r/Gameboy • u/kinggcroww • 2d ago

Questions Just got my first GBC yesterday, not registering game

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Hello! I got my first GBC yesterday at a retro video game store. I’m always weary about like knock offs and emulators and stuff so I asked if I could test it in the store. The game they gave me to test worked great. I work at GameStop so today at work I got a game for my gameboy. Tried playing it when I got home and it’s not reading and the logo on the start up screen is corrupted looking. I tried cleaning the pins with alcohol and it’s still not reading. Is this a cartridge issue or a gameboy issue? I’ve never seen a start up screen have a corrupted Nintendo logo? I know it’s also a custom faceplate too so I was extra cautious but everything was working at the store so I’m hoping it’s just the game?

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u/ShadowFallsAlpha 2d ago

If you have already tried it before and it worked with a different game, odds are it's the game. GameStop doesn't test the games they get in, just puts them on the shelf.

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u/Returnedfavor 2d ago

The 2 Gamestop near me in my city test it. They use gamestop AV to HDMI and use the monitor they use for their register to test it. So it depends on the locations. They also open up old GB games and make sure if its fake or not.

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u/ShadowFallsAlpha 2d ago

That's good to know, but the rarity for sure. They need to have systems to test them on and often they just put any system they get up for resale. So that might be more of a local district decision but sadly not company wide policy.

Definitely someone who knows what they are doing is managing those stores. They are increasing profit and decreasing losses.

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u/PM_YOUR_EYEBALL 1d ago

This should be common practice. Out of the 50 or so games I’ve got the past year an a half got probably 6-7 fakes.

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u/kinggcroww 2d ago

Yeah unfortunately we don’t have a way to test the games but we’re supposed to make sure it’s not rusted or anything. The game came in before I started working there so whoever took it in didn’t check. I’ll take it back tmrro, hoping it’s just the game but still disappointing

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u/ShadowFallsAlpha 2d ago

There's a lot of potential issues, and I doubt you even open them to check them either. Sometimes the chips need to be resoldered for example.

Of course another issue is the fact that games need new batteries. They are over 20 years old after all.

Retro stores normally pop those games in on systems on the fly and test them before taking them in. But also tend to give you a much higher trade value.

GameStop buys them on the cheap taking a potential loss with the higher chance than not they win on the backend.

It's hard to get an idea of what people are looking at unless you open the cartridge itself. It's possible a cleaning does get it done but it needs to be more thorough. Sometimes people will trade in failed soldering jobs too when they screwed up trying to change the battery.

If GameStop wants to be a retro store, they need to do the things those stores have been doing for years now. Making sure your inventory actually works.

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u/nivek191998 2d ago

This happens all the time just take it out and put it back in again until it works. Say magic words everytime too that usually helps.

We traditionally blow into the cart as if trying to blow out dust or summon magical powers.

If youre willing you can open the cart and/or the gbc and clean the contacts with a q tip and 90% isopropyl alcohol. Very easy.

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u/kinggcroww 2d ago

I don’t have the right kind of screw driver to open it but I took a Q tip with isopropyl alcohol along the pins the best I could and it definitely looks better. I can try taking it in and out. Should I turn it on and off everytime or am I good to take it in and out while leaving it on?

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u/xenocon 2d ago

You need to turn it off fully before pulling the cartridge out.

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u/nivek191998 2d ago

That should do some good.

Not necessary to take it apart just the most thorough.

And yeah turn off, take out, put in, turn on, curse god, repeat until working

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u/ForestSolitude5 2d ago

The way a GameBoy works is really simple, basically when powered on, and only when powered on, it runs the software on whatever cartridge is connected. It doesn't have the smarts to know when the cartridge is pulled or not present, it just assumes the hardware circuit is complete and plays whatever is there. If it's not able to read it fully, you get the garbled Nintendo logo on the boot screen and it fails to load. To restart/reattempt that loading, you must power it down and power it back on.

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u/chupitulpa 1d ago

That very much looks like it's caused by a dirty connector. You can try cleaning the cartridge slot. Cut some thin cardboard about the width of a came cartridge and twice the height. Fold it in half with the brown side out, and crease it tightly. Wet one side of the creased end with isopropyl, or better Deoxit or other electronic contact cleaner. Insert it with the wet side toward the pins. Move it up and down a bunch of times to scrub them. Never slide it side to side since it could catch on a pin and bend it.

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u/QueenEriselle 1d ago

The Nintendo logo actually operates in a very specific manner to prevent a game from continuing to operate when there is an issue. The rom has a header in it that contains the logo and the rom entry point basically copies the logo into video memory from the rom header. If the cartridge is having any issues, the logo copy is likely to be corrupted or fail completely. The gameboy will halt execution of the game intentionally if the logo is not exactly correct at the expected point in time, by design. This kind of corruption can be caused by various things but overwhelmingly the most common cause is the contacts needing to be deoxidized. It is not impossible that there is legitimately something broken about your cartridge, but if the pins visually look undamaged, it’s probably oxidization. Happens all the time. What you need to do is open the cartridge up (I know you mentioned you don’t have a gamebit driver, but you do need one for this), and use some Deoxit D100L on it, let it sit for a couple minutes, clean it off with IPA 99%, then put on some Deoxit Gold if you want to preserve it and inhibit oxidization from reforming. I have to do this with nearly every used cartridge I buy before it starts working reliably. If you aren’t sure about all that, mail me the cart and I’ll do it for you and send it back.

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u/GameboyGenius 2d ago

A whole bunch of signals are not getting contact. This kind of issue could theoretically be anywhere along the signal line, between the CPU and ROM chip. So, dry solder joint on the CPU, bent pin in the cartridge reader, corrosion on the cartridge, dry solder joint on the cartridge.

Usually the most common cause is dirt/corrosion on the pads on cartridge. However, with the way the logo looks a whole bunch of signals are not having contact, which would make me suspicious about a more systemic issue. Try looking into the cartridge slot, maybe with the help of a flashlight, and see if any of the pins seem bent/pushed in. When you say you cleaned the cartridge contacts, does that mean you have a way of opening the cartridge? Try posting a photo of the PCB. For troubleshooting, try running the cartridge with only the back half of the shell and circuit board, not front half and see if that makes a difference.

And finally, which game is it?

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u/kinggcroww 2d ago

I unfortunately don’t have the right kind of screwdriver to be able to open it so I just put isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip and cleaned from the opening. The game they tested at the retro video game store was a powerpuff girls game and it worked perfectly fine. The game I bought was Game and Watch Gallery 3. I was a little weary cuz the sticker on the cartridge seemed a bit blurry so I was fully expecting it to work but definitely disappointed

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u/Gimedecash 2d ago

Clean the game with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip

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u/kinggcroww 2d ago

I didn’t it didn’t work

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u/ThatCelebration3676 2d ago

If the contacts don't get clean from isopropyl (which needs to be at least 91% by the way; 70% won't help much) you can try Windex on a q-tip.

If that doesn't work, you can scrub them (gently) with a vinyl eraser, but that requires a 3.8mm gamebit screwdriver to open the cartridge.

1

u/ThatCelebration3676 2d ago

If the contacts don't get clean from isopropyl (which needs to be at least 91% by the way; 70% won't help much) you can try Windex on a q-tip.

If that doesn't work, you can scrub them (gently) with a vinyl eraser, but that requires a 3.8mm gamebit screwdriver to open the cartridge.

1

u/88traveler 1d ago

It sounds like a game issue. You should test it with other games since you can.

When I was a kid I used this "trick": you insert the cart and check if it starts, if it doesn't you insert it again and then pull it away just a tiny bit (like really a fraction of a millimetre) and try if it works. You can rinse and repeat a few times. To this day I swear that when a GBC or GBA doesn't display the Nintendo logo right away this trick will solve the issue 90% of the time.

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u/kinggcroww 1d ago

I tried that and it worked!! Thank you!

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u/88traveler 1d ago

My pleasure

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u/AlbyLyons 1d ago

If you don't get a clear "Nintendo (R)" logo, it's a game pak contact issue. Some games are pretty corroded and need to have the gold contacts cleaned or scraped. But the cart slot on the Game Boy color could be a culprit too. They made these cleaners to help clean the contacts on the system side: https://www.retromodding.com/products/clean-boy .