NGPC Front Light DIY Guide, Now Available!!

[Josh]

I have to find one of those. Man I bet those are nice up close.

 

[KingOfMetalSlug]

did the mod a couple of days ago! thanks man, this rocks!!

could this mod be applied to a wonderswan crystal?, what resistor would be best?

 

[Xian Xi]

On the wonderswan you need to find a spot to tap the 3.2v from, since the WS runs off 1 AA then it would be off a cap as well. Might kill the battery faster but you can always use a battery with higher capacity.

 

[jm666]

Xi, your mod is awesome.
Now, I would like to add a dimmer chip.

Have you tried to add a dimmer chip in your NGPC frontlight mod like others (division 6 and mash-mods) did ?
Mash-mods didn't sell anymore this chip and division 6 sells only for gba and gba sp.

I'm would like to know :
-whether I can get one of this chip in an electronic shop,
-whether I can adapt the division 6 one for NGPC?

Have you an idea ?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Xian Xi]

You should be able to use the same chip for the GBA since it's pretty much the same technology. It might be easier to install a brightness pot instead of the chip though as you would need to get a chip that functions the same.

For the brightness pot you just put it inline with the power line to the light screen on the middle pin(Pin 2) and then the output(Pin 1 or 3) goes to the light screen.

 

[jm666]

Thanks for your reply! Of course, installing a brightness pot is easier but requires to cut the case...

Controlling the brightness level with a simple combination of buttons is pretty much powerful and smarter than the manual option.

Do you have an idea of the voltage required for the GBA SP front light, the voltage spots of the A, B, options buttons and the vcc spot on the system card of this mash-mods picture:

http://mash-mods.com/mods/products/files/70/ngpc_dimmer.jpg

Think that as soon as you know this, it's easier to find the right chip; installation is simple: 5 spots: 5 wires.

 

[Xian Xi]

The spot where I tap the power for the light is about 3.3-3.4v iirc.

 

[softwhere]

How much does this cut down on battery life?

 

[Xian Xi]

Not very much, you can install a switch to turn it off if you don't need the light. The light pulls about ~20mA/h.

 

[Metal Slug]

Always wanted to do this! Might just have to take the plunge soon now
I'd be interested to see everyones results, how about hosting pics guys?

 

[klargon]

Finally got round to trying this. I sacrificed my most minty anthracite unit, but managed to fail. Firstly, I managed to scratch the inside of my plastic screen cover, thus blemishing the perfect example of a console. I was pretty pleased with my soldering, but it doesn't switch on now. The LED flashes a few times, but nothing happens on the screen. I have a feeling that one of the sides of the frontlight ribbon was torn during de-soldering. They're pretty damn fragile. I've got another SP, so I'll try again. Shame I've ruined the screen cover, though - is there something I can use to replace this with?

 

[Pat505]

Found my NGPC and collection that I have not seen in well over a decade. Well I soon realized why I did not enjoy the system as I could not see the screen. So I found this tutorial and one of my old crappy SP's and now I am highly enjoying this system(addicted to SvC cardfighters). Thank you very much Xian Xi for the tutorial.

My only question is I was having trouble with the desoldering of the ribbon so I just cut off the thin part that was connecting to the SP it works fine but will I have any issues down the road from this?

 

[neogeogod]

man im having the hardest time finding 30 gauge wire for this mod ive been to 5 stores and called 10 more RS doesnt have it either also cant find a triwing tip lol any tips anyone want to send me a envelope with the wire in it for 5$? was looking forward to modding my ngpc tonight not gonna happen

 

[Xian Xi]

All RS stores carry it, employees there are stupid. And I was turned down for a position there...lol

It's Kynar wrapping wire. As for the tri-wing you have to get it from ebay unless you have a local game shop that sells them.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062640

 

[neogeogod]

yea they have it just called kinda pissed but 1/2 my fault i guess ordered a triwing screwdriver probably take a year to get here.. 0.85 cents free shipping lol...

 

[neogeogod]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1887~r.96035782

 

[coarse]

Hi guys. Newb here.

Against my better judgment, I attempted this mod myself because I couldn't find any pre-modded units on ebay. Apparently, I bricked my NGPC--it doesn't turn on anymore.

I think I want to try this one last time before giving up and just trying to find a pre-modded unit.

Any idea what I did wrong, and how I can have a better chance of success on my second try?

 

[Xian Xi]

Can you post pics of your mod attempt?

 

[coarse]

Can you post pics of your mod attempt?

I can't, because I de-soldered the screen to see if the NGPC would work again.

This was a couple of days ago, and I'd already thrown out the GBA front-light in disgust. I got a bunch of fingerprints on it, so I figured I ruined the screen anyhow.

 

[coarse]

Can you post pics of your mod attempt?

Unfortunately, I can't. =(

I de-soldered the screen to see if that would get my NGPC working again. It didn't work, so I guess I somehow permanently messed up the motherboard.

I ended up throwing out the frontlight screen in disgust too. I got a couple of smudges on it, so I figure it was worthless anyway...

 

[Pat505]

I had one that bricked on me but that was after I let my son use it. If anybody breaks or scratches there NGPC screen I have an extra one.

 

[N30_G30_speed]

I had one that bricked on me but that was after I let my son use it. If anybody breaks or scratches there NGPC screen I have an extra one.

I intend to get this MOD for the console I got from a chick in Canada, the one I got from Japan I'm letting it the way it is, as a souvenir mostly.

 

[primarydirectiv]

I cannot believe that I have not searched for this previously. Thank you many times over for compiling this. You are awesome!

 

[N30_G30_speed]

I just got my ngp back from the dude who was modding it, it cost me 75usd (frontlight and led replacement for a blue one) , and I paid 50usd for a GBA AGS-001 to get the frontlight. I tried it with several games and then realize that the screen is a little bit down and the second line of dialogues from the Match of the millenium spills out of the screen I have to ask the dude to try and fix that, also lost a little bit of responsiveness of the controls kinda sad...

 

[Xian Xi]

Wow, $75 + $50 is a lot just to get it frontlighted. When I used to sell pre-modded units I sold them for $110. $75 is almost double what I charge for a front light install. For that price it should include the sac front light instead of you buying one yourself.