Question Anybody know of any 6-6.2 inch Screens with VGA (or AV).

Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
As the title makes obvious, i need a 6 to 6.2 inch (preferably good quality) screen for my upcoming first wii portable. so, that's the size i'm going for, but i need that kind of connection, and hopefully, not too expensive, ($50 or less hopefully).

Any help is appreciated, Thanks!
 

Stitches

2 and a Half Dollarydoos
Staff member
.
.
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
3,773
Likes
2,981
Location
Banana Bender Land, Australia
Portables
6
The VGA port is normal, I used to have one of these sets before I broke it. The visual quality is acceptable
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
The VGA port is normal, I used to have one of these sets before I broke it. The visual quality is acceptable
I guess it'll work then. is there a specific guide on wiring these screens to a trimmed wii motherboard?
 

Stitches

2 and a Half Dollarydoos
Staff member
.
.
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
3,773
Likes
2,981
Location
Banana Bender Land, Australia
Portables
6
The pins are labelled in the silkscreen on the back of the driver board. For video, you just have to match the silkscreen labels to the RGBHV and composite locations shown in the trim guide. For power, once you have the board we can figure out which inductor to remove and supply 5v to. You'll need a multimeter for that, if you don't already have one
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
The pins are labelled in the silkscreen on the back of the driver board. For video, you just have to match the silkscreen labels to the RGBHV and composite locations shown in the trim guide. For power, once you have the board we can figure out which inductor to remove and supply 5v to. You'll need a multimeter for that, if you don't already have one
Alright!

May i ask another question?

What are all the required parts (and the best places to get them) to do the portable wii?
 

Stitches

2 and a Half Dollarydoos
Staff member
.
.
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
3,773
Likes
2,981
Location
Banana Bender Land, Australia
Portables
6
There is no real unified parts list for custom built portables like this, but I can list some stuff you'll need.
  • Hot glue or quick set epoxy. Things will need to be held in place. I recommend using thin 3D printed brackets if you can to keep things neat.
  • 22AWG stranded wire for power delivery. Preferably 7 different colours, including red and black.
  • 30AWG PVC jacketed kynar wire. As many colours as you please, 4 is probably a good number. For data lines and USB.
  • 32-38AWG enamelled magnet wire. For small and fiddly via soldering as well as BT module if you want to relocate it.
  • Voltage regulators. Currently the RVL-PMS-LITE from https://4layertech.com/ is the easiest and recommended method. It also has integration with the USB-PD2 module that enables plug and play charging of the system via USB-C cable as well as data transfer to and from a PC using the USB-C cable as well.
  • Audio amplifier. Currently the best one is the U-AMP also sold by https://4layertech.com/ that has an optional integration with RVLoader to allow changing the output volume via controller button combo. There are also several cheap no frills amps available on ebay.
  • Controller board. Again to https://4layertech.com/ the GC+2 is an advancement of the original GC+ once sold by the now defunct BitBuilt store. It functions exactly like a regular Gamecube controller, and has handy solder pads for all buttons and joystick lines as well as a secondary Z trigger for compatibility with the GC2Wiimote patch.
  • Cooling. The most commonly used comact cooling method for portables is a 35x35x7mm heatsink + an identically sixed 5v fan with a solid metal base attached to 70x35x2mm copper plate via thermal paste or thermal epoxy. The plate distributes the heat across the entire volume of the cooling assembly and is one of the more effective methods available. Some people have also used cheap flat all metal 5v CPU coolers before. They work, but they're quite large in comparison.
  • Buttons. The Gamepad you're using has pretty much all the buttons you'll need already, but you will need some dual layer tact swtches for the LR triggers and probably a few hard tacts for the face buttons below the screen. I can't remember the part number of the recommended dual layer tacts, so you'll have to ask someone else for it.
  • FFC breakout. The gamepad's inbuilt controls use carbon traces that can't be soldered to, so you'll need an FFC breakout to plug the gamepad control FFCs into to then be able to solder wires to the GC+. IIRC the pitch is 1mm, if you count the number of pins on each FFC, you can probably find some premade FFC breakout boards on ebay.
  • Rumble motor. Rumble is optional, but if you want to have it I recommend using replacement Wiimote vibration motors. They're small, stronk, and run on 3.3v.
  • No clean flux. Get it, you need it.
  • Kapton tape. Super flat electrically insulating tape useful for preventing PCBs from shorting on each other. Also good for securing wires.
That's just off the top of my head, I may have missed a thing or two. I live in Australia, so I can't really help with locating specific products abroad aside from "check Ebay, Amazon, Digikey, Mouser"
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
There is no real unified parts list for custom built portables like this, but I can list some stuff you'll need.
  • Hot glue or quick set epoxy. Things will need to be held in place. I recommend using thin 3D printed brackets if you can to keep things neat.
  • 22AWG stranded wire for power delivery. Preferably 7 different colours, including red and black.
  • 30AWG PVC jacketed kynar wire. As many colours as you please, 4 is probably a good number. For data lines and USB.
  • 32-38AWG enamelled magnet wire. For small and fiddly via soldering as well as BT module if you want to relocate it.
  • Voltage regulators. Currently the RVL-PMS-LITE from https://4layertech.com/ is the easiest and recommended method. It also has integration with the USB-PD2 module that enables plug and play charging of the system via USB-C cable as well as data transfer to and from a PC using the USB-C cable as well.
  • Audio amplifier. Currently the best one is the U-AMP also sold by https://4layertech.com/ that has an optional integration with RVLoader to allow changing the output volume via controller button combo. There are also several cheap no frills amps available on ebay.
  • Controller board. Again to https://4layertech.com/ the GC+2 is an advancement of the original GC+ once sold by the now defunct BitBuilt store. It functions exactly like a regular Gamecube controller, and has handy solder pads for all buttons and joystick lines as well as a secondary Z trigger for compatibility with the GC2Wiimote patch.
  • Cooling. The most commonly used comact cooling method for portables is a 35x35x7mm heatsink + an identically sixed 5v fan with a solid metal base attached to 70x35x2mm copper plate via thermal paste or thermal epoxy. The plate distributes the heat across the entire volume of the cooling assembly and is one of the more effective methods available. Some people have also used cheap flat all metal 5v CPU coolers before. They work, but they're quite large in comparison.
  • Buttons. The Gamepad you're using has pretty much all the buttons you'll need already, but you will need some dual layer tact swtches for the LR triggers and probably a few hard tacts for the face buttons below the screen. I can't remember the part number of the recommended dual layer tacts, so you'll have to ask someone else for it.
  • FFC breakout. The gamepad's inbuilt controls use carbon traces that can't be soldered to, so you'll need an FFC breakout to plug the gamepad control FFCs into to then be able to solder wires to the GC+. IIRC the pitch is 1mm, if you count the number of pins on each FFC, you can probably find some premade FFC breakout boards on ebay.
  • Rumble motor. Rumble is optional, but if you want to have it I recommend using replacement Wiimote vibration motors. They're small, stronk, and run on 3.3v.
  • No clean flux. Get it, you need it.
  • Kapton tape. Super flat electrically insulating tape useful for preventing PCBs from shorting on each other. Also good for securing wires.
That's just off the top of my head, I may have missed a thing or two. I live in Australia, so I can't really help with locating specific products abroad aside from "check Ebay, Amazon, Digikey, Mouser"
Hmmm. $60 for a small PCB eh? oh well, i'm sure it's great quality and worth it!.

Also, i'm not using the controls from the wii-u Gamepad, just the plastic shell, that i'll modify.

Thankfully i think i have most, if not all the regular tools i need. (my soldering iron doesn't work perfectly, but i think i can make do anyway.

Recommend any good batteries?

And is there a way to have the controls on each side to be removable yet still connected as the "same controller" (like Switch Joy-cons).

And lastly, is there an up to date wiring guide?
 

Stitches

2 and a Half Dollarydoos
Staff member
.
.
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
3,773
Likes
2,981
Location
Banana Bender Land, Australia
Portables
6
For batteries we recommend genuine Panasonic or Samsung 18650 cells. If you want to use flat lipos, you can use pretty much any you find that will fit as long as they're all the same capacity.

Removeable controls like that haven't been done before to my knowledge. You'd have to create your own custom wireless system to do that.

There is no real "wiring guide", but the G-Boy assembly guide would be the closest thing to get an idea of the process https://manual.bitbuilt.net/guide/g-boy-rev-3-complete-kit-assembly/
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
Alright! thank you so much! from what i've looked at, and if my calculations are correct, this project will run me somewhere in $230
:|O.o


I really do appreciate all the help you've given me Stitches, on other forums and such, if i asked anyone so many questions, they would've turned me down and simply told me to go and just do my own research, (it's happened) which, i do agree i need to do some of my own research on the matter, in fact i have, but it's also good to be able to use the knowledge of resident experts here. So thank you very much!
 

Stitches

2 and a Half Dollarydoos
Staff member
.
.
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
3,773
Likes
2,981
Location
Banana Bender Land, Australia
Portables
6
No worries. Oh, and to answer the $60 PCB thing, the 4layertech boards are specifically designed to be used for portable systems and have a heap of safety features + quality of life. The PMS for example has integrated U10 functionality, an onscreen battery meter, and handles power regulation and lithium battery charging all in one + reverse polarity protection + thermal overload protection to prevent your system from melting if it accidentally turns on in a backpack or other such cramped spot with no ventilation (RIP WaveRider). It may seem like a steep asking price, but you'd spend $40 just getting 4 separate TI regulator modules if you decided to do it the old way, so it's not that far off.

*This post is not sponsored by 4layertech
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
No worries. Oh, and to answer the $60 PCB thing, the 4layertech boards are specifically designed to be used for portable systems and have a heap of safety features + quality of life. The PMS for example has integrated U10 functionality, an onscreen battery meter, and handles power regulation and lithium battery charging all in one + reverse polarity protection + thermal overload protection to prevent your system from melting if it accidentally turns on in a backpack or other such cramped spot with no ventilation (RIP WaveRider). It may seem like a steep asking price, but you'd spend $40 just getting 4 separate TI regulator modules if you decided to do it the old way, so it's not that far off.

*This post is not sponsored by 4layertech
alright, gotcha. thank you very much. and soon i'll start another thread for the actual build!
 
Joined
Oct 20, 2021
Messages
4
Likes
3
Hi, I was reading this thread and the previous one due to me having a similar project idea. I wanted to use a Wii U Gamepad shell along with it's buttons and maybe design them before turning it into what the Wii U should have been, a fully native hardware Wii portable. I was planning on playing Wii and GameCube games, along with some other retro console being emulated, of course. Point is I would love to see a thread of your build process and I will most likely take lots of inspiration from it. Cheers :D
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2021
Messages
19
Likes
2
Hi, I was reading this thread and the previous one due to me having a similar project idea. I wanted to use a Wii U Gamepad shell along with it's buttons and maybe design them before turning it into what the Wii U should have been, a fully native hardware Wii portable. I was planning on playing Wii and GameCube games, along with some other retro console being emulated, of course. Point is I would love to see a thread of your build process and I will most likely take lots of inspiration from it. Cheers :D
Awesome! happy that you'll be checking on the project! i hope to get started soon, though, it'll be quite a gradual project, it'll take me a lot of time, but it'll be pretty cool when it's done!.... i hope. I'll start the build thread soon, where i'll start with the wii motherboard trimming, so stay tuned!
 

dababy

.
Joined
Nov 7, 2021
Messages
110
Likes
40
hey everyone i just found this thread and im in the same boat as frogfreak. im trying to make a wii portable based off the pii wii pocket any info would be great. also thx for the (somewhat) parts list;D
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2021
Messages
67
Likes
25
Location
United States, Florida
hey everyone i just found this thread and im in the same boat as frogfreak. im trying to make a wii portable based off the pii wii pocket any info would be great. also thx for the (somewhat) parts list;D
For a first build you should try the G Wii. A portable of a similar form factor as the PiiWii Pocket will be extremely difficult while the G Wii is very beginner friendly.
 

dababy

.
Joined
Nov 7, 2021
Messages
110
Likes
40
thanks so much i was just doing more research and did decide to do that;)
 
Top