Blargaman's PSP GC

[Blargaman91]

It's time for my... what is it... fourth attempt at portable GC! My first three got no where near completion. My first one didn't make in past the case . So, I'm trying again and going small this time. Very soon, I will begin to mold my portable GC in a PSP case. I want to make sure the case stays unmodded, and I'd like to not have any fan in there if it's really possible in any way. The only picture so far

An OMGWTF cut GC motherboard, CPU-20, stock regulator, etc...

Of course I'll use custom regulators.

This is still my first portable, and I'm less than a year into electronics at all. Don't expect perfect beautifulness if case modding is necessary!

 

[hailrazer]

You can't run a Gamecube without a fan. It won't work and will overheat.

IMO there's no possible way to get a GC into a PSP case without making it thicker.

 

[Blargaman91]

I was inspired mostly by this guy, shadow-wizzard, and his psp gc: http://www.made-by-bacteria.com/viewtop ... =18&t=1550

I do find it kind of suspicious that he claimed everything would fit in the case unmodded and that his GameCube ran fine with a heat sink like that. I do, however, have none of the materials or skills needed to create a vacuum formed case... I will try my hardest.

Wait, am I allowed to post external links...?

 

[dark_samus]

I'm doing a PSP as well....

 

[Blargaman91]

I think Ashen really made this a theme .

 

[dark_samus]

I think Ashen really made this a theme .

yep

 

[hailrazer]

I was inspired mostly by this guy, shadow-wizzard, and his psp gc: http://www.made-by-bacteria.com/viewtop ... =18&t=1550

I do find it kind of suspicious that he claimed everything would fit in the case unmodded and that his GameCube ran fine with a heat sink like that. I do, however, have none of the materials or skills needed to create a vacuum formed case... I will try my hardest.

Wait, am I allowed to post external links...?

Yea he hasn't actually finished it or even shown it all working inside the case closed up.

And Ashen the god of all Gamecubing had to have a spacer and didn't get batteries in it.

 

[kill00man]

According to my 3D models it is nearly possible to put a whole gamecube in a psp case.
This require PSP/3ds super tiny sticks and switches, PSP super tiny speakers, a custom super tiny audio amp (see lm4863 if you want some high quality sound, need a heatsink though), a well built zenloc regulator, and basic L/R triggers (simple switches) and a super tiny trimmed third party controller board.

Once you have all of this, you can HOPE for it... But even here you'll need a custom heatsink about 7 mm thick with according fans (which will heat a lot).

Main problem is in fact the screen board thickness, which can go from 6 to 11 mm. 6-8mm may be doable, everything else will need a spacer.

Let me explain, psp is 24mm thick, with around 2mm plastic on each side, which makes 20mm of space. 7mm heatsink, 4.5mm mobo (minimum when relocating some caps, the SHARP regulator near the RAM and ARAM is not a problem),7mm screen controller, 3mm screen ->21.5mm. Doable if you sand inside the PSP case.

This should work.

And last but not least, this is without taking in account the wires thickness, which will probably mess everything up

In such a gamecube, do not hope for a secondary memcard slot (even with an sd gecko adapter it just won't load as you will have to put it on the side with long wires - I'm experiencing it myself ) or multiplayer and of course no batteries.

Obviously i'm speaking of a PSP 1000 case.

Anyway I'm ready to give most of my 3D models to anybody seriously trying to do this insanity.
I first wanted to do such a thing, and that's why I am finally not doing it Maybe later, but not as my first gcp.

Anyway good luck with it. This IS doable, but it is VERY hard. I think that a 2mm spacer (3 would be better) will make it totally doable.

I hope that you'll be able to prove me wrong and that my post will be helpfull

 

[hailrazer]

You have 3d models of a psp case?

If so I would be interested.

 

[Blargaman91]

Oookay! Maybe I should rethink this! Do you know the maximum wire length between memory card and GPU? I plan on a microSD slot for slot B. You say 3rd party controller... is that really necessary? I have the first party cut down to not much more than the IC. My experiences with wiring to 3rd party IC's are ones I don't like to revisit.

 

[kill00man]

@hailrazer : No, it is the only model that I don't have in fact. When I realized that it will be too hard to put everything in it, I just started to draw my one case. I can make it though, but you'll have it in september as I don't have my computer.

@Blargaman91 : Well according to Ashen, wire length to slot B depends on your mobo. For instance on mine I have 2.5"(6cm) to sd Gecko, and then sd/micro sd adapter to memcard reader (as short as possible) and it doesn't work. I guess that you shouldn't expect something longer than 1.5"(3.5 cm) to work for an external memcard...

I think that this is the reason why Ashen almost always put his SD slots on the top.


About the controller : actually if you are absolutely sure that your cut is working you can try it out. But the original IC is almost two times bigger than the trimmed down 3rd party controller... But it might go with a "micro sd gecko". I think that this should be your latest problem. Just end everything but the controller, and you'll see what space you still have Soldering a controller requires only 3 wires, this is no big deal


Find your screen, once you have it find a suitable heatsink and fan(s). Once you have these, the hardest is done.

The only thing I'm 100% sure about is : this is hard

EDIT : just looked at the other guy project, I think that his heatsink is way to small. His cube will certainly overheat... And you shouldn't put the WKF on the top as he did, this is to much space loss. Try to put it on the side of the mobo

 

[Blargaman91]

Thanks so much for all the responses, I'm already learning a lot. I'm not sure what you mean by "3 wires", kill00man, because I was referring to soldering all the teeny tiny traces coming from the center blob. Anyway, I hope the best for my memory card . This is quite shocking as I have never had a problem with longer wires. Come to think of it, I've had very long wires for memory cards connected to the actual through-hole pads on the motherboard. Do you think bypassing all those transistors and components causes problems?

 

[kill00man]

I meant that only 3 wires (data, 3.3V and GND) are needed once the controller is done and you can easily wire them at the end. (O course all those tiny wires to traces are hard to solder "inside" the controller).

Well yes I think that bypassing all the transistors is the problem. They are certainly used as amplifiers and voltage references. Once they are bypassed, every inch of wire causes a voltage drop (some basic electronics tells that the more the wire is long and thin, the more the voltage drop is important). I guess that once the voltage drop is too important the memcard just stop working. But this would need further testing to be confirmed.

 

[Blargaman91]

I got my new WiiKey Fusion today, always a happy thing. I'm now trying to solder to the dang FCC. This does mean I have a crapped up Wiikey, though, should anyone want it. The connector on the HOST side is ripped off and most of the pads under it are kinda ripped off. Four pins on the main IC are badly bridged.

 

[Blargaman91]

My new Wiikey... does not work. I get several flashes from the red light upon boot up and it just says "The disc could not be read" before I even release the connection between pin 29 and ground. I am 100% sure of my wiring, as continuity checks out and none of them are shorting with anything or each other. It could be a grounding issue, but I used very thick wire. I got this Wiikey from Modchipsdirect.com, and I'm pretty sure it's a 3rd party knock-off and just doesn't work.

 

[Ashen]

I got my new WiiKey Fusion today, always a happy thing. I'm now trying to solder to the dang FCC. This does mean I have a crapped up Wiikey, though, should anyone want it. The connector on the HOST side is ripped off and most of the pads under it are kinda ripped off. Four pins on the main IC are badly bridged.

I'll take it.

My new Wiikey... does not work. I get several flashes from the red light upon boot up and it just says "The disc could not be read" before I even release the connection between pin 29 and ground. I am 100% sure of my wiring, as continuity checks out and none of them are shorting with anything or each other. It could be a grounding issue, but I used very thick wire. I got this Wiikey from Modchipsdirect.com, and I'm pretty sure it's a 3rd party knock-off and just doesn't work.

Set the region switch correctly.

 

[Blargaman91]

Set the region switch correctly.

Oh, I did...

 

[Blargaman91]

Sorry, this GCp isn't happening. I broke the faceplate trying to get rid of that thick plastic screencover because it was very scratched, and I realized the back half of the case is way too full of plastic and things for me to hollow out and use. I would still like to know why my WiiKey doesn't work. I've never had a WiiKey flash a red light on me, but this one is doing it every time.

 

[gman]

Just so you know, I'm 99% sure your psp isnt scratched, It's just a protection plastic. I had the same problem and It took me a while to realize.

 

[kill00man]

Too bad... Check on DX.com. There is some cheap psp housing for 12$.
Just get rid of the inner plastic you don't need.

Anyway this is your choice