From 5e38fec792c4dd311a29ab50bd0462a8ad62bc96 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: shockrah Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:13:37 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] new gameboy post with propa media :D --- content/media/img/gba/basic-off.jpg | 3 + content/media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg | 3 + content/media/img/gba/hf-tri-hex-fixing.jpg | 3 + content/media/img/gba/internals-close.jpg | 3 + content/media/img/gba/internals.jpg | 3 + .../media/img/gba/saphire-save-closeup.jpg | 3 + content/posts/old-gameboy-fresh-screen.md | 80 +++++++++++++++++++ .../shockrah.xyz/layouts/shortcodes/link.html | 1 + themes/shockrah.xyz/static/css/style.css | 4 + 9 files changed, 103 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/media/img/gba/basic-off.jpg create mode 100644 content/media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg create mode 100644 content/media/img/gba/hf-tri-hex-fixing.jpg create mode 100644 content/media/img/gba/internals-close.jpg create mode 100644 content/media/img/gba/internals.jpg create mode 100644 content/media/img/gba/saphire-save-closeup.jpg create mode 100644 content/posts/old-gameboy-fresh-screen.md create mode 100644 themes/shockrah.xyz/layouts/shortcodes/link.html diff --git a/content/media/img/gba/basic-off.jpg b/content/media/img/gba/basic-off.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e764ade --- /dev/null +++ b/content/media/img/gba/basic-off.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:f6ce2a51c71c5e6c02707d83a3f2cb5466f42b524ac2ccacaceb6b2759e0b6cf +size 1673496 diff --git a/content/media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg b/content/media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c60700e --- /dev/null +++ b/content/media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:0f1e1f1e4812338107e67419ef46101f9d2089c86596b821bcb50ef78450547a +size 315557 diff --git a/content/media/img/gba/hf-tri-hex-fixing.jpg b/content/media/img/gba/hf-tri-hex-fixing.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f17bbcc --- /dev/null +++ b/content/media/img/gba/hf-tri-hex-fixing.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:9aa41658a5d9769efdc26f3f0e5098a8d84dead114f61f170b20dea479b9e138 +size 1964877 diff --git a/content/media/img/gba/internals-close.jpg b/content/media/img/gba/internals-close.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d4c3810 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/media/img/gba/internals-close.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:a3c8d9ee5efe7f40d55f1e7d388affd702697420cb19005b0a43bfaed18d8580 +size 1847976 diff --git a/content/media/img/gba/internals.jpg b/content/media/img/gba/internals.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3aca675 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/media/img/gba/internals.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:65993cb548291c2b36817b5b5d8843a2c6dc5cf689f0536711ba9167f521a9b4 +size 1907123 diff --git a/content/media/img/gba/saphire-save-closeup.jpg b/content/media/img/gba/saphire-save-closeup.jpg new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c3f6995 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/media/img/gba/saphire-save-closeup.jpg @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +version https://git-lfs.github.com/spec/v1 +oid sha256:a76577e1a62462e6afacb57bcbc143ba8349178ac1d703117883828bdc88bda0 +size 1534006 diff --git a/content/posts/old-gameboy-fresh-screen.md b/content/posts/old-gameboy-fresh-screen.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..428bd42 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/posts/old-gameboy-fresh-screen.md @@ -0,0 +1,80 @@ +--- +title: Old Gameboy Fresh Screen +description: The backlight LED mod on GBA's is literally so good +date: 2026-06-21T20:32:08-07:00 +draft: false +category: article +image: /media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg +--- + +## The Starting Point + +A while back I decided I wanted to get back into some retro mobile games because +it feels comfy and gives me an excuse to do some basic resto-modding. +My first target in this case was the Gameboy Advance that I've had since I was +just a lad :3 + + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/basic-off.jpg" "Close up of Gameboy" >}} + +As soon as I turned on the thing though I realized that the total lack of +backlight completely sucks. For those that don't recall how bad, here's mine +before doing any modifying and in the sunlight ;-; + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/saphire-save-closeup.jpg" "Saphire save closeup" >}} + +_Ignore the custom buttons, this pic was taken during my testing period :3_ + +## Opening Up to Replacing the Old and Dull with New and Bright + +It seems weird in hindsight but I intiall ythought that a backlight mod would +require soldering and modifying the original screen when in fact the "easier" +way of doing this was just replacing the old screen with a newer more modern one. + +The one I picked was the {{< link "No Cut IPS Backlight Mod Kit" "https://retrogamerepairshop.com/collections/gba-displays/products/gba-game-boy-advance-drop-in-ips-backlight-mod-kit" >}} +from {{< link "Retro Game Repair Shop" "https://retrogamerepairshop.com/" >}} which +is an awesome kit and comes with nearly everything to do this mod. +The only thing that it's missing is a tri-wing screw driver which makes doing +this substantially easier. I didn't have one and **thought** that Harbor Freight +would help me here but as you can see below the tri-wing that you can get +required some..... sharpening to make it fit into the **tiny** screw heads. + + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/hf-tri-hex-fixing.jpg" "Closeup of tri-wing" >}} + +I did manage to sharpen the bit by clamping some 80 grit sandpaper to my +workbench and **slowly** removing material until I had a good enough fit. +Luckily once the tri-wing screws holding the case are gone we are greeted with +phillips head screws securing the motherboard to the front of the case which +are easily removed. + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/internals.jpg" "Closeup of tri-wing" >}} + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/internals-close.jpg" "Another closeup of the internals" >}} + +I didn't get any pictures of the process for replacing the screen but I did get +one of the testing phase. :warning: Testing ended up being super crucial because +the first screen unit I bought was actually DOA. Luckily the second unit was fine +and I was also able to get some nicer buttons becaue I ended up not really liking +the clear button aesthetic. + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/testing-led-screen.jpg" "Testing the new screen" >}} + +Closing everything back up _should_ have been easy though one thing I had to do +was shave down some of the after market buttons since they were **just barely** +too big. Other than that however just going slow led to a very smooth re-assembly +process. Turning it on I'm greeted with this :) + +{{< pic "/media/img/gba/gba-splash-led.jpg" "Closeup led splash screen" >}} + +Also going with black buttons was definitely the move I think because it just +looks _so much cleaner_ :3 + + +But of course what good are pictures when you could _watch_ this lovely little +thing in action. + +{{< youtube "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENgrivaA4gY" >}} + + +conclusion: very nice and epic :3 diff --git a/themes/shockrah.xyz/layouts/shortcodes/link.html b/themes/shockrah.xyz/layouts/shortcodes/link.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b5ff875 --- /dev/null +++ b/themes/shockrah.xyz/layouts/shortcodes/link.html @@ -0,0 +1 @@ +{{ emojify ":link:" }}{{ .Get 0 }} \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/themes/shockrah.xyz/static/css/style.css b/themes/shockrah.xyz/static/css/style.css index c75f437..50d556a 100644 --- a/themes/shockrah.xyz/static/css/style.css +++ b/themes/shockrah.xyz/static/css/style.css @@ -12,6 +12,10 @@ a { color: white; } +.link { + text-decoration: underline; +} + code { color: lightgreen; }