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@GingerOfOz WAH!
Worklog Waker of the Wiind - Ginger's Second Wii Portable
- Thread starter GingerOfOz
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Been a while but I've been putting bits of progress into it fairly consistently.
My PCBs came in! They look mighty fine in the most beautiful color known to mankind.
Got to practice a lot of drag soldering. Using a massive chisel tip is the way to go, these two only took me like 10 minutes and 8 of those minutes were spent trying to get the stupid pins to line up perfectly. Drag soldering meant that I didn't need to order any stencils, which was a good call for these boards.
Aaaand I'm going to need a Rev2 on most of these boards. A backwards 3DS slider port for the control stick means that the Dpad board either has to be manually wired to a slider or I need to order a new board with the correct orientation. Speaking of backwards, I somehow managed to mirror the entire footprint of the MOSFET that controls the 5v line for USB. No clue how I did that, seeing as literally all the diagrams on the datasheet have the exact same layout, so I must've messed with the mirror tool in Eagle or something. Tried pulling a NAND bend and flipping it over, but I got some magic smoke for my troubles. I'm gonna order a smaller PCB with just that circuit and stare a little harder at the datasheet to see if there's something else I'm missing. Once I get it working I plan to release the design and BOM and such so that we can see more of these circuits in other people's builds.
There are a variety of other smaller, minor issues that I'll be tweaking before I order new boards. I'm also waiting on my case, which is mostly printed at this point in time, so that I make sure that my case design is meshing correctly with my PCBs.
Anyways, here's the system as it stands right now. It's a mess of spaghet since I've been leaving plenty of slack so that I can just trim the wires to the perfect lengths when they go in my case.
The GC+ is working! First time I've had every part of it working, so that's pretty exciting. You can also see that I've wired up my WiiHUD amp, but at this point in time it isn't working like it should be. More troubleshooting ahead of me for sure. The next steps with this project is going to be to get my case in hand, as well as get my hands on a custom regulator board, since PowerMii is likely going to be unavailable through the end of the contest. I'll be compensating for no PowerMii full with Aurelio's amp, a custom reg board, and the red charge and play board. It's far from ideal, but it will allow me to keep all the critical features I want.
Speaking of the contest, this is my official entry into it! I'd love to start something fresh, but I'm just not going to have the time or funding to pull it off like I need. Thanks for everyone's help with all the troubleshooting I've been doing recently, your guys' help keeps my soldering iron from entering my skull. I'm super stoked to start seeing everyone else's ideas for their builds!
My PCBs came in! They look mighty fine in the most beautiful color known to mankind.
Got to practice a lot of drag soldering. Using a massive chisel tip is the way to go, these two only took me like 10 minutes and 8 of those minutes were spent trying to get the stupid pins to line up perfectly. Drag soldering meant that I didn't need to order any stencils, which was a good call for these boards.
Aaaand I'm going to need a Rev2 on most of these boards. A backwards 3DS slider port for the control stick means that the Dpad board either has to be manually wired to a slider or I need to order a new board with the correct orientation. Speaking of backwards, I somehow managed to mirror the entire footprint of the MOSFET that controls the 5v line for USB. No clue how I did that, seeing as literally all the diagrams on the datasheet have the exact same layout, so I must've messed with the mirror tool in Eagle or something. Tried pulling a NAND bend and flipping it over, but I got some magic smoke for my troubles. I'm gonna order a smaller PCB with just that circuit and stare a little harder at the datasheet to see if there's something else I'm missing. Once I get it working I plan to release the design and BOM and such so that we can see more of these circuits in other people's builds.
There are a variety of other smaller, minor issues that I'll be tweaking before I order new boards. I'm also waiting on my case, which is mostly printed at this point in time, so that I make sure that my case design is meshing correctly with my PCBs.
Anyways, here's the system as it stands right now. It's a mess of spaghet since I've been leaving plenty of slack so that I can just trim the wires to the perfect lengths when they go in my case.
The GC+ is working! First time I've had every part of it working, so that's pretty exciting. You can also see that I've wired up my WiiHUD amp, but at this point in time it isn't working like it should be. More troubleshooting ahead of me for sure. The next steps with this project is going to be to get my case in hand, as well as get my hands on a custom regulator board, since PowerMii is likely going to be unavailable through the end of the contest. I'll be compensating for no PowerMii full with Aurelio's amp, a custom reg board, and the red charge and play board. It's far from ideal, but it will allow me to keep all the critical features I want.
Speaking of the contest, this is my official entry into it! I'd love to start something fresh, but I'm just not going to have the time or funding to pull it off like I need. Thanks for everyone's help with all the troubleshooting I've been doing recently, your guys' help keeps my soldering iron from entering my skull. I'm super stoked to start seeing everyone else's ideas for their builds!
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Tingle is second only to Wario in worst video game characters ever. End of story.
Also, I got rev 1 of my case in from @Shank a couple weeks ago. Haven't had the time to really put the time into it to diagnose what works and what doesn't, but here's a couple teaser pics:
Anyways, I'll be getting back from vacation next week so I'll start buckling down and putting in the hours to get this guy completed. I'm a bit paranoid since the contest deadline is less than two months away and I don't have my case or custom PCBs finalized yet. And I'll be juggling a full time job and prepping to move 1200 miles away for college. Such is the life of a portablizer...
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Hello everybody and welcome back to everyone's favorite portablizing game show: Friction Fit or Fiction Fit! I'm GingerOfOz and I'll be your host as we dive into a recent case design - The Waker of the Wiind Rev1. A lot of time and effort was put into this little guy, so let's see how it holds up against the original specifications.
Starting with the front half, the case appears to be off to a solid start! The screen fits in nicely, the buttons slide right in with just a bit of help from a dremel, and the custom PCBs perfectly frame the screen and line up with their screwposts! What more could you ask for? It looks like a slight snag was hit with the screwposts, as all of them were slightly too small and the screws would not fit into the hole. Never fear! The brilliant jerry-rigging mind of the engineer behind this design accidentally discovered that you can use a pair of sharp tweezers to slowly shave away the hole until it is the perfect size! Crisis averted!
It would appear that there is one problem with this design that can't be fixed with a dremel though, and that would be the dpad. Unfortunately it would appear that the thickness of the case was too much for the poor little Dpad, and thus it sits virtually flush with the rest of the case. While still usable, it is uncomfortable, so a second revision will be necessary. Overall though, I believe the creator can take great satisfaction in the minimal work it will take to get this bad boy in a usable condition.
Let's move onto the back half! Unfortunately it was a rocky start from the beginning. The Wii motherboard doesn't even fit into place! Expert shine scholars have determined that the source of this issue is the fan that sits on the Wii. The slot that was designed to hold it is far too low, meaning that the Wii can't be mounted in the proper location. In order to continue to see if everything else would fit correctly, the designer was forced to quickly trim another Wii to use to test the fit. The new Wii fit perfectly, but right off the bat some serious tweaks were going to need to be made to the design.
It gets better though! One of the main sources of concern about this project was the trigger system, seeing as the distance between the batteries and the trigger was virtually nonexistent. Fear not! With some slight modifications to the trigger, it fits and functions flawlessly!
Besides the mishap with the Wii motherboard, everything else fits nicely! There's a good spot for a regulator board in between the left batteries and the Wii's fan, and the red charge and play board will fit nicely next to the batteries on the right side of the case.
Anyways, that's all the time we have today. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you next time on Friction Fit or Fiction Fit!
what am i doing with my life
Well that's basically how the case went. I've finished a second version to accommodate all the necessary changes, as well as tweak a couple things to make it so that things fit together better and stuff like that. Not a whole lot changed in the front, but the back is fairly different. I added little bits to hold things like the batteries tighter in place, as well as designed a couple pieces that will sit over the batteries to keep them secured to the bottom of the case. I also created mounting spots for the red charge and play board and a custom reg board I designed.
Here's the reg board in all its glory, alongside the stencil I got for it. It's a PowerMii lite clone, it uses the same chip and everything, but the dimensions are a bit different so that it fits perfectly where I want it. Overall it was pretty easy to design, it was just a matter of following the example circuits in the datasheet. I have dubbed this ciruit the WAH08080WAH in honor of the PTH08080WAH, since this board is less PieceofTrash and more WAH. All I'm waiting for now is my Digi-Key order to arrive so that I can assemble this guy and make sure it works.
I also did a complete redesign of the board on the back of my case. The biggest change is that I dropped the big FFC connector between the two halves due to issues with the design and issues with how much shielded wire I was going to need to use the FFC connector as a jumping point. I also added a push button power button circuit to this board, as well as dropped the reset button due to a lack of space along the edge of the board. The reset button will be moved to just below where the WAH08080WAH sits.
The boards on the front half of the case needed some minor tweaks, but nothing too crazy. I am going to keep the FFC between the dpad board and the GC+ board.
I also practiced polishing the front half of my case. My bondo exploded on me so I wasn't able to make it quite as nice as I would have liked, but it was good practice and I feel ready to do it for the final case. The random gold scribbles are from me messing around with a posca pen, but I do really like the green and gold look of this case so far.
Anyways, I think that's it for now. I've got the remaining PCBs, the new case, and a Digi-Key order coming soon, so in the meantime I'll be working on some little things to prepare for everything to arrive. I'm on track to finish for the contest, barring any sort of catastrophic failure. Good luck to everyone else!
Starting with the front half, the case appears to be off to a solid start! The screen fits in nicely, the buttons slide right in with just a bit of help from a dremel, and the custom PCBs perfectly frame the screen and line up with their screwposts! What more could you ask for? It looks like a slight snag was hit with the screwposts, as all of them were slightly too small and the screws would not fit into the hole. Never fear! The brilliant jerry-rigging mind of the engineer behind this design accidentally discovered that you can use a pair of sharp tweezers to slowly shave away the hole until it is the perfect size! Crisis averted!
It would appear that there is one problem with this design that can't be fixed with a dremel though, and that would be the dpad. Unfortunately it would appear that the thickness of the case was too much for the poor little Dpad, and thus it sits virtually flush with the rest of the case. While still usable, it is uncomfortable, so a second revision will be necessary. Overall though, I believe the creator can take great satisfaction in the minimal work it will take to get this bad boy in a usable condition.
Let's move onto the back half! Unfortunately it was a rocky start from the beginning. The Wii motherboard doesn't even fit into place! Expert shine scholars have determined that the source of this issue is the fan that sits on the Wii. The slot that was designed to hold it is far too low, meaning that the Wii can't be mounted in the proper location. In order to continue to see if everything else would fit correctly, the designer was forced to quickly trim another Wii to use to test the fit. The new Wii fit perfectly, but right off the bat some serious tweaks were going to need to be made to the design.
It gets better though! One of the main sources of concern about this project was the trigger system, seeing as the distance between the batteries and the trigger was virtually nonexistent. Fear not! With some slight modifications to the trigger, it fits and functions flawlessly!
Besides the mishap with the Wii motherboard, everything else fits nicely! There's a good spot for a regulator board in between the left batteries and the Wii's fan, and the red charge and play board will fit nicely next to the batteries on the right side of the case.
Anyways, that's all the time we have today. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you next time on Friction Fit or Fiction Fit!
what am i doing with my life
Well that's basically how the case went. I've finished a second version to accommodate all the necessary changes, as well as tweak a couple things to make it so that things fit together better and stuff like that. Not a whole lot changed in the front, but the back is fairly different. I added little bits to hold things like the batteries tighter in place, as well as designed a couple pieces that will sit over the batteries to keep them secured to the bottom of the case. I also created mounting spots for the red charge and play board and a custom reg board I designed.
Here's the reg board in all its glory, alongside the stencil I got for it. It's a PowerMii lite clone, it uses the same chip and everything, but the dimensions are a bit different so that it fits perfectly where I want it. Overall it was pretty easy to design, it was just a matter of following the example circuits in the datasheet. I have dubbed this ciruit the WAH08080WAH in honor of the PTH08080WAH, since this board is less PieceofTrash and more WAH. All I'm waiting for now is my Digi-Key order to arrive so that I can assemble this guy and make sure it works.
I also did a complete redesign of the board on the back of my case. The biggest change is that I dropped the big FFC connector between the two halves due to issues with the design and issues with how much shielded wire I was going to need to use the FFC connector as a jumping point. I also added a push button power button circuit to this board, as well as dropped the reset button due to a lack of space along the edge of the board. The reset button will be moved to just below where the WAH08080WAH sits.
The boards on the front half of the case needed some minor tweaks, but nothing too crazy. I am going to keep the FFC between the dpad board and the GC+ board.
I also practiced polishing the front half of my case. My bondo exploded on me so I wasn't able to make it quite as nice as I would have liked, but it was good practice and I feel ready to do it for the final case. The random gold scribbles are from me messing around with a posca pen, but I do really like the green and gold look of this case so far.
Anyways, I think that's it for now. I've got the remaining PCBs, the new case, and a Digi-Key order coming soon, so in the meantime I'll be working on some little things to prepare for everything to arrive. I'm on track to finish for the contest, barring any sort of catastrophic failure. Good luck to everyone else!
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4 L-ions? H-how the fUcK?
like i'm struggling with two xD
like i'm struggling with two xD
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This looks so nice man. Can’t wait to see more!
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The contest ends in five minutes, so uhhhh good 'nuff?
Features:
Looks a lot like my workstation right now. It'll look really nice once I'm actually able to get it done.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out on this. I'll do more details and stuff later probably, but I'm kinda burned out and bummed that it didn't finish as nicely as I'd hoped.
Features:
- Uh
- Well Wiimotes work
- It looks pretty cool
Looks a lot like my workstation right now. It'll look really nice once I'm actually able to get it done.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out on this. I'll do more details and stuff later probably, but I'm kinda burned out and bummed that it didn't finish as nicely as I'd hoped.
Seriously, awesome job on freehanding the design, I know how hard that is. The internals are really neat too!
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Thanks guys! And yes, the design was free handed by me with a Posca pen, I looked into a few different options for pulling off that design and posca pens ended up being the most feasible option.
I'd also like to thank some of the people who helped out a ton with this project, because without their help this project would have hit so many roadblocks and be so much worse.
Gman - For helping troubleshoot, offering design suggestions and tweaks, and bring a source of motivation throughout.
Madmorda - For answering all my stupid painting questions and offering all sorts of methods as to how to pull off the design on the back, as well as moulding some sick looking buttons and 3DS slider caps that further sexyified the portable. Portable would have been an ugly beast without her help.
Shank - For working with me to get my case 3D printed and spending many hours with me in voice chat. He was there with me at the end, forcing me to upload what I had done before he would go bake his pizza.
Aurelio - For being a superstar all the time. Worked with me on my PCB layouts, answered so many questions of mine, helped me get his amp working, and so much more. I can't thank you enough.
These are just a handful of people, but as a small token of thanks their names, along with a handful of other awesome people, are written in Hylian on the back of the portable, since it's a culmination of your efforts just as much as mine.
I'll attack this project again in a few weeks, after I make the move to college. Stay tuned.
I'd also like to thank some of the people who helped out a ton with this project, because without their help this project would have hit so many roadblocks and be so much worse.
Gman - For helping troubleshoot, offering design suggestions and tweaks, and bring a source of motivation throughout.
Madmorda - For answering all my stupid painting questions and offering all sorts of methods as to how to pull off the design on the back, as well as moulding some sick looking buttons and 3DS slider caps that further sexyified the portable. Portable would have been an ugly beast without her help.
Shank - For working with me to get my case 3D printed and spending many hours with me in voice chat. He was there with me at the end, forcing me to upload what I had done before he would go bake his pizza.
Aurelio - For being a superstar all the time. Worked with me on my PCB layouts, answered so many questions of mine, helped me get his amp working, and so much more. I can't thank you enough.
These are just a handful of people, but as a small token of thanks their names, along with a handful of other awesome people, are written in Hylian on the back of the portable, since it's a culmination of your efforts just as much as mine.
I'll attack this project again in a few weeks, after I make the move to college. Stay tuned.
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Very beautiful! I liked the color, green with gold ... the zelda design was perfect! congratulations!!!