Starting a new project, WORKLOG

[Fraks]

Hello everyone. After lurking around here, SSforums, and benheck forums for a while I've decided I'm ready to start my first project! *applause*

Anyways, my plan is to first remove the DD from my gamecube, then put what's left, along with batteries into a shorter case and put a screen on top that opens like a laptop. I won't be using an integrated controller so I want all of the controller ports available as well as the memory card slots. I also want it to be able to have AV out so I can hook it up to the TV if I don't want to play on the smallish screen or if I'm playing with other people.

Now for some questions…In convenient bulleted format!

1. Was thinking of the Wiikey for the modchip. Any other suggestions? I just want to be able to play my games off of the SD card. Obviously not concerned with disk backups or any of that.
2.Can someone please clear up the compatibility problems with it (streaming audio mostly, or any games that don't work for certain regions or anything else)? I have an NTSC console with I believe IPL > 1.0 (it has the purple menu --> viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1004. Does the Wiikey fusion work with streaming audio from ISOs? and if not, is there a fix?
3.Where should I get said chip? Saw the Wiikey on foundmy, but I've heard mixed reviews about them and it's ~$40 from there. Are the 3rd party ones still available and good quality? Is there a secret website I don't know about or something?

One last thing, can someone explain two things to me:
What exactly is Swiss? is it just different firmware than the original Wiikey's? Is it recommended?
And second, should I get the SDGecko? What exactly is it used for? Kind of confused on that end.

Sorry for the noobish questions and this block of text. Once I get some answers and order my modchip and everything else I'll use this thread for progress updates as stuff gets done. Any ideas on anything greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading!
-Fraks

[andzlay]

If you use a Wiikey Fusion you don't really need a SDGecko for playing backups of your games. But for some Homebrew Software like emulators it's useful.
We have a Wiki so you can read some stuff there:
http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=SDGecko

If you want to use a Disk Drive replacement originally designed for the Wii you need an adapter: http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.ph ... a_GameCube

Here you can get an overview of the features of Swiss: http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.php?title=Swiss

[Zainuintel]

If you don't know already the original Wiikey Fusions are out of production, on the official retailer sites they sell 'high quality 3rd party alternatives' I think Ashen tested them out and they work fine. I'll go look for that post. I'll have to check a lot of Forums though (MBB, SSF, MR, GCF)

[emu_kidid]

to answer your question, Swiss can be used as an alternative boot menu compared to the original one. The original one uses a custom file system known as WBFS, and Swiss uses FAT32 for the Wiikey Fusion, making it easier to work with.

[Fraks]

Thanks for the quick replies everyone.

@andzlay So you'd recommend it then? And yeah I know I need an adapter. I was thinking of getting this one http://www.newhavendisplay.com/nhdffc36-p-2476.html That look good?

@Zainuintel Yeah I saw that in a few places. Where do people usually get them? Can't check the Wiikey official website right now as it seems to be down atm. All the ones I've seen are ~40ish dollars and they don't say anything about shipping either :/

I've seen them in stock on modsupplier and foundmy and eachgame.me but eachgame has awful reviews and foundmy's are kind of 50/50 whether it's legit or not.

@emu_kidid Ahh thanks for clearing that up. That is recommended also then?

Edit:Found one on mod-chip.com for $30. It's here http://www.mod-chip.com/nintendo-wii/mo ... p-165.html
Anyone have experience with them?

Edit Again:Just ordered one from modsupplier for ~$50 after shipping. Wish it was a little less but the site got great reviews and has good customer service so I'd rather be sure of quality. It should take 9-14 business days to get here. What can I do in the mean time? I guess I'll start shopping for the screen and batteries while I wait for this to get here.

[Fraks]

While I'm waiting for my wiikey to arrive, I figured I'd start looking for batteries and start planning out the rest of the portable.

I'm looking at these batteries right now: http://www.batteryspace.com/Polymer-Li- ... h-PCB.aspx with this charger: http://www.batteryspace.com/smartcharge ... isted.aspx
If you can't see them, they are 7.4V and 5A. (how does that look in terms of battery life? Should I go higher?) Now I know this means I will have to make custom regulators to get the 1.9, 3.3, and 5V lines that the Gamecube needs (I'll just use the 7.4 on the 12V line).

My question is, if I want to use SS's diagram for wiring up the charge and play, could I input the 12V from the wall adapter into the custom regs for my 7.4V batteries? Or would I have to get that down a bit first? Sorry, all of this regulator business is confusing me, especially because I should have gone to bed 3 hours ago.

As always, help appreciated!

[hailrazer]

Those batteries are fine but huge.
Follow my guide here:
http://www.made-by-bacteria.com/forum/v ... ?f=59&t=39

Use the part of the guide for 7.4v. And use the 5000mAh batteries in the guide. They are much smaller.

You will basically get around 2 hours of playtime with 5000mAh batteries.

Yes you can use 12v into the regulators without changing any values..
Make sure the 12v is at least around 3A.

[Fraks]

Thanks for the reply hail.
I just bought these batteries that you suggested here on ModRetro not too long ago.
But now I have a new question. Two actually. First of all, for the custom regulators, I was planning on using zenloc's custom regs from here and so I obviously don't need the regulator on my board (I have a rev c board) Is there a way to cut it off? or should I leave it on and just bypass it?
Question 2: I am connecting those batteries in parallel to double the MaH. How should I connect them together? As each pack has the protection circuit in them, do I connect one circuit to the other? Or remove one and use one circuit for both packs?

Sorry for all the noobish questions. It can get a bit hard to keep everything straight sometimes!
Thanks!

[hailrazer]

You can connect them together with both pcb's still attached. Just parallel them. + to + , - to -. Attach the charge and load wires to the same spot where the charge pins are on the batteries already.

I wrote a guide for using the Revc with custom reg's here:
http://www.made-by-bacteria.com/forum/v ... f=40&t=897

[Fraks]

Ahhh thanks again hail. Couldn't find that. Once I get my samples in the mail, I'll start work on that (and the work log) and post some pictures.

[Fraks]

Got my samples in the mail yesterday. I'll be putting my regs together as soon as I get a hold of some perf board (tomorrow hopefully)
In the mean time, I have something I was hoping someone could help with. I have a portable DVD player that accepts AV in so I was planning on using that screen (and case) if possible. However, I can't figure out where I'd input it too the screen or even if I'd be able to. Figure it might be converted on the main board somewhere. If someone could perform some trace following magic, that'd be awesome.

Here are the pics

Top of the main board


Bottom of the main board


Bottom of the faceplate for the Dvd player. This sits on top of the main board and has all the buttons connected to it


Front of the LCD screen


Back of the screen


Any help with this would be great as I'd like to continue working on this. Still waiting for my wiikey and batteries to get here though :/

[emu_kidid]

looks like the same portable dvd player I used in this: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=631

[Ashen]

Unless the portable DVD player has an AV input jack, then you're probably SOL. Even if it does, you'll likely need to keep that huge motherboard that goes along with it. Not usually a recommended solution. But if it has AV in you could use it.

[Fraks]

@emu_kidid I don't think it's the same one, although they might be similar which gives me hope. This is the one I'm using http://www.amazon.com/Mintek-MDP-1810-8 ... B000087QPQ
How did you connect yours? It wasn't really clear from your thread.

@Ashen yeah I was thinking the same thing. I was worried that there might be some conversion taking place on the main board which would make this pretty much impossible for me. But it does have an AV in jack so hopefully...

I guess I'll have to tinker with it some more

[emu_kidid]

mine had AV Input, so I connected it to that. I had to put the entire screen/DVD board in, but switched to "Input" mode permanently and hardwired the inputs. I'd highly recommend a 5" reverse camera LCD instead, they're very tiny in form factor and make for a great portable screen.

[Fraks]

Alright. I was worried that I'd have to do that. Was planning on getting a screen in the first place, just wanted to see if I could use this as I have it already. Thanks for the info. Time to get shopping

[Fraks]

Update: Got the regs wired up the other night.



My parents got my batteries and wiikey to me today as I'm dorming at school. I'm going to start soldering wires to the wiikey FFC pretty soon. Ill keep you all updated

[emu_kidid]

nice, keen to see pics when you get up to that part too

[Fraks]

Alright, after three or four tries over two days I finally got the jumper wires soldered to the wiikey FCC. I'll tell ya, it's a lot harder to solder to those tiny traces than I would have thought.
I had to keep cutting the fcc back and starting again.



I ended up splitting the traces further down so I'd have a little more wiggle room. All of the traces that are bent back are for ground or just unused. I think I'm going to pick up the switch for pin 29 later on tonight so hopefully I'll finish wiring up the Wiikey tomorrow

[emu_kidid]

looking very good there

[megalomaniac]

nice job...
also, just to add, all those GND lines can be combined into one single line then soldered to a single GND point on the GC mobo...

[Fraks]

Even better news! Just checked and all my traces have continuity!

@megalomaniac I was going to scratch off and connect a wire to the wiikey itself and connect that to gamecube ground. Figure that would be much easier than connecting each of those traces to each other or to ground separately.

[Fraks]

Ok so I finally got around to testing out the wiikey and....


Success!

Here is my set up at the moment:


And here is just showing that it finished the update to 1.5


Haven't put swiss on it yet, but I may wait and do that at a later time. I don't want the gc to get too hot as I don't have heatsinks or anything on it yet obviously. I think the next thing I will do is sort out the power situation (batteries, the charge and play circuit, and get the regs hooked up to the cube).

Edit: Quick question: Here is one of my batteries


There are three contacts... I don't get it. In that picture, negative is on the left and positive is on the right. If I measure across those charging holes I get ~8.3V which I expected. I just can't figure out what that third pin is for. I get ~1.4V if I measure across that and the negative hole. Does anyone know what that could possibly be for? I kind of want to know before I wire things up incorrectly.

[Fraks]

Bumpidy-bump bump

Haven't really worked on this at all the past few weeks. Been busy with school n' stuff.
Still haven't figured out my battery question either btw. I looked online and from what I can tell, it's either a temperature sensor for the battery (although I'm not really sure how that would work) or it's used to tell the camcorder how much life is left in the battery. Can anyone clarify?

[Fraks]

Scored this bad boy(?) today.



Four bucks all day baby. I wish I remembered to take pictures before I started to take it apart. Oh well, you guys get the main jist.
I don't think everything is going to fit inside the DVD player case like I was planning, so I decided to spring for the always trendy pink barbie laptop as an enclosure. It will be a lot easier to fit everything inside this.

Also, I'm home for spring break this break, so hopefully I'll have some time in between all my midterm projects to work on this. Really trying to make some progress this week.