If you need to remove oxidation on the contacts, there are specific electrical contact cleaners that you can try to use.

I have used a product called “Deoxit” in the past (though not on any Virtual Boys), but its whole job is to de-oxidize electrical connections.

I hope you are able to clean up the cartridge port pins and solve your problem, I’ve never heard of a bad cart connection preventing a Virtual Boy from booting. Be prepared to keep hunting down the problem(s) if it still isn’t booting even after you clean things out.

You should definitely open it up and see if there’s any life at all in the unit when you try to power it on. It’s pretty difficult to pin down problems from the outside, and the Virtual Boy is a finnicky system with a lot of moving parts.

Thanks for reporting back Dr Honda! I’m sure this kind of detail will be beneficial to many in the future that are trying to diagnose issues with their Virtual Boys. It’s really good information to have documented on the forum.

It will involve soldering, but it’s still very easy to do. I would check a local game shop (if you have any). There are a lot of retro game stores that will replace batteries for you for a small fee.

Otherwise, it’s a pretty easy beginner soldering project!

This is fantastic. We’ll done enthusi!

If you go searching through the forums here, you should be able to find at least a couple more discussions regarding this.

It could be several things. Make sure there is no debris on or around the motor. Inspect and clean the sensor that monitors the mirror on start up, if it can’t see the mirror getting up to speed – the system won’t boot. Also make sure the cable connecting the main board to the the servo board is in good shape and connected well.

Apparently I’m insane, Virtual Boy Wario Land added to the set.

Got a broken unit – VN104461042

Hahaha, this is great!

[relocated] – Please delete

Virtual boy Permanent Solder Screen Professional Repair Service

These are now archived with other HyperFlash32 assets.

HyperFlash32

If for some insane reason I make any more of these, I’ll upload them to that archive.

The download is broken, hopefully gets fixed at some point. I think you can still download it from the original forum post though.

Space Squash translation

Recently purchased second Virtual Boy has the serial number: VN10125041[0]

There are only a couple of “real” options to fix the glitchy display problem, and both require some delicate soldering.

The heat method can work, but don’t count on it to be a permanent fix – in almost all cases the problem will come back. The heat method will also lose its effectiveness with repeated applications. If you are going to attempt this route, you can try to use some 3D printed brackets to hold everything in place and potentially make it last a little longer. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2884075

As far as homebrew goes, you’ll likely want a flash cart. As far as I know, there aren’t any options for one for less than $120, but you can keep an eye on places like eBay for one of the old Flashboy+’s. They pop up for sale from time to time. Otherwise, keep an eye on what user mellott124 is working on as he’s making the current flash carts for the system.

[Fwow13]

I’m still working on the black and white ones, I have a full commercial set and have been slowly converting more. I haven’t released anything from that, I don’t think people are as interested in the strictly black and white labels as I am. Happy to send them to you though if you want try them.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 6 months ago by Fwow13.

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I’ll get it updated to the database as soon as I can.

@Schwanck

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I’m working on it Schwanck! That’s not one I expect someone to want

That’s a lot of icons to choose from for roms! Well done @TheRedMenace!