A Plethora of Portable-Building Questions

[darksky72]

I've realized that the number of questions I have isn't condusive to starting a thread for each individual one, and so I've decided to list all of them in one thread. I'm working on my own GC portable and have already made some progress, but I don't have very much expertise and still have a lot of things I'm unsure about. Just as background information, I'm building it using a Revision A Gamecube, a WODE Jukebox 2.0, and a PSOne portable screen. Any help with my questions would be greatly appreciated

1. Clearing clogged motherboard pins (After removing connecters)

I've just finished detaching and rewiring the power regulator to the motherboard using this chart and, though it worked, it took a long time and a lot of effort to get the pins cleared. Basically I tried to heat and remove any previous pieces of metal with my soldering iron, and then heated a glob of solder while pushing the wire in to clear the hole. It was difficult and rather unpredictable, so any suggestions on how better to clear them would be awesome. A very tiny drill bit, perhaps?

2. Heatsink and cooling

I would really like to do something like this, and perhaps if Ashen is reading this he could elaborate on which fan he used and where to get one? Besides that, I'm curious what method proved successful for removing the metal ridges.

3. Bypassing the WODE screen and joystick

I was originally planning on fitting the entire WODE screen and joystick onto my handheld, but seeing this video (about 0:41) makes me wonder if that's necessary. Can someone offer further insight into how that is acheived and whether or not it can replace using the physical screen? Oh, and can I eliminate the USB cables that are attached to the chip, or do they serve another purpose? (I don't want a hard drive)

EDIT: 4. Display quality

Will I run into any noticable differences in quality using RGB output to the onboard screen?



Thanks in advance, I'm still fairly new to this kind of thing, so I apologize for ignorant questions. I can't promise I won't think of more later, I tried to keep a list but it hasn't worked out very well. Also, feel free to offer unrelated suggestions for a newbie, they'd be much appreciated

[kel01]

1. Use some Soldamop/solder braid to clear any solder. It's a must have when it comes to any type of soldering. You could also try one of those solder suckers but they can be quite cumbersome to use so I would recomend the Soldamop over one of those.

2. Sorry can't really help on that one.

3. The WODE has the menu on the video stored in ram as an .iso file. You can set the menu iso to boot at startup but as far as I know you will have to connect the slave board at least once to set this option then after that you will no longer need the slave board. The only downsides to this is that without the screen and the joystick you will not be able to swap discs on multi disc games and you will also need to find a way to rewire the SD card slot directly to to WODEs main board. I'm not sure about the specifics on how to do that so maybe someone else who has already done it can help.

One last suggestion and don't take my word for this as I have no experience in building portables but I think the PSOne screen which has a resolution of 320x240 would be better suited to older systems that output a 240p resolution. The Gamecube output is mostly 640x480i or 640x480p with a component cable on games that support it or in very rare cases 240p like MegaManX and Zelda 1 and 2.

[Ashen]

1. Most people just surface mount solder their connections and then cover them in hot glue or epoxy to prevent wires from coming loose. Obviously through hole soldering will give you a more secure connection, but its not really necessary. If you go with surface soldering make sure you test things before you secure with glue/epoxy.

2. You can cut the heatsink with large cutting discs + a dremel or drillpress or if you want a good workout for your arm you can use a hacksaw. Here's some good fans:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... TM:US:1123
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... &hlp=false

3. What kel01 said. You'll need the slave board most likely. I tried directly wiring the SD slot and couldn't get it to work properly. I think the WODE expects a certain amount of latency or something as even just using a shorter FFC to connect the slave board made it not work. You can safely remove the USB port from the slaveboard if you're not going to use it.

4. Oh yes, PAL RGB will give a much nicer picture than composite. The only way you'll get a better picture out of the gamecube is with the component cable. PSOne screens dont accept component anyway, so RGB is the way to go.

[darksky72]

Thanks for the quick responses!

You've both got me very disillusioned with the PSOne screen now, so perhaps you know of a better alternative?

My reasons/criteria for picking the PSOne screen:
5" (I would be glad to have it be anywhere between 5 and 7)
Brightness and contrast controls
Built in speakers and headphone jack (much easier on my part)

I could probably live with finding an alternative for the sound system, but I reallly want those display controls.

EDIT: Also, you said PAL RGB? I have a NTSC Gamecube, am I wrong about the video out options? I've been basing my planning on this diagram.

[AC_Orange]

I've read somewhere that NTSC consoles support S-Video while PAL support RGB. Maybe wait for someone else to confirm this

[emu_kidid]

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=av:nintendomultiav

[Ashen]

NTSC Cubes output composite or s-video from the standard A/V port.

PAL Cubes output composite or RGB from the standard A/V port.

NTSC PSOne screens support up to 640x480i and accept composite and RGB natively. Ironically enough the PAL PSOne screen can also be modded to accept S-Video, The NTSC version I don't think can though. :/

I just ordered one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/5-0-TFT-LCD-Mod ... 27c27b5e91

You'll need a GC component cable to get VGA output though, or you'd have to go with composite.

[darksky72]

How difficult/expensive would it be to make such a modification?

EDIT: Getting it to output VGA, that is

[Ashen]

Its not very difficult at all to mod a component cable to output VGA, GameCube component cables are pretty pricey though. $50-$100 I'd expect to pay.

http://www.geocities.co.jp/Technopolis- ... crgb_e.htm

[darksky72]

Yikes, that's a bit over my budget!

Aside for that, what would be my best quality option, wiring the RGB pins on the motherboard straight to the display? Or am I wrong about that being possible?

EDIT: That it obviously wouldn't be with that specific display anyway, but I really want to retain external composite output, since it's the type I'll most commonly use. Is there any way to use composite for both on board and external?

[Ashen]

Unless you get a PAL PSOne screen and a PAL Gamecube, RGB is out of the question.

IMHO, composite is perfectly acceptable quality for the tiny screens we use in portables. You can just wire the composite signal to both the internal screen and the external output jack that will go to your T.V. it will output to both at the same time. You may want to install a switch to turn off the internal screen when you're using T.V output though.

[darksky72]

Sounds good, can I wire straight from the motherboard or is there something in the cable that's necessary?

[Ashen]

Nope, NTSC Cubes don't have anything in the standard A/V cable to worry about. Just wire straight to the MB.

[infact]

But when you want to use (pal-)rgb, you might need some caps.

[Ashen]

Eeermm.... Does that connector connect to the GC digital port infact??

EDIT: NVM, I see that its a scart connector now. I was REALLY excited for a second.

[infact]

Sorry Ashen

[darksky72]

Ashen- that display you linked, do all GC games support 5:3 or do they appear stretched? I looked into 4:3 ones (640x480), but they were all significantly more expensive.

[infact]

okay, i see you dont want my answer here, but i will answer anyway:
of course a widescreen display will stretch your output unless the game/homebrew supports widescreen output. you can however switch most display to 4:3 output, but you will have some black borders then.

[Durgan]

1. Clearing clogged motherboard pins (After removing connecters)

I've just finished detaching and rewiring the power regulator to the motherboard using this chart and, though it worked, it took a long time and a lot of effort to get the pins cleared. Basically I tried to heat and remove any previous pieces of metal with my soldering iron, and then heated a glob of solder while pushing the wire in to clear the hole. It was difficult and rather unpredictable, so any suggestions on how better to clear them would be awesome. A very tiny drill bit, perhaps?

I'm seconding the recommendation of soldering braid (a.k.a. Solder wick, because it looks like candle wick). That's definitely what you're looking for. It's basically tiny copper wire braided together, usually into a flat shape. It's specifically for removing solder from components, pads, vias, etc. Important knowledge: solder tries to flow towards the heat source (unlike flux, which flows away), so in using solder wick you'll want to use the soldering iron to heat the braid, and then allow that to contact and transfer heat to the part you're working on. That way the solder you're trying to remove flows through the braid to reach the heat source.

Desoldering irons are good too because they can more easily remove solder the first time around. But braid does a pretty nice job in general, so you would probably want it anyway for certain cases (like small leads or chip legs, or what might be missed from another method). There are also things called solder pumps or solder suckers, which are little handheld things like this. They're spring loaded cylinders. When desoldering, you get the solder nice and molten, then quickly swap out the iron for this, press the button, and it sucks the solder right off the component lead and out of the via at the same time. They usually work really well and are a lot cheaper than desoldering irons. Braid of course is also really cheap.


Ashen, could you clarify on what video signals the different PSOne screens accept? In one post you said the NTSC accepts RGB, but in another you said RGB is only possible with the PAL version. I'm guessing you meant the NTSC accepts composite and S-video?

[Ashen]

Both PAL and NTSC PSOne screens accept composite and RGB natively. The PAL PSOne screen can be modded to accept s-video.

PAL PSOne screens will only accept a PAL video signal.

NTSC PSOne screens will only accept a NTSC video signal.

PAL GameCubes output composite and RGB natively.

NTSC GameCubes output composite and s-video natively.

Hope that clears things up.

[darksky72]

I'm almost clear on everything, hopefully the tips on desoldering stuff will make wiring up the WODE a lot easier

The display information has been really helpful too, I've learned a lot about various regional video formats.

Anyways, thanks again to all of you, this community is amazing, all the things that have been discovered here in the past year have really made it a lot more feasible for even a newbie like me to build a portable. Just one last question: I don't really have access to any sort of plastic molding, does it seem acceptable for me to build a case out of wood? I love looking at the incredibly beautiful and tiny portables, but I'm just aiming for one that works

After all, this was the most impressive thing in the world to me the first time I saw, and I imagine mine will be at least half that size!

[megalomaniac]

this thread sounds like a great FAQ for wiki

[Ashen]

Polycase has a nice variety of molded project enclosures that are relatively cheap. For your first portable I'd say a ZN-40 would be perfect.

http://www.polycase.com/zn-40

[darksky72]

Alright, and for batteries? I'm fine with a bulky portable, I'd prefer good battery life (3+ hours). So far I've been thinking about getting four 3.7v LiPo batteries in order to get 14.8v, but I'm not really sure where to go or what to buy. I read that someone acheived 1:45 hours with a 4400mAh setup like that, so possibly around double that?

[Ashen]

I used 6 of these in my last two portables:

http://www.batteryspace.com/Li-ion-1865 ... ---LG.aspx

Wired two sets of 3 batteries in parallel and then wired the two sets of 3 in series to get 7800mah @ 7.4v. Gets me around 3.5hrs of playtime.

You'd need to build a custom regulator to run at 7.4v though:

http://forums.modretro.com/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=2844

You'll also need to buy a battery protection circuit and a smart charger for li-ion/polymer cells for the type of pack you're going to build.

Here's a nice battery wiring information thread/guide:

http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=34576

Beware of cheap ebay batteries that claim high mAH, they are usually always crap. Batteryspace is the way to go.