Question Ashida Build Help - Black screen for composite out

[drum6789]

Hey all, looking for some help. I've done some basic console modding before, and am attempting my first Ashida build.

Before starting to actually assemble the Ashida, I validated my trim is good by checking resistances and wiring it up to power + composite out, and was able to boot to the RVLoader screen when I attached USB. This was all test wiring, so I detached it all before doing the actual Ashida wiring.

So far, I've attached a RVL-PD3 to the RVL-PMS 2 and wired all the voltages + U10 from RVL-PMS 2 to the Wii + the screen. I also wired composite out from the Wii back to the screen, just to test everything is working as expected. I did not do the LDO 1.8v replacement if that matters.

I'm able to turn the Wii on and see a black screen coming up on the display. However, it never boots to RVLoader - just stays stuck on the black screen, and eventually the screen (or system) turns off. I think this means it is getting _some_ signal, as the display is just blue when there is no signal at all. The CPU + GPU warm up as well. I've seen this happen before in testing but eventually it triggered a boot up to RVLoader, however at this point, it just stays stuck on the black screen. See attached photo.

I did desolder and do a nice thorough clean via IPA + toothbrush. I attached some pics of the board with nothing wired as well, in case there are still some suspicious blemishes or solder blobs I missed. After reattaching, I still get the same issue.

Any theories you guys can think of? Some extra info and thoughts:
- Could it have something to do with U10 emulation and the wire being too long? I originally was using a separate U10 instead of U10 emulation in case that was causing issues - however, I ended up burning off one of the legs when trying to do a de-solder + resolder.
- I also attempted to wire up VGA on the test run since I have never done it before, however, I ended up bridging some pins on the AVE-RVL board. I've since done a lot of desoldering work with desoldering wick and pump, and composite video worked afterwards, but something could still be funky here.
- I did have a short on the 1.15v wire for a while, but was able to resolve it after desoldering everything
- There's some carnage on the edges of the board, particularly near the CMS1 and CMS2 USB relocation spots. This is from a shitty dremel job of mine, but it doesn't appear to be causing any shorts

I'm under the impression Wii's are pretty resilient, but I'm wiling to accept the possibility that I also have killed the board somehow. Don't plan on giving up on this board though unless this seems like a lost cause.

 

[Bryceshaw06]

Some things for you to do:

- Remove all tiny passives near the edges that are cut at all. If you’re unsure if you can remove it, ask me.

- Clean up those gashes as much as possible. They look pretty nasty. You’re right though, they’re probably not causing your issue.

- I don’t know what’s going on with your 1.8v LDO there. If you’re using a PMS2, remove the LDO. It will give you more battery life. Half the reason the PMS2 is worth buying over the lite. You have a wire going to the LDO, and unless I’m missing something, that should not be there. You will have to check, but off memory I believe you take off the LDO and solder 1.8v from the PMS2 to the top large pad, not the bottom.

- Do you have a TV with AV ports? I would try to wire the Wii to that so you can eliminate issues with the rest of the build. Just hack up an RCA cable to test.

- Can you take a better picture of the work you did on the AVE-RVL?

 

[JamesPi]

I believe the wire running to the LDO is for 3.3v, at least according to the compendium. The only thing that you pointed out that seems like it would mess something up is the components cut in half.

 

[Bryceshaw06]

I believe the wire running to the LDO is for 3.3v, at least according to the compendium. The only thing that you pointed out that seems like it would mess something up is the components cut in half.

Ah, you’re correct about the 3.3v. My bad. I don’t age any computer on me with all my diagrams, and the image I saw online didn’t have 3.3v marked there.

 

[drum6789]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tested on another display, but no dice. I also removed those extra components on the trimmed edge, but unfortunately that didn't seem to have any effect.

Eventually after fiddling with it enough, it seemed like the PMS stopped wanting to turn on. I suspect I have a short somewhere, as there were times I was able to get it to turn on after reattempting wiring, but it's not in a good state right now.

Here's some pictures of the wiring on the RVL-PMS2 and also pictures of the RVL-PMS2 with nothing attached. Wondering whether anyone can help spot a short, whether I've bridged something, or whether I might have just fried the PMS.

As for the Wii itself, I ordered another one to try a new trim, as well as some backup U10 resistors. I had more success with this board when I was using physical U10 as opposed to emulation, and I'm wondering whether my original problem was with U10 emulation

 

[fdraghi]

FWIW I did have issues with the U10 emulation, it turns out that apparently the wire length matters and it was pretty normal for me to have to do multiple boots until it finally booted. I switched to a wireless U10 installation and that made it boot 100% of the time, no fail.

Also is there any reason you're using the Wii's LDO if you have a PMS2? not that it would create issues but if you're building a portable, you might want to consider that the real LDO is less efficient and thus consumes more power.

Did you measure the resistances of all the voltage lines prior to put power to it?

 

[drum6789]

I did find the short - some extra solder blobs stuck another side of the AVE-RVL and caused the short. Unfortunately, after fixing that + switching to a u10 chip (as opposed to emulation) still resulted in a blank black screen.

The backup Wii I ordered came in, so I'm going to try with a new board and borrowing a more legit dremel setup so hopefully I don't hack up the board as much. I'll stick aside this board for toying around with later, but hopefully this new board should let me finish this Ashida in the meantime.

 

[fdraghi]

Again, did you measure the resistances from the voltage lines to ground and to each other? Do that and compare to the known values to know if you're in the ballpark. They help a lot with finding issues.

 

[drum6789]

Yeah, after finding and fixing the short I made sure to check all the other resistance lines to rule out any other issues. They all seemed reasonable. Ultimately, I'm not sure what else to test with this board - I've stripped it bare, the resistances look good, but I just can't get it to display any (real) output. I attached some more pictures of the bare board - I might try sanding down the sides where my dremel job was particularly poor. I also am attaching some pictures of the AVL-RVE - you can the see hsync and vsync pins appear to be bent/burnt off. I'll post the resistances once I try cleaning up the edges again.

I did try trimming a new board today, and I was pretty proud of my trim job, it's the cleanest one I've done yet. Unfortunately, I've got a short on the 3.3v line again, and I wasn't able to find the cause. The short only showed up after I tried wiring up U10, so I'm wondering whether I scratched up the board too much when cutting the U10 trace. I did try:
- Detaching all wires and checking resistances - 3.3v was the only one off, rest looked fine
- Removing components alongside the edge
- Scrubbing with isopropyl and toothbrush
- Re-sanded down the sides a ton, from 150-800 grit sandpaper in steps, and given it plenty of isopropyl scrubs.

Attaching photos of this one as well. I'm letting it take a long isopropyl bath while I figure out what to check next. Appreciate all the help so far - frustrating to keep getting stuck but that's showbiz.