Game Boy Zero won't turn on

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EXTINTOR
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Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by EXTINTOR » Mon Jun 21, 2021 11:36 am

Hi guys, this is my first project of this kind and I'm almost done with my GBZ. I temporarly connected the powerboost and flashed an SD card to see if everything was correct but... it won't turn on, not even the led on the raspberry. I thought it could be that I didn't flash the SD correctly and I tried again, with both the regular retropie image and the one provided by tinkerboy, but still nothing happens. My multimeter shows continuity and I don't know what could be the problem. If anyome could help me it would be really appreciated.
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Spyder
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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by Spyder » Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:32 pm

Its either the pi is bad or the SD. Do you have another pi to plug the SD into to check?

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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by EXTINTOR » Mon Jun 21, 2021 1:47 pm

I'm afraid I don't. Anyway I pluged the usb directly into the pi an this is what happened. I guess there is a problem with my wiring and the boot?
https://imgur.com/a/JQdfdba
Spyder wrote:
Mon Jun 21, 2021 12:32 pm
Its either the pi is bad or the SD. Do you have another pi to plug the SD into to check?

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Spyder
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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by Spyder » Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:13 am

If no light on the pi, its either the SD or the pi. Do you have another SD card you can try?
If the screen is wired to the pi and you power the pi, the screen will light up, but nothing will show on it because the pi is booting.

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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by rodocop » Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:24 am

Do you have a battery connected? If not, connect the battery to the power boost. If I recall correctly that power boost needs the battery connected to function properly.

Also, measure the voltage on the output of the power boost, see if it is providing 5v.

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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by rodocop » Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:36 am

And also, if the pi is stuck on the boot screen rainbow, re flash the SD card and try again.

Does it stay on the rainbow screen, or cycle through it? If it's cycling it may not be getting enough power to boot. Check the power supply you are using.

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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by EXTINTOR » Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:29 am

I connected the battery and still nothing . Then, I measured the voltage of the output and it reads 2,36 v, this is probably the first thing I should've done but I'm still a noob. Should I get a different powerboost?
rodocop wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:24 am
Do you have a battery connected? If not, connect the battery to the power boost. If I recall correctly that power boost needs the battery connected to function properly.

Also, measure the voltage on the output of the power boost, see if it is providing 5v.

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rodocop
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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by rodocop » Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:08 pm

EXTINTOR wrote:
Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:29 am
I connected the battery and still nothing . Then, I measured the voltage of the output and it reads 2,36 v, this is probably the first thing I should've done but I'm still a noob. Should I get a different powerboost?
rodocop wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:24 am
Do you have a battery connected? If not, connect the battery to the power boost. If I recall correctly that power boost needs the battery connected to function properly.

Also, measure the voltage on the output of the power boost, see if it is providing 5v.
Do you have a photo of the underside of the power boost? Just to make sure you have the output wired right.

But if it's all good and you're still get ~2.3v then I'd try another boost module. It may have just been a dud.

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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by EXTINTOR » Mon Jul 05, 2021 1:21 pm

rodocop wrote:
Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:08 pm
EXTINTOR wrote:
Thu Jul 01, 2021 2:29 am
I connected the battery and still nothing . Then, I measured the voltage of the output and it reads 2,36 v, this is probably the first thing I should've done but I'm still a noob. Should I get a different powerboost?
rodocop wrote:
Sun Jun 27, 2021 8:24 am
Do you have a battery connected? If not, connect the battery to the power boost. If I recall correctly that power boost needs the battery connected to function properly.

Also, measure the voltage on the output of the power boost, see if it is providing 5v.
Do you have a photo of the underside of the power boost? Just to make sure you have the output wired right.

But if it's all good and you're still get ~2.3v then I'd try another boost module. It may have just been a dud.
Here it is, I think everything is alright.

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rodocop
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Re: Game Boy Zero won't turn on

Post by rodocop » Mon Jul 05, 2021 9:26 pm


Here it is, I think everything is alright.
Looks to be wired to the correct area. You could try cleaning up that red wire a bit. It doesn't look great. But if the measure voltage is not 5v it's likely not the issue, I'd try another boost module if you have easy access to one.

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