Hey all, my name is Xypter and I have decided to start working on my very first portable called The Modcube X. I have been browsing the ModRetro for about six months now gathering information and trying to make sense of all the technical jargon that is said around here. Luckily I have gained a lot of knowledge by just reading the worklogs; but of course this is definitely not enough to JUST research, you have to get your hands on experience and actually start the project.
Knowing this, I decided to start my project about 2 months ago. I bought all the necessary tools I needed to get right to work and got my gamecube ready to take apart. As of recently, I have finally managed to get time to start working on this project more deeply and now I have come here to write a worklog and show you what I've done so far.
Here are the components I plan to integrate into my project:
Replacing the disk drive with the wiikey fusion
A custom vacuum formed case (or a ZN-40/ZN-45 with drilled holes)
6x 2600mah Lithium-Ion Batterys (unless there are any better batteries that give me some good playing time)
Zenl0c's Custom Regulator (for better battery efficiency)
Internal memory between 64/128MB
Gamecube component cable modded to output VGA (I heard that gives me good quality)
Modding analog sticks and sliders
Headphone Jack
4 Controller Ports
AV Out (To play this sexy thing on a screen)
SD Gecko
5' screen
Aaand that's all I can think of so far. Here are some pics of what I've done so far:
The cube I am using is a DOL-101 CPU-50 so I know for sure it has its regulator on the motherboard and is compatible with a wiikey fusion
Here's my workspace. I have tons of space to work in so that won't be an issue thankfully.
For now I don't have a screen to test things on but I do have this nifty projector with AV plug ports. Not sure how old it is but that doesn't matter to me, it does the job.
Here's my motherboard. So far I've cut out its serial ports, its high speed port, and the memory card slots. This pic is out of date since I just recently removed the memory card slots but other than that this is pretty accurate on how far I've gotten (which is pretty much nowhere)
For now that's all I have to show. I'm still looking around for the parts that I need and I'm currently getting everything ordered so I can start hooking up stuff. Before I go any further I was wondering if a forum member could answer some n00b questions I have. Since this is my first portable I want to make sure I'm not doing things incorrectly (that way I save myself some money).
1. So I've hooked the cube up after I removed all the ports and things seem to be running smoothly so far. Is there any precautions I need to be taking so that I don't short circuit something and kill my board?
2. I'm looking at options as far as making my own custom case and I had an idea. Would it be possible for me to make a 3D model of what I want my case to look like and then send that model off to someone and get that laser etched (or somehow formed out)? I don't mind making the case myself if I have to but it seems quicker and much easier to just make a model and then get it etched out by a machine. So ya any advice on that?
3. So there's a lot of wire out there. What specific wire should I be ordering to hook up stuff like the Wiikey, custom regulator, etc..?
4. I really want my portable to last a good 3 hours if possible. Are the batteries I'm ordering better than Li-po ones? Is there any forum post that talks about that anywhere?
5. So I'm debating on whether to buy a dalian screen or just take a screen from the PSOne. Will I be sacrificing any quality with the PSOne screen even that I plan to have my portable output progressive scan?
6. Finally, I have this weird error right here where it tells me that I need to turn off my cube for further instructions.
I can load the menu up if I do it real fast but is this error due to me not having my CD drive plugged in? Or is this issue something that has happened because I removed the ports?
I may have more questions as this Worklog goes on but for now this is my progress. I plan to update regularly since I have lots of time to work on this project.
So that
Knowing this, I decided to start my project about 2 months ago. I bought all the necessary tools I needed to get right to work and got my gamecube ready to take apart. As of recently, I have finally managed to get time to start working on this project more deeply and now I have come here to write a worklog and show you what I've done so far.
Here are the components I plan to integrate into my project:
Replacing the disk drive with the wiikey fusion
A custom vacuum formed case (or a ZN-40/ZN-45 with drilled holes)
6x 2600mah Lithium-Ion Batterys (unless there are any better batteries that give me some good playing time)
Zenl0c's Custom Regulator (for better battery efficiency)
Internal memory between 64/128MB
Gamecube component cable modded to output VGA (I heard that gives me good quality)
Modding analog sticks and sliders
Headphone Jack
4 Controller Ports
AV Out (To play this sexy thing on a screen)
SD Gecko
5' screen
Aaand that's all I can think of so far. Here are some pics of what I've done so far:
The cube I am using is a DOL-101 CPU-50 so I know for sure it has its regulator on the motherboard and is compatible with a wiikey fusion
Here's my workspace. I have tons of space to work in so that won't be an issue thankfully.
For now I don't have a screen to test things on but I do have this nifty projector with AV plug ports. Not sure how old it is but that doesn't matter to me, it does the job.
Here's my motherboard. So far I've cut out its serial ports, its high speed port, and the memory card slots. This pic is out of date since I just recently removed the memory card slots but other than that this is pretty accurate on how far I've gotten (which is pretty much nowhere)
For now that's all I have to show. I'm still looking around for the parts that I need and I'm currently getting everything ordered so I can start hooking up stuff. Before I go any further I was wondering if a forum member could answer some n00b questions I have. Since this is my first portable I want to make sure I'm not doing things incorrectly (that way I save myself some money).
1. So I've hooked the cube up after I removed all the ports and things seem to be running smoothly so far. Is there any precautions I need to be taking so that I don't short circuit something and kill my board?
2. I'm looking at options as far as making my own custom case and I had an idea. Would it be possible for me to make a 3D model of what I want my case to look like and then send that model off to someone and get that laser etched (or somehow formed out)? I don't mind making the case myself if I have to but it seems quicker and much easier to just make a model and then get it etched out by a machine. So ya any advice on that?
3. So there's a lot of wire out there. What specific wire should I be ordering to hook up stuff like the Wiikey, custom regulator, etc..?
4. I really want my portable to last a good 3 hours if possible. Are the batteries I'm ordering better than Li-po ones? Is there any forum post that talks about that anywhere?
5. So I'm debating on whether to buy a dalian screen or just take a screen from the PSOne. Will I be sacrificing any quality with the PSOne screen even that I plan to have my portable output progressive scan?
6. Finally, I have this weird error right here where it tells me that I need to turn off my cube for further instructions.
I can load the menu up if I do it real fast but is this error due to me not having my CD drive plugged in? Or is this issue something that has happened because I removed the ports?
I may have more questions as this Worklog goes on but for now this is my progress. I plan to update regularly since I have lots of time to work on this project.
So that
