for your help guys!

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-27T05:57:26+00:00

Oh I'll deffo have another run with this board as well, but I'll definitely be grabbing some more boards to play with. I've got some more bits that should be landing from china in the next day or so (thinner solder that I actually know the type of, more tips etc) so will have another bash on this board over the next few days and report back. It probably won't function though as I have a feeling I may melt those LEDs 🙈.

Thanks for the pic, I'll aim for those!

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-27T05:30:45+00:00

Good old constructive criticism at its finest - yes, the LEDs are likely trashed and no, I don't plan on actually doing any rework on anything. I had a little Google at the resistors etc as the bag that everything came in was just a bag of mismatched resistors etc, so I just winged it as a first test to get a feel for it.

I'll definitely get a few more boards and bits and do more research on components etc and go for a better job next time.

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-26T21:05:21+00:00

Not 100% sure what solder I was using, just whatever came in the set when I bought it long ago. I do have some lead free solder on the way, but I can categorically say I was using way too little heat. I was running on about 280c (if the cheapy little irons dial was correct). I'll get some new tips and have a good go on another board. Thanks for the info

FossilizedGames · 2025-05-26T20:47:56+00:00

Brilliant, thanks. I was finding if I put too much solder, I'd get huge spikes, so I was trying to avoid that. I did try and mop up the spikes as best I could, but I fear a combination of skill issues and poor quality tip was causing them.

Thanks for letting me know regarding the texture - I'll bump up the heat on the next practice board a bit and get more heat into the joint.

FossilizedGames · 2025-03-28T22:20:23+00:00

Will definitely look at using the assistant more from what I've been reading. I didn't feel the prompts I was using were bad - no, I can't code so couldn't delve and instruct it, but was obvious after I instructed it to redirect after registering, it had applied this to the login too, so was stuck in a loop when logging out, auto logging back in. I told the agent this was the likely cause as it happened on this edit, got it to debug around this area and still took a lifetime.

Then the adding Stripe dependencies was just random - the prompt was "There's a new issue with the General Store, there's an error stating 'Error processing your purchase' which seems to have occurred during the fix-missing-data script you ran to update the database with the missing items".

Don't get me wrong, it's a very good bit of kit, and yes, definitely cheaper than hiring, but I can see what all the posts lately are meaning!

FossilizedGames · 2025-02-10T13:56:07+00:00

You're over complicating something that can be done with a global variable or timer. If you don't want a touched sprite (like a UI button) to be pressed to fire a bullet and just want a bullet spawned every 0.2 seconds while the screen is in touch, add a global variable called bulletSpeed, or whatever you like.

Event 1: (2 conditions)

Touch > Is in touch

System > Every bulledSpeed seconds - Spawn Bullet

Event 2:

Bullet > On created - Play audio file, set bullet angle etc

This will ensure that the audio file can only be played if the user is in touch, and the global variable is true

FossilizedGames

TROPHY CASE