PS2 portable worklog

[gman]

This one is a commission and will be pretty similar to the first ps2p I made 2 years ago. Will have a 4 inch 4 screen, an internal free mcboot card for usb loading, and 5amp 7.4v li-ions. This time I'm adding a headphone jack and a low battery indicator which I'm trying to make standard for all my portables now that I realized how easy it is! I'm making progress quickly so I can wrap this one up and focus on some other projects I've been wanting to do. Still waiting on the screen from china and a few other parts though

When you are in college and don't have a tv for testing, you gotta improvise

 

[tiagoadcosta]

ahah nice!
what case are you using on the ps2?

 

[gman]

ahah nice!
what case are you using on the ps2?

It's an AG-85 from polycase. It's small and comfortable on the hands and can fit a ps2 motherboard with a little bit of trimming

http://www.polycase.com/ag-85

 

[tiagoadcosta]

yeah looks really comfy! I like your button and screen layout too

 

[gman]

My workspace has been significantly reduced since coming to college, but it'll have to do

 

[Lightning]

Your's is about the same as mine size wise, I've never found I needed much more

I like how you have the FMCB card sitting over the dragon chip, that's actually a really good place for it

 

[gman]

Your's is about the same as mine size wise, I've never found I needed much more

I like how you have the FMCB card sitting over the dragon chip, that's actually a really good place for it

Thanks I actually got that from another ps2p worklog. I also ordered a 128mb that'll go on slot 1 for saving games.

At home I have a 13ft table in my room with all my tools setup and ready to go on it and a big metal husky cabinet. It gets the job done This setup is like what I started on a few years ago, an overflowing table. The worst part is I have to clean up at the end of the weekend so I can do my school work there

 

[Lightning]

I also ordered a 128mb that'll go on slot 1 for saving games

SAME!!! I feel its the best way to go, FMCB works equally in either slot, and having your game save card on slot 1 is one less thing to think about when actually saving your progress.

Are you going to make a port for the 128mb or just have it wired internally?

 

[gman]

I'll just have it wired internally, nothing wrong with replaying games I'm not quite sure where I would put the port anyway. I should be getting most of the parts I still need this week so I think it might be realistic to say that I could have this one mostly finished up by the end of next weekend! All that's left is to mount all the buttons and screen and wire up the controller, oh yeah and the speakers and charging port too lol Still a lot of work left but I think this should be wrapped up soon

 

[tiagoadcosta]

ahah i'll do the same thing. 128mb on slot 1 and free mcboot card on slot 2 with UlaunchELF, OPL and a Media Player. For those that don't feel like ordering a 128mb card and have smaller ones laying around you can use UlaunchELF to backup savegames to the USB stick.

 

[gman]

Got the screen and buttons mounted. Told you I was gonna wrap this one up quick!

 

[tiagoadcosta]

Looking great!

I'm looking for a screen myself but here in Europe it can get pretty expensive to order something from outside Europe/UK. Not just in terms of shipping but also in various taxes. I can find 3.5" screens on ebay but i'm affraid it will be too small! Most of the bigger ones are 16:9.

 

[gman]

Looking great!

I'm looking for a screen myself but here in Europe it can get pretty expensive to order something from outside Europe/UK. Not just in terms of shipping but also in various taxes. I can find 3.5" screens on ebay but i'm affraid it will be too small! Most of the bigger ones are 16:9.

I have used 3.5 inch in a few portables and I don't mind it but I am still young and have perfect vision. Try to see if you can find 4.3" or 5" reverse screen monitors. I'm using a 4 inch for this case as I didn't want my ps2 games stretching. That extra .5inch over the 3.5 inchers is noticably easier on the eyes

 

[watsug]

Looks so clean with the boxes around the controls. Great job gman

 

[tiagoadcosta]

Looking great!

I'm looking for a screen myself but here in Europe it can get pretty expensive to order something from outside Europe/UK. Not just in terms of shipping but also in various taxes. I can find 3.5" screens on ebay but i'm affraid it will be too small! Most of the bigger ones are 16:9.

I have used 3.5 inch in a few portables and I don't mind it but I am still young and have perfect vision. Try to see if you can find 4.3" or 5" reverse screen monitors. I'm using a 4 inch for this case as I didn't want my ps2 games stretching. That extra .5inch over the 3.5 inchers is noticably easier on the eyes

I can find those but they have 16:9 ratios. I've contacted a seller about a 4.3" screen that lists a 4 ratio. But i think it must be a mistake because it also lists a 480 x 272 resolution.

 

[gman]

Finished it at about 5am last night! I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. Probably one of my cleanest builds inside and out. Set the low battery indicator to approximately 15 minutes before shut off. Just went to test the battery and played it for 2 hours and the batteries were still at 7.3v, a decent amount left. Now I am questioning when I started playing because over 2 hours seems pretty good to me. One thing to note, the heatsink gets a bit too hot for my liking but I did play it for 2 hours straight with it still running smoothly. I also am still using the original thermal pad so I can guess it'll be a bit better when I get around to mounting it properly with some artic silver but I am not sure if I am going to put a new heatsink in or not so I am holding off for a while.

The composite video looks fine. The last 4 inch screen I bought had vga input but it wasnt in stock anymore, apparently I bought one of the last ones of this kind too because it is not instock anymore also!

 

[watsug]

Wow, those are the cleanest insides I've seen! Is there any intake for the fan, as it looks now there's only exhaust holes at the top? And is there any place that still sell those audio amps with digital buttons? Gratz on completing it in just a week

 

[Lightning]

One word... RESPECT!!!!

Very, very impressive work, and to have done so in such a short period of time

what kind of wire have you used? it looks like a 30awg kynar

PS. would also like to know about the audio amp

 

[gman]

Wow, those are the cleanest insides I've seen! Is there any intake for the fan, as it looks now there's only exhaust holes at the top? And is there any place that still sell those audio amps with digital buttons? Gratz on completing it in just a week

Thanks! I added a few vent holes on the sides of the case. There is actually empty space between the screen and the console for some breathing room.
Yes those tiny digital amps are becoming increasingly difficult to find. They disappeared for a while and then showed up again as "Lego Ipod Stereo". It seems they are disappearing again. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a replacement. I used to be able to find the lego one for around $10, but now I can only find them for around $40 on amazon. No way they are worth that much!

what kind of wire have you used? it looks like a 30awg kynar

Yup I like using 30 awg. Nice and small, but gotta be careful not to bend it because t breaks easily at the solder joint. This portable has taken me back to the days where I could finish a portable in a single day! Ahh It's good to be back in it! I took a break from portables for a while, I missed it!

 

[Lightning]

Yes those tiny digital amps are becoming increasingly difficult to find. They disappeared for a while and then showed up again as "Lego Ipod Stereo". It seems they are disappearing again. I'll have to keep my eyes open for a replacement. I used to be able to find the lego one for around $10, but now I can only find them for around $40 on amazon. No way they are worth that much!

If I saw a board, and was able to identify the components used, I could clone it in a matter of days