Jonathan Holt
Member
Hello everyone!
This is an update to a project I started nearly 2 years ago and thought I was done, only to have the board completely fry when I attempted to run letterbomb. By that point that was I believe the 3rd board that had gone bad, so I hung the project up indefinitely.
Fast forward to this past week and I took the board from my original Wii Laptop (which was basically a Wii in the original housing with a screen attached to the housing, kinda lame) and used it to finish the Wii Laptop 2.0. I know, fancy name right? lol
So after doing some testing and gameplay, I can say that it is really done now, and I've got pictures and videos to share with you wonderful people!
https://imgur.com/1aAFLC9
https://imgur.com/a/qn1ws9X
I got the idea for the design from ShockSlayer's ZNWii 2.0, so shout outs to him. Here's his video of that project:
I used the ZN-40 and ZN-45 cases from www.polycase.com. For the screen I just used an LCD from amazon (around $25 I believe) that is used for car dvd players and backup camera LCDs in cars. It already ran off 12V so it worked perfectly for this since the Wii power supply is 12V. I used the front housing that came with the LCD screen and cut out a spot for it in the ZN -40 case, then I used epoxy to secure it. I used bondo to fill in the gaps and spray painted over it.
I used a 5V audio amplifer and a couple quarter sized speakers mounted under the top of the bottom housing for sound. The speakers were surprisingly loud. I also used an extra fan taken from another Wii for extra cooling that also ran on 5V. For some reason the 5V power from the mutli-av port had 0V output. I had it mostly assembled when I found that out, so instead of taking it all apart and finding another 5V pin to wire them to, I just plugged them into a 12V to 5V regulator I had on hand, and that did the trick.
I put one fan on each side with ventilation holes drilled in the sides (so air flows over the board) because I had issues with overheating previously. I also have holes drilled underneath the housing for additional ventilation. I also replaced all the wires I had previously used with larger gauge wires. The wires I replaced them with are those that came with an arduino kit I bought. The previous motherboard I had used on this project fried, and I wasn't sure if it was due to overheating or software (since it happened when I ran letterbomb), so I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to make sure this one wouldn't overheat.
I custom build the power and reset buttons for the outside (albeit rather poorly) and the sync button is accessible using a pin or something to use to press it.
Here is a list of the parts I used, the cost, and where to buy them (not including tools used):
ZN-40 Case x1 ($10.16 USD) : https://www.polycase.com/zn-40
ZN-45 Case x1 ($10.99 USD) : https://www.polycase.com/zn-45
5V Stereo Audio Amplifier x1 ($8.59 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4N410G/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
PC/Laptop Speakers x2 ($8.04 USD for pack of 4): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H8TDAK8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Arduino Jumper Cables 195pcs ($7.39 USD): https://www.amazon.com/Smraza-Bread...pID=51eoPLwHOrL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
12V to 5V Step Down Regulator x1 (optional, may use 5V pin on MB) ($6.99 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXKBJI2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
7" LCD Screen x1 ($24.99 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J9OWJDE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Bondo 907 Glazing and Spotting Putty x1 ($6.49 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002JM8PY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Gray Gloss Spray Paint x1 Can (~$10.00 USD): Any Hardware Store
Male/Female Header Connectors 2.54mm ($13.88 USD) **The ones I used aren't in stock anymore, but any head of the same size will work fine** https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01910HTXU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Adjustable Hinge 1.69" x2 ($11.68 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0195UTJWK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Total Cost of Materials (Not including Wii): $107.52 USD
Approx. Total Cost of Materials + Wii: $157.52
This is an update to a project I started nearly 2 years ago and thought I was done, only to have the board completely fry when I attempted to run letterbomb. By that point that was I believe the 3rd board that had gone bad, so I hung the project up indefinitely.
Fast forward to this past week and I took the board from my original Wii Laptop (which was basically a Wii in the original housing with a screen attached to the housing, kinda lame) and used it to finish the Wii Laptop 2.0. I know, fancy name right? lol
So after doing some testing and gameplay, I can say that it is really done now, and I've got pictures and videos to share with you wonderful people!
https://imgur.com/a/qn1ws9X
I got the idea for the design from ShockSlayer's ZNWii 2.0, so shout outs to him. Here's his video of that project:
I used the ZN-40 and ZN-45 cases from www.polycase.com. For the screen I just used an LCD from amazon (around $25 I believe) that is used for car dvd players and backup camera LCDs in cars. It already ran off 12V so it worked perfectly for this since the Wii power supply is 12V. I used the front housing that came with the LCD screen and cut out a spot for it in the ZN -40 case, then I used epoxy to secure it. I used bondo to fill in the gaps and spray painted over it.
I used a 5V audio amplifer and a couple quarter sized speakers mounted under the top of the bottom housing for sound. The speakers were surprisingly loud. I also used an extra fan taken from another Wii for extra cooling that also ran on 5V. For some reason the 5V power from the mutli-av port had 0V output. I had it mostly assembled when I found that out, so instead of taking it all apart and finding another 5V pin to wire them to, I just plugged them into a 12V to 5V regulator I had on hand, and that did the trick.
I put one fan on each side with ventilation holes drilled in the sides (so air flows over the board) because I had issues with overheating previously. I also have holes drilled underneath the housing for additional ventilation. I also replaced all the wires I had previously used with larger gauge wires. The wires I replaced them with are those that came with an arduino kit I bought. The previous motherboard I had used on this project fried, and I wasn't sure if it was due to overheating or software (since it happened when I ran letterbomb), so I wanted to make sure I did everything I could to make sure this one wouldn't overheat.
I custom build the power and reset buttons for the outside (albeit rather poorly) and the sync button is accessible using a pin or something to use to press it.
Here is a list of the parts I used, the cost, and where to buy them (not including tools used):
ZN-40 Case x1 ($10.16 USD) : https://www.polycase.com/zn-40
ZN-45 Case x1 ($10.99 USD) : https://www.polycase.com/zn-45
5V Stereo Audio Amplifier x1 ($8.59 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00C4N410G/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
PC/Laptop Speakers x2 ($8.04 USD for pack of 4): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H8TDAK8/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Arduino Jumper Cables 195pcs ($7.39 USD): https://www.amazon.com/Smraza-Bread...pID=51eoPLwHOrL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
12V to 5V Step Down Regulator x1 (optional, may use 5V pin on MB) ($6.99 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CXKBJI2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
7" LCD Screen x1 ($24.99 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J9OWJDE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Bondo 907 Glazing and Spotting Putty x1 ($6.49 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002JM8PY/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Gray Gloss Spray Paint x1 Can (~$10.00 USD): Any Hardware Store
Male/Female Header Connectors 2.54mm ($13.88 USD) **The ones I used aren't in stock anymore, but any head of the same size will work fine** https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01910HTXU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Adjustable Hinge 1.69" x2 ($11.68 USD): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0195UTJWK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Total Cost of Materials (Not including Wii): $107.52 USD
Approx. Total Cost of Materials + Wii: $157.52
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