GC + WKF + Qoob + IDE-EXI + HDD - Worklog

[MockyLock]

Hello everybody.
I decided to start this project, even if there are some parts missing for now.
Many questions have been discussed here previously:
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1251
As it's said in the subject, the goal of this project is to build some kind of Freaky-GC with Qoob and WKF in the main case ;and the IDE-EXI and HDD in a custom case made from a GBA player.
There will be some mistakes and changes while i'll discover all the difficulties, i wait for your advices and congratulations (i'm hoping for these last ones...)
So let's begin !!

[MockyLock]

First we'll have to prepare the GBA player case.
While i was looking at the stuff, i realized that there will need a lot of room in this GBA case, and i will have to remove almost everything in it.
This is the GBA player once opened (i've taken the 2 coming pics from Hailrazer from Bacteria because i've forgotted to take some pics of mine. If there was any problem for these pics, let me know) :

And once you removed all elctronic parts, you obtain this:


I used some kind of Dremel tool with circular blade, and somthing like "stone file", looking like the tooth surgery tool (as english is not my birth language, tehre will be some problem to explain what i mean ^^).
After about an hour, this is what i got:



I will use an HDD MAXTOR STM380215A, 80Gb. It fits really closely to the room available in the GBA Player case. As you can see here :


We will have to modify the HDD PATA cable.

[MockyLock]

I will modify one end of the cable (actually it will be the other end , this one is for exemple)
You have to check the good end of the PATA cable for this cable going the right way once it is unfolded. It depends on the side you fit the HDD. You should understand later.

First step, remove the big plastic cap:

And remove the second plastic cap:

So i will have this

Removing all these caps will save a lot of space. It allow the HDD to fit in the GBA player case:



As i explained sooner, you can see i fitted my HDD upside down, so the cable unfolded is going upside. If i used the other end of the cable, once unfolded it would have gone downside.
I hope you understand now !

As you could see above, the MOLEX plug can't fit either. I'll have to modify this plug too.
Cutting some plastic:

Now it fits:

And now ready for soldering:

[Ashen]

Looking good so far dude. Looks like you've planned it out well and are noce and organized!

Looking forward to watching this progress.

[MockyLock]

Once soldered and fitted:


The 2 GND pins are jumpered together.

As the PATA cable is far too long, i will have to "trim" it.
First, calculate the useful length, and bend it close to this length:



And after all bending tasks, i will have to set (crimp ?) the IDE plug right where i need.
As described in previous posts, i unset the IDE plug from its caps, and then pull this plug off from the cable.
Now i can prepare the plug for setting/crimping step

I will use a piece of wood and a clamp for this operation:

Once it's done, this is what i obtained:




The next step is to install something able to communicate with the HDD without having to open the GBA Player case.

[MockyLock]

For this purpose (managing the HDD) i will use this kind of device:

I have to say that megalomaniac told me about this solution, ididn't invent it !
At the other end, i will solder a micro-USB socket. I've taken one from a broken MP3 player, here it is ready for testing:

Studing/testing the pinout and wiring, it worked !
I've done a little board:


BUT after hours of new tests, i had many problems, and the HDD was not recognized, so i bought this tiny little board:

Everything went working so. My old µUSB socket should be faulty...

Opening the IDE to USB adapter:

I will remove all the unused sockets (SATA and IDE 44 pins):


(don't look at the color, it was another IDE-to-USB adapter that i used for tests).

It's ready now to wire the IDE-to-USB to the micro-USB port.

[emu_kidid]

very nice. I'll get the Slot 2 IDE-EXI support happening before this is complete hehe

[deckard]

Nice idea to use the GBA player shell to house your hard drive. Probably would have been easier to fit a 2.5" SATA drive with a IDE->SATA adapter, but kudos to you for making it work!

[MockyLock]

Thank you for all your support and congrats. I hope i will succceed in my project !

[MockyLock]

So the next step is to achieve the IDE-to-USB adapter.
once it's done, this is what it looks like:


you can see here some detail for pinout wiring. I used the same color for cables as it is for standard USB:



Now i must modify the port to connect with the standard IDE cable socket.
So let's modify the IDE port...
First remove it:


and find another one but male. I'll use one from an old disc drive.


Once it's desoldered, i obtain this:

(the blue IDE socket is here to hold the other pins correctly)
The next step would be to solder this to my IDE-to-USB, but i must think a little about IDE pinout, and the good way to solder everything.

[Dragoon]

Looks awesome so far