Gamecuboid - Worklog For My Portable Gamecube

[zack]

This will be the worklog for my first portable Gamecube.
Features for this portable will include:

Wiikey Fusion (no disc drive) and FFC-36 Adapter Board
5.6" TFT Innolux LCD screen with 640x480 resolution
Ports for a controller
Slots for a memory card
Not sure on batteries
Zenloc's custom regulator

First, a little backstory. One fine evening, it occurred to me that the gamecube is not really a cube. It is a cuboid; since not all sides are even. This is why I chose this name, but I wanted to build the portable after seeing ones others have built. This will make a good summer project I suppose.

I will mostly be working on this portable with my uncle at his office/lab where they repair, ship, and test water flow meters. So plenty of tools to work with. Not much progress has been made yet. So far the gamecube is taken apart, serial ports are neatly de-soldered, and we have started wiring for the Wiikey Fusion adapter. I'm taking my time with this portable, building it right with the appropriate parts. I still do not have much planned for how the final product will look, such as the case, design, and its feature's positioning, but this topic is just to get a start on documenting my progress. It would be awesome to have your guesses thoughts, opinions, suggestions, or help as the Gamecuboid is built. It might not end up being the slimmest portable, since I don't want to push things too far on my first system, but it will be nicely built and functional.

Here are the photos I took on the first day we've actually started working. (Just yesterday)

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Got all the parts laid out

The motherboard. (not all ports we're removed and cleaned but they are now)

The area we will be working

Workspace

Current progress on the Wiikey Fusion adapter

Current state of motherboard with ports removed

The disc drive port with convenient bridges between the ground connections.

 

[lexxion83]

Take as many pictures as you can I love to see pictures as they worth more than a 1000 words.

Great job so far.

Keep it up.

 

[nuke]

You dont need to bridge all the ground pins together.

 

[zack]

Thanks, I will try to keep the thread updated with many pictures. And they are all bridged, that wire is threaded underneath the board too.

 

[zack]

Just a small update. Got the wiring done on one end of the Wiikey Fusion adapter. Now to sort them out on the other end and solder them to the disc drive port. But first, I need to figure out where to position the Wiikey and adapter so I can wire accordingly... Also, I noticed on this diagram (http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/Ashen12345/betaswiikeydigram.jpg) that there is a pin for 3.43V. I should just wire this pin to the 3.3V line on the Gamecube right? And the Wiikey's ground to the gamecube's?

 

[Ashen]

Yes, you'll want to shorten those wires a good bit though. Having them that long may not work.

Also, I'm pretty sure Nuke meant to say bridging those grounds isn't needed. They're already bridged on the board. It wont hurt anything though.

 

[zack]

Yes, you'll want to shorten those wires a good bit though. Having them that long may not work.

Also, I'm pretty sure Nuke meant to say bridging those grounds isn't needed. They're already bridged on the board. It wont hurt anything though.

Of course, I will be shortening the wires quite a bit. But always better to leave a little extra wire and then cut them more later.
And ah, are you saying I didn't have to do all that bridging?? Well you're right, now that I look at it, I see traces that look like they connect between pins... Oh well.
By the way, was that a yes on wiring the 3.43v line to the gamecube's 3.3v line?

 

[zack]

Got the regulator wired to the motherboard using 5 wires. (Actually 6 because I doubled up on the ground wire due to video issues)
Most likely I will be using Zenloc's custom regulator rather than the original, but it is nice to have the gamecube running off 5 lines for now. Next step is actually building the custom regulator, and finishing up that Wiikey Fusion adapter.

 

[MoRZiLLo]

Nice pics!!!
5 wires to the regulator? I can't understand why... If you use this "trick" you need a custom regulator or not?

You havn't plan to cut or trimm your mobo?

I'm not a plan to trimm or cut my mobo. I have space in my case to fit entering.

This 5 point wire to the regulator - board , run with wiikey?

Anyway , amazing project!!! Can wait por new progress and pics too

Sorry for massive questions i'm not understand 50% off english words
Tried to learn many things at a time

 

[zack]

Nice pics!!!
5 wires to the regulator? I can't understand why... If you use this "trick" you need a custom regulator or not?

You havn't plan to cut or trimm your mobo?

I'm not a plan to trimm or cut my mobo. I have space in my case to fit entering.

This 5 point wire to the regulator - board , run with wiikey?

Anyway , amazing project!!! Can wait por new progress and pics too

Sorry for massive questions i'm not understand 50% off english words
Tried to learn many things at a time

Ok, I'll try to interpret your questions best I can.

Yes, the regulator can be connected to the motherboard with 5 wires without the need for a custom regulator. Refer to this topic with info on how to do so. viewtopic.php?f=36&t=1654

So far I have no plans on trimming, however I want to. It just depends on how easily it can be done, because like I said, I don't want to risk much on my first portable.

Are you asking if the 5-pin wiring will work with the Wiikey Fusion? Yes. It should...

 

[MoRZiLLo]

Ok thank you!

Is the only thing that i need to start my project in a good way.

Im Triying to contact with kasar for talk in spanish or for try to understand well these manuals.
I don't understand many of this steps on the manuals. My english skills don't pass 50% of my brain capacity.

Sorry, try to learn many things at a time.

Thanks again

 

[zack]

Ok thank you!

Is the only thing that i need to start my project in a good way.

Im Triying to contact with kasar for talk in spanish or for try to understand well these manuals.
I don't understand many of this steps on the manuals. My english skills don't pass 50% of my brain capacity.

Sorry, try to learn many things at a time.

Thanks again

No problem, I hear English is a hard language to learn, but keep studying and it will become natural.

 

[zack]

Right now I'm building the custom regulator. As you can see, the parts are densely packed and as small as I can get it. I just need to wire up the input and outputs, and connect those capacitors. Then I will trim that brown board a little that they are all mounted to. Hopefully I'm interpreting Zenloc's diagram correctly, as his handwriting is messy, and I cannot find a better guide with a clearer explanation of where everything goes. If someone could help me with that, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[SonyQrio]

1.9v:

3.3v:

And you don't need a cap on the outputs, so only 1 cap each.

 

[zack]

Thanks! This is really helpful. I'll work on it more tonight.

 

[zack]

It's been a few days since my last update, and I must admit progress has been a bit slow since then. I am still building the custom regulator, little by little. This is a text-only update as there is not much to show, and I'm too lazy to take a picture right now. It doesn't look much different than my last photo. However I have gotten the 5V line running, (tested it with my 12V power supply and multimeter) so at least I know I wired it correctly, and I can continue to do the same for the other voltage lines.

 

[zack]

The custom regulator has been built. Next step is wiring it up and testing it, and also removing the black port that connects to the original regulator. I just have one question... I bridge the 5v and 12v lines on the motherboard since there is no 12v line on the custom regulator right? In other words, I can power the 12v line with the 5v line, correct?
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Anyways, as you can see, it is completely built with labeled wires already attached. Nice! By the way, never buy masking tape from the dollar store. It sucks, it wont even stick to itself.

Close up

I'm not completely happy with my messy soldering. It probably would have turned out better if I wasn't re-using a perfboard. Maybe I can clean up some of that flux though.

 

[Ashen]

That looks pro man, nice work.

 

[MoRZiLLo]

Oh yeah!!!!!
You have a good skill with the soldering iron.
You've done making a custom regulator man!

Waiting for advances...Good Luck!

 

[unicycler17]

I bridge the 5v and 12v lines on the motherboard since there is no 12v line on the custom regulator right? In other words, I can power the 12v line with the 5v line, correct?

You can power the 12v sound line with only 5v, but if you keep the on board preamp intact, the sound will sound really bad. I would feed as the highest voltage you have to the 12v line. So if you're using a 7.4v battery, wire 7.4v from the battery pcb to the 12v line on the cube to get the best sound quality.