Discussion WiiSearch and Development

[Shank]

Find something interesting about the wii hardware? Run some tests that completely failed and want to warn others? Contribute by discussing here. Post your observations and notes on Wii stuff here. Consider this a public community worklog for wii stuff.

 

[Shank]

New revision discovered! RVL-CPU-10 confirmed! It has a date code of 0645 on the GPU, and a never before seen IC with RVL in the part number next to the MX chip. More pics will be posted later!

 

[ShockSlayer]

So this is an older Wii then, yeah?

 

[Shank]

Initial observations of this 10 vs the 01
It has 4 capacitors, 3 resistors, 1 big IC, 1 5 pin IC, 3 testpads, and about a dozen extra vias.

Chip is receiving 3.3v when wii connect 24 led is on. Chip is not receiving power when LED is red. But it seems the chip is powered by the regular 3.3v line.

Also worth noting is the wifi chip has exposed test pads not under the label, and it seems to have more of them. I checked my stash of Bluetooth modules and this is not a special circumstance. About half of my cards are like this.

So when this board is on and powered by a 12v power supply, and has no disc drive connected, it draws about 1.02 amps. No biggie.
When in wii connect 24, the console draws .65 amps. A lot for an inactive state, but not too much. BUT THE FAN IS OFF! The console is generatingm more heat than a die shrunk board, without any cooling system. This is a huge design flaw on nintendo's part. This must be a launch board, and is probably the cause of the initial problems people had with the wii getting too hot when turned off with WC24 on.
This appears to have nothing to do with our new 48 pinned friend though.

 

[cheese]

So when this board is on and powered by a 12v power supply, and has no disc drive connected, it draws about 1.02 amps. No biggie.
When in wii connect 24, the console draws .65 amps. A lot for an inactive state, but not too much. BUT THE FAN IS OFF! The console is generating as much heat as a die shrunk board, without any cooling system. This is a huge design flaw on nintendo's part. This must be a launch board, and is probably the cause of the initial problems people had with the wii getting too hot when turned off with WC24 on.

I might have one of those boards then... The one Wii I'm not allowed to take apart
Then again, we initially had problems with it overheating during normal gameplay...

 

[Shank]

At least check the revision code in the disc RTC battery tray so you know what it is

 

[Shank]

A Wii running gamecube games uses 5.5w.
A Wii running Wii games uses 6w.
Fuck yea.
Wii is master race.

*tests were performed under the following conditions:
-Rvl-cpu-40 with all stock regulators removed
-3 benchtop power supplies powering the 3.3, 1.15, and 1v lines
-used wire from AC mains extension cables for maximum current
-Composite video output
-WiFi and Bluetooth modules plugged in
-disc drive board connected, no disc drive
-SD card plugged in, source for games
-1 first party gamecube controller plugged in
-No USB or 5v line
-GC game tested was Melee 20XX ISO through nintendont (SD card)
-Wii game tested was Project M ISO through d2x cios wiiflow (SD card)
-captured on first ever bitbuilt stream

 

[Aurelio]

Damn that's awesome

 

[Shank]

State of the Wii:

Cheese has not only discovered you can boot the Wii without the MX chip, but he has also modified code in nintendont to allow it to function on a board without the chip!

Gman is actively testing various experimental cuts, ranging from basic ground trimming to unbelievably small. He is documenting his results, and working on an incredible trimming guide for the Wii, so anyone can cut it down.

Watsug has been toying around with 6 layer boards, seeing what can be done with them.

Bentomo has been testing new regulators that could make the old TIs obsolete. With higher efficiency, high current ratings, dual outputs, and a tiny footprint, these inexpensive regs look promising.

I have been looking into reaching out to try to find software people to help us figure out a way to remove the need for the disc drive, Bluetooth module, and WiFi card. I have also been working on a soft moding guide, and running tests on efficiency and power consumption

 

[watsug]

Could the wii be run on a single lithium cell? The obvious problem is that 1S end voltage is 2.7-3V, below the 3.3V the wii requires. You could use a booster to boost the voltage before regulating it down to 3.3V again, like this one: 3-4.2V to 5V 2A.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Matek-DC-DC...580603?hash=item235696d3fb:g:BosAAOSwjVVVynoP

What are the individual draw on the 3.3, 1.15 and 1 lines? You could run the 3.3V only on the booster and the rest directly from battery, then you could use Adafruits PowerBoost 500 charger/booster combo: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1944

Then you can charge the portable with a standard micro USB charger

 

[Shank]

From what I remember these were the ratings:
1.0v @ 1.54 a
1.15v @ 1.85 a
3.3v @ 0.7 a

I imagine its possible to run it off of one cell, given it can supply enough amps. You would only get an hour or so of battery life. Seems like with all the circuitry and inefficiency of boosting and bucking, it would just be easier to use a second cell.
Charging with a USB charger would be nice, but it would be quite slow. A 2 Amp USB plug only puts out 10 watts. It would take quite a while to charge.

 

[Gman]

When you have the chance, could you do some testing on the 1.7v line and see if anything happens when you relocate it.
-Wii is Love, Wii is Life.

 

[Aurelio]

Using a single cell (or many one in parallel) would require an high amperage and thicker wires. It's totally doable (I did it for the Gamecube using a voltage booster), but I wouldn't recommend it since it requires more space (for the voltage booster and the thicker wires)

 

[cheese]

For Shank, here's what you had me write down:

 

[Shank]

Of the two variations of the bluetooth module, one has test pads that aren't hidden under a sticker. The test pads of this module are the same pitch as standard IDE wire. Very convenient.

 

[Ampz]

Wow! A lot is being discovered at a fast rate. I want to know if there is anything i can do to help?

 

[Aurelio]

I need an information from someone that has a Wii old enough to have bootmii installed as boot2 and not IOS254. I need to know if by installing bootmii as boot2 it boots to it even if the wifi or the Bluetooth module are removed. Thanks

 

[Noah]

I've got a launch day Wii that could possibly have it installed as boot2. I'll check into it for you.

 

[Aurelio]

I've got a launch day Wii that could possibly have it installed as boot2. I'll check into it for you.

Thank you very much

 

[ShockSlayer]

Of the two variations of the bluetooth module, one has test pads that aren't hidden under a sticker. The test pads of this module are the same pitch as standard IDE wire. Very convenient.

That's actually really awesome. Silk screened pinouts and test pads make the world go round.