SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

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zethirdone
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Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2016 5:10 pm

SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by zethirdone » Wed Mar 30, 2016 5:24 pm

Hello, I just pull out my old gamecube and I decided to mod it a little, basicaly I ordered a XenoGC that I would solder it to run Swiss on a mini-dvd. I saw picture of a guy who instead of making a SdGecko adapter, he solder it right on a memory slot of the GameCube.

I'm new to hardware mod on a gamecube and I saw somewhere people reporting problem with Slot B running with a SdGecko, would you suggest me to use slot A or B for mounting an internal adapter?.

Also, I made out a little schematic to try to use a switch to swap between front memory or Sd that I would put in back of my console (If I ever want to copy a saved file from A to B). It wouldn't be more complicated as I got plenty of push-push Sd card connectors to mount one on each slot. Would that be really useful to have two sd instead of one?

Thank you guys
zethirdone
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by zethirdone » Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:14 pm

Don't answer all at the same time! I did a schematic on my free time to explain how I would proceed.
SD_Adapter.jpg
This has not been tested
(343.68 KiB) Not downloaded yet
I would cut the vcc trace that go to each memory slot, and would power them with a 1P2T switch to choose if I want to power the front slot or the sd adapter. From what I understood from my SD connector, the card detect pin return the vcc signal if a card is inserted and the sense in(pin 12) is expecting 3.3v(high level) when a device is connected. My only incertitude is because a card is still inserted in the front slot, all the signals are merged together, but the front card is not powered. I think that it would not interfer with the SD adapter but i'm not sure. If it is the case I would need to use something like a 8 poles double throw switch to break all signal from SD and memory Slot.
novenary
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by novenary » Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:34 pm

You won't need the SD gecko in slot A. You don't need a power switch either, just have the SD card sense switch short sense in/out on the GC when a card is present.
zethirdone
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by zethirdone » Sat Apr 02, 2016 9:45 pm

So only one card in slot B is use, but I want to leave both card inserted and only switch from sd to memory card when I desire, leaving both connected at the same time on the same pin, the GC would send data to both and also read from both(would make probably errors). But I understand what you want to suggest me is simply insert SD and Remove memory card or the opposite.
Aurelio
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by Aurelio » Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:34 pm

Apply the switch to the CS pins, not the 3.3v line :)
novenary
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by novenary » Sun Apr 03, 2016 2:49 pm

CS is active low.
zethirdone
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by zethirdone » Sun Apr 03, 2016 3:30 pm

Aurelio wrote:Apply the switch to the CS pins, not the 3.3v line :)
I thought to use the chip select signal, but if I break only CS and and the front slot is selected with the switch with no card inside, sense will still be HIGH from the sd card detect. That's why I thought cutting the power to one or the other would make appear them as disconnect.
Streetwalker wrote:CS is active low.
Good to know.

On the other end, two pull up resistor to each CS pin and break it with a 2p2t switch, I could use at the same time the same switch on my sense signal to avoid detecting a card on the other slot.

What do you think?
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FroggestSpirit
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by FroggestSpirit » Thu Apr 07, 2016 12:44 am

I'm new here, and I'm also interested in doing this. I tried making an adapter, but it failed, so I figured that I'd just hide an SD to micro SD adapter in the bottom of the console. Is there a good pinout for this?
This isn't easy to say, but…
Every puzzle has an answer.
zethirdone
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by zethirdone » Thu Apr 07, 2016 7:27 am

You should find everything in that topic viewtopic.php?f=26&t=666
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Papy.G
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Re: SDgecko DIY slot inside gamecube

Post by Papy.G » Tue Mar 19, 2019 6:02 pm

I'm resurrecting this topic since I just disassembled my purple GC to de-yellow its gray faceplate (the rest of the case will follow, but I already have a gameboy in the bath).
So I saw that there is room enough to put an SD card reader and even a micro-SD one (both at the same time even possible) in the memcard bay without even loosing the memcard functionnality.
I still have to gather tools and parts, and courage (call it madness, considering the current low 3$ price tag for aWiiSD adaptor), to give it a try , but here is the concept:
For the SD card reader, seems that we can rip the two metal ground springs (ply break the shorter from the base), grind the under part of the MB's metal shield under the Memcard port. In the memcard bay, enlarge the hole in the metal and plastic with a metal saw blade or a little file up to the width needed for the card reader to fit in, oblic. Then, it will need adjustment to see how deep it needs to be for the card to get flush when inserted (for a push-eject card reader, allow more protuding for a pull-eject one), while not allowing the protection flap to close. When this is done and marked in any way on the card reader, look for the parts that may get in the memory card's way, mark it, and rip them off, or bend, if it can be useful to solder the ground springs back in place. The SD card reader may get in the way of the orignal port soldering pads, and it can be wise to solder the wires on the motherboard, and even to the SD card reader, all in place to test before glueing.
For the microSD card reader, we just need to cut a part of the thin plastic at the beginning of the memcard bay, then cut the bay's shield at least as wide as the µSD reader, bend it up while keeping a clean surface, plane enough to glue or even solder the µSD reader in place. Placing the µSD reader in the right place can be tricky: it has not to get in the way of the protection flap when no card is inserted, while it has to prevent the flap to close when a card is inside, and, if possible (i don't know if it is ATM), get the card in the way of any Memcard to avoid to have two cards connected on the same port at the same time. Then, solder or glue the µSD card reader and solder the wires if you haven't already done so.
DMG/MultiFreq OC/EDGB/EZF Jr, AGB/SC miniSD, NTR/NeoMK3, USG/flashme V8/SC miniSD
DOL001(EUR)/RGB/GCPlug/GBP/SD2SP2, RVL 001(EUR)/RGB/CMP/WiiSD

Zelda WW with Tingle Tuner in split screen was what the GC RF modulator was made for! (Video)
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