Discussion Ideas, questions, etc, Post em here!

[LucidJupiter]

Check the wiring to the sticks, if there is an issue the sticks can jump around causing some software to appear frozen or broken

Thanks for the reply! Originally I tried to use the FFC cable, but I fucked up the mounts. I left the mounts on and just used individual wires. After your reply, I tried removing the connectors to see if they were causing some issue. These photos look pretty messy still, but I just cleaned the spots with copper solder wick and then a qtip with IPA (there's a few little cotton fibers left on there). Same issue, no controls working.

I've checked each connecting wire for continuity, as well as the blobs connecting to the GC+2.0. I also went in-between each wire to make sure they weren't shorting together anywhere. Everything appears normal there.

When I was in priiloader and the controls were working, I noticed only the D-pad worked for navigation-- at the time, I assumed the left stick just wasn't usable on that menu. Is that indicative of an issue?

 

[Rararagi]

Thanks for the reply! Originally I tried to use the FFC cable, but I fucked up the mounts. I left the mounts on and just used individual wires. After your reply, I tried removing the connectors to see if they were causing some issue. These photos look pretty messy still, but I just cleaned the spots with copper solder wick and then a qtip with IPA (there's a few little cotton fibers left on there). Same issue, no controls working.

I've checked each connecting wire for continuity, as well as the blobs connecting to the GC+2.0. I also went in-between each wire to make sure they weren't shorting together anywhere. Everything appears normal there.

When I was in priiloader and the controls were working, I noticed only the D-pad worked for navigation-- at the time, I assumed the left stick just wasn't usable on that menu. Is that indicative of an issue?

Looks like some broken traces on photo 2. Try redo these lines.

 

[Stitches]

Yeah the ripped traces might mean the through holes are no longer connected to the GC+, I can't remember if there's any redundant routing in the other side. You'll probably need to repair those traces by soldering a short wire from the GC+ pad to the respective through hole. Also IIRC priiloader doesn't support analog sticks, so face buttons only is indeed normal

 

[Makinetion]

Hi, I'm currently working on an Ashida build, and I accidentally bridged some pins on this chip. Unfortunately, I can't get all of it with solder wick. So I feel like I'm going to be forced to buy a new motherboard. Is there any way to salvage this?

 

[Customledmods]

Hi, I'm currently working on an Ashida build, and I accidentally bridged some pins on this chip. Unfortunately, I can't get all of it with solder wick. So I feel like I'm going to be forced to buy a new motherboard. Is there any way to salvage this?

Use a lot of flux add flux to the wick and gently put soldering iron on top of pins dragging down and away to the left to prevent ensure you don’t bridge more pins, I use a chisel tip and it’s worked fine.

one more thing I usually use a small piece of kapton tape on the pins I’m not soldering to prevent bridges.

 

[Makinetion]

Thanks for the tip! I still wasn't able to get everything, but then I had the idea to use the solder sucker, and that did the trick.

 

[Boston]

Im building a WII portable, designed to be more of a GameCube. This is my first. I have no experience or brains for what Im doing. Im building the same "Fake portable GameCube" that Gingerofoz has made. I have done lots of research, but still need lots of help. If you have any info for me, want to help, or just want to tag along with me and watch my progress, I will post updates on this thread by replying to this post.

 

[Boston]

Im building a WII portable, designed to be more of a GameCube. This is my first. I have no experience or brains for what Im doing. Im building the same "Fake portable GameCube" that Gingerofoz has made. I have done lots of research, but still need lots of help. If you have any info for me, want to help, or just want to tag along with me and watch my progress, I will post updates on this thread by replying to this post.

My first snag is the controller. This is the most puzzling thus far. I have done lots of research and have not found much. I know I must design my own custom circuit boards myself, but I don't know how. I also know that I need a micro controller for it, which I will be using the "GC+ 2" from 4layertech. The thing I need help with understanding and how to do, is designing the circuit boards. In a community forum and website where many people have built their own portables and have more experience with this sort of thing, this is the best place to start after not finding anything during research.

 

[Uponopon]

Hey, I'm looking into building a Wii portable. I've got a 3d printer and soldering equipment since I'm an engineering student, but I don't know what parts to buy. I really want to make a WiiBoy/G-Boy but I saw it isn't being made anymore. Is there a way I can still make it and what parts would I need to buy to make it? Alternatively, I saw the Ashida, but I think the WiiBoy looks better. Are there any glaring differences between the Ashida and WiiBoy that make the Ashida better? Thanks for any help.

 

[ccRicers]

Never built a Wii portable myself but I'm curious about them. Is the OMGWTF trim for the Wii board considered to be the "vanilla" trim for making a portable Wii? I wanted to find out more info on guides for specific trims and this guide is the first one to appear when Googling for it.

The Ashiida build log also appears to suggest that it is, though I was still confused because "OMGWTF" can sound a bit daunting with that name

 

[Stitches]

Never built a Wii portable myself but I'm curious about them. Is the OMGWTF trim for the Wii board considered to be the "vanilla" trim for making a portable Wii? I wanted to find out more info on guides for specific trims and this guide is the first one to appear when Googling for it.

The Ashiida build log also appears to suggest that it is, though I was still confused because "OMGWTF" can sound a bit daunting with that name

Yer. Despite the memey name, it is indeed the most basic officially supported (and the only recommended) trim

 

[dantes720]

I recently tried to power my previously working Ashida on to find that it wouldn’t turn on or charge (the LED did not light, anyway). It had been left in its case for at least 6 months (new baby), so it’s possible the batteries over-discharged.

What confuses me is when I plug it into a computer the USB does not show up, which makes me wonder if there is an issue with the PMS (PMS-2). I opened it up and plugged it in and the batteries are getting 5V charge and the USB is still good when I plug it directly into a computer, but the batteries won’t charge past 2.9V. When I checked this morning, the battery voltage had dropped to 2.5V.

What should my steps be? I’m not sure if I have a short (due to the large ish drop overnight), if the batteries are bad (since they won’t charge), if the PMS is bad (since the computer can’t see the USB when plugged in), or if I should be looking elsewhere.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

 

[Stitches]

I recently tried to power my previously working Ashida on to find that it wouldn’t turn on or charge (the LED did not light, anyway). It had been left in its case for at least 6 months (new baby), so it’s possible the batteries over-discharged.

What confuses me is when I plug it into a computer the USB does not show up, which makes me wonder if there is an issue with the PMS (PMS-2). I opened it up and plugged it in and the batteries are getting 5V charge and the USB is still good when I plug it directly into a computer, but the batteries won’t charge past 2.9V. When I checked this morning, the battery voltage had dropped to 2.5V.

What should my steps be? I’m not sure if I have a short (due to the large ish drop overnight), if the batteries are bad (since they won’t charge), if the PMS is bad (since the computer can’t see the USB when plugged in), or if I should be looking elsewhere.

Can someone point me in the right direction?

Well the cells 100% need replacing. 2.9v is death, 2.5v is mega death. They're a severe fire hazard now so cease charging them and remove them from the unit immediately. Once they're disconnected, they're safe, and can be disposed of at any lithium battery recycling drop bin.

As for why USB storage doesn't show up when the cable is plugged into a PC, I vaguely remember 3.3v logic being required for that function to work. There's no 3.3v regulator on the PD module itself, so the PMS must supply 3.3v to the PD module, which I don't know if it will do with no working cells connected. Getting new cells will answer this question.

 

[dantes720]

@Stitches - As always, thanks so much for your help. After typing it out it felt like the batteries were probably ant least an issue so I (thankfully) stopped trying to charge them and ordered new ones. Hopefully that at least solves this problem, but I’ll probably be back since I never did get sound working the first time around…

 

[NoahTurboYT]

You totally could. If you disassembled a New 2DS and recreated the case and internal mounting in CAD as a single slab design like the original 2DS, it wouldn't be a particularly difficult project. It would be a bit time consuming to take all the measurements and iterate the design until everything fits, but it's 100% doable if you have access to a half decent 3D printer

@Stitches
Hey there! I should have told you this a lot earlier personally, but I wanted to thank you for the information you have provided me and I will try to keep this in mind when creating what I dubbed the "new Nintendo 2DS XL lite" once I get the material, tools and 3D printer needed to make it a reality!

 

[Freyjasaur]

Hello, I'm interested in making a portable wii (I have some modding/CAD experience, but mostly following guides and simple part replacement stuff); I was wondering if it'd be feasible to combine a Wii and GBA into one portable console?

My thought was literally just trimmimg a wii as much as possible and using the new space to fit a GBA inside, with the cartridge slot coming out the side somewhere, and the two systems sharing the same screen/controller/power

It would of course be way way easier to just use an emulator but I love retro physical games so I want to challenge myself in creating something that can read physical GB/GBC/GBA carts and GameCube/Wii discs.

I have some soldering experience but am a newbie when it comes to circuitry so I figured I'd ask if it was even possible before starting to CAD a case

 

[supertazon]

Hello, I'm interested in making a portable wii (I have some modding/CAD experience, but mostly following guides and simple part replacement stuff); I was wondering if it'd be feasible to combine a Wii and GBA into one portable console?

My thought was literally just trimmimg a wii as much as possible and using the new space to fit a GBA inside, with the cartridge slot coming out the side somewhere, and the two systems sharing the same screen/controller/power

It would of course be way way easier to just use an emulator but I love retro physical games so I want to challenge myself in creating something that can read physical GB/GBC/GBA carts and GameCube/Wii discs.

I have some soldering experience but am a newbie when it comes to circuitry so I figured I'd ask if it was even possible before starting to CAD a case

It is definitely possible! You would need a switch of some sort to toggle between both systems.
There are GBA mods that enable HDMI-output so you could probably use that with a driver board that accepts HDMI.
For the Wii, you could either use a Fujiflex to get HDMI out so that everything would be displayed by the HDMI port of the driver board, or use the VGA patches to have the Wii use VGA and the GBA HDMI.
Another point are voltages, the GBA needs 2.5V, 3.3V and 5V iirc, the PMSv2 does not provide 2.5V so you would need to add a little regulator to provide that.

With some careful reading and planning it's definitely something that could be pulled off! I always thought the Ashida would be the perfect candidate, albeit the GC d-pad is not the best for GBA games.

 

[KamiFolding]

I'm having an issue with my portable Super Famicom build. I can't seem to get any sound out of it even though my wiring should be correct aswell as me testing on multiple consoles. Anyone here got an idea of what could be the problem?

 

[Shadowniy]

Question has a custom Wii broad ever been thought of being made or is the trim and solder method just the end all be all

 

[Hili]

Question has a custom Wii broad ever been thought of being made or is the trim and solder method just the end all be all

@YveltalGriffin tried to do his own custom pcb but I think it's much easier to trim the board.
Here is the worklog: https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/nintendo-vegas.5052/