Question Help with first N64

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Hello everyone,

I am new to the portiblizing community and have just started my n64 portable using the n64 advance trim guide.

I am having difficulties getting it started, im sorry if some of the photos attached are horrifying compared to the amazing stuff I've seen here, but I've tried to follow the guides to the best of my understanding.

I relocated the PIF by hot gluing it to a bread board, I soldered magnet wire to the locations indicated on the guide and ran them to individual solder points, then glued them in place on the bottom and soldered glob them on top. I then ran magnet wire to the locations as indicated on the guide. All locations indicated on the guide show continuity from the different chips and points on pin to the PIF it self.

The video was soldered to the point indicated on the guide.

I am at a loss at this point. The only part in the guide I did not understand was the connection of C2 and C3 to the 3.3v and ground. Am I supposed just connect 2 .1uf capacitors to any ground and 3.3v?

If anyone notices where I messed up, please feel free to let me know.

Thank you
 

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A few things that stick out immediately.


The 3.3v spots in this diagram need to be connected with 22awg wire. I see you have used the magnet wire, this will not do.

Also make sure all the components in the PIF schematic are present. If any of the resistors are not relocated, it won't turn on.

What about this part? I did not do this because I wasn't sure if I had to connect the capacitors to between any ground and 3.3 v
 

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Gman

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it should be fine without those.
 
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Hey guys, so I reviewed the guide more and added wires that connect the grounds and 3.3v to the pins and then verified continuity

Changed out the 3.3v lines from magnet wire to 24 awg wire.

Added resistor shown in the n64 advance guide

Added a headphone jack

But am not seeing any luck with the n64 turning on except that when I turn on the power switch I can hear the head phone recieve power and white noise ( not sure if this is a good sign) no audio however.

Please see attached photos, any help would be great,

Thanks
 

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Forgive me if this question sounds obvious, do you try to turn on the Nintendo 64 with a cartridge connected? Jumper pack or expansion pack? The Nintendo will not boot up without those… No sense in testing anything without those…
 
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Forgive me if this question sounds obvious, do you try to turn on the Nintendo 64 with a cartridge connected? Jumper pack or expansion pack? The Nintendo will not boot up without those… No sense in testing anything without those…
Hello, yes i do, i use the regular black expansion pack, along with pokemon stadium which is working on my non modded systems. When i turn on the system, using composite video, my screen goes from crazy static to calm static while the system is on, not sure if that helps.

I remove them to take better photos for anyone who can help.
 
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So... i checked some continuity using a multi meter i traced all locations on the PIF itself based on the KiCAD files for the PIF relocation board and found that everything indicated had either continuity and resistance except the bottom left leg on the U3 chip. It did not have any resistence between the leg and 3.3v. Per the KiCAD files their is a 2k resistor that is supposed to be attached to this leg. I added the 2k Resistor, still no power, but the system gets warm. In the photos, pink means i checked the continuity and the number are the resistance I got while in continuity.

also this is probably something that people may label me as a noob. but i am using the PTH texas instrument custom regulators and am getting

3.15 V and 4.15 V, are these too low?
 

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Got my PIF boards in...I effed up the U3 chip, is there an alternative chip i can use?

On the back of the board where the PIF was located their were similar chips, can I use these?
 

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I’m not so sure about u3. If they have the same exact label on the chip they might be the same. I would ask G-man, he knows the most about Pif relocation
 
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Unfortunately I found out that there was no known u3 alternative. I had a spare broken n64 lying around and was able to grab it off that one. This was the first project I've had to use my hot air station for. I recieved my PIF boards, still waiting for resistors, but progress.
 

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Since this thread is related to RAM, I might be able to start here. I wish you luck with the Portable N64 project btw! In my case I'm sticking with the console itself and emulators, but want to upgrade the hardware to Dev-kit memory levels. It's already taken apart, and I've found plenty of info about the 2x overclock and active cooling mods. Upgrading the ram though, that's tricky! 12mb would be enough, with 16mb being gravy for development before optimization.

https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/full-ram-swapping-guide.59/
I found this link, but it's refusing me access even after registration. Does anyone have a guild to help with buying parts, then soldering them in or modifying the expansion-pack for Dev-kit memory levels? Thanks in advance!
 
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The trick for ram swapping is getting expansion pack or later revision mobos to harvest their 4mb chips. Then solder them into an earlier revision that has the two ram
Slots. You will also need a jumper pack to terminate the rambus. You can check out my build log for my n64p as I went through the whole process…


I haven’t built my case yet but the trim, video and audio are functional. I don’t know everything but I can definitely help with the ram swap.
Cheers
 
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The trick for ram swapping is getting expansion pack or later revision mobos to harvest their 4mb chips. Then solder them into an earlier revision that has the two ram
Slots. You will also need a jumper pack to terminate the rambus. You can check out my build log for my n64p as I went through the whole process…


I haven’t built my case yet but the trim, video and audio are functional. I don’t know everything but I can definitely help with the ram swap.
Cheers
So it basically comes down to moding the Expansion pack to carry larger amounts of ram, basically double 8's. I can dig that! Alright, then I'll start by finishing the 2x overclock and additional heatsinks + fans to handle any extra thermal falloff. the extra ram comes next and later. The link you sent me is bookmarked, and I'll start from there. Thanks!
 
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