Worklog GB64p

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Hey all, Im going to start documenting my progress in this thread.

Big shoutout to everyone here whos helped me so far in various threads. I appreciate the community of support.

A couple days ago I received my case in the mail. Im going with the infamous gameboy advance carrying case. These things are pretty difficult to find. I picked it up off of ebay.



I cut this guy open and set aside. The inner lining is epoxy'd to the inside of the outer shell, and it was fairly difficult to pry off. I used a pair of needle noses and pulled real hard. Then dremel sanded the excess off.




I started in on board prep after that






and then started in on a board reduction. I didn't bother with sanding yet because im going to go for the full reduction. A single board reduction will not fit into the gameboy advance carry case.




I wanted to test it after I did the first reduction, but I made the mistake of taking off the cart port. Although the LED came on... I need to do a full test before reducing it again, so Im currently in the process of wiring up that cart port.




I snagged these wires from an arduino starter kit, theyre the perfect size and I like how they have long metal tips.

So far I have 2 questions.. The board reduction cuts off the metal sides and the metal near the LED, so where should I put my ground wire after I reduce?

Also, the board reduction cuts off the controller ports.. so where should I hook up my controller after reduction?



Thanks for all the help and Ill keep this up to date with progress
 
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Also, the board reduction cuts off the controller ports.. so where should I hook up my controller after reduction?
Before you trim, find where the wires go from the port.
Maybe find a board scan?

Also, good luck
 
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Just finished up for today. First, I wired up the cart slot to the board



Then I tested it to make sure everything worked after the first reduction... I used wave runner :)



I then reduced the board even further..




And cleaned up with iso alcohol




and made sure it fits into my case

 
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I think I read in a guide somewhere that I need to retrace some 3.3v lines on the back of the board after I reduce it. Does anyone have experience with this?
 
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Woah, were did you get those GBA carrying cases? I can't seem to find them on Ebay, care to share a link?
 
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They're pretty hard to come by.. I bought the only ones I could find on eBay, but I just took a look and found another. I'll pm you the link
 

Madmorda

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There are two left that I see. One is like $50 and the other is part of a larger gba bundle that is much more expensive. I keep an eye on these fairly regularly and there are usually 3-5 on eBay at any given time in the $30-50 range. You just have to try different key words.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/263011657989

Next time try stuff like gameboy advance hard case, blue case, indigo case, purple case, rare case, game boy hard case etc
 

E64

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Did you have to rewire the 3.3v?
 
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No I didn't. Same exact wiring as before. There are no wires under the board in my testing picture
 

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So I may be a little late, but I would like to mention that the PSOne screen is no longer a good choice in terms of screens for a portable. While it was popular before modern screens became inexpensive, the pricing and availability of standalone LCDs has improoved drastically. Modern screens are much less expensive, better looking, and more efficient than the PSOne screen. The PSOne screen is becoming increasingly rare, and using it for portables is not encouraged.
 

Shank

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I bought the 4.3" screen. The 5" has 800x480, but im not sure if its going to fit in this case.

The best example I have of someone using this case is HailRazers gameboy advance 64 portable... and he uses a 4.3" screen

But thanks for the heads up. I'm going to order a 5in screen today and see if it fits when it gets here
 
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Heres a shot of my board

It wouldnt boot up today. There is probably a jump somewhere on the board and I will test it again after getting some compressed air

IMG_20170606_102444.jpg
 
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Madmorda

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@Kevin Price Please be sure and read through the Bitbuilt Rules :)
Instead of double posting, please use the edit button if you have something to add.
https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/rules.41/

As to your problem, my money would be on a wiring issue. If it was working before, but isn't now, something probably got bumped. Make sure there's no stray piece of solder bridging anything or a loose wire. Also try a different game.
 
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I would suspect that something is up on the n64 end, not the screen. You're getting picture to the screen so everything checks out there.

And I feel you on the huge PS1 screen board haha, I'm currently reducing mine to fit in my game gear case.
 
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@Kevin Price Please be sure and read through the Bitbuilt Rules :)
Instead of double posting, please use the edit button if you have something to add.
Sorry about the double post, Ill refrain from that in the future. I took it out and edited my earlier post.

And I feel you on the huge PS1 screen board haha, I'm currently reducing mine to fit in my game gear case.
Have you considered going with a different screen? The PSone screen is outdated in the N64 portable world as there are better screens (cheaper, more reliable, smaller). Im only using the PSone screen to test my boards while I wait on my new lcd to ship.


In regards to my issue, I got some compressed air and blasted the cart slot. A little piece of solder fell out. I also rewired a couple of cold joints on my card slot relocation. That seemed to have done the trick and were back in business.

Felt so good to see waverunner64 boot up after hours of frustration >:D

Thanks to you all for the replies!!
 
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I've been out of the portable n64 scene for about 5 years, just recently I decided to go grab the box of parts that I collected way back and try to finish this sucker. As such I have parts that were once considered recommended like the PS1 screen but are now obsolete. Since I've already taken apart the screen years ago I thought why not use it now.

As far as better screens go, are there any that are capable of accepting rgb and have a native resolution of 640×480? Also 5" or so is my ideal size, small screens make for nice portables but I'd prefer a larger display.

Also glad to hear you found the issue!
 
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