Worklog GameBoy 64! V2.0

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Hello everyone,

This worklog is about the GameBoy 64 Worklog. Based on the feedback i received, i had to change few things as well as some small problems that were bugging me, here are the changes:

1- I tweaked the design because of the feedback i received.

2- The case finishing is the reason why I'm remaking my whole project, i just didn't feel the satisfaction i'd get from completing the first portable.

3- Cable management, The wires had extra length than necessary.

4- using different wires for video/audio instead of magnet wires and twisting them with a drill instead of my hands. :facepalm:

4- Less hot glue, I had to use a lot of IPA to remove some useless blobs of glue, it was just hell.

5- Change the tact switch since adafruit's sucks, The left D-pad button was straight up not making contact because of how trash they were.

So i tore down the whole thing, and took my time with everything slowly, Because being this was my first successful project, i was kind of doing things fast just so see if this project would ever be done, now that i know that i could do this, here are the results at the moment.(Most of the things done are from the casing side at the moment)

So most of the feedback came at the finishing of the last case, i mean, even i didn't like it:

IMG_8559.jpg


Yea, It's obvious.

So i decided to hit up Fusion 360 for a design tweak, Basically removing the Letters all and all and make everything leveled so that i wouldnt use a lot of supports as my foundation since my 3d printer is crappy.

So after a couple of test prints:

1.jpg


It took about 2-3 days to settle on one, so at last i settled on this:

2.jpg

So i first sanded it then filled the cracks on the left with wood filler since the things that people use in this forums isn't available for me, so i had to do it with what i have:

4.JPG


So that was the first sanding, then i added primer and re-sanded it again:

57.jpg


So here's the end result:

2.jpg


Another one:

IMG_9094.jpg

It already looks 100% better than it was before.

I decided to go with this color instead of the poopy color this time, It's also a tribute to my dropped project, which was a playstation 1 protable(Got burnt before i closed the case), the casing's color was the same.

For the N64. i wanted to wait for the case to finish, since im going to attach things inside the case so that i dont end up using a lot of wires unnecessarily. But here's what i have done at the moment:

3.jpg


If there's anything else i can improve on before i finish the project, I'd appreciate it.

Some more updates soon when i assemble things up.
 

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Thank you all for the kind words.

Wow it looks way better nice work, what’s the paint you used?
I used a black paint spray first, then i added another 2 layers of another paint that goes on top of the black that gives it this glittery and color changing look.
 
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A small update.

I went ahead and disassembled the screen, because the last one was bubbly, and this one looks great. I connected the buttons all together to form a common ground between both sides, and Here's the layout of the internals at the moment:

IMG_9146.JPG


the small breadboard is there to form the parallel battery configuration as well as increase the solder points for the 3.3v and 5v.

I'm also trying to not use hot glue too much, it'll look ugly..

Here's how it looks externally at the moment:

E1B60EF6-DFE7-422E-83D9-2948F6A781A3.JPG


Hopefully the next update will be the closing act.
 
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It’s looking really nice, you should try double sided tape for those PCBs instead of hot glue
 
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It’s looking really nice, you should try double sided tape for those PCBs instead of hot glue
If you look at the first picture, you'll be able to see that white thing? that's a double sided tape, i was actually thinking about it, but i dont trust it's adhesiveness, i dont want my PMS falling after a while haha.

But i probably should look for a good double sided tape nonetheless.
 
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So, after a couple of days of finishing the circuitry as well as finishing the back case, the project comes to an end.

i didn't take pictures of the internals because it's the same as the previous version, but with improved wire management. The highlight is that instead of using 30AWG magnet wire for the Audio/Video lines, i used a 30AWG solid wire shielded by wire twisting method, and the quality improved noticeably.

So here's the finished product:

IMG_9265.jpg


IMG_9266.jpg



Here's a picture while it was charging:

7AB11628-2DD6-4EB3-8469-EE8E79B538D5.JPG




This marks the end of this worklog. It's time to move on to my next project, which is a playstation 2 portable.

I'll take what i learned from this project and hopefully make a better portable next time.
Also i can't wait for the new n64 guides that are coming this year!

Thanks to everyone who helped me out in this project!
 
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Great job! What kind of screen did you use? Im starting to gather my BOM for a portable and looking for decent screens that come with drivers. Also did you use a regular controller and chop it up?
 
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Great job! What kind of screen did you use? Im starting to gather my BOM for a portable and looking for decent screens that come with drivers. Also did you use a regular controller and chop it up?
The things that i used are well described in the V1.0 worklog that i linked at the first of this worklog.

It's just a 5" car monitor that i opened and modded up. The controller is official that i desoldered the memory pak off and chopped up.

If you dont mind waiting, Soon they might announce the N64+, which emulates an n64 controller, same as GC+ but for the n64, made by
Aurelio, I'll definitely use it if i ever planned for another n64 portable.
 
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The things that i used are well described in the V1.0 worklog that i linked at the first of this worklog.

It's just a 5" car monitor that i opened and modded up. The controller is official that i desoldered the memory pak off and chopped up.

If you dont mind waiting, Soon they might announce the N64+, which emulates an n64 controller, same as GC+ but for the n64, made by
Aurelio, I'll definitely use it if i ever planned for another n64 portable.
That's some cool stuff, I'll go through your first worklog thanks.
 
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