Worklog ApolloVI's Ashida build

[ApolloVI]

Hello! I'm fairly late into the project I think, but I figured I would start a thread to answer a few questions I had.

What's done so far:

-All components ordered and received (except for the two little 3D printed buttons for the bottom edge, they were too small to order and I'm seeing if I can 3D print those at my local library )

-Boards are populated and mounted in place in the shell. Even managed to do the FFC connectors with no bridging. Ready to be buttoned up once wiring is done.

-Wii hacked with RVLoader, trimmed, sanded, LDO removed, cleaned, and resistances look good.

Currently working on:

-Wiring! I'm probably about 80% done I think. It's a bit of a WIP mess right now so I don't want to take a pic quite yet Following the 4Layer Ashida PCB diagram is pretty straightforward, but I had some questions below. I struggled with soldering to the vias on the Wii board, but then I realized my magnet wire might be a tad too thick at 32AWG. After getting some 36AWG it seems to be going much better. Just need a little bit of clarification before finishing the remainder and tidying things up.

Left to do:

-Testing and inevitable troubleshooting...

-If all goes well with the basics I'd like to trim and add the MX chip.

Questions:

1.So this is my main question, what wiring, exactly, needs to be done besides the wiring shown on the 4Layer Ashida PCB set diagrams and the RVL-PMS-2 diagrams? I know that wiring the screen driver board is a matter of following the directions on the back of the driver board for RGBHV to the correct vias on the Wii board based on the trim guide. ANYTHING else I should 100% be wiring before my first attempt at powering on?

(UPDATE: I've powered on and gotten signs of life, so I think I've cleared this "what do I need to get done" hurdle and I'm onto tweaks and troubleshooting. The answer to this question seems to be to triple check both of those pages. It's all there but it's easy to miss something. The wire for the U10 replacement pin is something I missed until very recently. A bigger question that I found was the ideal way to route the wires, but that was eventually figured out after much trial and error.)

2. Followup to that, assuming the above is correct, would that mean I ignore the individual wiring diagrams for U-Amp 2 and GC+ 2 since they are directly soldered to the Ashida PCBs? For example, I wouldn't need to wire the 3.3v pad and ground on the GC+ board to the PMS-2 since it's already soldered directly onto the controller board, right? The Ashida PCB set diagram ignores these pads on the GC+ which is why I ask. (Never mind, I think I figured out what these are for - providing a convenient place to wire 3.3v and ground to the screen driver. Still, general question remains whether I need to address anything on those individual diagrams for those two boards like the additional configuration jumpers on the U-Amp, but I think the answer is no)

3. How many "things" should be wired to 3.3v? By my count I should have Right Controller board, Interface Board, PMS-PD 2, the Wii motherboard, and the screen driver board all wired to 3.3v. Is that correct? What is the ideal way to wire all these? Can I daisy chain them? It wasn't really clear to me how people were doing it based on other builds. Dubesinhower's latest video has cleared this up for me. I wasn't crazy about thinking this was crowded. But I piled all my 3.3vs (except for the screen driver board as mentioned above) onto the same pad and initial tests seem to show that it works fine.

Thanks and I look forward to finishing!

August 11th, 2023 Update:

Will do a proper update with pics soon, but I've been slowly working on things here and there. I finished wiring, re-checked everything, tried to power on and didn't get anything. I was about to take pics and ask for help, but I re-organized and re-did some things, and finally today I got my first signs of life! I booted into Priiloader, and then after messing a bit with my data wires, got into RVLoader. A second big success is that I didn't bother with testing on composite and went straight for VGA out, and it's working (well, after the solder job on some of my wires came lose a few times ).

 

[ApolloVI]

August 16, 2023 Update:

Real update time! Alright, since my last update a few days ago, I got my LED working at last, and organized my file structure properly so that RVLoader can see my games and I can boot into them. I also trimmed and sanded my MX Chip, and once I squash the major issues I'll look at installing it. But here are my major issues that I need to address first:

1. I'm having power issues. My system only powers on when connected to a power source, and my batteries don't seem to be charging even when the system is left plugged in overnight (I've tried a lower power phone charger as well as my Steam Deck charger). I re-soldered my Charge wire and that didn't fix it. Any ideas as to what could be causing this?

2. I'm having an issue that's possibly related to the one above where my system will run for like 2 minutes and then resets itself. It then enters this loop where it resets itself over and over with shorter and shorter intervals. I have to unplug it and let it rest for a few minutes before I can try again, but it's always the same thing.

3. Again possibly related to the above two issues, when connecting my system to my PC, my system will rapidly connect and disconnect to the unit over and over, too fast to access the file structure.

4. I was able to tweak my battery settings to 10000mAh in RVLoader, but now it's showing as 195% charged. Again, this might be related to the batteries not even charging, so fixing that might fix this too

5. My right speaker isn't working, and I think it's because it's not making good contact with the board. I think I'll probably need to solder wires from the speaker to the board.

6. Audio out of my left speaker is crackling at times. I will try to twist MC and Ground together.

 

[ApolloVI]

August 24, 2023 Update:

I have been trying to fix my power issues (console won't charge and won't power on without power from outlet, console resets itself after being powered on for a couple of minutes and then resets over and over) without any luck. I checked my wiring from the batteries to the PMS 2 and all the lines running from the PMS-PD to the PMS 2. I re-did a number of those connections to make the wiring and soldering a bit tidier. I also noticed that I had magnet wires for PW and UP when the 4Layer diagrams say they are power rails (whoops), so I swapped in 22awg stranded wire for those. Unfortunately I'm still running into the same issues.

Does anyone have any troubleshooting ideas here? I think I'm a little stuck. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Stitches]

What voltage are your cells sitting at when removed from the Ashida?

 

[ApolloVI]

They both say 1.09 with my multimeter set at DCV 20... does that mean they're drained?

 

[Viilmo]

The cells are dead.
What did the cells go through? This is not something that just happens

 

[Stitches]

Yeah those cells are totally dead and can't be saved. Put some tape on the contacts and take them to your nearest battery disposal location, don't just throw them in with the normal household waste.

You'll need some new cells now. Make sure they're genuine Samsung/Panasonic

 

[ApolloVI]

Weird. I bought these less than 2 months ago straight from M&A BD Electronics as recommended on the BOM. They looked brand new and I haven't used them for anything but this. Alright, I'll grab some new ones and dispose of these safely. Thanks!

 

[Stitches]

Weird. I bought these less than 2 months ago straight from M&A BD Electronics as recommended on the BOM. They looked brand new and I haven't used them for anything but this. Alright, I'll grab some new ones and dispose of these safely. Thanks!

Maybe just an unlucky DOA set?