Worklog G-Wii: My First Electronics Project

[ToddyHD]

I made a thread a little while ago in the noob section asking for some help and got so much great advice from everyone. Thus, I have finally have mustered up the courage to try and make my first Wii portable. Although I would have loved to have frankencased my own design, I decided to simply use the G-Wii designed by Gman to learn a little more about the internals, the Wii itself and the electronics for my first project. The case design will be based on the CAD files supplied by Gman himself for his G-Wii portable and a lot of the parts are quite similar with a couple of tiny differences. Keep in mind that I am still yet to pick up a soldering iron to solder any wires at all, which makes me feel like I am being too ambitious trying to build a Wii portable for my first ever electronics project instead of something like a simple LED circuit but hey, might as well give it a go, right?

The Wii will contain no WiFi, but as I really want to have the functionality to play Wii and VC games, I am going to attempt to wire the Bluetooth and MX chips respectively. Realistically, I would like to have this done in 4 months time before I move to Tokyo to have something to play on my commutes, but I feel like I may be trying to push my luck.

Anyway, here is a quick overview on the internals I plan on using:

4 x 18650 Panasonic Lithium Ion Batteries
I plan on using a 2s2p configuration in conjunction with the red CMB below. Should provide about 4 hours battery life according to Gman. Can I use 22 gauge wire for creating my battery pack?

Red Charging Module Board
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/soberton-inc/SP
I plan on using this CMB here as it is the most simple and handles voltage regulation for charging/discharging, as well as allowing for single port charge and play. I am assuming that for charging, I can use a regular 2-3 amp 12V power brick to charge rather than using a smart charger, since the board already regulates smart charging itself. Correct me if I am blatantly wrong, though.

Speakers
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/soberton-inc/SP-1511S-3/433-1127-ND/6099101

USB Flash Drive (128GB)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017DH3O5A/ref=ox_sc_act_title_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

PTH08080 Custom Regs - of course, until Aurellio's WiiHUD Power Mii is released!
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/PTH08080WAZT/296-26311-1-ND/2254959

Amplifier (PAM8803 AMP)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/181406329936?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Again, I am not sure which amplifier I should use. As I want my portable to be able to output audio from the speakers and also headphones, I assume I would require either two amplifiers or an integrated amplifier IC that can switch when headphones are inputted into the audio jack. Does anyone have any suggestions they have used in their portables? I noticed that Gman used a custom PCB for his audio amp, though.

Screen
I would love to use Aurellio's recent VGA patches, although I am a little bit nervous since I have never soldered before at all and soldering to the AVE pins looks rather fidgety. Planning on using 38AWG magnet wire here (is this too thin?) If I cannot manage this I will probably attempt to wire composite video as it is just one wire and less troubleshooting, but I'd love to have high quality VGA.
Planning on getting any old regular 5' VGA compatible screen from the BoM. Is VGA possible for a beginner with little to no soldering experience or should I stick with regular composite for less troubleshooting?

Heatsink
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/532-371824B32G?r=532-371824B32G
Quite a simple heatsink and fan setup (as below)

Fan
https://www.ebay.com/itm/5V-35mm-x-...712900?hash=item3cb4a46ec4:g:Tj8AAOSwPCtbYm5e

GameCube Controller Buttons (A, B, X, Y)
I am not exactly sure where to buy these, but my first guess was eBay. Do people usually buy there buttons separately or simply hack open an old gamecube controller?

GC+
This is not currently in the BOM. I tried to access the store to purchase but it was down for maintenance. If anyone is selling a GC+ I would love to purchase one for my portable.

USB Port
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/12700
Same one Gman used for his G-Wii, simple . Was hoping for other peripherals but this will have to do. Plan on wiring this up with some 34 gauge magnet wire. Comes with convenient soldering pads and is a little bit easier to wire up for a beginner.

Headphone Jack
Not really sure which to buy. Some range anywhere between $0.50 and $30+. Do I need to buy one that is compatible with the amplifier or will any old thing do?

Power Port (12V)
Also had a look on Digikey and was bombarded with about a billion choices. Something like this?
https://www.digikey.com.au/product-detail/en/cui-inc/PJ-030DH-SMT-TR/CP-030DHPJ-TR-ND/3587642

Wire
I am a little bit inexperienced when it comes to choosing the right wire for the right components. My main understanding is that thicker wires should be used for the power lines, and thin wire for data lines. Here is the complete list of wire I plan on purchasing from Digikey.

Shielded Wire (for both audio and video - what gauge is good here?)
Enamelled Magnet Wire (28 or 30 AWG)
Stranded Wire (22 AWG)

Memory Card Slot
One final thing I will need to add which is also in the original G-Wii is one memory card slot. I do not really see a personal use for this (although Gman had included it for his buyer) and am not too familiar with where to purchase the card edge connector for the memory card. Ideally I'd leave this out if the relocation is too difficult.

I tried to research as much as I could on the forums before posting this worklog. I have a lot of my parts in transit as we speak, so I plan to start this project as soon as possible. I feel like I have stolen Gman's Wii here so all credit where it is due, but I really wanted to refrain from fiddling around with the case and since I don't have much time, I wanted to get started as quickly as possible. I hope my questions don't sound too nooby but I have tried to do as much research as possible before making this thread.

I am absolutely sure I will have more questions but in closing, I wanted to say one thing about the BitBuilt forums...

 

[GingerOfOz]

Any portable with "Wa" in the title is destined for greatness.

Planning on getting any old regular 5' VGA compatible screen from the BoM. Is VGA possible for a beginner with little to no soldering experience or should I stick with regular composite for less troubleshooting?

I would definitely pick up some flux and solder braid. Flux makes soldering to small things so much easier, and solder braid can be used to help fix mistakes. Practice soldering to non-vital fine pitch pins, and if you're comfortable with that then give the AVE wiring a shot. Also remember that whatever screen you use has to be 640x480 to fit in the G-Wii.

I am a little bit inexperienced when it comes to choosing the right wire for the right components. My main understanding is that thicker wires should be used for the power lines, and thin wire for data lines. Here is the complete list of wire I plan on purchasing from Digikey.

Good choice on wire, but I'd also recommend picking up some 34 or 38 gauge magnet wire. It's very handy for soldering to the Wii vias.

Memory Card Slot

The version of the case G-Man made public doesn't actually have the memcard port. It's not a particularly useful feature, and he only included it because the person he commissioned it for really wanted it.

Headphone

Cheap headphone jack is fine, can't imagine why you'd need a $30 one. The one in my portable was like 80 cents and works great.

The Wii will contain no WiFi, but as I really want to have the functionality to play Wii and VC games, I am going to attempt to wire the Bluetooth and MX chips respectively. Realistically, I would like to have this done in 4 months time before I move to Tokyo to have something to play on my commutes, but I feel like I may be trying to push my luck.

BT and MX are totally doable on a first portable. The four months part may be tricky, but good luck!

 

[ToddyHD]

It has been a while since I have updated this worklog since I have been pretty busy with university. Now that I have recently graduated I have plenty of time to work on this thing and I am thoroughly enjoying the process of portabilizing.

Anyways, updates updates.
I had Ginger print the case for me since 3D printing in Australia is pretty damn expensive (I was going to be charged $150 US to print it, and it seems like companies here are only willing to print bulk sized 3D prints so they can cut costs. Ginger did a fantastic job and I was really happy with the outcome of the case (although he did print me 2 Z buttons for the G-Wii instead of two L/R buttons lol )

I am using the typical 2s2p setup with 4 18650 3400mAh Panasonic Lithium Ion Batteries. G-man did a fantastic job and they fit really snug inside of the battery holders in the case. I decided to run with the ever so common red CMB board since it really solves all of the problems of battery packs in one go, with charge-and-play functionality, overcharging and discharging protection and I can easily wire up my DC charging jack to the voltage in.

Here are some pictures of the process so far. I have used a spray putty can to fill most of the 3D printed horizontal and vertical layer lines and it seems to have done a decent job, although I must say that 3M Body Filler does better for getting into the larger holes and imperfections in a 3D print. One thing I learned is that you can never ever have too much bondo, more is better than less!

To wire up my batteries was a huge step for me since I have never soldered before but thanks to everyone's help on BitBuilt, my love for electronics and this community is growing. Cannot wait for the next step, which will be relocating the U10 IC and Bluetooth. Big thanks to G-man again for the case design. It's really comfortable in the hands and is really a sleek design hence why I wanted to make it my first portable. As for painting, thanks to Madmorda's advice I picked up some Tamiya Surface Primer and Matte White paint for the finish, as well as some matte clear coat to protect the paint and give it a sleek look.

Here are some pictures to see how far the case has come up until this point - still need to apply some more Bondo filler to buff out the scratches and other imperfections. More questions and juicy posts to come!

 

[Gman]

One thing I learned is that you can never ever have too much bondo, more is better than less!

More bondo = more sanding

 

[ToddyHD]

Here is the end result of the paint job. I had tremendous trouble with my paint as I was not patient between coats and lathered on too much on my first attempt and hence had runs all over my case.

You can see what I mean here. Bubbling of the paint and it would just not adhere well. I learned from my mistakes and suffered a lot financially from this, but it won't happen again:

This is the result after sanding, priming and painting once again (and 3-4 cans of Tamiya paint later). Tamiya is a great paint but it's really expensive. I wish I had gone with a cheaper option for my first paint job.

Nontheless this is what I ended up with and I am really happy with the finish! Painted in a matte white, with a standard clear coat finish. I redrilled the speaker holes for a better look, as well as drilled two holes down the bottom right for low battery indication and charging/fully charged indication. I plan on using a common cathode LED wired up to the charging board which already has two SMD leds wired on, with convenient pads to solder to.

I also tried to use Eagle for the first time to design my own PCB ever. Pretty underwhelming, but still nice to play around in eagle and come up with a small board. Based on daftmike's v1.2 low battery indicator.

I also relocated the U10 chip, removing the U5 with desoldering tweezers and opting for hot air for the U10. I screwed up U9 badly by applying way too much heat with a cheap iron and destroyed the pins. Just need to run a jumper on the original U9 pads for testing now, but it looks pretty good:

The case in all its glory:

And here is some other things I did:

• Tinned the GC+ pads ready for soldering of the controls
• Desoldered the original GC+ analog sticks and potentiometers from an original GCC
• Got my 5V fan
• Bought myself a Hakko FX888D soldering station - love it.

More to come!

EDIT: Now have also scratched the trace for the U10 chip. I used my multimeter leads to lightly scratch away the solder mask and continuously checked for continuity in between each scratch so that I knew I didn't unnecessarily dig too far into the board.

As for wiring the U10 to the GPU via, I struggled at first, but I scratched off the solder mask on the via and used a lot of flux on my 38 AWG magnet wire and it soldered on pretty nicely. At first I tried 30 AWG Kynar wire but it was pretty finicky to get it to fuse onto the via.

I am no longer getting continuity between these two points which is also great. Here is some pictures.

 

[ToddyHD]

Currently I am trying to learn how to use Eagle and I wanted to add in some custom PCBs to my project based on already made schematics from members here on the forums. Since a lot of people tend to use these in their portables, I thought it'd be nice to have some boards everyone could potentially use as well if they wanted to just add in the components easily and painlessly.

The first I made was a small low battery indicator board, but I was having a little trouble identifying whether I have wired up the connectors correctly for the GND and VCC pins from the battery. I also wanted to get clarification on the wiring for the Volume/Sync Button Mod designed by Aurelio before I get the boards manufactured and processed.

Here is what I have in Eagle so far. I think I have shorted VCC to GND in this schematic. Can I simply move the J4 connector to any GND point? (i.e after R1 or S1)

J3 will be voltage in (3.3v) from the 3.3v regulator and J4 will be GND.

And here is the schematic for the low battery indicator based on Daftmike's schematic:

Is everything OK with the wiring here or are there errors that I should fix up before I sent them off to be fabricated? If anyone could point out the errors or give me the go ahead that would be really helpful.

Also, apologies for asking questions in the discord chats via PM to everyone and spamming. I will start to post more on this worklog so that people can learn from my mistakes and errors for their own benefit when making portables. Sorry everyone!

 

[jefflongo]

If you want opinions on your circuit you should probably post your board layout too.

 

[ToddyHD]

If you want opinions on your circuit you should probably post your board layout too.

Yeah of course I was going to do that. Mainly I wanted to just see if the connector for J4 in the first schematic was in the right spot before I route the board and then I'll upload it for opinion

 

[DeoNaught]

I've never tried Tamiya, but believe ya when you say it's good...
another brand, really good is MTN, their 94 line of colors are really nice, and cheap(depending where you get it from). but if you do decide to use it, you ABSOLUTELY must use Proper Safety equipment, good ventilation, and proper respiratory mask. but other than that, I recommend it fully

 

[ToddyHD]

Wii have liftoff
I must say it feels good to see those wiimotes sync right back up!

 

[ToddyHD]

I've never tried Tamiya, but believe ya when you say it's good...
another brand, really good is MTN, their 94 line of colors are really nice, and cheap(depending where you get it from). but if you do decide to use it, you ABSOLUTELY must use Proper Safety equipment, good ventilation, and proper respiratory mask. but other than that, I recommend it fully

I have never heard of MTN but Tamiya was really good although it sprays very very thin. I did 3-4 very thin coats. You don't even have to make coverage with it, just don't apply this stuff fast otherwise it'll shoot out of the can quick and you'll get streak lines in the paint like I did

 

[Cradiak]

I have never heard of MTN but Tamiya was really good although it sprays very very thin. I did 3-4 very thin coats. You don't even have to make coverage with it, just don't apply this stuff fast otherwise it'll shoot out of the can quick and you'll get streak lines in the paint like I did

Patience is definitely a necessity for painting. I made a bunch of painting mistakes on my first portable, and had a bunch of issues as a result (including not even applying clear coat because I didn't know any better lol it's still somewhat "sticky" to this day). Every paint is different, but wait plenty of time and apply several thin coats opposed to less thicc coats and your boi won't have any problems ^ ^ The final paint job looks nice

 

[ToddyHD]

Today I got around to trimming my motherboard. I used an EZ-Lock tool with a dremel attachment and an ozito rotary tool. I found that high speeds were much easier to cut the board without having the risk of Nike swooshing straight thorough the OMGWTF trim line. Dremel's definitely work better with higher speeds for this kind of application. As for the wheel, I used a thin cut style cut-off wheel which trimmed the board pretty easily and then sanded down to the line. I applied plenty of tape (probably more than necessary) because, just in case!

I unfortunately lifted the pad to the 3.3v sense pin on the Bluetooth module. Thanks to @Shank on discord, I was able to solder to the connector pin and am getting continuity between it and the 3.3v rail. I may remove the connector and solder to the pins if this solution doesn't work, or get a new module.

I've sanded the board down throughouly with 200, 400, 600 and 1200 grit sandpaper and I am not getting any shorts to GND now from my voltage lines which is excellent. Here is the trim. I've wired up USB and the next step is voltage regulators, which I will be mounting to some perforated board. I also sanded my tact switches since I only had some large ones that stuck way too far out of the case for my liking, so now they are a little bit more less jarring and flush with the bottom of the case.

Also, I soldered up my audio amplifier today which is the one created by JacksonS. I like this a lot because it can be the steps of volume can be controlled via micro controller and is customisable to an extent. It also allows for automatic headphone switching which is something I always wanted to include!

Here are pics of today's progress. Big thanks to everyone on BitBuilt for all of your help and answering my questions constantly! Merry Christmas everyone.

 

[ToddyHD]

I've been working on this all weekend and have hit a roadblock. I feel like I've gone one step forward and now two steps back.

I had my voltage regulators all wired up and the fan was running just fine off of 5V. Everything went downhill when I wired up the regulators to the Wii. I measured all voltage lines to GND even with the Wii connected for continuity and was getting resistances between those lines and GND, which means there is no shorts.

My outputs of the regulators were as follows before they were connected to the Wii:

5V - 5.09
3.3V 3.27
1.15V 1.18
1V 1.01

Here are some pictures. I was happy with the output voltages until I connected them to the Wii, where they've dropped significantly to almost nothing when wired up. I believe I was also getting a negative voltage between the 3.3V line and GND.

My setup was as follows. Run two solder lines along some perfboard to have the input voltage sent from the batteries to the regulators, with a GND solder blob to run GND from the regulators to the blob and then to GND on the charging module. I wired up my screen but the GPU was not getting hot which makes me think that the Wii is not booting properly. I've tested the U10 before trimming and it worked just fine, which leads me to believe the regulators aren't working as expected. Here is what I have on my perfboard:

I am now not getting any output voltages at all on the regulators - are they cooked? I've got no shorts to GND between pins. Here are some pictures of what I've been having trouble with. Does anyone have any advice? I am not sure why the voltages would output perfect stable voltages when disconnected but then suddenly drop uncontrollably when wired up to the OMGWTF trim.

 

[Madmorda]

Do you have your battery circuit hooked up to the pthes when testing? Try using a 12v or similar power supply instead (not batteries).

 

[DeoNaught]

Was the only thing being changed was connecting to the wii? or was the BMS connected when you were testing(like madmorda was saying), I suggest looking at everything you did after testing, and use that for a baseline for diagnosing the problem

 

[ToddyHD]

I've connected my batteries to the Wii via the charging module. I am now no longer getting an output on the regulators output pin, 0V despite not really changing much in the first place at all.

 

[jefflongo]

I've connected my batteries to the Wii via the charging module. I am now no longer getting an output on the regulators output pin, 0V despite not really changing much in the first place at all.

You should try to eliminate as many factors as possible. Try connecting the regulator input to a standard 12v jack, try disconnecting the regulators from the Wii and seeing if there's still output. If you have everything hooked up together you won't be able to single out the issue.

 

[ToddyHD]

Hi everyone.

I have wired up my Wii again and forgot that I didn't connect the regulators to GND.

I was getting quite low voltages when connecting to the Wii however, and replaced the resistors on the regulators for lower values.

Without the Wii connected, I get the following output voltages:

3.34v
1.15v
1.05v

I am using resistors of these values to obtain the voltages above:
62k
28k
1.6k

When connected to the Wii, the voltages drop a lot under load to the following:

3.26v
1.09v
0.94v

I am not sure why my voltages are dropping so low? I've replaced the resistors and measured them with a multimeter, and I am getting well below the resistance (undershooting quite a bit already) so I didn't want to replace the resistors with lower values. I also measured them all with a multimeter to ensure I was getting the right resistances.

My U10 chip outputs 3.26v and is wired up correctly, with the GPU and CPU heating up quite nicely.

Here are some pictures of my board. I really am lost why it is not booting up. No shorts to ground, have wired up composite video and I am still getting no sync. The screen has a "1" on it which I assume means "1" on the driver board, meaning AV1. I haven't adjusted the source of the screen since I cannot get my keyboard working. I've wired up VCC from
the daughter to the mainboard, GND and KEY pads but the buttons aren't working when I click them. I checked the pads on the keyboard to make sure I wired up pads that had no continuity to the tact legs with no continuity.

Here are some pictures. If anyone has help or sees anything on my board that stands out, that would be great! Thanks.

 

[cheese]

That 1 you see is actually on the plastic on top of the screen.
Got a pic of the bottom of the board?