Worklog Andrew’s G-Wii Worklog

[poelander04]

Hello Bit Built! This is my worklog for my very first Wii portable and after researching, I’ve decided to do the G-Wii build. I have most of my parts, so the other day I modded my Wii with RVLoader and got to work with trimming it. Today, I finished the trim and am somewhat satisfied with the outcome. This was my first time using a Dremel, and a few times the Dremel nicked the motherboard. I’m crossing my fingers that I didn’t totally mess it up. My hot air gun is coming in the mail soon so then I will relocate the u10.

 

[Valanduin]

You don't need to relocate the u10 if you are using an rvl-pms-2 or lite, either one will generate the pulse to power on the Wii so you just need to run a wire from the pad on the pms labeled u10 to the via indicated in the trim guide

 

[poelander04]

You don't need to relocate the u10 if you are using an rvl-pms-2 or lite, either one will generate the pulse to power on the Wii so you just need to run a wire from the pad on the pms labeled u10 to the via indicated in the trim guide

Thanks for the tip, I appreciate it!

 

[Stitches]

Those scuffs look fine to me. You didn't hit anything that wasn't already severed by the trim. That *should* work fine

 

[poelander04]

Those scuffs look fine to me. You didn't hit anything that wasn't already severed by the trim. That *should* work fine

Is there anyone I can directly contact for a commission or should I just post about it on the 3D Printing forum?

 

[Valanduin]

Is there anyone I can directly contact for a commission or should I just post about it on the 3D Printing forum?

For the case? Most people are just ordering from 3d print services like PCBway or shapeways. If you order through those services, make sure you pay close attention to what material you are having it printed in, if you are getting a resin print (if you want a clear print it is going to have to be resin) make sure to send them the SLA files, and if you are getting something done with filament (PLA and ABS are the main options you should be considering for filament filament) send them the FDM files and make sure to add instructions that say that the model is sensitive to orientation and not to alter the orientation in the provided files, you are likely to get a lot of warping if the orientation is altered.

 

[Stitches]

Is there anyone I can directly contact for a commission or should I just post about it on the 3D Printing forum?

@GingerOfOz used to do print commissions, not sure if he still does. You can make a post in 3D printing or in the User Trading Area about it to see if anyone else is willing

 

[poelander04]

I purchased this screen for use in my G-Wii and also purchased the 4LayerTech display driver board, but the ribbon cable of my display is too big to fit in the socket on the 4LayerTech PCB. Does this mean I need to use the driver board that came with the display instead of the 4LayerTech one?

 

[Valanduin]

If the ribbon cable doesn't fit you definitely bought a screen that is incompatible with your driver board, using the one that came with your screen is the cheapest option but it may not run off of the voltages you are able to supply with the PMS. If you can't make it work you can go back and buy the right screen for the display driver you bought

 

[Stitches]

I purchased this screen for use in my G-Wii and also purchased the 4LayerTech display driver board, but the ribbon cable of my display is too big to fit in the socket on the 4LayerTech PCB. Does this mean I need to use the driver board that came with the display instead of the 4LayerTech one?

Yeah those screens are not interchangeable. The driver board must have the correct hardware and be programmed for the specific screen

 

[poelander04]

Okay, so after some looking around I think I have finally figured out how to wire composite video from the Wii motherboard to my screen's driver board. However, I have a couple questions.

1. How do I power the screen?

2. It looks like the screen needs 12v, can that be supplied by the PMS?

 

[Valanduin]

the PMS doesn't provide 12v, so you are going to need to either mod it to run off of 5v or 3.3v (which will require a good deal of electrical knowledge to figure out how to do unless someone else has done it before and posted the info on the internet somewhere) or add in a circuit that will boost 5v or 3.3v from the PMS to 12v, which is also going to be very difficult for a beginner.

 

[poelander04]

the PMS doesn't provide 12v, so you are going to need to either mod it to run off of 5v or 3.3v (which will require a good deal of electrical knowledge to figure out how to do unless someone else has done it before and posted the info on the internet somewhere) or add in a circuit that will boost 5v or 3.3v from the PMS to 12v, which is also going to be very difficult for a beginner.

I checked the 4LayerTech site and it looks like the display that matches my driver board is now in stock. I purchased that and it looks like I can just use the 3.3v mod that have on the site to make it work.

 

[Stitches]

Basically any driver board can be powered from 5v if you locate the onboard 5v regulator (they all step 12v down to 5v) and supply 5v to its output pad. It's not hard to find either, you just need a multimeter and a bit of patience to probe the electrolytic caps and inductors to see which ones carry 5v

 

[poelander04]

Today I soldered the pms lite and pms pd together. This was my first time ever soldering and I think it went okay. Definitely not the cleanest job but hopefully it’ll do. I’m thinking of moving on to the batteries now, but don’t get exactly how to wire them. I’ve seen on a worklog that you can solder the wires directly to the batteries, but I’ve heard that’s not recommended. So my question is, what’s the best way to wire up batteries for my G-Wii?

 

[Valanduin]

PW and UP carry power, you should probably be using thicker wire for them

 

[poelander04]

PW and UP carry power, you should probably be using thicker wire for them

I got the thicker wire. Sorry, but what does “PW and UP carry power” mean?

 

[Valanduin]

The UP wire is used to deliver power from the PMS to the USB port on the PD 2, and the PW delivers power from the PMS to the chips on the board. If wire is too thin for the amount of electricity running through it it acts as a resistor and will heat up and reduce the voltage at the other end, if it gets too severe it can melt the wire or ignite something near it. 30 gauge wire is fine for data signals that won't have a substantial amount of electricity flowing through them, but for power delivery you should be using thicker wire

 

[Stitches]

Today I soldered the pms lite and pms pd together. This was my first time ever soldering and I think it went okay. Definitely not the cleanest job but hopefully it’ll do. I’m thinking of moving on to the batteries now, but don’t get exactly how to wire them. I’ve seen on a worklog that you can solder the wires directly to the batteries, but I’ve heard that’s not recommended. So my question is, what’s the best way to wire up batteries for my G-Wii?

The G-Wii case comes from the time before battery clips were commonplace. Unless you want to alter the CAD files to add battery clips in, you'll have to either carefully solder to the battery terminals, or buy 18650 cells with nickel plated tabs and solder wires to the tabs. Personally I recommend using tabbed cells.

 

[poelander04]

Today I wired up the batteries and the fan. However, while trying to solder the batteries to the pms, sparks occurred. Then, when I connected the fan, i tried turning on the unit to hopefully see the fan spin up, but nothing happened. I resoldered the fan cables, tried a different fan (in the picture), and resoldered the power button cable. The only thing that came out of it was some smoke, it looked like it came from the pms. I’m assuming that I’ll prob need to get a new pms, but it seems like the multimeter gives out appropriate voltages. With my multimeter, I touched the positive end of the battery on the left to the negative end of the right battery, it outputs around 4v. I did the same with B+ and B- on the pms, which swings from 2.5-3v. I also tested the B+ and B- to the respective battery terminals, and it gives around 3v. When testing the fan, F- on the pms to a positive end of a battery resulted in around 3.5v, while the F+ on a negative end resulted in .8v.