DISCLAIMER - I know this post looks extremely long and boring. But bear with me because I attempt to explain everything from the beginning.
For complete noobs!
1. You can't buy a custom regulator unless you commissioned someone else to build it for you. Hence being custom.
2. About the custom regulator.. I had the same problem with unclear instructions so let me start from the beginning and explain. The gamecube runs off of four voltage lines total, all of which are provided by the gamecube's original regulator. You input 12v to the regulator and it splits it into the four voltages: 1.9v, 3.3v, 5v, and 12v. The purpose of the custom regulator is to replace the original one, obviously. Why would you want to do this? There are 3 main reasons:
- 1. More energy efficient
2. More compact to fit in your portable
3. You can run the gamecube off a lower voltage! (Part of the reason you can do this is because the gamecube's 12v line and 5v line can be bridged into one, and both run off only 5v.)
So now you only have three voltage lines to worry about; 1.9v, 3.3v, and 5v. The regulators from TI each provide one of those voltages. Basically you are combining three small regulators into one. They all share the same ground and input voltage, with separate outputs to the gamecube, of course. The voltage of each regulator is determined by the value of resistor you pair with it. So you'll get 3 resistors, a 348ohm, a 910ohm, and a 1.87k resistor.
Here are the digikey part numbers for each resistor I ordered:
348ohm:
348XBK-ND
910ohm:
910EBK-ND (Zenloc says to use a 903ohm resistor but those don't appear to be too common, and a 910ohm worked just fine for me)
1.87k:
1.87KXBK-ND
Also you'll need some 100uF capacitors to put on the input and output lines. Adding caps to the output of the 3.3v line and 5v line are optional, so you'll need a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 6 of these.
100uF caps:
P10269-ND
Now about the regulators themselves.. TI usually offers free samples for the parts but they appear to be out of stock lately. For the 1.9v line, you should use a
PTR08100W model regulator, and for the other two 3.3v line and 5v line, use a couple of
PTH08080W model regulators.
Details can be found on their site and diagrams in the data sheet will explain how to wire the regulators up. The only difference between their diagram and the final custom regulator is that you're wiring 3 of them up in parallel.
Also, if you don't mind spending $30 or so, Digikey also sells those regulators. Just search their site for the PTR08100W and PTH08080W part numbers.
3. A popular choice for screens is the PS1 screen. You can find lots of info and guides on modding/trimming the PS1 screen, however this screen is aging quickly in my opinion. The technology is a bit bulky and old, however you can improve the screen quite a bit. LED modding, for example, will replace the need for the screen's original backlight, cutting down on space and conserving energy. Also a big pro to the PS1 screen is the built-in audio amp and speakers. This means you can wire your Gamecube's audio directly to the screen and have sound and volume control, without a separate audio amp. If you would like to have a better, brighter, more compact and higher resolution screen, however, I would recommend some of the screens on eBay. Here's a seller that I've bought from
http://stores.ebay.com/njytouch. You can find some good displays here. More specifically, here's the screen I got.
5" TFT INNOLUX AT050TN22 It's a nice 5" screen that fits nicely in my ZN-40 case. Go ahead and do your own research and make your own choice though. It's hard to screw up buying a screen as long as you pay attention to the dimensions and basically just make sure it has composite input.
4. Have you tried searching eBay for tri-wing screwdriver? There's lots of results there, and super cheap too. However if you're buying a wiikey fusion anyways, mine came with one for free. Got it at
http://www.modchipcentral.com
5. Again, try searching eBay. If you want to take a slight risk, you could search for a bundle of "AS IS" gamecubes that are broken. Usually the only problem is the disc drive or perhaps the regulator, both of which I assume you are replacing anyways.
6. Gamebit screwdrivers are sold on eBay. I haven't used one myself however. If you want to go total Macgyver mode, you could use a Bic pen. Get a plastic pen made out of the harder type plastic (Bic cristal works great). Take out the ink and internals so it's just the plastic, and use either a lighter or a heatgun to melt the plastic on the tip of the pen. Swiftly shove the pen down into the gamecube's screw hole, and firmly press down for a few seconds. (Yes that was an innuendo)
What you're doing is forming the plastic around the screw, creating your own custom screwdriver. It wears out pretty quick though, so you may have to repeat the process a few times.
7. Are you saying you don't want to use a PS1 screen? Well that's your choice then. I already discussed screens anyways.
8. I can't tell you much about what specific batteries to use, because that's pretty much the one thing I haven't figured out yet for my portable. I can recommend a good site though.
http://www.batteryspace.com has a large selection of high quality batteries. You're most likely going to want lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, as they are the most size-efficient. Since lithium-ion cells come in 3.7v at a time, your compatible voltage choices for the custom regulator are 7.4v (two cells), 11.1v (3 cells), or 14.8v (4 cells). Keep in mind that the more voltage you have, the less milliamps you require in order to have good battery life. For example, 7.2v at 4000mAh would give you the same battery life as 14.8v at 2000mAh. Twice the voltage, half the current. It all evens out in the end. Just find something with good dimensions for your case and a decent amount of milliamps. I'd recommend something over 5000mAh if you're using 7.4v. You could get separate cells or a pre-built battery pack, but if you get separate cells MAKE SURE YOU GET A PROTECTION CIRCUIT. Seriously a protection circuit is the difference between your GCP being on fire or not. Also get a compatible charger of course.
9. Ah yes, the Wiikey Fusion. Basically, it's a modchip originally intended for the Wii. It's a small chip with sockets for a ribbon cable, and an SD card socket. What you would do is take apart your Wii, disconnect the Wii's disc drive cable, and connect the Wiikey Fusion in-between the disc drive and the Wii's motherboard. This replaces the need to use your Wii's disc drive, and you can now instead boot games from an SD card.
Turns out, the Gamecube and Wii are so similar that the Wiikey Fusion can also be used on the Gamecube. It works the same by replacing the Gamecube's disc drive entirely, allowing you to boot games from an SD card and get rid of that bulkyness. There are two main differences:
1. No convenient ribbon cable connections like on the Wii. The wiring can be tricky and there are multiple methods of getting all the pins from the Wiikey attached to the Gamecubes disc drive port. Somehow you gotta get the thing wired.
2. The way you boot games. With the Wiikey Fusion and its original firmware, you would have to go to the disc selection on the gamecube's menu, and press a button which is connected to the wiikey. You then press start and load up the wiikey and your list of games. ORRR, install this cool new thing called Swiss on your Wiikey. I haven't had experience in this, but it replaces the original firmware and allows the Gamecube to auto-boot to the Wiikey and your list of games, without pushing a button.
Anyways you should read up on the wiikey and how to install it, there's a lot to know.
Here's some good topics to get you started.
http://forum.modretro.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=6003
http://www.made-by-bacteria.com/forum/v ... =40&t=2533
http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.ph ... a_GameCube
As far as where to buy the thing, like I said, I got mine from
http://www.modchipcentral.com. The price is decent, the Wiikey is genuine, and it came with an awesome triwing screwdriver! Or you could buy from fellow Modretro member "megalomaniac". He has a topic in the Junkyard where he's selling wiikeys for $25. (An awesome deal!) Here's that.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11628
10 Ok, let's talk fans. The type of fan you get largely depends on how you plan on positioning your motherboard, fan, and vents in your case. If you want the fan to sit horizontally in the case, you'll obviously want a fan that's as thin as possible without huge compromises. Also you'll need to vent that air somewhere, so perhaps that means putting your board upside down with the heatsink/fan directly on a vent on the back of your case. However if you want to position your fan vertically to vent from the side, that means mostly keeping in mind the lenth/width of the fan, not the thickness. Go ahead and figure out what your measurement limitations are and then look through digikey's fan selection and start narrowing down your options based on the dimensions. Here's a link to their DC fans selection.
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e ... ns/1179730
Also narrow your selections based on ones with the least amount of noise or highest amount of airflow. That's always nice.
11. Ok, last freaking question. So about those speakers and amps... If you're pretty much using any screen besides the PS1 screen, you will most likely need an audio amp. It's a simple circuit that takes the audio from your Gamecube and amplifies it, or de-amplifies it. Basically it gives you volume control, and in most cases, a headphone jack. You have plenty of options for audio amps. Most people use a pre-built amp salvaged from something like an iPod accessory or small external speakers of any kind. Do some research to find common Gamecube portable audio amps. Remember, Google is your friend. iLuv makes some good audio amps, like the one mentioned here
http://kyorune.com/modding/article.php?id=47. The iLuv ISP110 also looks decent, but that's just my opinion from seeing it online.
You could also take on the challenge of building your own audio amp, which shouldn't cost more than $10 in parts. More details here
http://kyorune.com/modding/article.php?id=42. I'll be building that amp soon, it should be a nice high quality amp, especially for the cost.
You also asked about speakers. Speakers should come with a pre-built amp, or if you decide to build your own like the one mentioned above, the info on parts is already there.
I think that covers everything. Dang you like asking questions. Not that there's anything wrong with that.. because if you stop asking questions you basically stop learning. I know this seems very complicated and like a lot of info at once, but remember no one becomes a smart and skilled modder overnight. As long as you remain interested and determined to build your portable, you will never fail to constantly learn more and get better. If you don't give up, I can guarantee you WILL have your portable one day!
