2nd Portable nintendo 64 - "Name TBD"

[wesley762]

Hello Lovely Folk,

Here i will be updating my worklog on my new Portable Nintendo 64.
i will be doing this project parallel to my Portable Gamecube.

The goal of this one will be to make it alot smaller and just more slick.. then my 1st portable The Purple Haze 64
Besides that im thinking of a paintjob some nice epoxy work and a "Theme" as i never did any paint/bondo on the first case.
and maybe... if budget allows it a everdrive 64 but i highly doubt it at this point.

Atm i am waiting for parts to arrive which is the part i always dislike the most
I just want to get started ASAP !

Today 4 packages were waiting for me which made for a nice welcome home present.
below are some pic's of the parts i will be using.

The screen : 3.5" China rear view camera screen

After hearing few days back to ignore anything from China i was afraid the screen would be really bad quality and such...
But after checking it today on my stock N64 it gave a really nice image ! so i will be using it for my portable
its suppose to run on 12v but i tested it and it seems to work fine on 7.4v which brings me to the next part.

The Batteries : BP-915 Cannon x2

They arrived today with Charger ! im not sure yet if i will be building in the charger circuit again, perhaps if the space allows it
I used the same for my 1st portable and they had anice battery life (2200mah) of 2 hours on that bulky PSone Screen unmodded.
So with cutting back to a smaller 3.5" i will be using them again with the hope of even more battery life.

The possible Cases :

I am still in doubt on these 2 cases and im hoping the plastic isn't to weak especially the orange one feels pretty flimsy
They used to be lunchboxes of sorts.. but il see how it works and if i can fit the nintendo in it.
as you can see i already started cutting up the system which is still working fine at this state.
However i am more starting to lean towards the white box which feels a bit stronger and allows for a bit more room it all depends on the rest of the parts and if everything is going to fit

Besides that i am still in doubt if il be going for the closed up build.
Or keep 2 halfs open and put screen in top half and console/controls in bottom, like a Nintendo DS/SP ?

More parts !

I finally managed to get a nice collection of ressistors/Capacitor's both have all mostly used ratings which will be great to have.
No more seprate orders on these little Playstations for me !


This concludes my Worklog for today i will update as soon as i get some more parts or get some work done !
I hope you folks will enjoy this worklog, as its my first
If you folks have any suggestions/tips/tricks feel free to speak your mind !

Cheers !
Wesley762

 

[wesley762]

after more testing it seems the 3.5" screen does have 1 little hicup.
i guess its screen tearing ? at the bottom of the screen it shows little black lines.

anyone familier with this issue or is it to be expected from these kind of screens ?
Note that it does the same on both screens. ( i ordered 2)

UPDATE :
It seems these 3.5" China screens have a hard time with older systems and Especially the N64.
Hooking up a Gamecube fixes the problem of the "dead pixels".\
and i tested my N64 on diffrent screens and there is nothing wrong with the signal.
so i guess its either covering it up or get a diffrent screen and use these for other projects.
Cheers
Wesley762

 

[wesley762]

Hello Lovely Folk,

Today i been busy Testing some of my old n64 boards that were left over from my first portable.
unfortunately though they are both fried, guess i forgot i fried them

i did however find a nice idea for a case perhaps if the lunchboxes are not sturdy enough.
EBAY ADD

What are your thoughts on this Hard Plastic Wii u Gamepad Cover ?
i could add some extra room on the back of the case and cover up the holes i dont need wi

 

[supersonic_32]

Hey! First thing, BtheDestroyer posted this in screens section:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=13546

Ordered a 5" and 7" and get things to work fine, after 3 bad ebay screens with rolling picture, you should give it a try!


Second, Wii u gamepad cover is a good idea, I had it once (and I am pretty sure we're not the only ones lol), but working in a pawn shop I had the chance to put my hand on an original wii u gamepad for only 20$, so I took it instead. But in fact, the cover is good too, it's a really good and hard plastic usually!

The problem is, if you don't add extra space, you will probably not be able to fit everything in it, except if you do the max cutting on your board... which you would be better do, cause the casing is really great!

I did it myself and to achieve it, I had to cut the board to it's limit, do a ram swap with a jumper pak fold and I used a MiNi64 v2 for the controller!(I like to have much empty space in it )

Can't wait to see more

 

[wesley762]

Well i thought id bring out a little update.

I managed to make a nice little compact volt regulator. with the PTH0800WAZ.

Believe me compared to earlier tries this is nice and compact for me haha
I am looking for a better resistor though as atm its putting out 3.24V on a 2k res. 1.87k i can't find but maybe a weird question but can you like stack resistors ??
Like i have VERY low resistance ones aswell so could i use a 1.8k+ 70Res ? or will 3.24V do fine, atm it seems to work but no idea in the long run.

I also did my biggest cut on the mobo yet as it now fits in my smallest lunchbox.
And its still working first i thought i fried it but i forgot to reconnect the 12v on the back on the 2 points noted in Bacteria's Trim guide.
Also only connecting 26 wires instead of 48 really saves ALOT of space !

As for the batteries i have 2 choices :
1. The BP915 x2 which are round and will take up more room... but are reliable. (2X 7.2V 2200mah)
2. YSD-998 12v/9v/5V (6500/8500/15000mah)This Battery is from China and served me OK in the past i once got 6 of these from a flea market and 2 of them died so far. the others are still working as intended.
and i could run it from the 9v line to gain some Mah. im not sure if the Mah is correct as i cannot test that with my Vmeter. but it does last roughly 2 hours hour longer then the BP915's.
PLUS they are Flat ! so i can easily lay them out on the bottom of the case.

what do you guys suggest ?

 

[wesley762]

Ok so i shorted my previous board and i have no idea why really.
everything went fine and i followed Bacteria's guide to connect the missing links on the 12v as you can see below but i guess it shorted out somewhere as it would not even turn on.. it was only drawning 0.27 A on my powerbank and normally about .78a ?

luckily i got my hands on 8 nintendo units so i got something to burn still thought it was strange as i felt fairly confident to make this cut and get away with it. i didn't even try board bending yet as i thought that would be to risky...
could it have been these 2 resistors (C160/C161) that i cut out and probly forgot to relocate ?
as i didnt even realise those were there until i checked my new mobo.
so any advice or more detail on what to rewire for my next cut ? as i really tend to make this portable smaller and ti should be more then doable..

Thanks in advance

 

[wesley762]

so i tried again and still the board is not working 100%
im missing round 0.18 amps from normal (0.78A) pull acording to my power bank on a running 100% stock motherboard.

so can anyone see what traces im missing ?
or wired incorrectly ?

- Note the Line i drawed is a connection i made after the picture..
rest is still the same

 

[wesley762]

Hello Lovely folks,

Today i have a small update
Thanks to Bungle's awsome mini guide which helped alot ! (bacteria forum worklog)
i managed to bend the expansion pack and its working great.
took a bit more cuts then 20, i guess my knife ain't that sharp but it did the job.

So thanks for that Bungle Cheers !

Im also in the process of cutting up the case did the screen opening yesterday and did a nice job imo
Will post some pictures of that once i got the buttons cut out.
At the moment i am waiting for my Super pad 64 to arrive to be sure i get the holes right.
Did alot of measuring on a piece of paper and cut acording to that and worked out great.

Does anyone have a reccomadation on a good joystick that does not have a Huge case under it as that of the makopad/original joystick ? i was going for a psp joystick but read those aren't that great.

And can i use a gamecube C joystick easily for the C buttons on a n64 board ?

Cheers,
Wesley762

 

[wesley762]

Hello Lovely folks,

Here with another update.
Today i did some casework im really taking my time with it as i dont want to screw it up this time

i made a plexiglass piece to fit inside my case to hold the cartridge holder on 1 side to make for a cartridge loading bay. and the otherside will be used to rest the battery's or motherboard on not sure yet which to do first probly battery's.

perhaps i can still utilize the small spaces next to the cartslot for things like the regulator/speakers/amp or various inputs.

Cheers,
Wesley762

 

[wesley762]

Hello Lovely Folks,

Today some more packages arrived fineally from the almighty China !
the following things arrived

Superpad 64 - Victim for my N64 portable
Audio amps - also for n64 and various other projects as i went and got 5.
White 3mm leds - for my ps1 screen led mod
Tiny fans - i simply could not resist ordering these they are just adorable lol. 25x25x7mm and they actually are very quite and produce quite some wind flow!
Tiny Heatsinks - also for the N64 already used these on the bend Expansion pack.
Battery pack - im not sure yet if i will use it as its quite heavy but equally very powerfull imo. : 9800mah 12v and it seems to be legit also :O
perhaps it will be usefull for my GC portable as that will need alot more power.
Controller Pack - Donated by a friend of mine as i only had one

fineally i have all the parts i need and can basicly start planning everything and cut some more holes for the buttons/joystick.
and if its still to big il use a 3ds slider stick (which are still on there way)

Cheers,
Wesley762

 

[bentendo64]

Nice work so far! I look forward to seeing more.
Also, what audio amps are those? Are they stereo?

 

[wesley762]

Yes the audio amps are Stereo

here is a link to the Ebay add

they were very cheap aswell so its not like it could hurt to order 5 lol.
and i tested 1 and they give great sound.
so for the next 5 projects i have a amp

 

[wesley762]

Hello Lovely Folks,

Today im here with a new update and this time a little worklog video
As pictures would not really help me into showing everything i done so far.

Video mostly summarize's what i have done so far on electronics and the case.
soon getting ready to start painting <3



Cheers,
Wesley762

 

[wesley762]

Hello folks

today im here to share some new tools i got for xmas
im also still working on the case cutting/drilling out all holes for the misc controlls like screen options and audio etc.
still waiting on my 3ds slider for audio and my 3ds joystick.

But as for new tools !

I got a great Loop lamp that gives out alot of light and with the loop ontop can even solder the smalles things

But even more amazing is my new soldering station.
compared to what i was working with its a blessing really.
really thin tips and regulated temprature and dry cleaning of the tip.

Soldering Station Link

So what do you guys think, nice pick ?
I took this one based on the good reviews but i have to say there are ALOT of them haha

Cheers,
Wesley762

 

[wesley762]

Hello folks !

Today i come to you with a question about batteries.
you see i have 2x YSD-998 (described in one of my threads)
one of them has a broken charger board but the cells seem fine as i just hooked them to the working charger board.
They are packed per 3 in series per unit.

my question is, Can i combine these 6 cells and make say 2 sets of 3 batteries in series and wire those 2 sets in parralel to the charger board ?
or will this but to much for such a charger board to handle ?

here are some pictures to clarify each cell has its own protection circuit etc.

And here is the Pinout of these boards from my other thread, again just to clarify.

Thanks for your time and hopefully somebody can be of assistance

Cheers,
Wesley762

 

[supersonic_32]

I'm not quite sure, but first, are the cells 3.7v? If they are, you better buy protection circuits for 7.4 packs and make 2 or 3 packs of 7.4v, which is enough to run the whole assembly.

 

[wesley762]

its been a while but decided to pick this project up again.
now i ran into a problem with the 3ds joystick. hope you guys can help out

ok into the final assembly.

the 3ds slider was working FINE..
until i started the final assembly and rewired the controller with fitting wire length for the case.

i have been at it for about 4 hours now and tried the following methods.
http://s861.photobucket.com/user/Cloudfanmaster/media/randoms/IMG_0839.png.html
http://forums.modretro.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=8256

Note that i also tried a PS2 joystick.. which works 100% on the same controller board.
i also tried 3 diffrent 3ds joysticks incase 1 was broken etc.
and i tried feeding the joystick anything between 3.3v - 5v.
the solderjoints on the joystick are not touching and the wiring is done by Cat5 cable.\

any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Bush]

That's weird. Check your wiring on both ends with a multimeter. I have had issues with GC controller PCBs that are not heavy duty. The 1st party one will just drop pads and pull traces off the board if you use too hot an iron. Make sure everything is actually flowing where it's supposed to. If you have any problem areas, the capacitors near the leads to the joystick can provide an alternate solder point if you follow the traces.

In all likelihood, if you have triple checked your wiring on your end I would suspect something with the controller.

 

[wesley762]

Thanks for the tips Bush,

To be honest i do not think there is anything wrong with the wiring as i did check ALOT.
and like i said hooking up a PS2 joystick like that it works instantly.. no ressitors or anything.
so would that not mean the controllerboard is fine aswell ?

Its just the Mystery about how much resistance you need on the X and Y i guess.
I have been at it for a few hours with a 10k pod on each trying to find a sweetspot but to no avail yet sadly... so im considering the PS2 joystick now..

which is sad as i build my whole design around that 3ds Joystick.

 

[DuHasst0]

Maybe do the same resistance that was used for use was the GC. That is what I would have tried.