WIP - GC wiikey fussion modding, pictures and worklog

[keropi]

Hiya!

I thought you people might like a pictured worklog of how I envisioned the wkf mod on a GC that has no dvd drive
I will be adding pictures are the parts are coming, still waiting for a fpc->thru hole adapter...

My main goal is to fit everything nice and not alter the external appearance if possible. I might get a purple metallic IcedCube replacement shell as well, it will be "useless" since there is no drive at this gc but the current black shell is having wear marks that I don't like
For this reason (assuming the gc works after modding it) I will try and do all modifications on the dvd part since it will stay the same even with another shell...
I plan to use the stock GC switch for lid open/close detection and hopefully I can find a nice solution for the pin29 switch , thinking of mounting it inside the lid at some part of the laser mounting plastic part... I assume that since it is only used nowdays for multi-disk games it will be OK to open the lid (gc gets the open signal) , replace SD and press the pin29 switch so that wkf understands the disc change , then close lid and continue with the next disc. If I am mistaken please correct me

Right, on to the pics , nothing important for now

First I removed the mobo dvd connector, I actually destroyed it so I could easily desolder it (remember dvd drive was completely dead)






Then removed the pcb and metal shield of the dvd assembly, I only left the motor so there isn't a round hole in the middle. You can see the rough marking of where I will remove plastic from the bottom part of the assembly so there is empty space under it



.. and here is the bottom part after cutting it and at it's final form - cleaned of excess plastic and mounted with the upper dvd assembly:







As you can see this created a nice empty space

Next "problem" was mounting the SD card slot... I removed it from it's case since it was too big and thought of welding a metal stand on the upper mobo shield that can hold it. I rejected the idea of gluing it on the plastic of the dvd assembly as I did not think of a good/secure way to do it... plus having the stand fixed on the mobo shield ensures that it will not brake from sd insert/remove stress.
Here it is, a small inox metal part that I made after measuring:





I will put it at a place that it covers most of the laser head hole and won't leave space for the SD card to fall through:




and here is the general layout, plenty of space left for the fpc adapter and pin29 switch:




Still haven't fixed anything permanently , maybe someone comments here with a better idea of how to do things
I will continue this when the fpc adapter arrives

[megalomaniac]

If you plan to use the original lid switch to sense lid open then you will not want pin29 inside the lid because with the lid open pin 29 will be cancelled. You should plan to connect pin 29 elsewhere.
Also if you are looking for a WKF FFC adapter, I have some custom versions that might work out for you..I have a sale thread in the marketplace.

[keropi]

ah, thanks for the tip on the switch, will look for an alternative place then
I already ordered a pfc adapter from a German shop, if it turns out crap I'll get one from your awesome sales thread (you made some really nice things!) , too bad I did not see it earlier when mega3s where available as well , didn't pay much attention to gc because of the wii and I sold my icedcube/viper_extreme/component_cable a couple of years back...

[keropi]

today I received my IcedCube case (transparent red, the last one on a local store....) did some tests and it got me thinking... maybe it would be better to install both sd readed and pin29 switch at the LPT cutout at the back of the case:





most likely the reader pcb without the white shell and in the corner the pin29 switch...
I have not yet decided on that though, I might end up installing just the switch on the LPT port. If anyone has any comments/ideas please share them

[keropi]

anyone else interested, these switches are working fine for pin29 and are easier to mount: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10pcs-8-5-x-8 ... 2c6ec4763e



you just connect wires to one set of 3 pins , middle pin is the common one.

[Drakon]

Haha I like the slot location. Even if it's a pain to get back there it looks cool.

[keropi]

^ I abandoned this idea, I am going with the way everyone is using, in the dvd-lens track

At any rate , I got the fpc adapter parts and started working on the gc again.

I also broke 2 vital rules when working:
a. don't do precision soldering with people around, you WILL get bumped
b. order an extra of those cheap pcbs, don't get just one

You have been warned! LOL

So basically, when I was soldering the fpc connector I had an accident and lost 2 solder pads. Luckily I moved the connector at the other side but it looks crap.



it works, triple-tested but it's awful to look at. :/

Here is the top/bottom of the wires connectig the mobo to the fpc adapter:





and here is the whole thing assembled with the switches all over the place:



on the wkf I followed bacteria's tip on the ground line so I could save some time and connected 3.3v on the convenient nearby pad:



and here is where I grabbed the needed 3.3v for the wkf (red wire) and the 1.9v one for the pin29 switch (brown wire)



...and it works the chip is on 1.5 so I want to triple-check everything before I downgrade to 1.0/autoboot. After I sort out software I'll start working on the IcedCube case migration.

[Drakon]

Make sure in the lense to have the slot as far forward and flush as possible. Also fill the extra gap in the lense slot with some black sacrificial plastic otherwise your sd card can easily fall inside the case. I ordered just one pcb, broke it many times in many different ways, fixed it every time.

Gutting the dvd drive is actually a lot of fun. I kept all the parts in a neat box for a rainy day.

[hailrazer]

Looks familiar.

Good luck.

[keropi]

I've put this on hold for the moment, I am waiting for a complete GC so I can also have DVD functionality , will flash a xenogc and re-create megalomaniac's xenofusion setup

[Drakon]

By the way you don't have to cut a massive hole in the dvd drive plastic shell. I managed to get the sd slot pcb to fit in the dvd laster track happily without cutting any holes.

[keropi]

^ this is now abandoned

today I got the GC with a working drive, and I installed a XenoGC chip that was given to me as a freebie, it's solder pads were not in the best condition (someone installed it before) so I had to do a wire install:





Took me some time to adjust the laser pot and found it was working OK at ~130ohms... the xenogc also had the old firmware so I installed a switch and updated it to 1.05 (will update it to megalomaniac's xenogc fusion firmware later)



and while the dvd is being test with a copy of Metroid Prime 2 (as per emu_kidd's suggestion) I soldered the MegaDrive in place and took a quick picture before I clean it and let it dry:

[megalomaniac]

Good work so far...

[keropi]

thanks, not the best looking soldering job I could do on some points but I won't try and fix something that works and is solid just for the looks... not anymore
Now I have to find that XenoGC Fusion thread and grab the firmware upgrade ...

edit: found it in development forum

reading and watching the video made me wonder: will the autoboot wkf work ok with the xenofusion? maybe it's better to use my first wkf that is on the latest firmware?

[megalomaniac]

I'm not sure how well XenoFUSION will respond with swiss autoboot...
It was tested with WKF 1.3 software...ill have to look over the code to confirm but I'm certain it does an initial "pin 29 click" on startup...and with autoboot that will enable flatmode when not expected

[keropi]

allright, had a feeling it would conflict somehow...

[keropi]

well, since I am waiting about xenofusion stuff , I decided to work a little on the new case migration:





I also replaced the dead CR2032 battery, I soldered a holder since space was not an issue ... probably an overkill but plenty of holders available here VS no pcb batteries





After reading threads and watching vids, I am a little unsure what xenogc/wkf combo would work best... I am pretty sure that xenofussion is one part, but what about the wkf part? stock 1.5? swiss autobooting one?

[keropi]

almost there! today I tried with the DVD connected and I am satisfied with how it works:
* if there is an SD in the wkf slot then it autoboots to swiss
* if there is no SD then the DVD becomes active and it boots it's disc or dumps you to the BIOS screen
you need to power-cycle to switch between wkf/dvd but I don't mind

So I re-planned the whole thing, the SD slot goes at the back and I connected a pin29 switch next to it in case it is needed... the icedcube shell was a great help to achieve this, I only needed to weld a metal part so the SD slot secures in place










and here is everything almost connected:





sadly there is no room that I could find so the wkf rests better...







It works! I need to install the rubber front feet and the stickers on the case but other than that I think I am done , the GC works nice and the gba player is great

[keropi]

Done! All is completed and working perfect The only changes I'll make is if I think or someone here suggests a better way to do things

Here are a couple of pics with the stickers applied, you can even see the little wkf flickering blue led







Thanks to everyone on gc-forever that offered me their support and patience with my many questions! I wouldn't have made it without you guys!

[emu_kidid]

very nice looking cube. I sit the WKF under the DVD drive and re-wire the LED so that it comes out to somewhere visible.

[megalomaniac]

it might not look like it, but the WKF will actually fit between the cage and the DVD drive as emu_kidid stated...
you might need 1 or 2 thin washers to lift the drive up a bit from the cage if its seems too tight for you...
and use protection for the chip..1 layer of tape to prevent the chip from contacting the dvd drive board...

[keropi]

thanks for the kind words!
I kinda tested the wkf between the shield-dvd but it seemed not to fit... good to know that it does though, might change it's place if I open the cube again... this could be soon as the fan is quite noisy... is there a place to get replacement fans?

[Drakon]

I love that megalomaniac dvd drive connector to ribbon adapter, it's sexy.

[liquitt]

good job there, love it!

[keropi]

Decided to re-visit this GC so it's time to resurrect this thread

As advised above I wanted to (finally!) relocate the wkf under the DVD board so it doesn't look that ugly and in the way of the air input to the gc.





Turns out that the xenogc's condition that forced a wire install actually helped here since there was just enough space for the wkf to be placed there... it still looks ugly but now it's sandwiched under the dvd drive so noone will have to look at it anymore
Currently testing it and it seems just fine, I was a little anxious tbh because I exchanged the fpc cables and put the longer one between the mobo<->wkf and thought it might pick up noise or something, but it turns out that isn't the case luckily

Haven't closed the machine yet, if anyone has an idea of how to make it better please comment