Cyberblade
Member
TLDR:
* Working on Wii portable with Gamecube controls
* Loads GC and Wii games through USB Loader GX
* 7" screen
* Plan to 3d print the case
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Hello ModRetro, figured after being registered for a month I'd finally post something. I'm not entirely new to the portable scene, having posted on and off at the BenHeck forums since slightly before his first NES portable, but I've never actually completed a portable. I attribute most of my failures to being somewhere around 13-14 years old at the time and having no planning abilities at all, but they were of course good learning experiences.
I'd pretty much given up on the prospect of ever doing this again, but then I came across several Gamecube Portables on Youtube and was blown away by what had become possible. To cut the long story short, I just felt like I had to try this again.
I had originally looked at doing a GCP myself, but as I started planning I thought that it'd be a little more fun to do something different. I've not really seen any Wii's other than laptops, so the thought of doing one with built in GC controls sorta struck a chord with me...also the thought of portable Brawl played a good part of it.
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Onto the actual work rather than just back story, the Wii's software was the first thing to be hacked up. Installing Priiloader and DIOS MIOS, I set it to boot USB Loader GX on startup instead of the Wii's normal channel menu. USB Loader GX can load both Wii and GC Iso's all while being controlled by the GC controller instead of a Wii remote, making it ideal for this project. I went with DIOS MIOS instead of a WiiKey to cut costs, I had no problems with the games I tested that I constantly play so I'm not too worried about compatibility, and on the bright side DIOS MIOS can force some of them to play in widescreen natively without stretching.
With the software hacked I started opening up the hardware. Taking apart and desoldering most of the components from the Wii wasn't too big of a problem-
The heatsink and DVD drive board are sitting off to the side in a box (USB Loader GX still requires the DVD drive board to be attached, but the rest of the motors, lasers, and housing are completely removed) I'd like to use a different heatsink than the stock one, as I've seen a few times around here but can't seem to find one I like anywhere. Something thin and with a fan mounted in it instead of on it or next to it, like a graphics card. I'll probably pick up a busted card or Gamecube at some point to yank out a nice thin heatsink.
A closer view of my hacked up memory card slot. The Wii's GC memory card slot is huge, and honestly I only need one. It is a bit ugly I know, I accidentally tore a couple of the pins out of it as I was slowly prying it from the board in desoldering, but using the pins from the other slot I was able to put it right. Once it's wired up and covered in hot glue I don't think those pins will go anywhere.
The screen I'm using right now is a 7" Haier portable TV, the HLT71. I think I spent all of $10 on it when one came in at the closeouts store I work at a few years ago. The motherboard on it is rather bulky unfortunately, but overall it's rather light on the power for its size since it's already LED backlit. I measured it at 500 mAh on my multimeter, which from what I've been reading doesn't sound too bad for a 7".
A test layout, the two small black PC boards are going to be the controller halves and I plan on them holding 2 IR led's a piece for the sensor bar.
A test layout of the right half of the controller, nothings soldered in place yet since I've not really had time to work on it. Planning on using the headers with IDE cable sockets to make final assembly easier in a few places.
But, I'm not quite sure I can do much with the controllers yet, pretty sure that's a screwed up controller. ^^; Desoldering has always been a weak point for me and here I managed to tear up some of the PCB as I went to remove the main analog stick. The 3rd party controllers PCB was nice for it's well labeled button test pads, but not so much for the surface mounted analog stick.
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One of my major stumbling blocks in the past has been the casing. I had a couple units wired up and working, but they were scrapped as I grew totally frustrated on casing. I basically suck hard when it comes to wood working, vacuum forming, bondo, and all the other traditional case making methods I can think of.
But I am rather good when it comes to computer graphics and design, and this is a strength I plan to play here. I plan to get a detailed scale representation of all of my components as they're modded and built, then model and 3d print my case using Shapeways or a similar 3d printing service. I'm hoping that with most of the case being hollow and having a bunch of holes in it that it won't cost me my future first born child but it's hard to say. I'll likely end up with a pretty hodge podge ugly case if I can't afford to 3d print it, but one way or another I'll make something come together.
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That's about all the further I've gotten so far, between waiting for parts to arrive and the rest of my life going on this projects been only worked on in short increments. The forums here have already been very helpful for just finding all the information I need, just a matter of trying to put some of it to use now. Just going to end with a couple of questions-
1. Do you think it would be best to drop about $20-30 on one of those 3.5" or 4.3" backup monitors and put together an audio amp, or should I just go with what I have? The screen looks rather nice and I don't have to wire up an amp, but it is a bit bulky. I know its rather subjective, but I just want some opinions since I've been debating it.
2. Batteries. It seems the hobby has moved onto Lithium Ion batteries for a lot of projects since I last looked into it. I remember when only the most ambitious people would even touch them, the Radio Shack RC car NiMH batteries being the ones most people used. I'm honestly not even where to start with this, having searched through batteryspace I've found a few batteries I think could work, but I'm totally not sure. How well would this battery work out for me? My major concern with that one is its size. At 14.8V it fulfills the Wii's 11V minimum needed to boot and the mAh is high enough to power the Wii and screen for at least 2 hours if the Wii does draw ~1A from what I've read around here. Any suggestions?
Thanks for taking the time to read my wall of text, hopefully my future posts will be shorter and a little easier to digest.
* Working on Wii portable with Gamecube controls
* Loads GC and Wii games through USB Loader GX
* 7" screen
* Plan to 3d print the case
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello ModRetro, figured after being registered for a month I'd finally post something. I'm not entirely new to the portable scene, having posted on and off at the BenHeck forums since slightly before his first NES portable, but I've never actually completed a portable. I attribute most of my failures to being somewhere around 13-14 years old at the time and having no planning abilities at all, but they were of course good learning experiences.
I'd pretty much given up on the prospect of ever doing this again, but then I came across several Gamecube Portables on Youtube and was blown away by what had become possible. To cut the long story short, I just felt like I had to try this again.
I had originally looked at doing a GCP myself, but as I started planning I thought that it'd be a little more fun to do something different. I've not really seen any Wii's other than laptops, so the thought of doing one with built in GC controls sorta struck a chord with me...also the thought of portable Brawl played a good part of it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Onto the actual work rather than just back story, the Wii's software was the first thing to be hacked up. Installing Priiloader and DIOS MIOS, I set it to boot USB Loader GX on startup instead of the Wii's normal channel menu. USB Loader GX can load both Wii and GC Iso's all while being controlled by the GC controller instead of a Wii remote, making it ideal for this project. I went with DIOS MIOS instead of a WiiKey to cut costs, I had no problems with the games I tested that I constantly play so I'm not too worried about compatibility, and on the bright side DIOS MIOS can force some of them to play in widescreen natively without stretching.
With the software hacked I started opening up the hardware. Taking apart and desoldering most of the components from the Wii wasn't too big of a problem-
The heatsink and DVD drive board are sitting off to the side in a box (USB Loader GX still requires the DVD drive board to be attached, but the rest of the motors, lasers, and housing are completely removed) I'd like to use a different heatsink than the stock one, as I've seen a few times around here but can't seem to find one I like anywhere. Something thin and with a fan mounted in it instead of on it or next to it, like a graphics card. I'll probably pick up a busted card or Gamecube at some point to yank out a nice thin heatsink.
A closer view of my hacked up memory card slot. The Wii's GC memory card slot is huge, and honestly I only need one. It is a bit ugly I know, I accidentally tore a couple of the pins out of it as I was slowly prying it from the board in desoldering, but using the pins from the other slot I was able to put it right. Once it's wired up and covered in hot glue I don't think those pins will go anywhere.
The screen I'm using right now is a 7" Haier portable TV, the HLT71. I think I spent all of $10 on it when one came in at the closeouts store I work at a few years ago. The motherboard on it is rather bulky unfortunately, but overall it's rather light on the power for its size since it's already LED backlit. I measured it at 500 mAh on my multimeter, which from what I've been reading doesn't sound too bad for a 7".
A test layout, the two small black PC boards are going to be the controller halves and I plan on them holding 2 IR led's a piece for the sensor bar.
A test layout of the right half of the controller, nothings soldered in place yet since I've not really had time to work on it. Planning on using the headers with IDE cable sockets to make final assembly easier in a few places.
But, I'm not quite sure I can do much with the controllers yet, pretty sure that's a screwed up controller. ^^; Desoldering has always been a weak point for me and here I managed to tear up some of the PCB as I went to remove the main analog stick. The 3rd party controllers PCB was nice for it's well labeled button test pads, but not so much for the surface mounted analog stick.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
One of my major stumbling blocks in the past has been the casing. I had a couple units wired up and working, but they were scrapped as I grew totally frustrated on casing. I basically suck hard when it comes to wood working, vacuum forming, bondo, and all the other traditional case making methods I can think of.
But I am rather good when it comes to computer graphics and design, and this is a strength I plan to play here. I plan to get a detailed scale representation of all of my components as they're modded and built, then model and 3d print my case using Shapeways or a similar 3d printing service. I'm hoping that with most of the case being hollow and having a bunch of holes in it that it won't cost me my future first born child but it's hard to say. I'll likely end up with a pretty hodge podge ugly case if I can't afford to 3d print it, but one way or another I'll make something come together.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
That's about all the further I've gotten so far, between waiting for parts to arrive and the rest of my life going on this projects been only worked on in short increments. The forums here have already been very helpful for just finding all the information I need, just a matter of trying to put some of it to use now. Just going to end with a couple of questions-
1. Do you think it would be best to drop about $20-30 on one of those 3.5" or 4.3" backup monitors and put together an audio amp, or should I just go with what I have? The screen looks rather nice and I don't have to wire up an amp, but it is a bit bulky. I know its rather subjective, but I just want some opinions since I've been debating it.
2. Batteries. It seems the hobby has moved onto Lithium Ion batteries for a lot of projects since I last looked into it. I remember when only the most ambitious people would even touch them, the Radio Shack RC car NiMH batteries being the ones most people used. I'm honestly not even where to start with this, having searched through batteryspace I've found a few batteries I think could work, but I'm totally not sure. How well would this battery work out for me? My major concern with that one is its size. At 14.8V it fulfills the Wii's 11V minimum needed to boot and the mAh is high enough to power the Wii and screen for at least 2 hours if the Wii does draw ~1A from what I've read around here. Any suggestions?
Thanks for taking the time to read my wall of text, hopefully my future posts will be shorter and a little easier to digest.
