Gamecuboid - Worklog For My Portable Gamecube

[zack]

I visited my uncle's lab today, and we got a few things done on the portable Gamecube. Mostly, we just replaced the ribbon cable that comes with the Wiikey Fusion. The original ribbon cable is 32 pins, and the NHD-FFC36 adapter board that I'm using is 36. Usually there is a gap, and you must position the ribbon cable to the far right of the connector to ensure a proper connection. But leaving a gap is rather unprofessional, so what I've done is splice a 40-pin ribbon cable to 36, then splice it some more so that one side is 32. This way, the ribbon cable fits tightly on both ends and there is no gap. The ribbon cable was spliced by holding it between two plates of metal in a large clamp, then positioning the ribbon cable's height and splicing the side with a sharp razor.

This is the result. This ribbon cable is also shorter in length which should save some room. It was also cut diagonally to help prevent tearing.

Got to use this nice electric microscope for easily counting the pins too, so here's a pic of that ribbon cable up close.

We didn't make much physical progress on the Gamecube, but I also got some new knowledge and understanding regarding battery packs in general. And upon getting home, (with some awesome new razors) I started working on the adapter board.

As you can see, I trimmed the board some, so this should help with positioning it somewhere on the bottom of the Gamecube's motherboard, which is where I'm planning on locating it. You might also notice that small blue/purple wire on the traces of the board. That's because I was an idiot and started to cut on the board in the wrong spot (the scratch on the right) and damaged one of the important traces. Fortunately I was able to repair the damaged trace by soldering that small wire across the scratch.
So that's where I am right now. Probably what I'll do next is finish trimming and locating the board, then actually wire the Wiikey Fusion.

 

[MoRZiLLo]

Hey Zack! I envy your uncle's lab and he's "microscopio".
Your progress is amazing man. Keep up the good work! Cheers

 

[SonyQrio]

I really like this project. Most noobs put together crap regulators, solder together a crap breakout board, and then slam their jumble of wires into a crappily made huge ZN case. But you, on the other hand, are making this thing sexy on the inside as well as on the outside. I applaud you. Good luck, and I can't wait to see another portable from you.

 

[public-pervert]

Indeed, Sony!

Very clean work. Hats off.

 

[zack]

Did some more trimming on the breakout board. It is cut specifically to fit on a certain spot of the Gamecube motherboard's bottom side.

What I've done is relocated a few of the components on the motherboard so that the breakout board will sit as flat as possible and no large components will be in the way. You can see those relocated parts connected by the blue/purple wire.

And this is how the breakout board will fit on top of that.

Also, upon taking these pictures, I have removed the wire attached to the breakout board. I know, no more cool rainbow wire... But that wire was a bit too thick and I'm afraid it would have been a bulky mess to re-arrange and attach them to the disc drive port. So here's a pic of its current condition. I will be using a thinner 30awg wire and I think that will be a much better choice.

 

[MoRZiLLo]

Looks Amazing!!! Those wires are soooo tinyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

I like the raibow colour wires

Your work are one of the best here.

@Sony Not all have this powerfull skills in this.Maybe in other things can do better than others, but it's the way of the comunnity. Learn and practice and watch the results. I have a poor skill at soldering iron and not at clean that zack or others, but into my posibilities.

 

[zack]

Over the past couple of days, I have been wiring up the Wiikey Fusion. It is mostly complete, except for the wires for the lid switch and the Wii's eject switch. (I wired the 3.43v and ground since the photo was taken) Hopefully I'll get over to Radioshack tomorrow and buy some proper switches, as the ones I have are kind of crappy and re-used. The eject switch button is a bit confusing to me. I know it will be simple, but I am still looking over how it should be done. All in all, I'm crossing my fingers for a successful wiring, after I double check all my connections, then double check them all again.

The tape is just temporary. Also, I need to find a good way of cleaning that flux.

One more thing, a fellow modder by the username zeldaxpro, whom I have been taking to quite a lot recently, shared an edited version of Beta's Wiikey Fusion diagram with me. None of us are taking credit for the original diagram in any way, and I am sure most of us are already aware of the diagram anyways, but the edited version helped me out very much due to the numbered pins. I wanted to give him credit since it made my work easier, and maybe it will help someone else out too.

 

[juankamq]

Man! That looks extremelli good congrats! Wich cabble are you using? Awg what? It's very thik!

 

[zack]

Man! That looks extremelli good congrats! Wich cabble are you using? Awg what? It's very thik!

It's 30awg wire. Got it from Radioshack; they call it "wrapping wire".

 

[Falo]

I just got my WiiKey in, and I was wondering what exactly the eject/lid switches are for? The lid switch, as far as I know, is only for multidisk games, but is the eject button really necessary? I tested mine on my Wii and only used the reset button to get it to work, since I didn't even have the DD plugged in.

 

[juankamq]

Yes, that switch is necessary , it does the function like you put a disk on it, wiikey fusion need it to work, it didn't work without this switch

By the way thanks zack, i will buy that wire now, i'm in usa for vacation so i'm gonna take advantage of that

 

[zack]

I just got my WiiKey in, and I was wondering what exactly the eject/lid switches are for? The lid switch, as far as I know, is only for multidisk games, but is the eject button really necessary? I tested mine on my Wii and only used the reset button to get it to work, since I didn't even have the DD plugged in.

I'm not an expert in Wii/Gamecube compatibility for the Wiikey Fusion, and I can't tell you why it works fine on your Wii without it, but yes, the eject switch is necessary for the Gamecube. You'll have to give it a push whenever you turn on your Gamecube so it will recognize the Wiikey fusion and give you the option to boot to the Wiikey's menu.

 

[zack]

Well guys, great news. It's been a day or so since I've done this, but I finally got my Wiikey Fusion 100% wired with switches and everything. The switches are just temporary slide switches because those were all I had. I know the eject switch should be used with a normally closed tact switch, but a slide switch will work fine for now. Anyways, after all that wiring, a small amount of testing (which I should have done more of but got too anxious), and one nervous button press, everything works great. First thing I did was update my Wiikey to v1.5, then tested it out with Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. (Pretty much my all-time favorite game)

I will say though, that the Wiikey Fusion hasn't been loading up every time. Maybe 80% of the time the gc linux icon will appear after flipping the eject switch, but sometimes I have to flip the switch a second time, and sometimes the Gamecube gives me a standard error message all together. If it does give me the error, I just restart the system and most likely it loads that time. This problem might be related to the fact that I have not wired the eject switch to 1.9v. I will definitely try that when I get a proper switch. All in all, I'm pretty happy that it works.

 

[thecasperrojas]

i aready finish my portable and it has a normaly closed swith and it only has GND and pin 29 so i dont think the switch is really a problem but if your useing an on off switch the can be the problem try a normaly closed swith

 

[Falo]

Guess I'll have to make a RatShack trip then.

That looks really clean and nice, are you insulating between boards?

 

[zack]

Guess I'll have to make a RatShack trip then.

That looks really clean and nice, are you insulating between boards?

Yes, but only where necessary. The adapter board has a strip of electrical tape running across the bottoms of the pins, and so far the Wiikey has nothing. I do plan on adding insulation to the Wiikey later, but the bottom already looks pretty well insulated. I'm pretty sure it was designed to sit on top of another circuit boards anyways, but some extra insulation wont hurt.

 

[zack]

I got out to Radioshack today and bought two types of switches for the Wiikey Fusion's eject switch and lid switch. The larger lever switch should be the exact same type of switch mentioned in Ashen's Wiikey Fusion guide found HERE. I probably wont use this switch in the final product, but I can count on it working well for testing, especially since it's practically the same switch shown in the guide. It will also allow me to wire 1.9v to the switch and see if that doesn't solve my problem with the Wiikey Fusion not being recognized on occasion.
As for the tiny slide switch, I just bought it to replace the slide switch I'm using for the gamecube's lid open/close switch. The slide switch I'm using now is a bit bulky for a switch that will hardly ever be touched, so I figured this would be more appropriate as well as save some room. It should work well for the final version of my portable Gamecube.

 

[zack]

It's been a looooong time since my last update to this project. Almost as if I abandoned it. But fear not! Progress is still being made, slowly but surely. Since school started, I've barely been working on my portable gamecube much, but I'll run you down on what I've been up to since then.
Well first of all.. my camera broke. That means no more high quality photos until I buy a new one. Until then, I'll be using my 3DS camera. Bummer.
Second, I've been fooling around with the memory card positioning and I've decided to locate memory card slot A in the same spot on the board, but relocated to sit further back on the board against the heatsink.
Most of my work has been minimal at this point. Instead, I've been spending most of my time planning and discussing anything gamecube related with fellow member zeldaxpro. I've also been doing some commissioning/trading with him. I will be trading in my 5.6" screen and building two small custom regulators in exchange for a better 5" screen. This screen will be more compact and aligned, and the smaller size should fit better on the face of my case. He should be getting the regulators and 5.6" screen on Saturday, and sending the 5" screen the following Monday.

Here's a pic of those custom regulators. It's made to work as one regulator, just separated into two parts. One is 5v and 3.3v, while the other is 1.5v and 1.7v

Once the trade is done and I have my 5" screen, I plan on kicking off this project once again and making progress much faster. I kind of want to just get it done.

 

[zack]

Got my 5" screen today from member zeldaxpro. It works when I tested it on my Wii, but now my gamecube decided to stop working. The LED lights up but I'm getting no audio and no video on either my 5" screen or PS1 screen. I'm worried it's dead... Luckily he also sent a trimmed Rev C motherboard, so I can use that but it would pretty much mean starting all over again...

 

[zack]

Can't get the trimmed Rev C to power on either. This sucks.