I think I killed my cube:|

J

junits15

Member
Hello all! This is my first post here so bear with my if I come off as an idiot haha.
I've been working on a gamecube console mod for a while, it's been smooth sailing until recently. I was in the process of removing ports from the board when I slipped and tore a cap off. I was removing the VGA connector by prying it open, pulling off all the plastic and metal and desoldering the pins that are left. When I popped the metal off the back of the connector I accidentally sheared c116 off the board and disturbed a few of it's partners. The cap looked fine so I just soldered it back on. However now my cube wont boot and I'm stumped and rather frustrated.
I soldered some VGA connectors into the holes where the connector was for testing and I'm getting nothing.
I have a feeling that it's not getting power because the heatsink stays cold.
I haven't done any trimming or major modding other than extending the regulator board. I do not believe that is the issue as the cube powered up fine with the relocated regulator before I removed the VGA port.
Any help is good help! Thanks in advance!

Also I have pics and can put the, up of needed, I honestly can't find a single reason as to why it wouldn't work. The board is spotless and after reading I learned that c116 is only for audio so the board should still boot fine.
 
I think we will need pictures. I'm not sure what cap you pulled off and what others you "disturbed" but I feel like that is definitely not the cause of your troubles. I've had more than one experience with motherboards not powering on.

Did the motherboard work after removing each port or did you just rip everything off then test it? If you have any metal pins left on the board from the ports, they may be touching and causing short circuits. Short circuits are usually the cause of motherboards not working.

I am really not sure what you mean by VGA port, either... Could you be talking about the AV port with video and audio?

We also need to know what motherboard revision you have, but we'll find out with the pictures. I hope we can solve your problem.
 
Ah sorry, I did mean AV port, I'm not sure why I said vga.
I will upload pictures tomorrow, as for connectors I repositioned the regulator board, removed the memory card slots and all the connectors on the bottom and it was still booting fine. It was only after I removed the AV and digital AV ports that this problem started. But as I said, pics will be up tomorrow
 
I checked the fuse and sure enough it was dead, I bridged it with a wire now when I hit the button the cube powers up for a sec and shuts down. Every time for the same amount of time. Does the voltage regulator have overload protection? As in a circuit that shuts it off if it senses a short?
 
So I took a closer look at your video. The caps you "disturbed" are just video and audio filtering caps and cannot be responsible of such troubles. Your board should start.

The way you removed the ports seems really clean. Anyway, keep checking for a shortcut on these. Double check your powerboard relocation (redo it, just in case. Maybe some ferric dust is trapped in there).
If you can, try with another powerboard. Some just die for no reason (this happened to me).

And clean everything with isopropyl alcohol.

Good luck !
 
I fixed it! I cleaned the area with iso and then resoldered using IDE cable, except I made sure to connect every pin, and sure enough it boots right up and gets warm. Thanks guys! I guess there was a short that I somehow missed
 
Actually I'm stupid and still have an issue :(
I have no sound, at all, there's video but that's it. I have three RCA connectors attached to the main board wired right to the pads where the av connector was.
If those caps are in fact dead, is there no way to have audio at all?
 
Great !
Capacitors are some very-hard-to-kill components... Are you sure of the polarity ?
Check your 12v line with a voltmeter also, as the built-in audio amp needs it.
If it still doesn't work and that you cannot replace them (should cost around 50 cents, so I think that you can afford it :lol: ) then look at Ashen's trimming guide (stickies), there are many points to relocate the audio lines.
 
Thank you! I checked the 12v line and it was dead, I really didn't feel like putti a new power board on so I just attached that line right to the 12v input from the power supply. That's not bad in the long term is it?
 
You're welcome.
Well I don't think there is a problem with that. You may lose some short protection and have a less regulated current, but whatever this shouldn't be a problem.
You can still look for a powerboard, many of us have plenty of them and you can certainly find one near your location.
I can send you one but as I live in France this will be expensive.
 
Well I have 2 other boards, and when I tried them both it still didn't work right. I'm just going to leave it how it is for now. I'm not making a portable, more like a slimline disk-less gamecube haha
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

buddygz
help with GDEMU/Dreamcast handheld
Replies
1
Views
2K
ttsgeb
ttsgeb
topherpharmer
Trouble Recording Inputs on ATmega328P
Replies
0
Views
606
topherpharmer
topherpharmer
U
Fully reboot GameCube pin out?
Replies
0
Views
891
UKRobbie
U
ttsgeb
XboxDVI
Replies
1
Views
1K
Prog
Prog
S
[Help!] Game Boy screen acting up after mod
Replies
1
Views
6K
Susmis
S
Back
Top