Worklog Wii Portable Worklog ("Clunkii")

[FallenLogic]

So I've just begun building a portable Wii, nothing fancy though. Here are some of the parts/features (I tried to reuse components where I could):

• 1 port charge and play (Red Board + 2s1p 18650 Cells)
  
• 4-layer (RVL-101) Wii board
• 4.3" LCD monitor
• PTH08080 voltage regulators
• GC+ based controls
• Buttons from a Classic Controller + broken remote control
  
• Plastic case

Here is the battery setup connected to a voltmeter - the actual port is from a busted audio amp (I would have included regulators, but I accidentally used 25v capacitors instead of 16v and have to resolder those):

Next, I plan on installing PortablizeMii and relocating the U10 chip. 38 AWG magnet wire should be fine for this, right? If not, I have some 36 AWG "hard-drive" wire.

 

[Stitches]

So I've just begun building a portable Wii, nothing fancy though. Here are some of the parts/features (I tried to reuse components where I could):

• 1 port charge and play (Red Board + 2s1p 18650 Cells)
  
• 4-layer (RVL-101) Wii board
• 4.3" LCD monitor
• PTH08080 voltage regulators
• GC+ based controls
• Buttons from a Classic Controller + broken remote control
  
• Plastic case

Here is the battery setup connected to a voltmeter - the actual port is from a busted audio amp (I would have included regulators, but I accidentally used 25v capacitors instead of 16v and have to resolder those):

Next, I plan on installing PortablizeMii and relocating the U10 chip. 38 AWG magnet wire should be fine for this, right? If not, I have some 36 AWG "hard-drive" wire.

38 AWG magnet wire is fine for data lines like U10 and USB/BT

 

[FallenLogic]

Alright, thanks.

I didn't get around to actually finishing the U10 relocation, but I did install PortablizeMii (this was on a previously softmodded Wii). To test whether it was working (aside from the fact that the menu displayed), I removed everything from the Wii except the motherboard and heatsink and tested the VBA GX emulator + 3.5" LCD:

I've removed the capacitors around U5, but I accidentally "peeled" a bit of the trace up, burned a bit of the area around it, and ran out of desolder braid before I could finish the job - these things have way more solder than I thought.

Hopefully the trace wasn't important, but it's probably hard to tell from this blurry image - it's the one connecting all the caps - I'd imagine I could just wire the broken pieces together if it was important, though.

In the meantime, I'm going to redo the voltage regulators and the Battery Management System (with the current setup, the wires are too long to comfortably fit in my case). Also, the Homebrew Channel is now upside down. I could not find any settings about this. Tested both with LCD and CRT screens in 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Not really a problem, since all software can be booted from PortablizeMii, but still kind of odd (I did not take a picture, and can't until I finish the U10 relocation, but it's there, and someone else had it before).

Yeesh, that's a massive wall of text.

 

[Stitches]

Alright, thanks.

I didn't get around to actually finishing the U10 relocation, but I did install PortablizeMii (this was on a previously softmodded Wii). To test whether it was working (aside from the fact that the menu displayed), I removed everything from the Wii except the motherboard and heatsink and tested the VBA GX emulator + 3.5" LCD:

I've removed the capacitors around U5, but I accidentally "peeled" a bit of the trace up, burned a bit of the area around it, and ran out of desolder braid before I could finish the job - these things have way more solder than I thought.

Hopefully the trace wasn't important, but it's probably hard to tell from this blurry image - it's the one connecting all the caps - I'd imagine I could just wire the broken pieces together if it was important, though.

In the meantime, I'm going to redo the voltage regulators and the Battery Management System (with the current setup, the wires are too long to comfortably fit in my case). Also, the Homebrew Channel is now upside down. I could not find any settings about this. Tested both with LCD and CRT screens in 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios. Not really a problem, since all software can be booted from PortablizeMii, but still kind of odd (I did not take a picture, and can't until I finish the U10 relocation, but it's there, and someone else had it before).

Yeesh, that's a massive wall of text.

HBC being upside down is normal, Team Twiizers made it that way to discourage certain CIOS iirc. You're meant to use the browser in Postloader to launch homebrew.

 

[FallenLogic]

HBC being upside down is normal, Team Twiizers made it that way to discourage certain CIOS iirc. You're meant to use the browser in Postloader to launch homebrew.

Ah, that makes sense.

I have now replaced the capacitors on all of the voltage regulators (I couldn't find a 360 or 370 ohm resistor for 5v, and yes, I know the soldering is questionable on some of these, but I did test them):

The output from 3.3v is 3.21 (I'm guessing this is because the resistance is too high? I will check this later)
Obviously, I haven't checked the 5v because it doesn't have a resistor yet.
Here are the caps I removed (without desolder braid, which is why there's so much solder on some of the contacts above):

And here is the redone battery system, which now fits snugly in my case:

To prevent any further problems like the battery and regulators, I planned out where everything would go in the portable and made a checklist for the absolutely necessary things. The case I'm using is basically a frankencase but it's made from a pencil box. I do need to redo and center some things (like the screen controls, joystick 1, and the minus/select button), but the general idea is there. What little I have of internals wired (batteries, joystick, switch, and parts of GC+) is already beginning to look like grade B electrical spaghetti, and I want to mitigate that as much as possible.

I took this picture before I added the c-stick location. Hopefully I can get some desolder braid tomorrow to finish the U5 removal/U10 relocation.

 

[Stitches]

It looks like your soldering iron might not be running hot enough. Some of those joints look rather cold, what iron are you using?

 

[FallenLogic]

It looks like your soldering iron might not be running hot enough. Some of those joints look rather cold, what iron are you using?

When I started this project, I was using a secondhand ECG iron with a very heavily oxidized tip, which, as you can guess, did lead to some cold solders. I couldn't find a replacement tip, so I started using a $6 iron from Harbor Freight (store brand), which worked much better than I expected. Now, I'm using a Weller iron with adjustable temperature (though I need a 'pencil tip' for some of the smaller joints). I did test the regulators, and there is continuity, but let me check the voltage - I'll edit this reply with the results. I should probably redo the soldering again. After all, these things are like the second most important behind the Wii itself.

EDIT: 1.15v, 1.35v, the 3.3v capacitor just broke off (after reading 10.5v), and I still haven't found the right resistor for 5v. The 1.15v and 1.35v drop to 1v and 1.15v under load, right? I checked the resistors vs. the chart and they're pretty close. Otherwise, no harm in redoing them.

 

[cheese]

I doubt they'd drop that much under load. I'd also redo anything done with the old irons, since you don't want these coming apart since they could break the wii if they're wrong

 

[FallenLogic]

I doubt they'd drop that much under load. I'd also redo anything done with the old irons, since you don't want these coming apart since they could break the wii if they're wrong

That's what I was afraid of. I redid two of them: is 5.05 a more reasonable reading for the 5v regulator? 1.15v is 1.15v, but it should be just a little higher, right?

I've also started the frankencase. The screen bezel is glued to the case (at least for now, I will probably epoxy it later). The actual screen just clicks into it, so I can remove and replace it with ease. I still need to 5v mod the screen because it won't run correctly on anything under 12v.
My local hardware store ran out of desolder braid, so still no progress on the U10 relocation. Here's the case so far (minus the screen controls):

and the screen running on 12 volts:

 

[cheese]

That's what I was afraid of. I redid two of them: is 5.05 a more reasonable reading for the 5v regulator? 1.15v is 1.15v, but it should be just a little higher, right?

5.05v is fine for 5v, they're a little more tolerant. I would leave the 1.15 at that if it's spot on, it's extremely unlikely to drop enough to not turn on

 

[FallenLogic]

Sorry for the radio silence; I had finals this week. I had a long weekend afterwards, so I've been working on the portable.

New changes: Ordered some more desolder braid and blank through-hole PCB (arriving sometime between Jan. 15 and Feb.3)
Have cut the classic controller apart and mounted the L+R Button Brackets, the ABXY brackets, and have started mounting the +,-, and home buttons. Everything is held in place with a copious amount of hot glue.

If anyone disassembling a Classic Controller sees this: If your screwdriver is too wide to fit in the screw wells, it is possible to use a drill and make them wider, then unscrew. I seem to have lost my SD Card Adapter, so I'll edit in the rest of the pictures once I find it.

 

[Stitches]

Sorry for the radio silence; I had finals this week. I had a long weekend afterwards, so I've been working on the portable.

New changes: Ordered some more desolder braid and blank through-hole PCB (arriving sometime between Jan. 15 and Feb.3)
Have cut the classic controller apart and mounted the L+R Button Brackets, the ABXY brackets, and have started mounting the +,-, and home buttons. Everything is held in place with a copious amount of hot glue.

If anyone disassembling a Classic Controller sees this: If your screwdriver is too wide to fit in the screw wells, it is possible to use a drill and make them wider, then unscrew. I seem to have lost my SD Card Adapter, so I'll edit in the rest of the pictures once I find it.
View attachment 10161

A basic precision screwdriver kit from Amazon would be a good investment

 

[FallenLogic]

A basic precision screwdriver kit from Amazon would be a good investment

I actually have one already - the bit just wasn't long enough to reach the screw without the actual handle being able to fit in the hole. In other news, I found my SD Card reader! Since it has been a decent amount of time since the last post, I've tinned most of the GC+ surfaces, added the zener diode, and am in the process of wiring up buttons and adding resistors. Here are the photos:

I'm having a bit of trouble finding the voltage regulators on the screen motherboard:
hh1651 doesn't appear to be one, and GBCAQ + KDCAN haven't turned anything up in searches. The frog thing is obviously the CPU, and I don't see any other components that could be voltage regulators.
Also, this thing is going to need lots of Bondo.

 

[Wesk]

Start probing with your multimeter and figure out where the voltages begin to reduce, that'll help you narrow down where the regs are.

 

[Stitches]

I actually have one already - the bit just wasn't long enough to reach the screw without the actual handle being able to fit in the hole. In other news, I found my SD Card reader! Since it has been a decent amount of time since the last post, I've tinned most of the GC+ surfaces, added the zener diode, and am in the process of wiring up buttons and adding resistors. Here are the photos:
View attachment 10268 View attachment 10269View attachment 10273
I'm having a bit of trouble finding the voltage regulators on the screen motherboard:
hh1651 doesn't appear to be one, and GBCAQ + KDCAN haven't turned anything up in searches. The frog thing is obviously the CPU, and I don't see any other components that could be voltage regulators.
Also, this thing is going to need lots of Bondo.

One of the legs of the big 8 leg chip will be 4.5-5v out. Find which leg and you can remove the chip and supply 5v straight to that pad.

 

[FallenLogic]

I finished populating most of the GC+ board today. All I'm missing now is the BSS138_F085. My soldering is less questionable than it was on the regulators (which I still haven't completely redone). The only problem I had was spilling a bit of solder on two of the 6 through-holes, but that should be easily fixable with some desolder braid.

Looking at the images, I may need to redo R15 and R16 - I seem to have accidentally soldered them together. Other than that, I think I'm off to a pretty good start.

 

[Stitches]

I finished populating most of the GC+ board today. All I'm missing now is the BSS138_F085. My soldering is less questionable than it was on the regulators (which I still haven't completely redone). The only problem I had was spilling a bit of solder on two of the 6 through-holes, but that should be easily fixable with some desolder braid.
View attachment 10275 View attachment 10276
Looking at the images, I may need to redo R15 and R16 - I seem to have accidentally soldered them together. Other than that, I think I'm off to a pretty good start.

That board is designed for SMD resistors.......

 

[Noah]

 

[Wesk]

It is most certainly living up to the name.

 

[StonedEdge]