The RIGHT Way to Backlight and Bivert a DMG GameBoy

Backlighting a DMG is moderately difficult, but if you take your time and understand what you're doing, it's within most people's abilities. Pockets are more difficult, but I'll be showing how to tackle those soon, too.
Backlight: www.retromoddi...
Bivert: www.retromoddi...
Support me on Patreon! / esotericsean
Follow me on Instagram! / esotericmods
Join us on Discord! / discord

[@esotericsean]

Hey guys! I have a TON more videos and ideas all lined up, so expect to see lots more on this channel soon. Maybe even some regular consistent content! 😅 Thanks for all the support. Leave me a comment, even if it's just to say hello! :)

[@gmabber]

AWESOME!

[@angahchelsea7146]

Awesome,really can't wait,super excited..

[@Heimwerker_marcus]

​@@gmabberrrsdhhk s3 ddr tr im)! {1 wo 90 0nk=

[@Estoril_Blau]

I actually still have those DMG pcb’s and legend V3 kit you sent my way during last years Reddit holiday exchange haha! Just been waiting for a clean oem shell to start the project but I’m now kinda glad I waited for this walk through. You definitely keyed in on a few techniques I was unaware of. Specifically using that flux pen and the desoldering braid. Keep the DMG content coming man!

[@esotericsean]

Oh hey! Didn't know you were following my KZbin channel. I think all I have left are aftermarket DMG shells at the moment otherwise I would offer you one. :)

[@Estoril_Blau]

esotericsean I’d have to check but it’s possible I still have some of the Take Zer0 content bookmarked on my old school laptop (back before subs were a thing). So I was pretty psyched when we got matched after putting two and two together lol.

[@brandonhughston2889]

Thanks for the help! With the help of this video I backlit my first Gameboy! It was also the first time I've ever used a soldering iron and it went great! I removed the screen with chip quick and everything. I had a different backlight kit than you used in this video so I needed to reference the new odd tinkering video too. I was so happy when I turned it on, I was almost certain it wasn't going to work!

[@esotericsean]

Brandon Hughston That’s awesome! Glad to hear it was helpful. I saw Odd Tinkering’s video in my feed earlier and planned on watching it tonight. :)

[@EmelieKerek]

I used this method to replace a torn screen about two years ago and it worked like a charm! Tried it a few days ago on another Gameboy and tore one of the pins off...so I'm not sure if this is always the best way to handle old and delicate Gameboy screens. Great video, regardless! Thanks for putting the whole process together in one place :)

[@victorhugovaldezsoto]

Wow! Great ability in desoldering! I have tried that many times - and have succeeded very few...! Not my thing! Thanks for the video!

[@billyanderson321]

This may be the “right” way but the way I did mine didn’t require completely removing the screen and mine works great lol

[@DerekLipkin]

Did you just slip your backlight under the screen? Did you still have to desolder the contacts on the front of the daughterboard? This tutorial was great, but would love to avoid having to desolder too much.

[@esotericsean]

You can peel the reflective backing and polarizer off without removing/desoldering the screen. But it’s much easier to damage the ribbon connector and destroy the screen that way. Desoldering the screen seems like the lesser evil to me. But both ways can work :)

[@billyanderson321]

esotericsean doesn’t matter anymore. This upgrade/mod is obsolete. Drop in ips screens have replaced any skill work.

[@DerekLipkin]

I actually searched for a tutorial like this specifically to avoid IPS. To be sure, IPS is great; have it in my GBA and GBC. But this one felt like worthwhile to try for something a little truer to the original!

[@billyanderson321]

Derek Lipkin I agree, but be warned it’s easy to break the screen or ribbon. KZbin has a lot of tutorials for this though. Get handheld legends kit. Don’t forget to install the resistor.

[@willmoindrot]

Very useful video that I followed.One tip for others that I did not realise. I did everything but then found the inverter inverted image to be the polar opposite of what it should be, removing it corrected it. It turned out that I had put the polariser at the back the wrong way around - I thought I had put it in correctly to be dark, but I had tested it without passing it behind the original screen which is the only way to show the true orientation

[@otoko_oidon]

It's nice to hear you will bring more content to this channel. :)

[@x1ic1x]

I love how you were doing this WAYYYY before it hit the mainstream and everyone started buying gameboys and modding theirs.

[@khoshekhthecat]

There's a vid by This Does Not Compute on how to do this... It was posted 4 years ago

[@thesimplefixchannel4785]

Game boys have always been mainstream. Their connection to pop culture is ubiquitous.

[@Moefongoe]

Thought i see what I needed to do. Phenomenal job! Definitely above my skill level but i am willing to try it now after watching u do it.

[@RGmodsitalia]

Finally Sean! Great video as always my friend! Chip Quick is an astonish material, I use it also for fixing the horizontal lines on the dmg, sometimes it works, if not I use the hot air gun on the flexible white and black one with something rigid to make the soldering joints better.. anyway I am glad you are out with this new one, waiting the "one" too!! Cheers from Italy dude!

[@zer0b0t]

Hello 😊, yeah you need to upload more content. Looking forward to it.

[@esotericsean]

zer0Bot Will do! :)

[@JaredWilbanks]

Thanks for the vid! Used the Chip Quik and it worked great. However, it was still super stressful, even with your great tutorial. And, I'd like to add that I accidentally ripped off the uppermost connector on the outer ribbon cable and it had no ill effects. Upon further inspection, it basically connects to a dead end on the board. I was super bummed when I did it and was obviously very pleased to discover that it isn't used.

[@roarkemurdock3027]

That's because the top pin is ground and there are multiple common ground pins, it isn't ideal but will still work

[@FixItViggo]

got me jamming in my chair with that intro lol

[@marcelcevani5688]

So much love for your GameBoy....loving it

[@railfanningstuff8333]

what id like to see is a DMG with game boy color back lite mod so that I have an easier to hold hand held console with the colorization of the original game boy while being back lit. the one true god of the DMG

[@FlammableLizard]

Hello! :D This was a great video! I can't wait to see more!

[@1Raphael]

So brave thanks for sharing always great videos

[@sonofmeh3182]

I love the intro

[@esotericsean]

Blake Hobbs Thanks Blake!

[@dccelly1615]

Very nice job, and a great tutorial. I’ve seen Roarke do the lcd replacement with ChipQuik but I’m just not that good. You and him are pro level.

[@esotericsean]

Roarke is the DMG king. I'm more comfortable with GBCs. Pockets are my weakness, but I've gotten better with them recently.

[@dccelly1615]

esotericsean I used think there was more to mod in a DMG or an MGB. But within the last few months, we’ve see the Gameboy Color screen mods explode. More than just repro shells and glass lenses, lots of options now.

[@batmanx9996]

thanks to you i now got a awesome modded gameboy dmg :D super happy!

[@CheetoDorrito]

Love ur stuff keep it up

[@dindon4ever]

Very nice job ! So pro 👍🏻

[@asmretro]

This is absolutely absurd. The backlight mod is already difficult enough for beginners. Telling them to desolder a highly oxidized LCD ribbon is irresponsible for someone with your level of viewership. Especially when you are telling them it is the "RIGHT" way to do it. This over-complicates the mod and is going to result in a lot of aspiring modders destroying perfectly good LCDs.

[@roarkemurdock3027]

This is the way pro modders backlight DMGs, if you are decent with an iron it is a lot safer and less likely to damage the LCD, not to mention it allows you to access and replace the five 1uf 50v caps behind the LCD and the button array diodes. Sure this isn't for beginners, but this is the right way

[@asmretro]

​@@roarkemurdock3027I've got 12+ years of DMG modding experience under my belt, and I designed the backlight that is referenced in this video, so if you want to try and argue with me from a position of authority, that's not going to work. A professional modder only does what is necessary when dealing with electronics that are now considered vintage. While this makes the LCD and PCB more accessible, it is the more destructive way to do the mod. If you're damaging LCDs by not removing the ribbon cables, then you're doing something wrong.

[@roarkemurdock3027]

@@asmretro that's awesome that you designed that backlight panel, but I still have to disagree. I also have years of experience modding DMGs, and have backlit hundreds of them, and I always desolder the LCD, it really isn't risky or hard to do, if you're decent with an iron, it's especially easy with a knife tip and low temp solder. Having the LCD removed makes cleanly removing the reflective film and adhesive off all corners easier without putting strain on the horizontal ribbon cable, it gives access to the button array diodes and the five electrolytic caps behind LCD, those caps are important to the voltage biasing of the LCD and 30 year old electrolytic caps should always be replaced in each DMG being worked on, being able to desolder the screen also allows LCD swaps to save good LCDs from corroded boards, and gives access to fix horizontal lines. Also many backlight panels sit slightly higher than the original space beneath the LCD which adds strain to the vertical ribbon cable, but when I resolder the LCD I place the backlight in before resoldering the vertical ribbon cable so that the vertical cable is accomodating the added thickness. I am not saying that you have to do it the same way as me, but I am saying that it is absolutely a valid and justifiable way of backlighting, and when done right is not destructive in the slightest

[@roarkemurdock3027]

@@asmretro I also have to disagree when you said "A professional modder only does what is necessary when dealing with electronics that are now considered vintage". The older the electronics the more you should be thinking about what components will typically fail next, testing them and replacing any that are starting to drop out of spec, otherwise you are sending consoles to people that are likely to fail soon. If someone sent in a working Game Gear to get a McWill LCD mod done, and all the modder did was install the LCD without changing the electrolytic caps because it wasn't necessary, the customers Game Gear would start having issues within a year or two as the OEM caps start failing and leaking. At minimum components should be tested, take the five 1uf 50v caps behind the DMG LCD ribbon cable and the 33uf cap on the DC-DC board for example, they may not have completely dried up yet but if they are starting to fall out of spec the IR3E02 chip won't receive a stable negative voltage to biase the LCD, which can cause contrast flicker during high current draws, like when using the everdrive or Pokemon, and other LCD issues. The older the electronic the more the modder should be anticipating near future points of failure

[@asmretro]

​@@roarkemurdock3027 ​ I'm not saying there isn't a valid reason to remove the LCD, and I welcome a video of the process. My concern with this video is that it is framed as instructional, when it is very ill-advisable for a beginner to desolder the ribbon cables for the LCD. Replacing the capacitors is a valid point, but they are still accessible without desoldering the LCD. I don't know why you'd need to access the button diodes, because the signals are accessible in other locations on the boards. You've misunderstood what I meant by "only doing what is necessary". Replacing capacitors in Sega devices *is* necessary, and completely safe and non-destructive. Unnecessarily desoldering parts is potentially destructive, and should always be avoided if possible.

[@rrafal]

You should have put a solder blob for the ground of bivert mod instead that silly cable. Also two cables for backlight can just be shorter.

[@Starfox-xy7zb]

Spinach green is the only acceptable color for a Gameboy!

[@RetroWolf13]

Awesome bro I want to do this one day

[@TheIsolatedGamerz]

Enjoying these video Sean very thorough. I have brought a FunnyPlaying screen for the GBC. Recorded some footage (amateur compared to you) I have used your video to guide me. Question- May I include your video in the description section? If not, its totally fine :)

[@esotericsean]

Of course! Feel free to borrow, copy, link, or steal any of my videos. That sounds sarcastic, but I really mean it. I just want to spread information and help others. :)

[@iliastakidis5771]

This is scary. So many things can go wrong😫

[@andrianito]

Can you do a bivert tutorial with just an IC? Thanks. Im a big fan of yours.

[@esotericsean]

Jun Militante Not a bad idea! I’ll write it down and hopefully get to it soon. :)

[@AnotherUser1000]

@@esotericsean My thought, exactly! I was wondering, why should we buy a fixed PCB with the IC having this of NOT gates, while we can use only one IC, soldered in a spider-like manner. Also, I was wondering why we should use such long cables for the backlight. Can' t we just clip them and solder them directly on the leads of that capacitor? This way, you can use that other screw too, without any problems.

[@roarkemurdock3027]

You absolutely can, you just need a 5v hex inverter that has 2 data inputs and two inverted data outputs

[@nathanglynn7443]

Hey so I just bought a dmg and backlight kit, I don’t think I have the skill to desolder the screen like you did so I’ll have to do the old way. I have a question though, im going to restore it, retrobright bivert and backlight it. Would my capacitors break? Also what else will perish/need replacing

[@esotericsean]

Box Spirit Capacitors only last so long, so on a ~30 year old Game Boy, they’re often already failing or will fail soon so it’s a good idea to change them anyway. You can always replace them later if they start going out. Definitely get a glass lens! :)

[@nathanglynn7443]

I just bought a capacitor kit for it and a glass screen too! :) Can’t wait to modify it all!

[@AdamSommer70]

Good work on removing the screen ribbon cables... most videos on the bivert don't do that

[@DokterRoetker]

29:04 "stick it in the hole, make sure it's nice and hot in there"

[@esotericsean]

XD

[@s_aku]

LMAO

[@byrongarcia1953]

Really no one...alright say it with me “that’s what she said”

[@norfskate]

Mann... just trim the two power wires, you did it with the ground 🤨 But, great guide 👍🏻 Also, is that the blue or the white backlight?

[@gc4397]

It's the white one. When you bivert, you get a blue background. That's what happened to mine too after the bivert mod.

[@v.r.t0846]

I have installed one in a gameboy pocket, what I noticed is that the contrast wheel is not well regulated after that to see the image. I don't know if I made something wrong.

[@mariobeans]

Do you have a rework station? I've had nice results desoldering the ribbon cable with one

[@roarkemurdock3027]

The issue is (without extreme precaution) the plastic frame that seats the LCD will melt if you use hot air or a rework station

[@nathanglynn7443]

Hey mate another question, if you have the time. I noticed that a few capacitors are super hard to get to, the ones that go behind the screen, I was wondering if I could solder the new capacitors to the existing ones? Or even cut the capacitors off and solder the new ones to the old capacitors stems?

[@roarkemurdock3027]

This is one of the benefits of removing the LCD prior to backlight as you can easily recap the LCD board

[@ofiraradyt]

I have a question that maybe you can answer. the real problem with this mod is removing the back polarizing film. but just removing the reflective surface is pretty easy. also, removing the front polarizing film is pretty easy. wouldn't it be much simpler to keep the back polarizing film, and replace the front one?

[@sojannedos]

What song do you use as your intro? Is it composed by you? If it is, I'd love to buy your album lol.

[@cloudstrifex88]

I'm curious as well. It sounds like the artist Savant.

[@vinnythechin69]

What if you break one of those Pinge on LCD screen? Would it still work?

[@stephenhulme90]

Wish i saw this before i tried. I followed other videos that don't remove the ribbon and i think i have damaged mine. get lines down the screen which i cant seem to fix

[@Hellmiauz]

I take it a rework station would totally melt that ribbon right?

[@wubwubinmytumtum]

*me looking down at my like 8 missing pins probably cuz I used a diff flux*

[@andrealotito4412]

i just backlit mine! everything went fine but i noticed the original front polarizer gives a different contrast on the 4 edges of the screen since it's a bit faded, do you know if replacing front polarizer too also changes the screen appearance? like becoming grey rather than vibrant blue as example

[@Wodi201]

What kind of liquid is that you put up there for desoldering

[@michaelmalos3360]

Can you please tell me exactly what manufacturer tri-wing screw driver that you are using? Thanks

[@DontPaniku]

I always have the problem where the screen is a little off center. What's a good way to center the screen a little to the left or right?

[@chiqui1234ok]

Similar mod works for Gameboy Color? I'm viewing a lot of IPS Mod but none of this backlight mod, why? I bought two good Gameboys Color for $20 each but the IPS display's costs 95 each... don't worth it. I want to make a more DIY mod but nobody are doing this backlight mod in GBC :O

[@vinnythechin69]

Question on cable that attaches the LCD screen what happens if you break one of those pins

[@esotericsean]

It will be missing a data line so not all of the graphics data will be able to get through and you’ll get a weird image on the screen (or sometimes nothing on the screen at all, depending on which pin was damaged).

[@OkiDingo]

This is the same way I do it as well. So much easier to desolder the screen. Makes GB Pockets a breeze as well.

[@pimphandgamester]

My bivert chip has prongs that stick out??

[@DavideNastri]

Hi! I am desperately searching for a few genuine Nintendo Gameboy DMG dpads. Any clone I tried feels just mushy and... Wrong :( can anyone help?

[@sebastiansnyder8107]

I picked up the olive green backlight from retromodding and it came with a separate voltage regulator. Can I solder it directly a battery terminal or is there something special I need to do?

[@sebastiansnyder8107]

I figured it out.

[@tsutenkakurobo9642]

What did you end up doing?

[@aarontrupiano9328]

its been a while

[@esotericsean]

Aaron Trupiano Yeah, been busy catching up on orders, but have multiple videos already shot and others on the way so expect more from now on. :)

[@jamesbishop5064]

Hi. Not sure if anyone will read this, but I've done everything as stated and when I slide in the polarizing film it doesn't revert the colours. They stay the same as when biverted. Yes I have removed the original polarizing film from the back of the lcd and yes I have tried rotating it. As far as I can tell everything else is done 100% correctly. If I look down at the screen at a certain angle then the colors do change back to normal. Really stuck with this. Even the seller on ebay isn't helping very much. Thanks if any of you can help.

[@esotericsean]

A little confused on your terminology, you have a DMG that you removed the polarizer and reflective backing, installed a backlight and bivert chip. But when you insert the new polarizing film behind the screen, it doesn't work? The image still looks non-biverted and rotating it 90 degrees doesn't do anything? Sounds like either the bivert chip isn't working or the polarizer film isn't the right kind. What happens if you rotate the polarizer 45 degrees, so it's at an angle? Is the Game Boy functional otherwise (you can see the Nintendo logo on the screen?)

[@jamesbishop5064]

@@esotericseanthank you for the reply. Yes I belive that the new film must be incorrect as I have followed all of your steps before, as this is the second DMG I have adapted. The bivert chip works fine, but no matter how I try the new film it simply will not show as it should.

[@HAWKONER]

Can't u see any leftover starch residue after using it?

[@robotgoggles]

Thanks for the video - I just installed my bivert chip and the colors are still inverted. Also the contrast is worse than before. Any idea where I might have gone wrong?

[@esotericsean]

Yeah that’s happened to me before, sounds like a bridged pin if you’re losing shades of color and the bivert isn’t working.

[@leonedandrewTumbaga]

im planning to switch to ips, if i remove the bivert hiw about the 6 7 pins do i need to solder it back to the board

[@josmation201]

Why was your gameboy screen flickering towards the end?

[@esotericsean]

Just a frame rate sync issue with my camera, you can’t see it in person. You can see it disappears in the last shot when I zoom in (and change the frame rate of the camera).

[@josmation201]

@@esotericsean Ok thanks for answering my question.

[@TacticalSeagull]

man, this guy knows his stuff but he sounds like he gets frightened by the sound velcro makes

[@esotericsean]

Oh man, Velcro is pretty terrifying. 😬

[@saiko017]

What is the bigger gbc

[@electroncycles]

Anyone know why dots appear on the DMG screen after installing the backlight kit? I can't find any info on this happening before... I uploaded a video example to my shorts kzbin.infoTLH4W5J2Bq4?feature=share

[@Awsometurtle20]

What color for the polarizer do u reccomend?

[@nerb6833]

I've only done gb pockets but when i remove the reflective / polerizer layer I use wd40 and a plastic card

[@Joey06_]

Great job! I rather keep my dmg original cause its way easier to mod a color 😂 Personally I prefer the green and black looking of the screen

[@retrocratictv275]

Doesn’t that damage the gameboy in the long run or not?

[@GreighThunda]

Lit I'm early :D

[@esotericsean]

Scorinitron 😊

[@SonicVsKH]

Backlit*

[@JosephSalomonsen]

That shiz requires some Zen-like patience n heart...u have and I dont...I just get dizzy watching you take all those risks...😅

[@Lahemi347]

How lmuch

[@K0jim0ji]

Hello c:

[@deckofcards87]

Nice looking mod, however it's obsolete now that we have the IPS screens

[@jasonstarkey2653]

not true at all. some people prefer old hardware

[@Xuul]

Very nice video! Gonna try and do this myself soon :D I have a question regarding capacitors: After doing a backlight mod on a GameBoy Classic, there can be a whining sound on some devices, caused by the power drain of the backlight. There is a fix by soldering a capacitor onto the circuit board. I would really like to know how that technically works. What exactly is connected by the new capacitor, and why is there more power afterwards? Here's the link: howchoo.com/g/ndm0mjvlzdy/how-to-fix-speaker-whining-on-a-backlit-game-boy Thank you for your time!

[@rwild7054]

It's called a bulk capacitor though sometimes it's referred to as a decoupling capacitor to modders. The first one is the correct name for it. The method here is to solder a 470uf or higher cap attached to two wires (I used a 10v cap) with the positive side on the vcc solder blob and the ground to ground on the Gameboy's small power board. If you read the little power board closely you'll see the blobs where the power leads leave to join the main board, they're also marked as 'vcc' and 'grd' or similar i forget the exact lettering. Supposedly bulk capacitors stabilise the current as caps work on similar principles to batteries. They store energy and release it, and a bulk capacitor can keep up with distributing energy to components at a stabler rate throughout the circuit when needed. This helps to reduce hum, buzz and the sound you mentioned from the backlight's power drain. Since I installed mine I have noticed a difference, so the logic is sound. I've read up on this and it's also a great way to reduce strain on your components and increase their lifespan.

[@rwild7054]

I would also like to add that removing the screen is, while looking quite professional no doubt, more of a risk to the components and is more a show of competency than it is a measure of how to 'properly' do something. Not to mention, the pins which connect the screen to the board may not survive for more than one round of desoldering/resoldering and the method with the most success requires a steady hand, to simply unscrew the front screws of the screen and to tilt it forward far enough so that you can peel off the polarising filter on the glass. From there you can use isopropyl alcohol and a microfibre cloth to clean the glass after you've installed the backlight and the new polarising filter. I've been repairing things a long time, ribbon cables and whatnot WILL break if you apply even a tad too much heat to the pins or you bend them slightly too much. The same is true even if you're careful with ribbon cables but bend them back and forth too many times. With the amount of strain placed on the screen ribbon cable to desolder the second side of pins beneath, to get everything vulnerable clear of the way of your soldering iron it's obviously the more risky method to just peeling it off.

[@Xuul]

@@rwild7054 Hey Richard, Thank you very much for the extensive answer and the awesome explanation! That helped a lot. I really appreciate it! And yeah, I've been tinkering alot with Nintendo DS, DSi, DS Lite and 3DS, and the ribbon cables are really delicate, especially the ones which are rolled up inside the hinges Oo...

[@rwild7054]

@@Xuul No problem. Feel free to drop me a message if you encounter any problems with the mod. Or if you want to revel in your success! I always enjoy seeing that. One thing I would also say is that you have to be careful not to use too much isopropyl alcohol, always just enough to saturate your cotton bud or cloth slightly but not enough to drip. Reason being, the cheap coating on DMG backlights doesn't react well to it and you'll be able to see the mess when you switch it on afterward. That's from experience! I've gotta tell you, Nintendo consoles are some of the most fiddly devices I've ever encountered. The Wii U I had to fix last year was a real pain in the neck. Then again, Nintendo switches aren't so bad. That might be why all hobbyists are buying up broken ones at record rates. Sorry for the essay, that's just my style! 😂

[@Xuul]

@@rwild7054 Thanks for the offer and the isopropyl warning :) I totally agree, tinkering with Nintendo devices can be a real pain. I've been considering fixing Switches for a while now, and I guess I'm gonna give them a try as soon as I'm done with all the other consoles. Thanks again, and your style is great btw ;)

[@davidmichael90]

This is a really bad way to do it! Its too risky and totally not worth it compared to the tradidional method. Those pins bend and break so easy!!! Better dont follow his steps or many of you will regret it😅