Question Planning N64HHv2 build - advice required

[TentendoDE]

Hi all,
first of all thanks to @CrazyGadget that directed me to this forum and the discord!

I am planning to build an N64HHv2 and have dug myself through various threads and worklogs with different build variations. I started to create a first BOM to get myself sorted but I still have a lot of questions.

1. Is there any complete wiring guide for the main components of this build?
2. The advanced trimming guide suggests using NTSC board. Is it possible to do the same with a PAL board or is NTSC a must?
3. Depending on the used board, will the console be region locked to NTSC / PAL or is there an easy way to get around that? I've seen posts about UltraPIF board which claims to be region unlocked but no detail how stable / easy it is.
4. I found RCP-Breakout boards with FFC connectors to make the connection to the Cartridge slot more pretty and clean. But I also found several notes that this requires an aftermarket cartridge slot which would not be compatible with the N64HHv2 build. Does anybody have thoughts or details on that?
5. The available AkiraFlex PCBs are used to make a low profile relocation of JumperPacks as far as I understood. I guess they will not be compatible with an Expansion pack?

Sorry that's a lot of questions for the beginning and I haven't even started. I will post my work-in-progress-BOM with probably a couple of more questions soon.

One more general question, as custom PCBs usually come in quantities of 5 or more, is anybody planning to do a similar build anytime soon, so we could share some costs? Or alternatively does anybody has spare PCBs to sell? Especially the gold plated controller PCBS as they are the most expensive ones.

 

[CrazyGadget]

Welcome to the family! To answer your questions to the best of my ability, in order:

1. There is no complete wiring guide. That being said, there are a couple build logs / showcases that should help you get an idea of how everything goes together (like mine here). You will also need to thoroughly study the N64 Advanced Trimming Guide and Compendium to know what needs to go where inside the portable.
2. Check out Nold's guide for region-switching an NTSC N64 to PAL.
3. See above.
4. @Teatimetim made an awesome RCP-Cartridge flex, specifically for the N64HHv2! The flex uses an original N64 cartridge slot, which is required for the build. For my two builds, I made a simple RCP-breakout flex and manually wired the cartridge from there. For any future builds though, I would totally go with Tim's flex though, that thing is kickass!
5. You can swap the 2x2mb RAM chips on the N64 for 2x4mb RAM chips from 2 expansion paks (known as RAM-swapping, very common for N64p builds). The AkiraFlex will work perfectly fine for this scenario, BUT DO NOT USE THE AKIRAFLEX IN THIS BUILD. The N644's internal mounts make use of the expansion slot holes on the N64 mobo; removing the slot and installing AkiraFlex will give you two less points of mounting the board inside your portable (I ended up having to put a few small dabs of epoxy on the edges of my board to hold it in the shell). This image shows what it looks like if you remove the slot. This image shows what it looks like if you keep it in tact.

I have a TON of parts for this build, I know you're in Germany and I'm in the US, but if you're interested, I can absolutely hook you up with some controller PCBs / flexes / other stuff!

 

[TentendoDE]

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome and your helpful answers!
I started to make a first draft of a BOM and would very much appreciate a sanity check on the items. I collected the parts from all the different worklogs and threads, but maybe some things are redundant or not useful, or I just forgot something important. Also if somebody has some ideas / thoughts on the blue marked questions that would be very helpful!

So the custom PCBs I found useful are the following:

N64 PMS - by @atkfromabove (Link)
PIF Breakout board - maybe UltraPIF as an alternative?
RCP Breakout flex - for original cartridge slot (thanks @CrazyGadget for that tip, definitely will use it)
N64Amp by @Gman
N64Controller by @Gman
N64 Stick Converter PCB v3 - needed? Or nice to have?
Controller Input PCBs - AB, DPAD, CPAD (enig gold)
(AkiraFlex) - understood this is not recommended / needed
OSD + VOL Controller - probably optional if I would use volume up / down buttons instead?


Furthermore I have the following items on my (shopping) list:
N64 donor console (NTSC-CPU-03)
N64 donor controller
Jumper Pack
Expansion pack for RAM swap
5" LCD 4:3, 640x480 - would this here be a valid option?
Joystick breakout pads
Batteries - 2x Samsung INR18650-35E 3,6V
USB-Charger board
Speaker - any suggestions?
FFC connector board 20p + cable
Heat sinks - 2x2 cm
Shell - SLS printed front / back / bumpers + black resin for buttons and brackets


@CrazyGadget: about your parts offer, I will definitely come back to you once I have the complete list of what I need. Happy to compensate you for your efforts of course!

 

[Teatimetim]

I definitely recommend @CrazyGadget 's worklog to help with assembly! @PiR8_BTY also has a really good one so between those two work logs you should have all th info needed for assembly.

Just a quick note about the PMS: the modified N64 PMS works great but requires a lot of assembly including a stencil to make it right. If you want to do it for fun or for the practice then definitely go for it! If you're wanting an easy solution, the PMS lite board from 4layertech also works great but requires some initial software configuration.

I also have a ton of these boards laying around if Crazy doesn't have it (although he probably has everything I have and more)

 

[TentendoDE]

Thank you two gentlemen for the very helpful answers! I am slowly putting together all the things I need, and also ordered two NTSC mainboards from Japan (NUS-CPU-03 according to pictures) to get started.

@CrazyGadget @Teatimetim I'd like to come back to your offer regarding boards and parts, so if you happen to have any of the below listed PCBs (or other parts by chance) in stock I'd be happy to buy them from you.

Part	Quantity needed	Price per unit	Price total	Description
N64 (NUS_CPU-03)	1​	100.00 €	100.00 €	donor N64 for mainboard
N64 Jumper pack	1​	10.00 €	10.00 €
N64 Expansion pack	1​	60.00 €	60.00 €	Expansion instead of Jumper pack for more RAM
N64 controller	1​	20.00 €	20.00 €	donor controller for buttons and PCBs
Akira flex PCBs	1​	2.80 €	2.80 €	flex PCBs for jumper reposition
RCP Breakout Flex	1​	4.70 €	4.70 €	Cartridge slot repositioning
N64Controller PCB	1​	14.09 €	14.09 €	Converter PCB for Controller inputs
N64 PMS	1​	13.08 €	13.08 €	Power Management custom
PIF Breakout	1​	0.80 €	0.80 €	PIF relocation board
Ultra PIF	1​	100.00 €	100.00 €	Region unlock
N64Amp	1​	11.78 €	11.78 €	N64 Audio Amp board
StickConverter	1​	0.80 €	0.80 €	Converter PCB for Joystick
DPAD	1​	4.00 €	4.00 €	ControllerInputPCBs ENIG plated
AB	1​	4.00 €	4.00 €	ControllerInputPCBs ENIG plated
CPAD	1​	4.00 €	4.00 €	ControllerInputPCBs ENIG plated
OSD+VOL Controller	1​	2.30 €	2.30 €	ControllerInputPCBs ENIG plated
RVL-PMS-Lite	1​	75.00 €	75.00 €	Power Management Board
Joystick breakout pads	1​	3.00 €	3.00 €	4Layer Tech
LCD	1​	50.00 €	50.00 €	5 inch 640x480 LCD
Batteries	2​	10.00 €	20.00 €	Lithium-Ion batteries
Battery holder	2​	4.00 €	8.00 €
USB-C charger board	1​	1.00 €	1.00 €	Charger board with USB-C port
Speaker	2​			???
Save pack	1​			???
FFC board	2​	0.80 €	1.60 €	FFC 20p connector boards
FFC cable	1​	0.30 €	0.30 €	FFC 20p 10cm cable forward direction
Shell	1​	40.00 €	40.00 €	3D print of shell and buttons SLS / Black resin
Magnet Wire 100m	5​	0.08 €	0.40 €	~5m magnet wire
Heat sinks	3​	5.00 €	15.00 €	aluminium heat sinks
Stecils for custom PCBs	3​	- €	21.00 €