Naimlessones 2nd Unnamed N64p

[naimlessone]

Here's some pics of the board with wiring. Maybe one of you peeps can see something wrong I can't...


You can see where I tried the 2k resistor fix between pin 8 on the PIF and 3.3v in there too:



closer view of most of the wiring:


Voltage reg:
black wire = 3.3v output
Blue wire = 7.4v input
Green wire = ground


The screen which for some reason doesn't always show the 'AV1' in the corner but you can see flicker quickly when I switch on the power from the battery


Jumper 12v/7.4v and 3.3v to the cart slot. based this off of daftmikes rcp pinout in the mega sticky:


which also allowed me to reduce the number of traces from the board to the cart slot by combining some of the grounds together on one thicker wire:



Front of the board where I cut close to the expansion pack slot and had to reconnect traces, front and back:



and the relocated 3.3v lines on the back of the board:


Pics of the new ram from the ram swap:



I have checked everything I can think of to see if something was grounded that shouldn't be, have 3.259v on my 3.3v lines, felt the chips while it was powered up and didn't notice any large amount of heat coming from any of them.

I did preform a RAM swap which I guess would not allow it to work which is kind of the only thing I can really think of right now as to why it isn't...


Opinions?
Comments?

Feedback is much appreciated lol

 

[Miceeno]

When I trim or modify a board I test after every trim or modification. I have a set of female RCA connectors and a 3.3 regulator with a standard female power jack soldered to it. I solder these on, test, desolder, than make another trim, sand, and repeat. I'd also recommend doing a ram swap on a heathly unmodified board and thoroughly test before proceeding.

Things to check before scraping the board:

Make sure both the CPU and the RCP are getting 3.3V. There's a large trace on the back side of the board with many through holes directly behind these chips. This supplies 3.3V to the top side where it goes to several pins on both chips. One set looks like an arrow (RCP) and the other set looks like a fancy U (CPU).

Another thing to check is if the DAC is getting 5V. Just use a continuity tester between the drop out regulator (where the 12V should be connected) and the DAC to figure out which pin should be getting 5V. Then check the PIF, see if it is getting it's 3.3V. (find the pin(s) in a similar fashion)

Yet another thing to check is the other voltage regulator, the Sharp 7VZ5. I believe it's supposed to be outputting 2.54V to the ram.

And finally if you have an oscilloscope make sure the crystals are still oscillating.

Oh yeah, and make sure all the major chips (CPU, RCP, DAC, PIF, RAM, Jumper) are properly grounded.

Oh yeah (again), make sure the cartridge is getting the proper power and grounding as well.

 

[naimlessone]

Thanks for the suggestions Miceeno. When I get some time I'll go through and check those.

Question though about the DAC; where is that located? I'm not super familiar with the chips on these boards yet lol


I'm still leaning toward the problem being with the ram swap... Wish I would have just taken the time to check stuff instead of getting cocky and rushing through it... Oh well. Live and learn lol

 

[naimlessone]

I'm gonna attempt to redo the Ram swap, clean the solder points up as best as I can, and give it one more try. I've ordered another N64, which is on its way, in case this doesn't fix it. I'll be pretty disappointed if it doesn't, but it's what I get for not testing as I went


I'll post results later (hopefully)

 

[Ampz]

*fingers crossed* let's hope the board is still able to work after you do that.

 

[naimlessone]

No luck on the RAM swap redo...


Hope the new board gets here soon...