Question USB/SD relocation

[TheGuy504]

I’m about to relocate the SD and USB on my semi-trimmed wii (just outer ground plane trimmed.) I was wondering if I need to know anything before I re-wire both of them to different locations? I’ve read the SD and USB relocation section on the trimming guide but not enough info.

Some questions I have:
*do I need shielded wire?
*how long can the wires be?
*will the SD card work just fine with the CD and WP grounded?
*can I just ground WP and leave CD connected?
*is 28awg silicon wire fine for re-wiring the sd card and usb slot?

 

[Stitches]

I’m about to relocate the SD and USB on my semi-trimmed wii (just outer ground plane trimmed.) I was wondering if I need to know anything before I re-wire both of them to different locations? I’ve read the SD and USB relocation section on the trimming guide but not enough info.

Some questions I have:
*do I need shielded wire?
*how long can the wires be?
*will the SD card work just fine with the CD and WP grounded?
*can I just ground WP and leave CD connected?
*is 28awg silicon wire fine for re-wiring the sd card and usb slot?

1: No, but it helps a lot. For data lines with a paired ground like the USB ports, the data line and data ground should be wrapped around each other like a helix if you're not using shielded wire.
2: Depends, but rule of thumb is "as short as possible". If the wires aren't going to touch any powered components you can probably get away with 15-20cm.
3: Yeah you can ground them on the Wii if the relocated slot doesn't support them.
4: For data lines yes, but probably not power. Use 24awg for the power lines if you have it, otherwise double up wires on power and ground.

 

[TheGuy504]

1: No, but it helps a lot. For data lines with a paired ground like the USB ports, the data line and data ground should be wrapped around each other like a helix if you're not using shielded wire.
2: Depends, but rule of thumb is "as short as possible". If the wires aren't going to touch any powered components you can probably get away with 15-20cm.
3: Yeah you can ground them on the Wii if the relocated slot doesn't support them.
4: For data lines yes, but probably not power. Use 24awg for the power lines if you have it, otherwise double up wires on power and ground.

Thanks a ton.

 

[Shank]

1: No, but it helps a lot. For data lines with a paired ground like the USB ports, the data line and data ground should be wrapped around each other like a helix if you're not using shielded wire.

Minor clarification. USB data is a differential signal, also known as a twisted pair. The D- is just an inverted version of what the D+ is, and is not a ground for the data line. Twisting them together means they both get the same interference, which means they both are affected equally, so the differential is unaffected.

Also, don't bother with SD. Its not worth wiring up.

 

[TheGuy504]

Minor clarification. USB data is a differential signal, also known as a twisted pair. The D- is just an inverted version of what the D+ is, and is not a ground for the data line. Twisting them together means they both get the same interference, which means they both are affected equally, so the differential is unaffected.

Also, don't bother with SD. Its not worth wiring up.

Thanks, I’m really thankful to have all this help.

 

[JacksonS]

USB wires can be pretty long, so you likely will not run into a wire length issue with that. SD wires may need to be shorter. I have had some Wii motherboards that wouldn't tolerate more than 7 cm, so shorter is better.

 

[TheGuy504]

USB wires can be pretty long, so you likely will not run into a wire length issue with that. SD wires may need to be shorter. I have had some Wii motherboards that wouldn't tolerate more than 7 cm, so shorter is better.

Anything I can do to make that maximum length longer? I already lazer cut an SD card slot in my case...

 

[JacksonS]

Anything I can do to make that maximum length longer?

I recommend trying to keep your wires parallel so they don't cross over one another. Try to make sure all the data wires are the same length as well.

 

[TheGuy504]

I recommend trying to keep your wires parallel so they don't cross over one another. Try to make sure all the data wires are the same length as well.

Ok. I will try that. This is the gap:

 

[GingerOfOz]

Actually... That might be the perfect spot for an SD card slot, if you're willing to try a bit more challenging wiring. If you look at the Wii trimming guide, you'll see this image with spots to relocate the slot to:

These components are directly underneath where you have your slot, so it be worth the more challenging soldering job to endure that interference won't mess stuff up.

Also, why are you keeping an SD slot? I don't mean this in a "don't do it, it's stupid" sort of way, but everything you want to do with SD might be possible with just USB. I can only think of a couple of somewhat obscure Homebrew things that require an SD card, but if you want an SD card for that stuff then go for it

 

[TheGuy504]

Actually... That might be the perfect spot for an SD card slot, if you're willing to try a bit more challenging wiring. If you look at the Wii trimming guide, you'll see this image with spots to relocate the slot to:
View attachment 4846

These components are directly underneath where you have your slot, so it be worth the more challenging soldering job to endure that interference won't mess stuff up.

Also, why are you keeping an SD slot? I don't mean this in a "don't do it, it's stupid" sort of way, but everything you want to do with SD might be possible with just USB. I can only think of a couple of somewhat obscure Homebrew things that require an SD card, but if you want an SD card for that stuff then go for it

Wow those traces are thin... I don’t have the right tools to do that kind of stuff, so I think I’m going to stick with usb. Thanks for the info though!