JonteP83

Thank you for your reply and some very useful links! The easy but annoying way is somehow tempting. But it's good to know that there is the option of replacing with a hacked loader. I'll be sure to read through the forum more carefully!

Hi all, So I'm into simple ROM hacking projects for my own amusement and education and have so far focused on Master System and NES. I use the ConTEXT editor and WLA-DX compiler together with the MAME debugger. Now, I intend to use the same setup for Lynx. After reading up a bit, I understand that the ROM is slightly differently organized from what I'm used to. Basically, it seems that the encrypted loader is the main hurdle to handle. What is the best way to cope with this? First, I was thinking of decrypting the loader, updating the checksum info and encrypt again. But I can't seem to find tools for doing that. Maybe there's an easier solution? /Jonas

Yeah there is no real point in modding a gg without recapping first. If the caps are not dead yet, they will be soon.

Game Gear mod finished, and as I expected it was a bit more involved. I did the 1 ASIC which means replacing some tiny SMD components. Ugh. Anyway, it works fine and looks great! I found soldering to the edge connector was a lot easier if I painted some solder flux on it and added some solder. The only thing I don't feel entirely good about is that TP10 came loose when I soldered to it. I still have continuity to the ASIC pin but it feels a bit flakey. Thank you for this mod, McWill! Of 3 Game Gears I have, none had a good LCD, either dead pixel dust or an entire 3rd of the screen black.

The Lynx II LCD was a surprisingly easy mod. The Lynx PCB has throughhole components and is quite sturdy. I'd recommend a temp controlled iron and solder wick for removing parts. I had it set at 300C most of the time but went up to 325-350C for ground plane pins and removing the copper plate (I have the model with a copper plate covering the entire PCB). Everything is fairly generously spaced and it's easy to solder wires without causing shorts. The mod itself is, of course, of very high quality. I'm going to attempt a Game Gear mod next, which I expect to be a bit more challenging, given surface mounting and being overall more fragile...