Gaming Misc GBA Is there any hope for this dirty gameboy advance game?

[MrCoconut]

I've had this game for years now, and before I had it the game belonged to my big brothers. I recently opened it up and the whole inside of the cartridge looked disgusting so the pictures attached are of the cartridge are after I cleaned it with q-tips and alcohol. Personally I think it's that MX Byye-0 chip that might be causing the issues, and as far as I know you can't replace it, but I might be wrong which is why I'm here. Thanks so much in advance for any help you can provide!

 

[Shadow#1]

I've had this game for years now, and before I had it the game belonged to my big brothers. I recently opened it up and the whole inside of the cartridge looked disgusting so the pictures attached are of the cartridge are after I cleaned it with q-tips and alcohol. Personally I think it's that MX Byye-0 chip that might be causing the issues, and as far as I know you can't replace it, but I might be wrong which is why I'm here. Thanks so much in advance for any help you can provide!

Take the chips off clean the legs and new solder back on

 

[KleinesSinchen]

That looks awful. So much corrosion.
Agree with @Shadow#1 : Carefully desolder the chips and give everything a good clean (chip legs and solder pads). Maybe use an ultrasonic cleaner.

The PCB itself is corroded. No idea if this is gonna work again.

Just curious:
How did this even happen? Where/how was it stored?

Good luck!

 

[MrCoconut]

Take the chips off clean the legs and new solder back on

Firstly, thanks Shadow#1 I will definitely try this as soon as I can.

That looks awful. So much corrosion.
Agree with @Shadow#1 : Carefully desolder the chips and give everything a good clean (chip legs and solder pads). Maybe use an ultrasonic cleaner.

The PCB itself is corroded. No idea if this is gonna work again.

Just curious:
How did this even happen? Where/how was it stored?

Good luck!

Lastly, haha usually I store my gba games in a small backpack however when I would go on a trip it would go in another small gameboy bag. However recently I lost it and my mom showed me a box with a Gameboy Advance and some games and this was one of them. Now that I think about it, ever since I got it I've sometimes had trouble getting it to work with my gameboy.

 

[master801]

I don't see why it can't be repaired. It's gonna take a lot of work though.

You'll need to clean the chip legs. Either by resoldering the pins, taking the chip off, or the least effective method, using an old toothbrush with rubbing alcohol.

The good part about taking the chip off if you decide to do it that way, is traces underneath it will be exposed in case they're also eaten away like the trace connecting C1 to the chip.

 

[MrCoconut]

I don't see why it can't be repaired. It's gonna take a lot of work though.

You'll need to clean the chip legs. Either by resoldering the pins, taking the chip off, or the least effective method, using an old toothbrush with rubbing alcohol.

The good part about taking the chip off if you decide to do it that way, is traces underneath it will be exposed in case they're also eaten away like the trace connecting C1 to the chip.

Thank you I will definitely go the soldering way.

 

[master801]

Thank you I will definitely go the soldering way.

Use flux (I recommend tacky flux) otherwise the solder will just bunch up together. Rosin core solder is not considered as flux, since that just goes up in smoke very quickly.

 

[Urbanshadow]

Do a continuity test on all points in the pcb when all components are out. I don't know if IPA could solve all at that point of corrossion but its worth the shot.

 

[eleventh]

Just submerge the entire thing in alcohol. Then brush vigorously with a toothbrush.
There might be some stuff underneath the IC. Alcohol will not damage any ICs.

 

[FAST6191]

There look to be several broken traces in that (above the E and O in Nintendo, maskrom has another with a via from the back) and while I can't be bothered to match pins and cleaner examples at present ( http://problemkaputt.de/gbatek.htm#auxgbagamepakbus and I am sure GBA cartridge PCB is going to get something) that it goes directly two a pin on the cart says fun times ahead.
You can fix them but it gets to be a lot of effort, beyond what many would term economical repair. If this was a £5000 piece of essential equipment, real personal desire (some grandma's only copy of photos or something) or some kind of "it is the only thing that gets us out of here" film plot scenario then I could do it with fairly basic equipment but still not a quick or particularly easy job.

The better idea at this point might be to find the proverbial barbie horse adventures (aka a cheap throwaway game of the same board design*, I don't know what game that is but http://www.advanscene.com/html/index.php should be able to help) and transplant the chips -- possibly even only the ROM chip unless you are particularly tied to the save of that game. You can still do things if the pins on the legs of the ROM chip are cooked (usually involves grinding down into the chip cap itself and soldering to that) but I will leave that one for now.

*if the game happens to be an early SRAM game then know that later reprints of the game might have moved to FeRAM that did not need a battery but is identical in ROM. This does provide some options as far as an upgrade or a potential concern if you get an older print.