Nintendo Game Boy Color Service Manual
Game Boy Color Repair Procedures is Nintendo's eight-page English service document for the Game Boy Color (CGB), revision 6/22/99. The title is the running header on every page. The schematic on page 8 carries a proprietary-information notice naming Nintendo of America Inc. and Nintendo Co., Ltd. The PDF has no text layer.
Contents
[edit | edit source]| Page | Content |
|---|---|
| 1 | Hardware overview: CPU, sound output, LCD, work RAM, DC/DC converter, external communication |
| 2 | Theory of operation: power supply, controller input, display and system timing |
| 3 | Block diagram |
| 4–5 | Disassembly procedure and LCD replacement, with two photographs |
| 6 | Exploded view |
| 7 | Parts list with Nintendo part numbers and quantities |
| 8 | Game Boy Color schematic |
Figures in the manual
[edit | edit source]| Item | Nintendo's figure |
|---|---|
| DC/DC converter input | 3 V DC, from two AA cells or the AC adapter |
| Converter outputs | +5 V DC for the CPU board; −15 V DC and +13.6 V DC for the LCD |
| Minimum input voltage | 2 V DC |
| Minimum operating voltage | 4.6 V DC |
| Master clock | 8.4 MHz to the CPU, which derives all other timing from it |
| Internal RAM | 127 × 8 bits |
| Video RAM | 16,384 bytes |
| Headphone output | 2 mW stereo |
| Internal speaker | 10 mW mono |
Page 1 says the LCD bias voltage comes from an LCD buffer amplifier, IR3E02. Page 2 says the RGB LCD needs no contrast control, so the Game Boy Color has none.
The disassembly procedure starts with six Y-type self-tapping screws (part 21826), two of them under the battery cover. The LCD ribbon connector is P2, released by sliding its black tabs towards the top of the unit. Three PHP self-tapping screws (part 34644) below the 32-pin connector hold the board. If the LCD is removed, its gasket (part 38894) is replaced, and the viewing area must be free of dust before the LCD goes back. After the rear housing is refitted, an angled probe pushed into the centre of the battery spring crimps the raised metal tab.
The page 8 schematic is drawn with designators and component values, which are legible when the PDF is zoomed in. Among them: the DC-DC converter module U5 with outputs labelled 5 V, −15 V and 13.6 V; the 3.3 V regulator U7 (RN5RT33A); fuses F1 and F2 (ICP-S1.0) in the battery feed; reset IC U6 (PST9135N); crystal X1 at 8.388608 MHz; and C32, 100 µF 6.3 V, on the converter's 5 V output.
What this manual does not contain
[edit | edit source]- No electrical parts list. The page 7 list is mechanical: housings, buttons, contacts, screws, labels, speaker, LCD unit and the CPU board as a single part (38902). Component values have to be read from the schematic.
- No fault-finding procedure or symptom table.
- No repair content for cartridges, the link port or the infrared port beyond the overview.
- Nothing on other models, apart from the note on page 2 that the sound, Game Pak interface and program sections work as on the Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket.
Download: Nintendo Game Boy Color Service Manual.pdf