Question First Portable Console

[Linkus7]

Hey everyone.
For a while ive wanted to make a portable gaming console, and first now i am getting around to it.
I dont have alot of experince in this field, so i thought i would reach out here for advice.
Is there any good video tutorials out there that goes over how to make a portable console, or any good text based ones with pictures? And ive heard that some people think its better to use a Nintendo Wii v1 for making a GC portable and just make the Wii boot through homebrew, is this better?

I appreciate all the help i can get, with both tutorials and what equipment you need. (I do already have a Nintendo Gamecube laying around, and basic tools)

Thanks!

 

[Noah]

Wii is a better choice due to the fact that they are cheaper, require no extra hardware in order to boot games, and use less power. I really like Lyberty's videos on YouTube. Even though they don't go fully in-depth with portablizing, they cover a really good chunk of questions that people new to the scene might have.

 

[Linkus7]

Wii is a better choice due to the fact that they are cheaper, require no extra hardware in order to boot games, and use less power. I really like Lyberty's videos on YouTube. Even though they don't go fully in-depth with portablizing, they cover a really good chunk of questions that people new to the scene might have.

Do you have any ide about n64? Is that the same difficulty or easier?

 

[Noah]

I'd say the N64 is actually a little more difficult. You have to relocate the cartridge slot and there are many things you have to do in order to get a decently trimmed board working again.

 

[Matthew]

The best part of the Wii is that it's cheap, there is tons of support and a guides from the community on it (PortibalizeMe, and the Definitive Wii Trimming Guide),plus you can play NES, N64, GC, and Wii games with it. It has lower power consumption, so you can play it for longer.

If you are looking for guides for any console other than the Wii, you'll be hard press to find them. I just finished up my first n64 portable and I had to piece together tons of info from hundreds of posts to figure it out. I'd be more than happy to assist you in it, but with how far the community has taken the Wii, I would just recommend starting with that.

As a sidenote, I am planning on making a really in-depth guide for the N64, with school and work, It's kinda on the back burner, but feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Luke]

Just thought I'd give you some things to consider, I know it's a lot, my feelings won't be hurt if you don't read it

Do you have any ide about n64? Is that the same difficulty or easier?

Whether an n64 or a wii is easier to portablize is a complicated question, but let me just try to explain some things, and hopefully it'll end up making sense (Note that I have made two fully functional n64ps, and have a wii portable completely wired but not yet put in a case).

With the wii, essentially you have two options:

• Non-trimmed - it'll suck power, and be GIANT. Not recommended.
• Trimmed - it'll be more efficient and tiny. Recommended! Buuuuut...
  • 4 different voltage regulators instead of just 1 for the n64
  • needs a fan
  • USB port must be relocated
  • tiny U10 chip needs to be relocated
  • if you want to keep Bluetooth and Wifi functionality then those chips must be relocated (not required)
  • some solder points are reeeeeally tiny

With the n64, let's say you have three options:

• Non-trimmed - it'll be pretty big. Why even CONSIDER this option when you could at least do the next option...
• Light trim - luckily for us, you can trim a decent amount without having to rewire anything, because a lot of the perimeter of the board is just ground (not so for the wii )
• Heavy trim - As Noah said, this one's a tough one. I don't even know all the individual things you have to do to get a super small trim off the top of my head, so I won't bother trying to list them.

Luke's opinions (juuuuuust opinions):

• For a first time wii portablizer (or any portablizer), the "trimmed" method is the way to go. No one should ever do a non trimmed wii portable ever. A crazy small trim is an available option to advanced portablizers, but let's not even think about that right now.
• For a first time n64 portablizer, the "light trim" is the way to go. It's BARELY any more difficult than not trimming it period, and you can still get it pretty small without having to relocate anything. Check the second video in my sig below...that thing is using what I'm calling a "light trim" and it's pretty small for a portable with a 5" screen... and since this is your first portable, you're probably not trying to break any size records anyway.

Now, with all that background information, in my opinion a "lightly trimmed" n64 portable is easier than a "trimmed" wii portable. It won't require any relocation (although you'll more than likely want to relocate the cart slot regardless of trim level), a lot less voltage regulators, and it'll only be slightly bigger than a "trimmed" wii portable.

I don't care what portable you do, but I don't want you to be scared off of n64 portables, they're not that bad

 

[Linkus7]

Just thought I'd give you some things to consider, I know it's a lot, my feelings won't be hurt if you don't read it


Whether an n64 or a wii is easier to portablize is a complicated question, but let me just try to explain some things, and hopefully it'll end up making sense (Note that I have made two fully functional n64ps, and have a wii portable completely wired but not yet put in a case).

With the wii, essentially you have two options:

• Non-trimmed - it'll suck power, and be GIANT. Not recommended.
• Trimmed - it'll be more efficient and tiny. Recommended! Buuuuut...
  • 4 different voltage regulators instead of just 1 for the n64
  • needs a fan
  • USB port must be relocated
  • tiny U10 chip needs to be relocated
  • if you want to keep Bluetooth and Wifi functionality then those chips must be relocated (not required)
  • some solder points are reeeeeally tiny

With the n64, let's say you have three options:

• Non-trimmed - it'll be pretty big. Why even CONSIDER this option when you could at least do the next option...
• Light trim - luckily for us, you can trim a decent amount without having to rewire anything, because a lot of the perimeter of the board is just ground (not so for the wii )
• Heavy trim - As Noah said, this one's a tough one. I don't even know all the individual things you have to do to get a super small trim off the top of my head, so I won't bother trying to list them.

Luke's opinions (juuuuuust opinions):

• For a first time wii portablizer (or any portablizer), the "trimmed" method is the way to go. No one should ever do a non trimmed wii portable ever. A crazy small trim is an available option to advanced portablizers, but let's not even think about that right now.
• For a first time n64 portablizer, the "light trim" is the way to go. It's BARELY any more difficult than not trimming it period, and you can still get it pretty small without having to relocate anything. Check the second video in my sig below...that thing is using what I'm calling a "light trim" and it's pretty small for a portable with a 5" screen... and since this is your first portable, you're probably not trying to break any size records anyway.

Now, with all that background information, in my opinion a "lightly trimmed" n64 portable is easier than a "trimmed" wii portable. It won't require any relocation (although you'll more than likely want to relocate the cart slot regardless of trim level), a lot less voltage regulators, and it'll only be slightly bigger than a "trimmed" wii portable.

I don't care what portable you do, but I don't want you to be scared off of n64 portables, they're not that bad

From this post atleast, it sounds better imo to go with the N64 and do a light trim. I dont care to much about the size sense this is my first portable and i just want to try and actually finish the project. But if i decide to go with the N64 light trim, is there any tutorials or anything out there or is it 90% in the dark when it comes to making a N64 portable?

From Chaos post, it sounds like you are alot more on your own with the N64 than with the Wii.
That being said, is making a Wii portable trimmed not the biggest deal because of all the guides out there and all you really need is to buy all the parts and you can follow other peoples work pretty much step by step?

 

[Luke]

There is one wii guide that I even know of, and that is BitBuilt's. It is really good, as good as it needs to be.

There are dozens of n64 guides, some good, some not so good. I don't really agree that it's hard to find guides for anything other than wiis... if you're limiting yourself to just this website, then perhaps that's true (but give BB a break, it's still growing). I wouldn't say "you're on your own" or anything. BitBuilt has documentation on the two main things you need to know about for an n64p, which is power in, and a/v out.
http://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-get-3-3v-for-your-n64p.53/
http://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-wire-video-for-your-n64p.7/
If you get this far and are okay with the "light trim", you're just about as far as the wii guide will get you.

BitBuilt is still lacking a decent n64 guide though. I started making one for it a couple months ago, but haven't gotten around to finishing it yet (and really it's not that much different from some other ones out there, but BB needs ownership of one so we don't have to link people like you to other sites). You can take a look if you want, it needs quite a bit of polish and is way too wordy, but everything that you need to know is in there. It's also way more step-by-step-for-noobs then the wii one.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CxBXcaYQSJl_GZR5r92ruSWp6V7zQGHrGxIEenH9ciE/edit

And yes you're right. The wii trim is mildly challenging, but very doable. I'm honestly not trying to sway you one way or the other, by all means if you want to make a wii portable then go for that one. I just wanted to inform you and whoever else that the wii isn't the only option for portablizing

 

[Matthew]

You should do the console that you want to do. If a Wii sounds awesome then do it. If you do a N64 then that's great as well.

What I was meaning is that there are a lot of guides out there like on ModRetro, or BenHeck forums, a lot of them cover only certain aspects of making an N64 portable, at least all the ones I could find and I had to do a lot of digging to find relevant information. One of the best things about BitBuilt is that there is a centralized place for guides that have been thoroughly tested by portablizing pros. Like @Luke was saying, BitBuilt does contain some information that is really helpful for the N64, such as power and a/v information, and even trimming, but there isn't a step-by-step guide that's really noob friendly. Thankfully this community is noob-friendly so you can always ask questions. @Luke's tutorial is a really good one (The only thing I feel is missing is how to trim the controller, but that is technically a different discussion) I wish I had it when I was doing my portable.

tl;dr
All I was meaning to say is that for noobs, there is a ton of thoroughly tested documentation for the Wii here on BitBuilt, and even though there is a lot of guides for the N64, you may have to do a bit more researching for it, at least in my experience.

 

[Luke]

@Luke's tutorial is a really good one (The only thing I feel is missing is how to trim the controller, but that is technically a different discussion) I wish I had it when I was doing my portable.

Thanks, I talked with Noah a bit about what to include, and we soooort of decided not to include things that aren't console specific, but I wouldln't mind having a more detailed controller section in there. Let me know if you want to help polish/finish the guide out, I know you have been talking about wanting to do one.

 

[Matthew]

Thanks, I talked with Noah a bit about what to include, and we soooort of decided not to include things that aren't console specific, but I wouldln't mind having a more detailed controller section in there. Let me know if you want to help polish/finish the guide out, I know you have been talking about wanting to do one.

Heck yeah! I'd love to. PM me with details or anything you want me to research/write up and I'll get on it.