I recently acquired a virtual boy and when first recieved it powered on with mario tennis and I had sound but only one display worked, so I took it apart and pulled out the connection to the main board and reinserted it and put it back together, and now when I power it on, I get no nothing, no sound, no video, and no mirror vibrations, I took it back apart, checked all connections, everything seems fine, I noticed on the mainboard theres a sort of black square with a tiny red light that comes on when powered on, any ideas?

Have you checked all the other cables connected to the mainboard?

Despite the presence of the red light, it could be an issue with the voltage regulator (the “black square”).

You can check the VCC and battery voltages on connector P6. Here’s a pinout:

P6 - Controller ("serial") and Link Port ("Ext.")

	Serial	Ext.
P6	Pin	Pin	Description
1	6		Battery + (Red)
2	3		Serial Latch (Brown)
3	5		Ground (Black)
4	2	2	Vcc (+5V)
5	4		Serial Clock (Orange)
6	1		Serial Data (Yellow)
7		4	Rx (Data input)
8		8	Tx (Data output)
9		3	Ext. Clock (50 kHz out; ~230 kHz in, max.)
10		7	Ground
11		1	COMCNT (open-collector)
12		6	Ext. Sync Out
13		5	Ext. Sync In

Let us know how it goes.

Thank you for the response, however I’m not sure how I would check that, I have tech experience but thats a bit deeper than what Im used to unfortunately, Ive checked all the connections, they are all in their proper places, all I pulled out was the ribbon cable from its main slot and put it back in, Im wondering how it went from getting power and everything working fine (except for one of the eye displays) to not powering on at all but Im determined to try your method, what do you mean by the VCC exactly? and where is P6?

Kyopsis wrote:
Thank you for the response, however I’m not sure how I would check that…

You’ll need a meter that shows voltage. The cheapest DMM (Digital Multimeter) or VOM (Volt/Ohm Meter) from RadioShack, Harbor Freight, eBay, etc. will do.

Im wondering how it went from getting power and everything working fine (except for one of the eye displays) to not powering on at all but Im determined to try your method

It’s possible that you zapped something with static electricity while you were in there, but the VB is actually pretty immune to stuff like that. It’s probably either a problem with the power coming from the controller, or the regulator just coincidentally crapped out while you were messing with the VB.

what do you mean by the VCC exactly? and where is P6?

VCC is the main supply voltage that runs everything in the VB. It’s a (nominal) +5VDC generated by the regulator from what comes in from the battery terminals on the controller. The pin that supplies it to the controller and link port is labeled in the list above.

The connectors (and their first and last pins) are all clearly labeled on the board. If you look at the connector the controller attaches to, and follow the group of wires (like a ribbon cable, only not all connected together) to the mainboard, that’s P6. You can get to the pins on the back to take measurements. You’ll have to do it with the VB powered up.

True that, pretty sure its not static cause I use an anti static wrist band, Im sure I did screw something up while in there though, Im gonna get a reader tomorrow and give this a try (this is something Ive been wanting to learn about and get some experience in) youve been a huge help, I hope you stick around while I continue trying to get this to work lol

Nah, I think a decade is a good run as a PVB member; RunnerPack is out! Peace!

😉

But seriously… I’m by no means an electronics expert, but I’ll help however I can.

RunnerPack wrote:
Nah, I think a decade is a good run as a PVB member; RunnerPack is out! Peace!

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out! 😉

Wow, we are coming up on 10 years as PVB members… I’m one day older than you! 😛

Usually it’s not the regulars that you need to worry about never coming back. It’s usually the people that register, post a help question (like this)… we give a nice long reply, and then they never show up again… good to see you made it back. 😉

On topic though… I’d first swap batteries, if you’re running from batteries. The red light is a good sign… that’s basically saying that the voltage regulator is getting power, but if the power is marginal, it’s possible that the light could turn on, but not have enough juice to run.

I’d also verify that connector P4 is connected properly, as well as the connectors that go to the mirrors. When you power the system up, the mirrors should immediately start moving. The mirrors moving is a critical part of the system… at least some games (maybe all) won’t start until the mirrors are moving, and if they don’t move, or stop moving, the displays turn off. Which game are you testing with?

You could also simply unplug (and leave unplugged) the display cable you messed with before. It’s possible (though unlikely) that the cable is crooked or damaged, shorting something. Leaving that unplugged won’t hurt anything (don’t plug it in while powered on though).

But yes, learning how to use a multimeter is a great skill, and would be very useful in troubleshooting this. You should see if any of your friends know how (the kind of friends that install car stereos), or maybe a relative.

DogP

Oh i plan on sticking around all right, I tried swapping the batteries, that didnt do a thing, Im wanting to get an AC adapter tap but the cost (Ugh!) at the moment is more than I want to spend (bills coming up and what have you) but Im recalling a time the plug on the end of the controller came apart and I snapped it back together, Im wondering If I screwed up something that way, Im not sure which ones the P4 connector but all the cables seem to be in the proper place, and the game IM using is mario tennis, its the only one I have right now, which worked in the beginning, but I found a new controller for cheap so Im gonna try that when it gets here as well as the multi meter part

Sorry that last post was written after a long day at work lol, I reread it and realized i was asking questions you already answered, getting that voltometer tommorow and Im gonna give that a try

Got my multimeter! (finally) only I realized I have no idea how to use it, it has a knob for everything imaginable

http://www.ebay.com/itm/181063805396?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

so! any helpful tips? lol

[RunnerPack]

Welcome back, Kyopsis 😉 I have basically the same meter (bought from a different retailer, and a different color, but the same front panel layout and likely the same manufacturer).

If you’re absolutely new to DMMs, check some tutorials. YouTube has a few. The one from MAKE is probably pretty good. Being a largish, maker-friendly, corporate entity, they’re less prone to (unchallenged/uncorrected) errors than Joe Nobody off the street.

EDIT: I watched the MAKE one, and he doesn’t go over choosing a range on non-auto meters like yours. Just choose the lowest range high enough to measure the highest voltage you’re likely to see. In this case, the 20V range will work, since your battery voltage and Vcc are both well under this, and much higher than the next lowest 2V (i.e. 2000mV) range.

One tip you’ll probably get from the tutorials, but which bears repeating, is to NEVER use a meter set to “resistance” (designated by the Greek capital omega: Ω) on a live (i.e. powered-on) circuit!

Once you’re familiar/comfortable with your meter, just check the voltages as per the above comments by myself and DogP, and report back your findings.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by RunnerPack.