N64 portable worklog

[βeta]

That iceberq is totally overkill.

 

[zeturi]

Got the cart slot done on my first try! And now of course, the hot glue will now flood the connections so they never come loose.

I'll put on the iceberq tomorrow, and yes, definitely overkill. I'll only need some very small ventilation, and this baby will never overheat.

Still trying to figure out what orientation I want, landscape or portrait. I'll really thinking landscape, that's the only way the shoulder buttons will feel right, to me. Could anybody tell me, are there any games that require you to hold down the L, R, or Z buttons for a long time during play? (Aside from sports.) I think I may have a good idea for controls depending on that...

Also, can I just desolder the reset button without any problems? It's really bugging me...

 

[βeta]

Desolder the reset button and connect the two pins in that are farthest from the right side of the board. That will keep it from always being "reset".

 

[zeturi]

So, just to make sure, bridge these two sides after I remove the pin?

Also, I think I may have found a case. Those giant project box enclosures from radioshack, about 7 x 5 inches, and 3 inches deep. I'll probably be cutting down the thickness, otherwise I'm gonna use super c-cells and make my portable able to run for 24 hours.

 

[bentomo]

Actually you don't have to bridge anything on the reset button. You can just remove it.

 

[snowpenguin]

C cells are usually only like 3000 mAh or something like that. You could use NiMh AAs, in parallel and series. Two groups of 6 to get 7.2v 2500 mAh each then parallel them together to get 5000 mAh, and definitely smaller than Cs.

 

[zeturi]

The reset button worked when I just took it off, no bridging. The iceberq is a nice addition, but a bit too small. I have some small copper ramsinks that came bundled with the icebere, and I put'em on the cpu and rcp, and they keep them at 35 and 45 degrees, respectively. The ram has a small piece of aluminum keeping it at about 45, too. These temps are without any thermal paste yet.

I've had Zelda going for 20 minutes, no overheating whatsoever. Even if temperatures rise another 20 degrees, I should be safe in not having a fan.

If I wasn't using a psone screen, I would like to try wiring to the rcp. There's not much of a reason to cut it down, though, because of that. I will probably make a second one and try that though, these systems are fun to work with.

 

[βeta]

Do you have an IR thermometer?

 

[zeturi]

Borrowing one, yes. I'm going to test again, it's been running for about an hour now:

CPU: 40-42 degrees
RCP: 43-48 degrees
RAM: 49-50 degrees

I know once I apply some thermal paste it'll help, so I think the iceberq is out of the question. Definitely gonna try to use just the ramsinks, for now.

Also, my TI order shipped, so I should be getting it soon.

 

[βeta]

I want an IR thermometer.
It's so useful for..... measuring the temperature of things.

 

[zeturi]

I want an IR thermometer.
It's so useful for..... measuring the temperature of things.

Yeah, it's a lot better than touching the heatsinks and saying, "Yeah that's hot."

I took a record of the heat coming off the n64 for a couple of hours:

38 PM started test,
CPU: 30
RCP: 32
RAM: 32

4:04 PM
CPU: 45.5
RCP: 51
RAM: 48.5

41 PM
CPU: 51
RCP: 53
RAM: 50

5:00 PM
CPU: 52
RCP: 53.5
RAM: 50

5:13 P.M. Ended test,
CPU: 50
RCP: 53.5
RAM: 52

Looks like my temps won't climb beyond these last recorded ones. (Though possible +20 more degrees while in the case.) I think I'm going to put my screen right up against the heat sinks, with just a tiny bit of breathing room. I used some high-temp hot glue to hold my heat sinks in place, and it's still solid when the n64 is at its hottest. Here's a pic of my work so far:

Lots of glue, but this stuff doesn't look or feel like it's moving.

 

[snowpenguin]

Ooooooooh, copper, nice! I'm using a copper sheet on mine, yours will probably work better

 

[zeturi]

Ya, fins do help a lot. Sorry to say, won't be any updates for at least till this weekend. Burned the flax out of my right index finger. Yes, I suck, I was tired and grabbed my soldering iron by the wrong end. Smoke bellowed, I screamed OH FLUX and ran for ice.

Prolly won't post till this weekend either, one-handed touch typing takes forever. Also, does anyone know if there are any n64 games that require you to hold the L, R, or Z buttons for a long time? (other than sports or racers) Thanks much for any help!

 

[XCVG]

LOL. That's pretty dumb. Even I have never done that, and I'm pretty careless. Sucks though.

 

[βeta]

You should run a spare board without heatsinks and record at what temperature it fails. And then do it again. And then post it.

 

[zeturi]

Well, today it ended up just being a bag ass bubble on my index finger, and some lighter burns on the rest. I'm okay to type, and to solder. Pissed me off more than anything when it happened. First thing that came to mind when I got burned was (*Can'tSayThisOnTV*! I'm not gonna be able to work on my n64 till another week! ) I am retarded, it happened because I was tired and needed to my right hand to hold my soldering iron for a sec.

I do have another n64, I hooked it up to my TV and let it run without heat sinks. I got bored after 20 minutes, because the temps never got high, really. Here's what I got:

CPU: 43
RCP: 45
RAM: 50

Granted, it only ran for 20 minutes, but the numbers didn't climb any higher than these. Usually they were about 4 degrees lower. The heat is almost the same as when I had heat sinks! Though the heat might climb a bit more over time, with heat sinks like what I used, I doubt temperatures would increase much. (But will increase once inside a case.) The revision of the board I just tested is 3, and the revision that I've already messed with is a Revision 8. With a small fan installed, there would be little to no heat. I think I'm comfortable enough to do without one, though.

LOL. That's pretty dumb. Even I have never done that, and I'm pretty careless. Sucks though.

Heck no stfu big meenie stfu!

Im outta here!

 

[zeturi]

I've been trying to relocate the jumer pak for a couple of hours. Ruined my first one, but my second one is coming along nice. About halfway done, just need to be careful and not rush like last time. I feel really tempted to try stuff like the rcp wiring, but I know I'm not experienced enough.

C'mon guys, has anybody played ANY games that require L, R, or Z to held for a long time? I really want to know, because I thought of a different control design. It'll only work if you want to hold them for a little while, though, or it would hurt the fingers. Whatever, here's an out-if-scale mock up of what I'd like to do:

It definitely needs work, it doesn't look comfortable at all, but I'd like to set up L, R, and Z on the front of the system. It would be somewhat similar to gamecube controls. I really like the idea of a c-stick.

 

[bentomo]

A lot of games you will need to push those buttons at the same time. Off the top of my head hydro thunder uses L, R, Z are boost and A is go so that wouldn't work. Super mario 64 some special jumps need you to push z and a at the same time, like the long jump and backflip. Those are just two examples.

 

[zeturi]

Thanks bentomo! I took what you said into account, and also tried to clean up my design a bit. This looks a bit clearer:

I thought dual d-pads might be nice, in case you want to use different hands. Everything is still a bit unscaled, but it looks better. Tell me what you think, I need opinionz!

 

[XCVG]

Still pretty much impossible to use, because now you can't use the stick at the same time. There's a reason the shoulder buttons are on the back, why are you so averse to putting them there?