I've started making a full schematic for the gba, the model I used is AGB-CPU-03. It's still work-in-progress but updated frequently. I could use some help: If you have some time to spare you could help finding flaws or help to complete it that'd be very much appreciated! There are hires scans of the mainboard that I've uploaded to the strip club: http://stripclub.arcade-tv.de/ Also I colorized some signals like GND, VCC, VDD5, VDD3 etc here's bigger file of that: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MyyarZgFLNg7ubwwal4GYtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink This is what I have until now: I wasn't able to identify all the transistors and diodes by their smd-code, but I made substitute packages with the same footprint. Here's the archive containing the wip-eagle-files, my library and a text-file with all signal-names. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27485470/AGB_CPU-03_WIP_20141207.zip And this is my 130MB-PhotoShop-file with all the layers, mirrored and colorized with pins numbered: ]https://www.dropbox.com/s/337m8x6klnb6wl6/GAME_BOY_ADVANCE_AGB-CPU-03_XRAY_PCB_SCAN_ATV.psd?dl=1 Here're some datasheets for possible matches of not-yet-identified components: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27485470/gba_datasheets.zip Another great ressource for gba-info: http://problemkaputt.de/gbatek.txt So, if anybody would like to join the party, be my guest!
This certainly needs some verifying but I got all components in it by now... If someone can measure the caps and resistors on his mainboard and check them agains mine that'd be great. Thanks. I've attached my Eagle-file and an archive containing the schematic as PNG-images for convenience.
This is quite the endeavor. Wish I could help more but still have a lot to learn when it comes to this stuff.
I can proof that it's 2 layers only by sanding down to the center of the pcb. Also there are absolutely no vias that don't lead to the opposite side of the pcb. I haven't come across any pcb made by nintendo that has more than 2 layers, not even N64 or Gamecube afaik.
I don't want to revive a dead thread but this is the best source I have found so far. I am working on using a Gameboy Advance to input controls to a Raspberry Pi through the GPIO. I want to solder wires to the button traces and connect these to the GPIO as shown in this guide: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=78&t=83317&p=589292#p589292 Using your images above I was able to find the traces for one side of each button but I can not seem to find the ground. I solderd to the copper colored traces indicated in your drawing and then tried to use one of the aqua solder pad (indicated with the red square) as my ground. Should I have used the purple traces in your image (indicated by the blue circle). The purple trace is labled ground on the PCB but I cannot follow it back to the button pads so I didnt think it would work. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-dVQVO3mYU-ZENOVmlXWV94aTg/view?usp=sharing Thank you for the images and any response I might get!
You can see the Groundplanes in the pcb-strips. Top image has light-blue and bottom image has red for GND. I don't know anything about the GPIO or a raspberry pi though If you were making your own controller for the GBA you would tap the points like this and connect them to GND to activate any of them. (using the pi and its GPIO protocol I think the lines may need to be multiplexed or something like that)
So looking at the d-pad for example, the positive side is the copper color and the light blue is the ground. So if I were to solder onto the TP5 contact and then solder onto any light blue surface, would I close the loop when I pressed the left arrow? The guide I linked, states which GPIO pins to use but states that all the grounds can be common and doesn't clarify which one to use. According to your image the light blue is a common ground for all the button pads?
Yes, right, the copper that blends in the blueish rest of the pcb is ground. The GBA uses common-ground, so you can use any spot on the pcb to tap GND from. If unsure: TEST -> solder a wire to a dpad-input und one to GND, connect them and see what happens on the GBA. This worked very well when I modded a GBA-SP into a DMG-housing.
Sadly, I bought a non-functional gameboy since all I needed were the PCB buttons. I am trying to slim down the PCB, Raspberry Pi, a LCD display, and a LiPo battery so that everything will fin inside the GBA case. SO the only way I can test it is to break out the GPIO pins to a bread board, and then run the soldered connections to GPIO breakouts. I tried this using only the left d-pad before I went further and didn't get any response form the Raspberry Pi. I will take a swing again tonight and post my results. Thanks! You have been a great help!
Alright so I am not sure why my first attempt did not work but I have soldered on to the traces of every button and have used the grounds of each trigger as my universal ground. For whatever reason this now works! Thanks, for the great resources!
Sorry to necropost but the files with the schematics are no longer accessible. Meanwhile I found what it seems the official service manual with the schematics. It is in portuguese but the images are in english. https://dragaosemchama.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/GBA-service-Manual.pdf
