Gman's Wii portable worklog

[gman]

I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this but it's been something I've been wanting to do for a while so I ordered two wiis to start and will see where that takes me. I havent ordered any of the other parts because I want to focus on the motherboard first because if I cant get that to work well than I have nothing!

My goal is to use the AG-85 case. I used it for my ps2p and I really love the case, its got the perfect volume for a portable but still looks and feels pretty compact. I started out by just trimming the ground around the wii. I have the clearance on the top of the wii to fit in the case already but I will have to trim the sides too. no matter how I orientate the board I'll have to relocate the bluetooth module unfortunetly. I am keeping the ports in tact until I softmod it so I dont have to troubleshoot that if it doesnt work.

I'm not sure if I will finish this, atleast not anytime soon, so mostly just making this worklog for some questions I'll have since I haven't been ontop of wii modding. So my first question is, do I go with a 4 or 16:9 screen? I assumed 4 since it has no stretching but when I googled it, it looked like there was some mixed opinions online.

Huge thanks to Dyxlesci for assembling all the known information about the wii so far! Also thanks to everyone else who helped out in that thread.

Also here is the wii I have just done a bit of trimming on.

 

[Aurelio]

Good luck with your new project!
Anyway you can use this screen: http://www.dx.com/p/l7009-7-0-tft-l...-bnc-av-input-stand-black-335866#.VrfVDJPhCsw. Dyxlesci linked it few months ago and I bought it to make a portable Wii. It's really nice since it support component video. It is 16:9, but it shouldn't be a problem since it is a standard screen ratio for the Wii.
I made a short video to show you the quality of this LCD. At the end of the video I brought near the LCD my phone to show you how clear the picture is.

My phone camera sucks so it doesn't show quite well the LCD quality, but I can assure you that it is pretty good.
PS: Sorry about the backround noise, my 3D printer was on

 

[gman]

That's a bit big for the case I wanted to use. But if the wii is 16:9 then maybe I will go for something like this http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/2 ... mxGix4&s=p

 

[Aurelio]

Yeah I understand, it's quite big, but the fact that it support natively the component video is nice, so that's why I pointed it out to you.
Anyway yes, the Wii can output both 16:9 and 4 video (just set it in the settings), but keep in mind that Gamecube games will still be stretched, unless you run them with Nintendont forcing the widescreen mode, but it is not supported on every game. Look at this compatibility list: http://wiki.gbatemp.net/wiki/Nintendont_Compatibility_List

 

[gman]

See! That's why I can't make up my mind which screen to get!

 

[Fluxedo]

I would personally go with a 4 because the Wii doesn't actually do true wide screen it just compresses a 16:9 image onto a 4 image and then the screen/TV stretches the 640x480 to a 16:9 aspect ratio rather than a true 854x480 output so even with a widescreen screen, you get the same amount of pixels but less compatibility on 16:9 compared to 4.

 

[Shank]

Ill be following this project.
As for screen aspect ratio, I say either is fine. Whichever fits better in your case. I personally use 16:9 widescreen, as it offers more "visibility" in some games. Keep in mind most LCDs can be switched in the settings. It really depends on which games you plan on playing, and which ones have compatibility. But it really doesn't make a difference.

If you really want to see how your screens would compare in size, or how smaller the screen would be when used in a "non native" aspect ratio, Display Wars makes that easy.

For progressive video in, you really have 3 options:

Native YPbPr
If you can find a display you are satisfied with that accepts YPbPr natively, you are good to go. They tend to be rare, older, and expensive.

VGA
While YPbPr to VGA adapters exist, they tend to wash out the colors a bit, and have problems with interlaced video. This becomes problematic because some games do not support progressive video natively. Nintendon't has a "force progressive" option that would fix this issue in most circumstances, but this does not fix the washed out video. I dont advise the VGA route, but if you must, this cable has a tiny board that will serve your purpose

HDMI
Given that HDMI is essentially the new standard, you will encounter quite a few HDMI compatible boards. Here is a reddit thread that goes into detail comparing some of the HDMI adapters

 

[watsug]

I'm using a 5" 16:9 raspberry pi screen with a ebay wii 2 hdmi adapter. Or that's the plan, haven't got them yet. They are both cheap on ebay at least, will report the quality when they arrive.

Edit: The 5" raspberry Pi screens seem to not be working with the wii, think the reason is that the screen can't do any scaling, it only accepts 800x480, which the wii doesn't deliver.

 

[Shank]

Ive heard that even though the wii2hdmi adapters all look the same on the outside, their quality and input lag varies. Unfortunately, I have no info as to which are good and which are bad.

 

[gman]

Attempted rewiring the bluetooth module. Most the traces I found alternative points for and it was actually working for about 10 minutes and then it randomly stopped Tried shortening all the wires because they were pretty long but still no success. Now one of the pads on the bluetooth module is lifting since ive soldered it too many times. Ugh, good thing I bought two! I have a feeling I'll be ordering another two pretty soon..

 

[Shank]

You may already know this, but if you remove the sticker on the bluetooth module, there are test pads that you can solder to.

 

[gman]

Yes but there are still 2 pads on the port that connect somewhere on the board. Have we figured out if only the pads on the back actually matter?

 

[Aurelio]

Ill be following this project.
VGA
While YPbPr to VGA adapters exist, they tend to wash out the colors a bit, and have problems with interlaced video. This becomes problematic because some games do not support progressive video natively. Nintendon't has a "force progressive" option that would fix this issue in most circumstances, but this does not fix the washed out video. I dont advise the VGA route, but if you must, this cable has a tiny board that will serve your purpose

The problem with those VGA cables is that they use a LMH1251 without any kind of buffer, which cause the washed colors. As a matter of fact the datasheet of the LMH1251 specifically says "The RGBHV outputs cannot be used to drive standard 150Ω video loads and require high-bandwidth buffers for
this kind of application."

 

[Fluxedo]

Ive heard that even though the wii2hdmi adapters all look the same on the outside, their quality and input lag varies. Unfortunately, I have no info as to which are good and which are bad.

Sewell is the best period

 

[gman]

Ok I successfully rewired the bluetooth module on my 2nd wii using only the 8 test pads on the top which makes it a little bit easier. I found a few alternative points but 2 of them I havent found where they go so I just soldered them to the port. I kept the port intact so I could test it as I went. I apologize for the messy wiring but I wasnt sure where all the wires actually go to while I was doing it.

Note: The wii wont turn on with just the wiimote. I have to turn it on manually and then connect the wii controller. Not sure why, could be that I only connected 8 of the wires.

I know this is a cpu-01 but I'm assuming this'll break at some point anyway so the practice is good so I know how to do the bluetooth module on my other boards

 

[NNSS]

I'm pretty sure this isnt going to be a laptop, so I'm wondering what you're planning to do with the controllers. Are you going to do the mod so that it just has the IR bar above the screen, and a kickstand on the back, allowing you to use the controllers wirelessly after setting down your console, or are you going to chop up a controller into the case?

If you could get this ting down to a really small size, with an efficient power source, maybe people can start using Wii's to make gamecube portables with high quality video output. By that I mean use the wii to play gamecube games (so essentially it functions as a gamecube), and use the Wii's higher quality video signal to make the display look nicer.

 

[gman]

Yes I am planning on making this a portable. I wont be using the ir sensor all that much so i might not even have to integrate it into the case since none of the games will use it anyway. So yes, it'll just be a super upgraded gamecube portable. I hope the day comes when gamecube portables are replaced by wiis.

Since I already messed up the bluetooth on this board I decided to cut a large chunk off of it to see what happens. It still boots. I think I may be able to salvage this board actually if I can successfully wire the bluetooth this time. This board almost fits in my case I plan on using, I just need to trim a hair off of the sd slot and the power jack. I referenced blargaman's wii board he did a while back when cutting this.

 

[Noah]

I hope the day comes when gamecube portables are replaced by wiis.

From what I've seen a heard thus far this should be the way things are by the end of the year or even sooner.

Sounds like you're cranking out another sexy project, I'll be sure to follow.

 

[gman]

I should really be studying or something, but hey atleast I'm being productive.

 

[Shank]

From what I've seen a heard thus far this should be the way things are by the end of the year or even sooner.

I have a dream...


Also, Gman:
Those cuts are clean. Nice job getting it to work. You probably want to have a fan on that heat sink while you are working on it so you don't fry something. The N64 may not need active cooling, but even 65nm wiis can get pretty hot after a bit of use. I would advise some form of airflow across the heatsink when the unit is turned on.

Have you been having any issues running without a bluetooth module so far? If you aren't having any now, be aware that you are likely to encounter some a little ways down the road.