Worklog AWiiDA, my first wii portable (wii-themed ashida)

[harutoch]

I've ordered all the parts except for the 4layertech stuff as i have to make sure i got enough money before getting it.
My vision is a wii-themed ashida, and i made a decal to put on the back (attached).
I also made a Pikmin RVLoader theme if you're interested in it.
I've wanted to make a wii portable since i was 10 after seeing shank and ginger so im super excited!!!!
Now we wait....

 

[curiousurick]

How do you plan to print the decal? I wanna do the same with mine but pikachu themed

 

[harutoch]

How do you plan to print the decal? I wanna do the same with mine but pikachu themed

With sticker paper form Amazon, I’ll just print it out then cut to avoid covering the fan

 

[Stitches]

Having them done as laser cut vinyl stickers might be feasible too

 

[harutoch]

I’ve now ordered the rest along with transparent sticker paper to make the decal flush with the ashida.

 

[harutoch]

Everything comes next week, with most of it coming on monday. When the wii arrives saturday, I'll see if i can't softmod it...

 

[harutoch]

Quick update:
first wii is dead after attempting to relocate the u10. it got melted and some pads were torn off. my sauter was WAY too hot, and the tip was too flat.
ill try the hot air reflow method on my second wii and actually use my solder wick lol. I also need to get thinner, lead free solder. Anyone know a good source for that?

 

[CrazyGadget]

Before you buy another Wii, send some pics of the damage on your current one here. Depending on what pads you lifted, there might still be hope! Given you can use the U10 emulation from the PMS, you don't even need to relocate the original U10.

As for your tools / technique, you actually want a pretty hot iron / fat tip. I keep my iron at the 700F mark pretty much always (or a little hotter for heating up big planes), and a fat tip allows for better thermal transfer in a shorter amount of time. You want to be in and out as fast as possible when soldering / desoldering, and having a low temp / dinky tip doesn't allow for good thermal transfer, so what little heat you are transferring gets wicked into the rest of the board. That's usually the culprit when it comes to lifting pads and peeling soldermask (at least what I've seen around here). TLDR: You want a fat tip and a good amount of heat (650-700F) to allow you to spend as little time on a joint as possible.

Any reason you want to switch to lead-free solder? Leaded is a lot nicer to work with and generally yields nicer joints.

 

[harutoch]

Before you buy another Wii, send some pics of the damage on your current one here. Depending on what pads you lifted, there might still be hope! Given you can use the U10 emulation from the PMS, you don't even need to relocate the original U10.

As for your tools / technique, you actually want a pretty hot iron / fat tip. I keep my iron at the 700F mark pretty much always (or a little hotter for heating up big planes), and a fat tip allows for better thermal transfer in a shorter amount of time. You want to be in and out as fast as possible when soldering / desoldering, and having a low temp / dinky tip doesn't allow for good thermal transfer, so what little heat you are transferring gets wicked into the rest of the board. That's usually the culprit when it comes to lifting pads and peeling soldermask (at least what I've seen around here). TLDR: You want a fat tip and a good amount of heat (650-700F) to allow you to spend as little time on a joint as possible.

Any reason you want to switch to lead-free solder? Leaded is a lot nicer to work with and generally yields nicer joints.

I cant send pics right now (i'm in school), but i lifted one of the pads on the u5 (represented with pic). Also, i wanted to switch to lead free because my room is small and i heard breathing in the fumes is really bad.

 

[CrazyGadget]

That pad is not needed! It's left floating (unconnected to anything else on the Wii) once you remove the passives surrounding it, so that Wii should be A okay!

As for the solder, the only way to get lead into your system is through ingestion, ie. touching solder and then eating food or otherwise putting your hands in your mouth before washing them. The fumes from the solder come from the flux core, not the lead. That will be in both leaded and unleaded solder, it's the same thing. You should buy some kind of fume extractor to suck up the fumes. No need to switch to unleaded solder.

 

[harutoch]

That pad is not needed! It's left floating (unconnected to anything else on the Wii) once you remove the passives surrounding it, so that Wii should be A okay!

As for the solder, the only way to get lead into your system is through ingestion, ie. touching solder and then eating food or otherwise putting your hands in your mouth before washing them. The fumes from the solder come from the flux core, not the lead. That will be in both leaded and unleaded solder, it's the same thing. You should buy some kind of fume extractor to suck up the fumes. No need to switch to unleaded solder.

Thank god it's ok! i almost threw it out but i still have it in my room so ill work on it
Also, my case comes in this week.
my usb turned out to be hot shit and died within 30 minutes so ill just get an sd card to usb from microcenter.

 

[harutoch]

Actual pic of the mobo
Do I still need to wire from the u5 to the gpu pin or do I do something else since I’m building an ashida?

 

[CrazyGadget]

Ah, it's untrimmed. I was assuming it was trimmed; if it was (and you were powering it from an RVL-PMS2), you could use the PMS's built-in U10 emulation. As it stands, you'd need to relocate the U10 to the U5 footprint (which you can still do, even with the missing pad), but you'll need to cut the U5 trace outlined in the Definitive Trimming Guide, and then put a jumper across two of the U9 pins as laid out in the U10 Troubleshooting Guide.

 

[harutoch]

Idiot update-
I FORGOT to get the u-amp AND the batteries
the project will be postponed until i order it

 

[harutoch]

If I streamed myself assembling the portable would yall watch it?

 

[harutoch]

Should I use the basic wii trimming guide from the manuals or the definitive one from the forums? Some parts are different afaik and I want to know which one you need for an ashida

 

[CrazyGadget]

Either will work, the definitive trimming guide definitely has a lot more information laid out all in one page. The shared info in both is pretty much the same though, maybe minus the trim lines. The G-Boy cuts off the corners on top and keeps the fourth screw hole. I like that trim, personally, since the Ashida was made with 4 mounting posts for the Wii.

 

[harutoch]

Basic trim done
Now I gotta relocate the u10

 

[Stitches]

Basic trim done
Now I gotta relocate the u10

Make sure to give that board a good brush before you power it on for the first time. Some of the dust from trimming is conductive and could cause transient shorts

 

[harutoch]

what games should I put on this thing? I'm also considering adding the bluetooth module because of the theme and all, how hard is it really?