Official Wiikey Fusion to GC MOD troubleshooting thread!

[harvey263]

Here's a couple things I've come across while hooking some more of these up.

I accidentally got the wires for pin 26 and 22 mixed up and it still worked - but instead of waiting for the eject switch to be pushed, the wiikey automatically loads when the power is turned on. Other than that it seemed to work normally, games played fine and all. I'm not sure what's actually going on here, but it might be a solution if someone wanted it to function this way. I didn't try a 2-disc game while it was hooked up this way.. so.

I also tried making one that could switch between the wiikey and the disc drive with an on/off button. I tied four 6-pole switches together and put it between the motherboard and ffc adapter. It didn't work. When I pushed the eject switch, it would flash and try to load, but usually just say 'the disc could not be read'. I checked continuity carefully and everything was right, I just figured that the switch was creating too much latency. I wish I would've tried hooking up 1.9v to common on the eject switch but didn't think of it at the time. Oh well, I've given up.

The yellow wires connected to the motherboard, and black connected to the ffc adapter.

On the bottom, red is 3v, green is GND / white 3v to LED, black GND to LED.

 

[ttsgeb]

Where did you get that beastly button?

 

[harvey263]

Where did you get that beastly button?

It's 4 of these: http://www.westfloridacomponents.com/SW091PD/Push+Button+Multipole+Switch+6PDT.html

 

[Prog]

I think he's talking about the NES one.

 

[harvey263]

I think he's talking about the NES one.

Oh. That's just a regular NES power switch cap (with a hole drilled to show led light).
http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/item/ISW-4/PUSH-SWITCH-ASSEMBLY/1.html

..and I guess the "beastly" part is that mess of hot glue and scrap plastic I used to cobble everything together, ha! Definitely a Frankenswitch. And btw, this idea just seemed logical to me, does anyone know an easier way?

 

[j4yf0x]

Thank you all so much for the welcoming.

I really hope, I didn't harm my Wiikey Fusion... just can't find an obvious mistake.

About the "Eject switch": the way you explained it above is exactly the way I tried it. I own no "normally closed switch", so I used a "normal" button/switch (= "momentary push button"?) and always pressed/pushed the button with my left hand, then released for "eject" and pressed/pushed again. Something wrong with that? Should work this way, too - or am I wrong?

That's what happened: I couldn't recognize that "very faint continuous flashing of the blue LED" at booting, both LEDs seem to stay dark. I got to the Gamecube main menu, pressed UP on the controller and then released my "eject switch" for just a moment. Red LED immediately turned on and stayed on. On my TV I got an error (translated to English, something like "an error occured, please turn off your Gamecube") and that's what I did: turned off the Gamecube.

I checked my wiring three times:

• First, I checked for continuity from Wiikey Fusion PINs to the bottom of the motherboard (using this photo from Ashen's great tutorial) with my digital multimeter.

• Then, I checked for bridging by verifiying that there was no connection between the PINs on the motherboard, except for the 10 GND PINs and the 4 5 V PINs.

That's how it looks like:



Possible mistakes I can think of:

• My wires are too long. Question: which wires should really be kept to a minimum length? Every line? Even the 3.3 V supply for the Wiikey Fusion at PIN 32?

• I checked for bridging between the GND PINs on the motherboard, as well as on the Wiikey Fusion (when disconnected) and found continuity, so I figured, I could save some soldering time by just using 1 GND line from Wiikey Fusion to Gamecube motherboard, since on both sides there is bridging between the GND PINs. I have read, that this might not have been very clever... why is that? Why do I still have to connect every Wiikey Fusion GND PIN to the Gamecube motherboard GND PINs?

Thank you so much! I am really trying to get this to work properly...

Jay

 

[Ashen]

I'd be inclined to say wire length is probably the issue here, looking at your pic. Try shortening them up quite a bit. Power (pin 32) and ground dont matter, but the rest should be kept as short as possible. The way you have ground hooked up is fine.

 

[bud]

I accidentally got the wires for pin 26 and 22 mixed up and it still worked - but instead of waiting for the eject switch to be pushed, the wiikey automatically loads when the power is turned on. Other than that it seemed to work normally, games played fine and all. I'm not sure what's actually going on here, but it might be a solution if someone wanted it to function this way. I didn't try a 2-disc game while it was hooked up this way.. so.

This sounds like a useful discovery.

 

[j4yf0x]

I'd be inclined to say wire length is probably the issue here, looking at your pic. Try shortening them up quite a bit. Power (pin 32) and ground dont matter, but the rest should be kept as short as possible. The way you have ground hooked up is fine.

Just to be on the safe side: - because I'm pretty sure, I read something about having to bridge the GNDs on both sides - I just connected Wiikey Fusion PIN 2 to a Gamecube motherboard GND PIN and left 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20 blank.

Right side: like I connected it
Left side: like I thought, it had to be. Doesn't really make sense to me, but who knows... See this diagram from the tutorial.

Since there was bridging "inside", I couldn't think of a reason, why I should bridge again or even connect every Wiikey Fusion GND PIN to the motherboard. Before I start soldering again, I'd like to be sure, the wire length is the most reasonable mistake. Excuse my precariousness, thank you for your help.

I accidentally got the wires for pin 26 and 22 mixed up and it still worked - but instead of waiting for the eject switch to be pushed, the wiikey automatically loads when the power is turned on. Other than that it seemed to work normally, games played fine and all. I'm not sure what's actually going on here, but it might be a solution if someone wanted it to function this way. I didn't try a 2-disc game while it was hooked up this way.. so.

This sounds like a useful discovery.

I think so, too. Is that reproduceable?

 

[Ashen]

Pin 26 is the audio streaming clock signal and pin 22 is DI reset. Dunno how good of an Idea it is to keep them switched. If it works though, nice find! I'll have to try this after I get done ripping things out of the Fusion Rev 3.

 

[harvey263]

Jay, the diagram you linked to is for hooking up an FFC Adapter, you're not using one of those in your picture. You should be able to run a single wire between the motherboard and wiikey and just bridge the ends...for ground that is.

 

[j4yf0x]

and just bridge the ends...

That's exactly the part, which I don't understand. Why is that additional bridging necessary? I'm really sorry for bothering you like this. It just doesn't make sense to me.

(I would have to use (and buy) a new FFC cable, that's the reason, why I'm such a pain in the ass about this.)

 

[harvey263]

Sorry, maybe I'm not understanding what you're asking.
But no additional bridging is necessary. As long as all the ground lines are connected between the wiikey, disc drive pins, then connected to ground on the mobo - it shouldn't matter how exactly you decide to wire it.
Also make sure you're not referring to that diagram for the FFC adapter, it looks like you've already just soldered direct to the ffc. Maybe that's what's confusing you.

 

[j4yf0x]

Sorry, maybe I'm not understanding what you're asking.
But no additional bridging is necessary. As long as all the ground lines are connected between the wiikey, disc drive pins, then connected to ground on the mobo - it shouldn't matter how exactly you decide to wire it.
Also make sure you're not referring to that diagram for the FFC adapter, it looks like you've already just soldered direct to the ffc. Maybe that's what's confusing you.

When I check for continuity with my multimeter from Wiikey Fusion PIN 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 to every single GND PIN on the motherboard, I get a "beep". But I only connected Wiikey Fusion PIN 2 to the motherboard. PIN 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 are ending blank inside the hot glue - not being bridged by myself (me?).

So I cannot understand why (even with the FFC connector) there would be bridging necessary, because there seems to be bridging between the GND PINs inside the Wiikey Fusion as well as inside the motherboard.

//EDIT: Just to make that clear: I don't want to upset anyone with my persistent questioning. I'm not resistent to your suggestions, I will start to shorten my wires as soon as possible. ;-)

 

[harvey263]

PIN 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20 are ending blank inside the hot glue - not being bridged by myself (me?).

Not sure what you mean by this exactly, but it sounds like these pins still need to be bridged then wired to ground on the mobo. Such as the heatsink pad like Ashen has suggested before. Do you have continuity between disc drive pins 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.. and ground on the mobo?

And yeah, maybe your grounds are fine and shorter wires is all you need.

 

[thecasperrojas]

can someone help me in the regulator for a gamecube rev'c i just dont know what to use

 

[harvey263]

can someone help me in the regulator for a gamecube rev'c i just dont know what to use

For portables I usually hit up this capacitor here for my wiikey power:

If its just for a regular mod'd cube though, there are literally like 1000 places to get 3.3v from. Poke at the board with a multimeter and find one of em.

 

[j4yf0x]

Not sure what you mean by this exactly

Maybe "blind" is the better word than "blank"? I isolated the FFC cable endings and they are inside the hot glue now. Unreachable for any connection to the motherboard.

but it sounds like these pins still need to be bridged then wired to ground on the mobo. Such as the heatsink pad like Ashen has suggested before. Do you have continuity between disc drive pins 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.. and ground on the mobo?

Yes, I have continuity between Wiikey Fusion PIN 2 and 4, 4 and 6, 6 and 8 and so on. And yes, therefore I also have continuity between Wiikey Fusion PIN 2 and Gamecube motherboard GND, Wiikey Fusion PIN 4 and Gamecube motherboard GND, Wiikey Fusion PIN 6 and Gamecube motherboard GND and so on... Any idea?

Btw: @thecasperrojas You might want to take a look at this picture from this howto by Hailrazer. I've been there doing my research for my Gamecube, but I don't own a Rev C myself, sorry. Maybe this could save you some searching time with your multimeter ;-)

 

[thecasperrojas]

daam thanks i did use some of the tips but what i really need is to drop down a 19.2 to 12 and my question is can i use a 7812 for this and if i can what resisters i need to do this ( thanks j4yfox and harvey )

 

[vskid3]

daam thanks i did use some of the tips but what i really need is to dropm down a 19.2 to 12 and my question is can i use a 7812 for this and if i can what resisters i need to do this ( thanks j4yfox and harvey )

You could, but you would turn almost half of your power into heat (and that's a lot of heat). Why are you using 19.2v?