Game Boy And Game Boy Color Eternal Life QSB Install

Required items for this install

  • An MBC3 Game Boy Game, check here to see if yours qualifies

  • Temperature Controlled Soldering Iron And Hot Air Gun (My iron and heat gun are set to 340°C or ~650°F)

  • Solder (I Use 60SN/40PB Solder by MG Chemicals, found Here)

  • Flux (I use a No clean flux paste syringe by MG Chemicals, Found here)

  • FM18W08 FRAM Chip Found at DIGI-KEY (FASTER SHIPPING) or ALI-Express (SLOWER SHIPPING)

  • Eternal Life QSB, BUY HERE

  • Wire (I use 28 AWG Stranded Silicone Wire, found HERE)

  • Kapton Tape, found HERE

STEP 1

Preparing the cartridge

Close-up of a green printed circuit board (PCB) with various electronic components including a coin cell battery, chips, and connectors, on a blue surface.
A green printed circuit board with various electronic components including chips, capacitors, and connectors, featuring gold contact pins at the bottom.

  • Remove the Save/Clock Battery

Close-up of a green printed circuit board (PCB) with integrated circuits and electronic components, placed on a blue surface.
Close-up image of a green printed circuit board with various electronic components, including a black integrated circuit chip, resistors, and other small components, placed on a blue surface.
Soldering iron melting solder on a green printed circuit board (PCB) with an integrated circuit chip.
Close-up of a green printed circuit board with numerous small electronic components including chips, resistors, and capacitors, some of which are black with white markings.

  • Using Hot Air, remove the SRAM chip (located on the left side of the board (I shoot at 340°C or ~650°F)

  • Using solder wick, wick off the left over solder from the pads where the sram was located

A black integrated circuit (IC) chip with multiple metal pins along its sides, placed on a blue surface.

STEP 2

Preparing and installing the FM18W08

Close-up of a black integrated circuit (IC) chip with metallic pins, labeled with white text and logo, placed on a blue surface.
Close-up of a green computer circuit board with black integrated circuits and gold-plated edge connectors.

  • Lift pins 20 and 28 on the fm18w08 till roughly a 90° Angle

Close-up view of a green printed circuit board (PCB) with black integrated circuits, gold contact pins along the bottom edge, and various small electronic components, including resistors and capacitors.
Close-up of a green printed circuit board (PCB) with electronic components, including integrated circuits and gold-plated contact pins along the edge.
Close-up of a computer circuit board with a large black integrated circuit chip in the center, electrical traces, and gold-plated edge connectors.
Close-up of a green circuit board with black integrated circuits and metallic parts, with a soldering iron tip touching one of the chips.

  • When Mounting the fm18w08, do your best get the legs on both sides close to where they need to be

  • once one side is perfectly aligned, tack one corner into place on the perfectly aligned side

  • once the other side is perfectly aligned, tack the opposite corner from the first tack

  • Apply flux on both sides of the chip

  • with solder on the tip of your iron, use a drag soldering technique to solder the rest of the legs to the board

Close-up of a green printed circuit board (PCB) with black integrated circuits and gold-plated edge connectors.

STEP 3

Preparing and installing the Eternal Life QSB

  • With a cotton swab, clean the area we just worked on

Close-up of a green printed circuit board with black integrated circuits, yellow circuit traces, gold edge connectors, and small components.
Close-up of a printed circuit board with electronic components and a repair tool.
Close-up of a computer motherboard with a circuit chip, connectors, and a heat sink.
Close-up of a small electronic circuit board with visible connectors and components, including a gold-colored component, against a blue background.

  • place a square of kapton tape to the right of the fm18w08

  • Make sure to tin the pads on the bottom of the qsb prior to installation

  • place the qsb so both pegs align with pins 20 and 28 (the already lifted legs)

  • with hot air, aim towards pin 20 and 28 on the game pcb

  • Once the solder is molten, use a pair of tweezers to press down on the qsb (Be midful of the tiny smd components pont the qsb. you should see the solder on the pads of 20 and 28 react to you pressing down) then remove the heat while maintaining pressure on the qsb for 15 - 20 seconds

  • if installed properly, when lightly nudging the qsb, it should not move and the qsb should be flush with the game pcb

Close-up of a computer circuit board showing electronic components, including a large black integrated circuit and a smaller component with white labels.
Close-up of circuit boards with electronic components, including chips and a soldering iron tip.
Close-up of a green printed circuit board with various microchips, components, and gold-plated contacts, including a Wi-Fi module and other integrated circuits.

  • Solder pins 20 and 28 of the Fm18w08 to the respective pads on the qsb

Close-up of a green printed circuit board (PCB) with various electronic components, including a large black integrated circuit (IC) and a blue wire soldered onto the board.

STEP 4

Wiring CLK, GND, and 5V to the QSB

Close-up of a green circuit board with black chips and connected wires, showing some minor damage.
Close-up of an electronic circuit board with a large black integrated circuit chip, red and black wires, and various smaller components.
A close-up image of a green circuit board with various electronic components including chips, resistors, and capacitors, with gold connector pins along the bottom edge.
A close-up of an electronic circuit board with various chips, wires, and components.

  • solder a wire (blue) onto pin 29 of U2 (5th pin on the left side, use of Flux is Recommended), this is clk

  • solder a wire (Black) to the negative (-) terminal where the battery used to be, this is gnd

  • solder a wire (Red) to the top of C2 (the point facing the negative (-) Battery terminal, use of flux is recommended), this is 5v

  • on the qsb, solder 5v to the left pad, clk to the middle pad, and gnd to the right pad

    • NOTE: if your game uses a real-time clock like pokemon gold, silver, and crystal, etc., you must reinstall the battery. The function of the battery is reduced to just keeping the time rather than keeping the time and keeping the save data alive.

  • once wired up, you’re finished soldering, if you used flux, clean that up using cotton swabs

    • OPTIONAL: You may put a dab of hot glue to the right side of the QSB to help tack it down a little better. i have strength tested these boards to see how well they stay on by throwing the game as hard as i can into a carpet numerous times, I was unable to make it break off. Hot glue would be more for peace of mind than anything and absolutely is not required for the install

STEP 5

Testing

A silver Nintendo Game Boy Advance SP handheld gaming console with a red cartridge inserted, displaying the Game Boy logo on its screen.
A silver Game Boy Advance SP with a red cartridge inserted, turned on and displaying a Pokémon game menu screen.

  • if the, what would be, nintendo logo is a garbled mess, go back and check for shorts, any loose connections, or missing components on the qsb

  • If installed properly you should see an ungarbled nintendo logo when booting the game

  • play the game so you can make a save file, if it is still there after powering off the console, you have successfully performed the eternal life mod! Long live the saves!