Worklog The s-WII-ch (my first Wii portable)

Stitches

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In Shank's G boy video, he said that compatibility varies between micro SD cards. How do I know which cards are compatible if shopping on Amazon? (I found one that claims to be compatible with a steam deck. Does that mean anything?)
Genuine Samsung Evo and Sandisk cards work reliably. Fakes and other brands are hit or miss
 
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I'm using the Wii's original case fan for my cooling system. Does anyone know which wire is positive and which is negative? One is black and the other is grey.
 
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Why to so many of the pads on the RVL-PMS lite have 2 holes on one solder pad? Am I supposed to do anything specific here when wiring?
 

CrazyGadget

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It's just so that you can solder multiple wires / thicker wires, they're connected to the same trace.
 
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Is there a guide that tells me where to solder thicker wires vs. something like magnet wire?
 

CrazyGadget

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Generally (for Wii stuff), 22awg is used for high power stuff (Wii, screen, batteries, charging, etc.), 34awg magnet wire is used for powering thr BT and MX chips, and is used for data lines.
 
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So pretty much everything connecting to the RVL-PMS should be with 22awg? I used the magnet wire for some of the connections (like the SDW and the SCW) because it was easier to get on the tiny pads on the back of the Wii. Is that alright or should I replace them?
 

CrazyGadget

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Anything carrying significant power should be 22. Magnet wire (~34) is perfect for SCW / SDW, as well as U10, 1v8 reference, T-, etc.
 
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That's a relief! I can easily replace all those other spots where I used it. As long as I don't have to redo SCW, SCW and u10, I'm okay lol
 
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Better than most, but that laptop placement is giving me hives
Yeah, probably not the safest place to put it … but I mean, that’s the nice thing about Chromebooks. I could drop that thing off a 7 story building and still be able to take it to school the next day. They virtually indestructible (but they do suck at everything else a computer’s supposed to do :/ )
 
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Here’s an update. A few days ago, I wired the PMS-PD to the RVL PMS and just finished most of the wiring from the RVL PMS to the Wii board. There are still a few more things to do before I can test it though. I need to finish wiring up the terminals on my battery pack, then connect the original video out port, and finish wiring ground from the RVL PMS to the Wii. Is there anything you think I‘m missing?
 

CrazyGadget

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Just to double check, did you check the resistances between your voltage lines on the Wii prior to wiring the Wii to to PMS? If not, I would desolder everything and follow this guide. Moving forward from there, a few things:
  • You have too much bare wire exposed for all of those joints. Ideally you only want enough bare wire exposed to cover the pad you're soldering to. Having excess bare wire after that runs the risk of shorting to something close to it; the lines on the PD are a good example of this, but it's best practice all around.
  • Your power wires between the Wii and the PMS seem to be quite long. While that might work for testing, it's best to keep them as short as possible to avoid any voltage drops.
  • You'll need to desolder all of the components that were cut through during the trimming process. These can potentially cause issues.
  • Some of the wiring between the PMS and the PD board are not correct. It looks like you followed the Rev A wiring diagram, but for Rev B PD boards (what you have), some of the wiring is different. Mainly, SC and SD are not connected between the two. Remove the wire going between the 3v3 on the PD and SC on the PD, as well as the wire going between the blank pad on the PD and SD on the PMS. Rewire 3v3 on the PD to 3v3 on the PMS. That blank pad on the PD will not be connected to anything.
  • There are a couple spots where you can replace your 22awg wire with your 34(?)awg magnet wire:
    • BTN, PW, UP and 3v3 between the PD and PMS
    • T- between the Wii and the PMS
    • 1v8 between the Wii and the PMS
  • Make sure to give everything a good scrub with some IPA when you're done!
 
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Thanks so much for the detailed response! I’ll jump on those corrections as soon possible. I don’t know where this project would be right now without you’re guys’ help, I really appreciate it.
 
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Alright, I tried to check the resistances on the trim. However, I forgot which model revision it was (it was black and had the Gamecube controller ports, so at least I know it's a 4 layer board). Here is a picture of the resistances I got (each was done on the 20k setting). Do any of these measurements look familiar or correct?
IMG_20230308_130457.jpg
 

Stitches

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Alright, I tried to check the resistances on the trim. However, I forgot which model revision it was (it was black and had the Gamecube controller ports, so at least I know it's a 4 layer board). Here is a picture of the resistances I got (each was done on the 20k setting). Do any of these measurements look familiar or correct?
View attachment 26476
Re-take any measurements that give you a 0.something figure using the next setting down. So since you took those on 20k, use 2k next time. You want to get whole number readings for accuracy
 
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Ok, so I tracked down the scrap parts of the original motherboard and confirmed it was an RVL CPU 60. I redid the measurements and they are pretty close to the ones posted on Nold's forum. Except for the GND by 1.8. For some reason, it always plummets to zero no matter what setting I have the multimeter on. Has this ever happened to anyone before? Is it ok or is there something I can do to fix it?
IMG_0359.jpg
 

CrazyGadget

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Send pics of your board as it is right now, maybe it's a stray solder ball somewhere.
 
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