Worklog Ashida Worklog - Education Edition

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This is where I'll keep my worklog for my Ashida project, which has just started ramping up speed. Software is all setup on a 128 gb micro sd, and all 4LayerTech boards have been ordered (spare the screen). While I await their arrival I will be getting practice on my Soldering Iron and Heat Station. No pictures here so far, but I'll try to remember to take some tomorrow of all the software I've got setup. More games will be added during development and after completion.

Update 1: I Forget
Here are some pictures of the current setup, still in the air if I will add bluetooth support, but I'll cross that road when it comes to it. Micro SD successfully boots to RVLoader and games! So far the only gamecube games I have are Melee, Sims 2, and Kirby Air Ride (It finally ripped) but I'll be stopping by my local game shop on friday to pickup 2 gamecube controllers and maybe a game or 2 on a good deal. 4LayerTech boards have arrived today, but likely won't touch them until after the trim is done, which I'm hoping to do this friday or next week. Still gotta order all the buttons and potentiometers, will do that tomorrow. Progress should likely speed up next week, hoping to also do the Ashida prints this weekend using someone elses printer. Progress: Good , Mental State: Worried

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Update 2: April 2, 2022
Nothing of note since last week, except that the 4Layer boards arrived! I haven't touched anything except the ultra-thin micro-sd to usb (just removing the loop because I was bored). I was successful in finding someone to print off the Ashida case over the weekend, who knows maybe one part is printing right now wink. I'm hoping to do the trim this week, with some testing progressing into next week or the week after, still up in the air as i'm yet to order all the switches and potentiometers needed for the Ashida PCB's. (Also the batteries). I'll give an update after the trim is done and ask for any help on the discord if anything could short. I was possibly thinking of passing the time by connecting the GC+ 2 and the U-Amp to the PCB's, but not too sure about that one. Cheers!

Update 3: April 4, 2022
Some minor progress today, decided to throw my hand in the ring and populate the volume/power board as much as I could (aka what came included) and while it doesn't look pretty, should do the job just fine. Not like I'll open it up a lot anyway. RVL-NTC was a pain to solder to the wii motherboard, but I did what I could and managed to get it down. I'm hoping to order wiring and additional components tomorrow and have them arrive mid-later this month. Unfortunately the print over the weekend wasn't done, but was started, and hoping to get the front and back halves by the end of the week so I can screw down the volume/power board. Scheduling on the trim is aiming close to this week, so I'll likely post the next update when I do that. If anything interesting happens I'll be sure to update this thread ASAP!
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Update 4: April 7, 2022
More minor progress unfortunately. I touched upon this on Discord, but I attempted the GC+ 2 solder to the Ashida PCB, and almost totally wrecked the entire thing. After a lot of desoldering wick and a multimeter, all is confirmed to hopefully be working, but I'm not to sure about the amount of heat I was directing towards the GC+ with my heat station. I won't be able to test until next week when I get enough parts in to trim, wire, and test the wii motherboard. The case should also arrive next week, so I can give a bigger update about that. Parts like switches and wires were ordered, but switches will likely take an extensively long time to arrive because of shipping. There's also a lead time on the speakers and power switch, both of which I can find workarounds to (No Speakers, Drilling a hole to temporarily access the PMS-PD button provided?) If I can find another source, or if anyone is kind enough to provide one I'll order them as soon as possible. Big things to come next week.

Mini Update 1: April 17, 2022
Happy Easter everyone! Good news! If you read update 5 below you'll see that the Pinecil that I ordered wasn't supposed to arrive until later this week. It arrived today instead! (Bless those delivery drivers), and I'll be hopefully using it on sunday to finish up any work that needed doing after I trashed the crappy soldering iron that I had been using. Since I don't have any materials at home, and I only brought my solder wire in the event that the Pinecil did arrive this week, I decided to test it on my Pokemon Sapphire cart and fix the joints on the battery replacement I did a while back. OH BOY does it feel nice, definitely worth the price for "faster" shipping. I've got high hopes for this week. Have a good one!

Mini Update 2: May 13, 2022
Hey everyone! I've noticed a theme where I usually post updates every tuesday, which wasn't my intention but was nice once I realized. I don't think I'll get my Ashida case from JLCPCB until later in the week, around Wednesday or Thursday. I'll likely do one big update on the Friday with another on the following Wednesday before I likely go into doing Bi-Daily updates on wiring and troubleshooting. Of course if I receive it earlier I'll be sure to post an update with pics. Have a good Friday the 13th!
 
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Quick update 3.5 not worth updating the worklog for. The Soldering Iron that I've been using is quite honestly garbage, tip won't heat up enough even after treating it like my child with the amount of times i've had to tin it. I'm likely going to buy a Pine64 Pinecil when I get paid tomorrow, which should hopefully line up with all of the parts arriving. I attempted to solder the GC+ 2 today, with sub-par results, as far as it getting to the point of considering a re-purchase. Long story short almost five points got bridged after a mishap, was able to remove all the excess solder with a hot air station and a lot of solder wick, and then proceeded to re-solder with the same dumb iron. Went over it with a multimeter and have no bridges, so now all looks good.
 
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Quick update 3.5 not worth updating the worklog for. The Soldering Iron that I've been using is quite honestly garbage, tip won't heat up enough even after treating it like my child with the amount of times i've had to tin it. I'm likely going to buy a Pine64 Pinecil when I get paid tomorrow, which should hopefully line up with all of the parts arriving. I attempted to solder the GC+ 2 today, with sub-par results, as far as it getting to the point of considering a re-purchase. Long story short almost five points got bridged after a mishap, was able to remove all the excess solder with a hot air station and a lot of solder wick, and then proceeded to re-solder with the same dumb iron. Went over it with a multimeter and have no bridges, so now all looks good.
I would suggest good solder and good iron. Just take your time and flow those joints up nice and shiny!

If you have any questions let us know!

Highly recommend this station:
Hakko
And solder:
 
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I would suggest good solder and good iron. Just take your time and flow those joints up nice and shiny!

If you have any questions let us know!

Highly recommend this station:
Hakko
And solder:
Thanks for the help! I ordered the Pine64 Pinecil Tuesday and it will arrive Monday, so I'll let you know how that turns out. I'll order some thinner solder wire and some nice flux to go with it next week. I highly plan to get a Hakko or Weller station for christmas, but a nice slim Pinecil should do me just fine until then and long after. (P.S I've been using your Black Ashida build as a guide, you do great work!)
 
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Update 5: April 14
Finally have a set date for the trim! (Hopefully) Next tuesday is when I plan to do it. All is going well, and I actually got my hands on the back plate from the person I have requested to do for me since the printer I have is way too small. Hopefully the front plate will come in next week and I can show a couple pictures. I've screwed the triggers into place and put the fan and heatsinks where they should be, and the screen and batteries are on their way, all the parts should trickle in next week. I'll begin soldering as soon as my Pinecil arrives, since the company I bought it from doesn't know how to ship properly and now I'll have to wait an extra week for it. The current status can be boiled down to waiting, LOTS and LOTS of waiting. I have a set deadline of late june for this project, which should hopefully give me about 2.5 months of work time and troubleshooting. I know I was promising big things this week, but unfortunately things didn't work out. I really hope to show you all more next week, but I'll try not to make promises like that again. Cheers! (Edit: I'll be posting updates from the comments now to bump the page) (Edit 2: I'll begin using the original post for "mini-updates" that I would feel guilty bumping for.)
 
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Update 6: April 26
Hey all! Been quite a few days since my last update. The trim is finished! I was notified on the discord to remove a few components on the edge of the trim, so I'll be doing that Thursday or Friday. I've also ordered 22 and 30 AWG wire in Silicone, meaning I'll be able to begin testing very soon. I'll be speeding up the process a bit since my deadline for this is late June, which I'm pretty confident I can make. Good news is that this project has given me a 99 in both of my computer classes, so I'd argue it's already done its purpose. But I'm not stopping until there's something to show for it! While the case is printed off, it was pretty rough on the front plate screw posts, so I've got two options; wait for a new CR-10 main board and get an old one working, or outsource it to PCBWay, which I am considering both. Will have to see so that I can have a case ready for more extensive testing. I'm excited to update you all soon! Most of my soldering should be done next month with June being a troubleshooting month. Cya lads! (Edit: Added some pics of the trim)
 

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Update 7: May 3
Hellloooo everyone! Great news this week, I was successful in getting the PMS-Lite functional and getting the fan to run, furthermore, all of my voltage resistances on the trimmed wii are looking good and I'm hoping to test video output by Monday of next week. I'm pretty confident I'll get the shell from JLCPCB, since PCBWay charges an arm and a leg for shipping to Canada, which is odd considering both are based in China. I got a little bit bored today after doing a lil work on the triggers, so I decided to have a very makeshift photoshoot with my trimmed Wii, maybe we'll make it to the cover of TIME magazine? I've got all the parts I need, so the only thing holding me back is the lack of a shell. Fingers crossed I can finish this before the end of the semester.
 

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Update 8: May 9
Bonjour! Big updates this week. Finally got around to trying out video on the wii, and I can confirm that it's booting! I thought I would be more excited but I feel like that'll be reserved until this portable is completed. I've learned so much from this project that having it enter the last stage of assembly is starting to get me nervous. I went on JLCPCB and ordered a resin Ashida case, which will hopefully arrive next week. I'll be posting bi-daily updates when I get into that home stretch, and I'll be sure to add one last update on what I would recommend for those doing this as a first project (assuming nothing goes wrong on my end). Weird to think that it's only been a little over a month since I started this project. I'd expect final assembly to take around a month and a half depending on how much troubleshooting/broken parts I need to fix. (Sorry for the blurry image this week, took it in a rush)

Edit: Don't mind my drink in the background, I was thirsty.
 

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CrazyGadget

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Looking good, my man! Just be careful with having all of the electronics all floating about like that; you're one small bump away from shorting / frying something. It's best to secure everything in place with screws before applying power to anything. Don't want to get a major setback from something so silly!

Can't wait to see more updates!
 
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Looking good, my man! Just be careful with having all of the electronics all floating about like that; you're one small bump away from shorting / frying something. It's best to secure everything in place with screws before applying power to anything. Don't want to get a major setback from something so silly!

Can't wait to see more updates!
Yeahhh, bless our lord and saviour enamled magnet wire or I would have definitely blown something up by now. Chances are I won't touch anything anymore with the batteries unplugged until the new shiny case comes in.
 
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Looking good! I think I might give the Ashida a go before I start my project. They just look so cool! Looking forward to seeing the finished result! Best of luck!
 
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Update 9: May 22
Hello everyone! Long wait, big surprises. I was able to get the very nice resin case from JLCPCB and they did a stellar job, I'd highly recommend them if anyone is in the market for a well done resin case for any project. I spent a lot of last week making final assembly, and consistently tested throughout. It's the most stressful and yet the most rewarding o.O. Below I've attached pictures. I'm hoping to keep a promise of more consistent updates to provide a basework for anyone hoping to do an Ashida in the future. Next week I mostly have via soldering and cable cleanup scheduled. most likely going to desolder the screen until I need to test it again. I also went through the first time effort of soldering the Flex Cable Connectors to the Ashida Controller Boards, it was easy like slicing through butter, by far the easiest soldering I've ever done. I believe I've summed most of it up though. Have a great day everyone!
 

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Update 10: May 31
Heya! Little bit of a shorter/sad update this week. During my attempts to wire up temporary controller input to show my teacher for the first time, I noticed that there was continuity between 3.3v and GND on the Ashida board, along with a complete lack of input. Long story short I've completely torn the Wii out of the case to try and pinpoint the problem. Obviously this is a pretty big setback, but I'll use this opportunity to clean up the spaghetti I had for all the wires connecting to the Wii. There's a time crunch of 1 month left to finish this up before summer or if not during summer. I've been losing my motivation over the past week but I wont stop until I put the screws in the back and call it finished. Hopefully the next update gives some happier update, but if you're interested what's going on over the week I usually ask for help in the Discord!

Edit: I completely forgot to add that I actually had USB working and booting into RVLoader, which made this setback more of a pain
 
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Update 11: June 8
Hey all, unfortunate news this week. After further testing I'm boggled at what's wrong with the portable. It's unclear if it's the multimeter I've been using, the wii itself, or some other unknown issue that I'm unaware of. It spiraled out of control within a day or two and I'm exhausted. The likelihood of fixing it before the end of the school year is increasingly unlikely and I've decided to postpone the project until summer. THIS DOES NOT MEAN I'VE GIVEN UP, my desire to finish this portable is still very strong. I have a very good feeling that I messed up the driver board after removing a few components to slim down on space, and that none of the actual expensive stuff (PMS, U-Amp, etc...) are ruined in any way after examining them. This also means I'll be moving the project to my house rather than at school, which is probably for the better anyway. My current plan is to clean the case with soapy water since I never got to actually do that upon receiving it and find a suitable area for me to work at home. I'll continue to update this thread as normal, but expect less until I have the courage and parts to continue.
 
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