Worklog N64p MkIII

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Evening fine folks of the forum!

Long time enthusiast and tinkerer of all things portable N64, although, not posted much to forums. It's been 3-4 years since I last delved into building a portable as I had to abruptly stop my MkII due to home life being turned upside down rather suddenly.

Any who, I'm back, reinvigorated to tackle my MkIII but this time using a lot of new toys and skills I have developed over the last few years.

My basic design will follow on from my MkII, which is loosely based around Zenloc/ Loctronicz design from some time back.
However, I will be making the case out of solid acrylic CNC'd out on a router; my previous versions used a homemade vacuum formed case using sheet polystyrene.

Too many details for me to list here right now, but I will update it as I go along. Here is a pic of my MkII before I had to stop for your enjoyment.



This time I look to improve it greatly and will be looking for any advice people can offer or help with! :D

First few questions:

- 28 pin cartridge slot; any problems to look out for? I've heard pin 44 may be needed still?

- Controller inputs; looking to use the PIF inputs, was slightly confused by the U8 removal posts. (I'm not removing the U8) do I just wire onto one of the PIF pins for each controller data line as I suspect? Or do I need to bridge the two pins as per the U8 removal?

- Battery charging circuits - I've looked at the extensive sticky regarding the latest info (a lot better info since my days on Mod Retro researching these things! haha). One question, I'm looking at getting one of the Charging Management Boards this time round, as they sound a lot better than the basic boards I was using on my MkII. My question is, do they need a smart charger input? Or does it just require a standard 12v DC power supply input?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Intellig...h=item2143b30751:g:bHgAAOSwh8NbTE6o:rk:4:pf:0

Anyways, enough questions for now; thanks for looking and advice ;)

Nick
 

E64

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Pin 34,45 & 50 are needed for the everdrive to boot
I've try to boot it with just pin 45 wired up but it will only boot without the SD
 
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Evening folks,

I've been trimming the board. Started with the left, top and right. Tested each time.

Today I've trimmed the bottom and now it's dead :(

Any ideas on what I could have knackered? I've trimmed some of the surface mount components which originally led to the controller ports. Would removing any of these have killed it? All cut tracks have been re-routed I'm at a bit of a loss.

Any thoughts, ideas or crack pot theories welcomed! :D
 
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Yep, sanded all edges. Found I broke one of the tracks which went along the back of the board but I fixed that. Still nothing though.
The only thing I can think is the surface mount components which went to the controller ports; I shouldn't have cut through them?

I was checking an untouched board with a multimeter and it looks like one of the components was a 1K2 resistor between 3.3v and ground? Would reconnecting a resistor fix this at all? :/
 

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Yep, sanded all edges. Found I broke one of the tracks which went along the back of the board but I fixed that. Still nothing though.
The only thing I can think is the surface mount components which went to the controller ports; I shouldn't have cut through them?

I was checking an untouched board with a multimeter and it looks like one of the components was a 1K2 resistor between 3.3v and ground? Would reconnecting a resistor fix this at all? :/
Yeah some of those are important, it's worth a try at least.
 

E64

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Did you rewire the 2 line on the front and back that's at the bottom?
 
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Yep, rewired all of them using the via's. Double checked with a meter to ensure no dry joints.

It's seems to be ever since I sliced through some of the surface mount resistors/ capacitors on the bottom of the board :(

I'm fearing I may have killed the board unless someone knows of a fix?
 

E64

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Can you post a front pic of the board
 

E64

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On the back i only see 1 wire that's rewired at the bottom
 
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The wire you used for the main voltage line looks a little thin?
 
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It's a 28awg magnet wire:D
Not from your picture, I meant that towards elektrix
His wire looked thin for the main power line?
But I guess that wouldn't be the issue
His board just flipped the life switch. I had a board I took a chunk off around the bottom right, took off all the surface mount components around p3 and p4 and I haven't been able to get it to work since but I know I was gonna try the resistor fix?
 

E64

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Not from your picture, I meant that towards elektrix
His wire looked thin for the main power line?
But I guess that wouldn't be the issue
His board just flipped the life switch. I had a board I took a chunk off around the bottom right, took off all the surface mount components around p3 and p4 and I haven't been able to get it to work since but I know I was gonna try the resistor fix?
That usually fix the problem
 
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