Plug and play drive replacement adapter Idea

[siphoned]

Gamecube with megadrive + WKF + wii drive.

It looks like the wiki shows the pin outs for the wii drive power cable to be:

1. 12v
2. 12v
3. gnd
4. gnd
5. 5v
6. 5v
7. gnd
8. gnd
9. 3.3v
10 3.3v
11. gnd
12. gnd

If I take the internal power cable from the wii and plug it into the wii drive, and solder the other ends of the wires to the gamecube board, would I be able to power the wii drive and still have it be easily removable by just unpluging the cable from the drive? So long as I soldered all the wires to the correct points shown on the "Power Regulator to Motherboard input" picture on this page:

http://www.gc-forever.com/wiki/index.ph ... a_GameCube

Anyone know if I would need to connect all the wires? Or would one gnd and one of each volt be OK.

[Drakon]

Obviously I want something that just plugs into the original dvd drive connector port, it's just a smarter idea.

[harvey263]

bump

just wondering if anyone is still interested in some sort of adapter....
not a drop in replacement because there is no source for the original DVD plug....
this would require scrapping a lot of GC drives to make plugin adapters....
and personally, i dont think GC's should be scrapped...but rather restored....



so would anyone be interested in some kind of soldered on adapter???

[megalomaniac]

Obviously I want something that just plugs into the original dvd drive connector port, it's just a smarter idea.

smarter idea??
really?


i hope the following information puts an end once and for all to anyone who thinks a high quality reproduction dvd connector can be made and sold at a very low cost.


lets say someone wants to make 100 connectors:

32 pins x 100 = 3200 pins
after conferring with my connections i receive a quote for custom pins built to the exact specification required for the disc drive connector...minimum order is 3500 pins so only 300 extra for loss/mistakes...

now lets look at the quote for these pins:

Code: Select all

Item:  1
Product NO:  Pin
Material:  phosphor bronze and partial gold plating
QTY: 1/piece
Mould Cost:  0
Unit price:  US$0.5833
Remarks: MOQ:3500


Item:  2
Product NO:  Pin
Material:  phosphor bronze and partial gold plating
QTY: 1/piece
Mould Cost:  US$1,333.33
Unit price:  US$0.018
Remarks: MOQ:90K

when you do the math:
quote #1 costs $2041.55
quote #2 costs $17533.33


obviously there is no need to get the bulk discount for 90K pins...and since the amount of pins required to make 100 adapters is close to the minimum order amount, then we will use the price of $2041.55.
$2041.55 / 100 connectors = $20.4155 starting cost just for the pins alone per 1 connector



now about the physical connector, you think a homemade edge connector is a great solution for cost savings?
you think an edge connector will be easy to make to the exact specification required?
for a connector like that, something that will be sold to other members, it would be best to have it professionally made

from discussions with connector manufactures, the average minimum quantity is ~10k units @ $0.68
a cheaper price means more units ordered, 50k units @ $0.23

do the math:
10k connectors * $0.68 = $6800
50k connectors * $0.23 = $11500


so we will use the cheapest cost once again:
$6800 / 100 connectors = $68 starting cost just for the physical connector alone per 1 connector



next thing: the connector manufacturer may or may not require the pins at time of connector build, if they do, then there will surely be an additional fee. if they do not require the pins at time of build, then the pins will still need to make their way into th connector somehow...you think you can insert 3200 pins into 100 connectors with 0% error/failure ??

if there is an assembly fee, its best to pay it and will most likely cost an additional $1000 minimum (up to $3000)
$1000 / 100 connectors = 10$ total cost for assembly fee per 1 connector



.......
grand total:

$20.4155 pins
$68 physical connector
$10 assembly fee
--------------------------
$98.4155 total manufactured cost per 1 connector


how much do you think you can sell a connector that has a manufactured unit cost of 100$?
110$?? maybe 115$ if your lucky
so that comes out to spending ~$10,000 out of pocket to make a total profit of ~$1500




i really hope this "smarter idea" includes 100 people willing to pay at least $100 for a connector that could just as easily be had for free from a dead drive...

...and dont forget: a connector alone is useless...
you will still need to manufacturer 100 PCBs to mount the connector and route signals for 100 FFC connectors
unless the "smarter idea" is to pay a manufactured unit cost of 100$ per connector just to solder wireporn and hotglue everything together because obviously hotglue is a smarter choice compared to epoxy right...
so in the end you end up with a custom connector that has wires hanging all over the place, held together by a glob of crap, going to a generic FFC to dip adapter board...




good luck with that smart idea

[Ashen]

Or we could just hire Tchay to sell us the male connectors off all the GC's he kills. I'm pretty sure that would be cheaper.

[megalomaniac]

Or we could just hire Tchay to sell us the male connectors off all the GC's he kills. I'm pretty sure that would be cheaper.

OH MY DAYUM !!!!
i didnt say it

[Diminuendo]

you know I have a couple of spare connectors lying around, between Zenloc, Ashen, and the portableizers around we could probably scratch up a couple dozen connectors

[siphoned]

you know I have a couple of spare connectors lying around, between Zenloc, Ashen, and the portableizers around we could probably scratch up a couple dozen connectors

Didn't Ashen already do that once?

[Drakon]

Or we could just hire Tchay to sell us the male connectors off all the GC's he kills. I'm pretty sure that would be cheaper.

I acquired a box of n64 multi av ports from some dude on the modded by bacteria forums from all the n64s he butchered / killed. I didn't realize it's a pain to get the male connectors. If the port substitute is easier to make then sure I'm fine with that. It's not soldering to the dvd connector that's a pain, it's that ribbon to dip adapter board taking up a lot of space.

[Air Conditioner]

I have my GC running off of 1.8v 3.3v and 7.4v. (Portable) I no longer have the four 5v pads to feed to my WKF as they now put out 7.4v. Should I feed it the 7.4, 3.3, or get another regulator to get 5v. I'm not using the disk drive but Mega told me to hook up one 5v and one ground.

EDIT: I figured it out. I just remembered the megadrive has a onboard voltage dropper to feed the WKF 3.3v instead of 5v. So can that dropper work off of 7.4 instead of 5v to still feed the WKF 3v? Or should I remove the 5v line and wire 3v directly to the pad?

[megalomaniac]

I don't know how you currently have everything setup, but the regulator will work 7.4v
...but why not just directly feed the WKF 3.3v?

[Air Conditioner]

I was planning on doing such but I didn't know if the MD would work like that. So just feed 3.3v directly to the pad?

[keropi]

I have a small question about how to connect the pin29 switch to the megadrive, just to verify before I solder the switch:



I have bought that nice little push button:
C is the common pin, and is normally connected to B
When you press the button C gets momentarily connected to A , pretty normal stuff ...

So:
C goes to P29 pad
B goes to GND
A goes to a 1.9v source on the mobo

am I correct?

[megalomaniac]

That looks right

[keropi]

^ thanks!

[badsector]

here is what my megawire mod looks like on the WKF...
instead of opening the wii and tearing it apart a lot more to access a solder point, i just soldered the wire directly onto the WKF...

I am still new to this forum and read a lot in the last three days. My head is already burning, because of all the information, and trying to figure out, what my best options are for installing a WKF into my GameCube, and what I will need, etc.
I think, that I got every information that I need, and ordered everything that I need. But I am curious about the picture you posted. Is this just similar to the MEGAwire "trick", or does it also provide audio streaming for ISOs playing from the SD card? Is it even possible right now to get audio streaming working for ISOs?

[megalomaniac]

That pic was for Wii to allow streaming audio from DVD disc

[pr0ton]

Is this just similar to the MEGAwire "trick", or does it also provide audio streaming for ISOs playing from the SD card? Is it even possible right now to get audio streaming working for ISOs?

Not correct pins for a GC-drive I believe, it's for Wii-Drive to Wii-motherboard, otherwise similar. For a GC-drive to GC-motherboard you need to lead it from pin 1 DVD to pin 1 HOST, correct me if wrong. important post

Unfortunately audiostream from WKF ISOs isn't supported for now, but with Swiss as ISO loader there is a lot more possible. Since audiostream with Swiss from a SD-card (adapter to controller-port) or IDE-EXI does work (true?), for a moment I thought it will do with WKF too. But it won't, for now at least .

edit: and megalomaniac is faster

[badsector]

Thanks a lot, guys!

[megalomaniac]

as ive previously indicated "next batch will be very limited quantity with something really special"
i will post updates leading up to the final design as certain milestones are reached..

for the first batch of MEGAdrive PCBs, i was using a design program that was proprietary format. I have used this design program for years since it allows the home hobbiest the ability to print and make at home...also since i was very familiar with it, i wanted to make the first batch with something i was comfortable using...


i am currently in process of moving all my designs over to an open source format...this will allow virtually any factory to produce the PCBs...
the program i am using now also allows 3D views of the board but i have to create all the backend data and 3D models...

here is an example view of the 32pin FFC footprint and connector i created...

[shambles1980]

what if you made a spring clip on ?

it slides over the dvd female connector on the board and spring legs connect to the legs on the dvd connector on the board.
this would mean you could have a plugin well plug on adapter and could also convert the 5v in to 3.3/1.9 making it almost 100% solderless.

the dvd player should be able to connect at the same time too.
the pcb for the ffc could also have the audio mod done to it which would make it ALMOST noob proof.

i think it would need a sliding clip too (open to slide over the dvd connector then slide it closed and the legs lock in to place and it fastens to the connector)
finding some one to mass produce them at an affoardable cost would probably be the biggest problem.

i doubt its viable at all. But thought id throw it out there incase you had not considered it.

[megalomaniac]

i considered many ideas similar to what you suggest and the problem i always find is cost and final "reasonable" sale price

finding some one to mass produce them at an affoardable cost would probably be the biggest problem.

the problem is for a special custom connector it would need to be purchased in quantity of 10,000+ minimum units
thats a shit load of upfront cash to spend

[megalomaniac]

i made some progress during my current downtime...
this part of the board is actually completed but all the details are hidden for now...

here is a teaser pic of what is coming

[keropi]

^ my only concern is that I will probably feel the need to upgrade to the new version of MEGAdrive

[megalomaniac]

^ my only concern is that I will probably feel the need to upgrade to the new version of MEGAdrive

since i can make things i might not have been to quick to buy a newer version....but with the things i have in mind.....damn!!!
i would buy one if someone else created what im currently working on....

development is so much fun but also a very intense process to make sure all possible angles and ideas are investigated...
i am extremely excited about the latest developments, direction and possibilities this project will head in...
that pic above is already out dated...

i will keep the beta designs to show its development stages...
i hope it will be quite a show leading to the final product...