My first GCp

[megalomaniac]

is that hotglue or epoxy??

[Duhasst0]

Glue, if everything works I'm throwing epoxy on that bitch. I need some different caps for my amp I think. Unless I just have it built wrong. I may post a shot of it.

[Drakon]

Even if it works out I'd use hot glue with some light heatgun action to make it nice and smooth. Just in case you think it's good and there's a bad connection somewhere.

[Duhasst0]

So I wired that wkf and nothing. No lights on it nothing. Gave it 3.3 and grounded it and nothing. I really need to get a multimeter so I can test this stuff before I give it power. So anyway, I am stuck here until I can but a new wkf I guess.

[Drakon]

So I wired that wkf and nothing. No lights on it nothing. Gave it 3.3 and grounded it and nothing. I really need to get a multimeter so I can test this stuff before I give it power. So anyway, I am stuck here until I can but a new wkf I guess.

Maybe for the next wkf you can try hacking up the ribbon instead?

[Duhasst0]

I would love to. Good news is a fit a multimeter from a friend last night and I'm checking for shorts. But if I get a new wkf then I won't have to hack up an ffc I have a connector I will solder to the gc

[Duhasst0]

So after like 30 min of troubleshooting, and a multimeter from a friend later. Just have to finish this case and wire the controller up completely, and she is done. Oh and the audio amp. I think I have the wrong caps for it.

[Drakon]

Nice, glad you got it working. I did the same thing that you did. Mine worked the first time but I had to rewire it probably around 3 times before it ran problem free. How come you soldered to those little spots (resistor arrays?) instead of the original dvd connector? I still suggest using hot glue that's been smoothed by a low setting heat gun on the wkf pcb, it'll hold those wires just fine and you'll always be able to undo it if there's a bridge you missed. Undoing hot glue just requires some mild heatgun action and a small screwdriver the wipe away the warm glue. I soldered directly to the wiikey fusion just as you did and my smoothed out hot glue has held all the wires just great. I found for those pads on the one side where you solder wires without a gap in between it's easier to scrape off the trace closer to the chip and do a zig-zag / staggered style pad, trace, pad, trace soldering method. This technique ensured less chance of any bridges since the wires aren't soldered directly next to one another. Coincidentally my zig-zag technique also made the soldering much easier to do. I always made sure to hold the wire down with a small screwdriver until the soldered wire + trace / pad had completely cooled to decrease the chance of the trace / pad lifting off of the pcb. Here's how my wkf looks with the "zig-zag style wiring" and gently smoothed out hot glue with a low heat setting heatgun:



Your wiring is pretty sexy you can't get any more compact than that. I recommend against people trying it without the ribbon but if you're really set on doing this to save space or whatever, the zig-zag / staggered wiring made it much easier for the wires that go right next to each other. A compact custom made ribbon to dip adapter is far more ideal.

[Duhasst0]

Thanks for the compliments dude. I decided to use the spots instead of the dvd port because I tried to use it, and it didn't work, I got a dim red led. Not enough power and possibly a short there. So I took the port out of the equation.

I will say this tho, I can't wait to play my cube.

[Duhasst0]

Oh and mega this cube is auto booting every card I have. It's the same wkf that was in my rev c. I want to say it is all on board and wire placement.

[Drakon]

Thanks for the compliments dude. I decided to use the spots instead of the dvd port because I tried to use it, and it didn't work, I got a dim red led. Not enough power and possibly a short there. So I took the port out of the equation.

I will say this tho, I can't wait to play my cube.

It shows quality when a modder doesn't get down when something doesn't work or breaks. Other people in your situation would have given up instead of trying to fix it.

I really find it strange you weren't able to get it going from the dvd connector haha. All the shorts / bad connections I had were on the wiikey fusion the dvd connector was the easy part.

[Duhasst0]

Just wanted to post these pics. I have my case done except for the clear coat. I have a shot of what the front will look like with everything in it. Still need to do the audio amp but that will come with time, and the ability to order the right caps. Well to the picks.

The screen fits in there so tight I probably won't need to actually mount it.


Just check out that paint job.

Thanks for the compliments dude. I decided to use the spots instead of the dvd port because I tried to use it, and it didn't work, I got a dim red led. Not enough power and possibly a short there. So I took the port out of the equation.

I will say this tho, I can't wait to play my cube.

It shows quality when a modder doesn't get down when something doesn't work or breaks. Other people in your situation would have given up instead of trying to fix it.

I really find it strange you weren't able to get it going from the dvd connector haha. All the shorts / bad connections I had were on the wiikey fusion the dvd connector was the easy part.

There have been many projects I start and never finished. It is a trend I wish not to continue. Plus if there is one thing I learn from modding is that if you mess up keep trying but if you keep trying with no results try it a different way.

[Drakon]

Yeah when I hit a snag I start doing research to see if I can find out just exactly what went wrong and how to fix it. Sometimes a project of mine will get shelved for months before I gain the skills and tools to fix it or continue it. Modders should always realistically expect a project to not go smoothly and to hit major snags unless it's something you've done before with great success.

That looks very nice after you applied the paint.

[emu_kidid]

can't believe it all came from a CD/DVD drive enclosure!

[Ashen]

That case looks very nice man!

[Duhasst0]

That case looks very nice man!

Thanks a ton dude, I tell you what tho, having to paint all this outside sucks in the worst way possible. I wish I had a shed or a garage to paint spray in cause the finish would be so much smoother. I have little bits of dust that found its way onto the case while the wind blows. Damnit all to hell. Although, the finish is looking better and better.

can't believe it all came from a CD/DVD drive enclosure!

Every day that goes by, when I work on this, I keep looking at it and pretty much say the same thing. I am really glad I decided to make this gcp. I wasn't going to at first but when I saw my friend was just going to take that drive with us to the scrap yard I picked it up like a DMG and was like, this feels like a good case for a portable.

I have decided that flat black is not going to be the color on this gcp tho. And damn you @megalomaniac cause you showed me something awesome and let me know how the paint job really looked. So yeah can't wait to play.

[Duhasst0]

So I have an idea on how to wire this controller. Bad thing is that I'm out of clear coat. The paint job just kept getting that orange peel like surface. Kept sanding and sanding. This shall be done very soon. I just really need to find time to paint during day time hours.

[Duhasst0]

Quick update, I shall have everything but the audio done by tonight. Not happy with how I have the triggers but they will work for now. Had to do some running around but when I get home I will finish up this portable to about 95% done. I will be working on my audio amp the next few days, I have one soldered together just need to find a way to test it out without wiring to my gc for now. I have some linear regs that do 5v and a 9v battery holder so this should do to help aid me in my quest.

Oh and I guess I should put a low battery indicator in there too, soon, soon.

Edit: Fucking figures, got cut some more of this dd hosting from the old cd burner to accommodate for the c stick needing to be a little lower that the main stick. Oh well deep breath, we got this.

Excited? Fuck yeah!!

Sneak preview gc-forever. How you like it.

[Ashen]

Super sexy man! Good luck finishing it up!

[Duhasst0]

Thanks ashen. But it looks like I need more luck lol but I guess not to bad for a first portable.











Well here it is together. Although a couple of issues so far, as soon as I get into the load screen for Swiss where I can change my settings it freezes. Started playing some zelda and before the intro was done my screen started blinking out. My trigger buttons are sticking. So far that is what she looks like. So I guess I have to figure out why the screen does that, that why swiss is being weird.

[emu_kidid]

Does swiss freeze as you enter the settings screen or as you exit it? It might be trying to look for a SD card in a SDGecko if you have a slot wired up as SDGecko.

[Duhasst0]

Does swiss freeze as you enter the settings screen or as you exit it? It might be trying to look for a SD card in a SDGecko if you have a slot wired up as SDGecko.

It might be looking for my sd gecko. The wkf is from my home cube so it's probably looking for it. As for the video issue I think it's a heat sink problem. So I might have to find a way to mod a stock heat sink and throw a fan on it then it will work right. At least I'm sure that's what happened before on a cube I had. I forgot to put the heat sink on and just powered it up.

[Duhasst0]

I am pretty sure I just don't have my batteries charged all the way. I found an adapter with enough amps to see what happens. I also tested with the batteries to see what was going on. Screen flicker also immediately, on wall power no flicker at all. So I have the gc on the charger.

Although I thought I had figured the freezing issue out, I don't. Basically it freezes when I get into the menu. Can't press any button. If I remember correctly I had accidently gone into the cheat menu once, it bitched about the not being a database file, I backed out. I also reflashed swiss to see if it was just trying to find a file on a memory in slot a that doesn't have the same card in it anymore. I word I didn't memory card so that mine 1019 wasn't in justa portable.

[Duhasst0]

Ok so found out my swiss issue was wkf wiring. So I just fixed it. Downside, [s]auto boot was a symptom of bad wiring[/s]<-- (incorrect info) my 16 gig card doesn't auto boot any more. My gcp no longer autoboots with the one card but I haven't tried the one I know does yet. Actually while I have this apart I'm going to epoxy the sd slot in for my wkf so it doesn't come off any more and is in the right spot. Yay now I just need to get another charger and very my audio working then gcp = finished.

Edit: Now I'm pretty sure that what ever my problem was, it was also that my L trigger is shorting against the metal case. It can be easily remedied by drilling holes in the casing.

I also found something cheap, at meijer here in the states, for my audio amp. Tried it with a li ion 3.7 v battery and it amped my phone well. Googled the only ic in it to find it takes 5 volts, that's a plus. Also had a digital pot built in. This also looks trimmable. And only single sided.

[Duhasst0]

Thanks for the info dude, although, these speakers work great. It sounds great with my gc as well so I'm super excited that I will be finished soon. I really didn't need to but I trimmed up the board for it and everything still works great. So I now need to drill some holes for speaker vents, may repaint that area to get in the holes but I may leave them as is. Then I need to extend the buttons for the amp. Then it's finished.