iFixit - Answers With Device "Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP"

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: GBASP Charger light indication is inverted

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 06:58:13 -0700

My gameboy advance sp charger light turns on when it is not plugged into the charger but turns off when plugged into charger. I am not sure if it is charging my battery or not. Also I do not feel like leaving the battery in my handheld since the light might drain battery.

⟐ Commented March 07, 2026 at 6:58 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Charge light goes on then off

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 20:19:11 -0700

I plug in my charger and the charging light flashes on for about a second before it turns off. I'm pretty sure it's not the charger because it works with another GBA SP, though that one is a slightly different model.

The model that isn't working is the newer one, with the brighter screen. I don't know if that has anything to do with the problem. It's also not the battery because it works in my other GBA SP, the older model.

⟐ Commented February 23, 2026 at 20:19 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Why does it acknowledge old cartridges but not play them?

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 12:55:59 -0700

GBA sp acknowledges original Gameboy games but doesn't play the game.loads and plays GBA games flawlessly. Disassembled the cartridge switch noticed the contacts were dirty so I cleaned them well all the contacts were shiny so I put it all back together and still no change I'm at a complete loss. Why does it acknowledge the cartridge but not play it?

⟐ Commented February 08, 2026 at 12:55 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: LED flickers Red and Green during gameplay

Fri, 30 May 2025 01:01:12 -0700

Title. No clue why it does that but it could probably be because I have a crappy charger. I have to shove it in and wiggle it around to make the LED Orange. I checked the battery for the first time and noticed it was for the NDS. I can provide images if needed. Model is the AGS-101

⟐ Commented May 30, 2025 at 1:01 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Why is my Gba sp charge led turning off when I turn it on?

Sat, 03 May 2025 13:30:28 -0700

My Gba sp was working fine with low sounds. So I decided to clean the board with rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush. When testing the sound I put the battery on upside down. After that the charge led will come on when plugged in but when I switch it on the led turns off and nothing happens. What should I do?

⟐ Answer accepted May 03, 2025 at 13:30 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Power turns on then off

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 05:31:38 -0700

When I turn my game boy on, the power comes on for a second and then shuts off. When I plug the charger cord in the green light comes on for a second and then shuts off.

⟐ Answered April 23, 2025 at 5:31 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Why is my gba sp hinges so wobbly after reshelling it?

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 13:13:27 -0700

Hello. I recently reshelled my GBA SP to a extremerate shell due to the previous shell being low quality. Before, even though the after market shell that I had previously to the extremerate shell would close properly, clicking at 150 degrees and making that signature click when I closed it. Now, when i reshelled to my extremerate shell, it no longer clicks when I close it and it's also wobbly in general. When I try to close the GBA SP, the screen is angled above a little bit (Around 5 degrees). I have those universal hinges that don't matter which side you put them in and the hinges in general feel tight. Feel free to ask a question for additional information and thank you!

⟐ Answer accepted April 20, 2025 at 13:13 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: My Gameboy Advance SP works but has no sound

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 13:53:56 -0700

Hi, I have a Gameboy Advance SP it works but has no sound, I tried the speaker in another SP and it works fine, I also replaced the capacitor but still no sound, any thing else I can try or do, thanks for your time and help.

⟐ Answered April 18, 2025 at 13:53 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Rightist cartridge reader pin bent but games play fine?

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 07:32:14 -0700

I got a gba sp but I noticed the rightist cartridge reader pin is bent but I noticed no issues with games aside from the ez flash omega function "boot with addon" either not working or freezing on game boy advance video roms of 32 mb size even though it worked once. Thanks in advance!

⟐ Commented April 18, 2025 at 7:32 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: I want to know if you guys change the gameboy shells

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 07:24:00 -0700

Change the outer shell

⟐ Commented April 18, 2025 at 7:24 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Why will my Gameboy Advanced SP will not charge or turn on?

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 07:20:58 -0700

I got a GBA SP from my friends and I tried turning it on but it would not turn on. I then plugged it in to the charger. It flashed orange really quickly and then would stop charging. (Note: My OTHER friend said that the battery swells up on those things and it looks like that might be the case but I don't know how to fix that either.) If someone could help me figure that out I would be pretty happy!

⟐ Answered April 18, 2025 at 7:20 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Gameboy advance SP Red Screen Tint

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 04:00:48 -0700

Hi, I bought this GBA SP 101 on ebay and it has this red filter on the screen and is mainly noticable on black screens. Is this caused by the ribbon cable or the polarizing film? Or something else?

⟐ Answered February 11, 2025 at 4:00 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: It stays on a white screen after the gameboy advance screen appears

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 13:54:33 -0700

My gameboy usually calls but does not enter the game.

It stays on a white screen after the gameboy advance screen appears

help me

⟐ Answered December 12, 2024 at 13:54 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Why is there a black box instead of Nintendo when I turn on my GBA SP

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 14:49:28 -0700

When I turn on my Gameboy Advance Sp with Pokemon Gold inside, it doesn't go into the game it just stays at the start-up screen with a black box at the bottom instead of a Nintendo logo. I tried putting in another game (Tetris) and it worked fine, but whenever I put in Pokemon Gold it just freezes. Any way to fix it?

⟐ Commented December 02, 2024 at 14:49 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Best method to replace battery when device hasn't been used in years

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 08:03:46 -0700

Background: I recently went to our parents house since I was living at a different place now. While rummaging through my old drawers I found my old Nintendo Gameboy Advanced SP. When I saw it I wanted to try and repair it but my current problem is the battery.

I haven't used this device in years, probably even more than a decade. I've tried searching online what to do with batteries that are bloated but couldn't find any information when they haven't been used in a long time.

For the meantime, I've stored the device in a metal container with sand and placed it in a concrete room (as some threads have said).

What would be my next steps and how long do I need to discharge it before removing the batteries. I'm scared to open it since I've read what could possibly happen if I accidentally puncture the battery or when some kind of reaction happens.

Sorry I'm not really knowledgeable in these kinds of things, I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Thank you!

⟐ Answered October 29, 2024 at 8:03 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Speaker not functioning (broken capacitor)

Sun, 27 Oct 2024 06:55:26 -0700

Hi, my GBASP speaker was not functioning recently and I noticed that it was due to the broken capacitor (fall off from the mainboard). I planning to get a replacement capacitor but I don't know the specification of the capacitor that the GBASP is using. Is it the SMD capacitor 100uf 16V suitable ?

Herewith the picture of the capacitor and the spec written on it. This picture actually grabbed from google, the spec written on my broken cap was exactly same except the bottom one, which mine was written IO4.

⟐ Answer accepted October 27, 2024 at 6:55 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: Is there a way I can fix these horizontal lines on my GBA SP screen?

Sat, 26 Oct 2024 07:55:54 -0700

For a while now, I had the issue that with the lightest of movements, the power would go out. According to Youtube tutorials it was an "easy" fix my soldering the metal plate there off, cleaning what was underneath it, and soldering it on again.

The good part: it doesn't turn off anymore when shaking

The bad part: the screen does this now whenever I turn it on. Everything seems to be working according to the sound effects I hear when pressing buttons (aka trying to "play" a game to test it out) but I'm at a loss what I could do to repair my beloved childhood gameboy.

If it's impossible it's impossible, but I was curious if anyone knew IF I could fix this, and if so how would I tackle it? Thanks for reading thus far!

⟐ Answered October 26, 2024 at 7:55 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: I can't open the battery lid because the screw is broken

Sun, 20 Oct 2024 20:11:16 -0700

When i try to turn the screw, the screwdriver turns without the screw because it is just a small hole,it doesn't have the cross to turn it

⟐ Answered October 20, 2024 at 20:11 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: My screen turns a very dark grey and is bricked

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 06:47:28 -0700

the title says it all: the screen turns a different shade of black and does nothing.

⟐ Answered October 11, 2024 at 6:47 MST

Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP: GBA Charge not staying and can only play when connected to charger

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 09:15:14 -0700

I've been trying to use my old gameboy again, but it hasn't been charging right. It can't hold a charge and only can be played when connected to a charger, but I have to repeatedly turn it off and on to make it turn on.

⟐ Commented September 20, 2024 at 9:15 MST