I don't usually post projects that were abject failures, but this one's special.
The ZOMG trim is best summarized by @Shank here:
I proved out the 1V filter bypass stuff beforehand, and confirmed that it did not impact boot.
Unfortunately, many of the RAM traces broke when I folded the board.
At this point, my only remaining option was to handwire everything.
loopj said he counted 68 wires. I'm just a monkey with a soldering iron and didn't count.
Unfortunately, the trim refused to boot. It draws the correct amount of power but clearly the RAM signal integrity isn't good enough for it to function. I guess not having a GND/power plane beneath the traces really does break GDDR3. The only other reason I can think of is that the 1v daisychain wiring isn't robust enough for 1A, but I'm pretty sure it is.
Oh well! I never really expected it to work anyway. It only took 2 days and was fun soldering practice. @Customledmods is working on something similar with RAM rewiring-- I invited him to post his progress here, so this can be a centralized "ZOMG R&D Thread"!
The ZOMG trim is best summarized by @Shank here:
Score the top of the board. Board bend the RAM over onto the back of the board, leaving the back 2 layers connected. Use very short magnet wire to jumper the top RAM traces, and short thick wire to reconnect severed internal plane. It's something I've been thinking of for years but lack the willpower to execute it. Would be quite thick, probably too thick to be practical, but a hell of a meme. Working Wii with the footprint of (pretty much) just the CPU and GPU.
I proved out the 1V filter bypass stuff beforehand, and confirmed that it did not impact boot.
Unfortunately, many of the RAM traces broke when I folded the board.
At this point, my only remaining option was to handwire everything.
loopj said he counted 68 wires. I'm just a monkey with a soldering iron and didn't count.
Unfortunately, the trim refused to boot. It draws the correct amount of power but clearly the RAM signal integrity isn't good enough for it to function. I guess not having a GND/power plane beneath the traces really does break GDDR3. The only other reason I can think of is that the 1v daisychain wiring isn't robust enough for 1A, but I'm pretty sure it is.
Oh well! I never really expected it to work anyway. It only took 2 days and was fun soldering practice. @Customledmods is working on something similar with RAM rewiring-- I invited him to post his progress here, so this can be a centralized "ZOMG R&D Thread"!
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