Repairing a Nintendo Gameboy Advance SP

Chip surgery to play Links Awakening

Mar. 26, 2017 - Willem L. Middelkoop

This month Nintendo released the Switch with Zelda "Breath of the Wild". The new console received positive reviews. The new Zelda game is amazing and can be played on-the-go, thanks to the portability of the Nintendo Switch. But it its hardly the first Nintendo device that features the mythical kingdom of Hyrule with Link and princess Zelda. I found an old Gameboy Advance, perfect for playing classic Zelda games... but it was in need for repair!

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The buttons can be removed easily to be cleaned

This old Gameboy was broken: it stops working if you — This old Gameboy was broken: it stops working if you "squeeze" it... an indication of some electrical failure.

Arrange the screws around something easy to recognise (the battery) to easily keep track of where the (different) screws should

On the left: an original screenshot from — On the left: an original screenshot from "Link's Awakening" (1993). On to the right: how fans perceive the magic. (Fan art created by "einen" from http://einen.deviantart.com)

The Gameboy Advance SP from the inside

Using the right tools: a Tri-wing triangular screwdriver

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