Question Bunch of Questions

[blu3rav3n]

Ok so I have been looking through all the posts I can find and there's a few questions I can't exactly find answers for, so before I continue with a wii portable project here we go.

1. I plan on using the buttons and joysticks from a Wii U gamepad ( personally I like the feel and I'm familiar with the pin out). Can I use the GC+ board as the default controller when the Wii boots up hooked up to those buttons?

2. The 6.5 LCD screen I was thinking of using since it only needs 5v 2a only has HDMI on the board. I've seen that it's not the best to down convert. Is there a different board with a 6.5 inch 16:9 screen someone can recommend?

3. The RVL Power Management system board. Seems is currently out of stock but does the board come already built and not just a blank pcb? Also no need for any additional buck converters and such if I just use that?

4. I plan on running the same battery setup I have in my pi3 portable which has a 14kmah pack. Any idea on a rough estimate on the battery life I might expect? I"m figuring I might get around 2.5 hrs, does that sound about right?

5. I have a 6 layer board ( could not for the life of me find a 4 layer) that I picked up already with the HBC(1.1.2 ios58 v24.32) and the usbloader channel. Do I need clear the nand and re-letterbomb it to use the cheese installer or can I just run the installer separate?


Sorry if any of these were answered in a different post. I've been searching through and just haven't found them.


Cheers!

 

[GBAGuy007]

I can't for sure answer all of these but I can answer a few.

3. The Wii PMS board is ready to go with everything you need for power built in and more, no need for any other converters.

4. Since you are using a 6 layer Wii (not recommended) I'm not sure but a 4 layer board Portable tends to take around 10 watts, assuming your battery pack is 5v it should be around 70 watt hours. With everything taken into account I would say you have are least 3 hours if game time.

Also, just look for Wii motherboards or Wiis on eBay, there are plenty cheap 4 layers if you look hard enough.

 

[Stitches]

Ok so I have been looking through all the posts I can find and there's a few questions I can't exactly find answers for, so before I continue with a wii portable project here we go.

1. I plan on using the buttons and joysticks from a Wii U gamepad ( personally I like the feel and I'm familiar with the pin out). Can I use the GC+ board as the default controller when the Wii boots up hooked up to those buttons?

2. The 6.5 LCD screen I was thinking of using since it only needs 5v 2a only has HDMI on the board. I've seen that it's not the best to down convert. Is there a different board with a 6.5 inch 16:9 screen someone can recommend?

3. The RVL Power Management system board. Seems is currently out of stock but does the board come already built and not just a blank pcb? Also no need for any additional buck converters and such if I just use that?

4. I plan on running the same battery setup I have in my pi3 portable which has a 14kmah pack. Any idea on a rough estimate on the battery life I might expect? I"m figuring I might get around 2.5 hrs, does that sound about right?

5. I have a 6 layer board ( could not for the life of me find a 4 layer) that I picked up already with the HBC(1.1.2 ios58 v24.32) and the usbloader channel. Do I need clear the nand and re-letterbomb it to use the cheese installer or can I just run the installer separate?


Sorry if any of these were answered in a different post. I've been searching through and just haven't found them.


Cheers!

Nice list, here some answers:

1. Yes, you can indeed use Wii U gamepad buttons and sticks with the GC+ no problems. I can't remember if the traces are carbon or copper, though. If they're carbon you'll need a FFC connector to solder the wires to the GC+.
2. You could use this one here. It accepts VGA too, so you could use Aurelio's VGA patch to get crispy 480p out. The board can also be 5v or even 3.3v modded with the removal of a few unnecessary components. However, it is from china so there will be a 15-30 day shipping delay because of Corona virus quarantine procedures. You might be able to find a similar one stocked locally.
3. All PMS units are prepopulated and programmed with all regs onboard, ready to be installed the moment you recieve them. You can use a USB-C PD from the store with a PMS for some expanded convenient functions, but you can also just use a 12v DC barrel jack to power the PMS since it handles charging internally.
4. 14000mAh? With a PMS that'll probably get you nearly 5 hours of runtime on a 4 layer, maybe 3ish on a 6 layer depending on screen draw. You'll get some good miliage from that presuming the pack isn't el-cheapo.
5. Honestly that's hard to guess. Cheese Installer can be temperamental. It should work, but don't be surprised if it doesn't. There are ways to do the install manually with another app, so you can do it that way if Cheese fails. As for the 6 layer thing, 4 layers are usually pretty easy to find. Any Wii with a black or red case is a 4 layer (unless some ass reshelled a 6 layer into a newer housing), and the family edition Wiis with no GC ports (but still full GC function with homebrew) are also all 4 layers. I'm assuming you're American, if so you can ask most any staff member besides myself and Wesk for help locating 4 layer boards. I do highly recommend trying again to get one, the extra battery life and reduced heat output are so very worth it.

Good questions btw.

EDIT: I brainfarted, updated with pertinent information.

 

[blu3rav3n]

Thanks you two for the responses.

Awesome that I can use those buttons and joysticks. Yea I had to use the FPC connectors for my Pi3 project awhile back. I'll post the few pictures I have of it below for those interested.

That screen would be perfect! I already have a spare 50pin 6.5 so hopefully I can find that board local and not have to ship from overseas. Also awesome on the PMS board and yea if I can run that screen off 5v and just tie into the pms board that would be even better.

Yup, I run my retro Pi setup on the Wii U game pad and get pretty much 8 hrs playing PS1 games. I draw about 2.6a (from what I can remember) with the Pi3, screen, teensy board and audio amp.

Thanks for the heads up on the boards. I know I saw the threads that 6 layers were easier to work on but yea more heat and power. I had gotten a Wii recently in a box of junk and decided its new life was going to be that of a portable. Assuming I was able to get it completed, I want to add it to my give-a-ways on my Extralife page this year to help with donations. After I saw it was a 6 layer I just kinda accepted it, but currently I am looking into getting a 4 layer because a 5 hr runtime would be downright ludacris and I love that idea!




The few pictures I have of my Pi3. All buttons but the home and tv button work. The switch on top controls whether or not the speakers are active or the headphone jack is.

 

[Stitches]

Thanks you two for the responses.

Awesome that I can use those buttons and joysticks. Yea I had to use the FPC connectors for my Pi3 project awhile back. I'll post the few pictures I have of it below for those interested.

That screen would be perfect! I already have a spare 50pin 6.5 so hopefully I can find that board local and not have to ship from overseas. Also awesome on the PMS board and yea if I can run that screen off 5v and just tie into the pms board that would be even better.

Yup, I run my retro Pi setup on the Wii U game pad and get pretty much 8 hrs playing PS1 games. I draw about 2.6a (from what I can remember) with the Pi3, screen, teensy board and audio amp.

Thanks for the heads up on the boards. I know I saw the threads that 6 layers were easier to work on but yea more heat and power. I had gotten a Wii recently in a box of junk and decided its new life was going to be that of a portable. Assuming I was able to get it completed, I want to add it to my give-a-ways on my Extralife page this year to help with donations. After I saw it was a 6 layer I just kinda accepted it, but currently I am looking into getting a 4 layer because a 5 hr runtime would be downright ludacris and I love that idea!




The few pictures I have of my Pi3. All buttons but the home and tv button work. The switch on top controls whether or not the speakers are active or the headphone jack is.

Noice.

If you have the phuks to give, you could use some PTH08080s and the 6 layer to make a Wii micro. The extra heat and power consumption don't matter terribly much when it's always plugged in to wall power.

 

[blu3rav3n]

I had never seen PTH08080s but man those are nice. I might have found 1 or 2, 4 layer boards but now I have a new question. They are both a black Wii but one has the gamecube ports while the other does not. Any benefit to not having the ports or getting the one that does?

 

[jefflongo]

I had never seen PTH08080s but man those are nice. I might have found 1 or 2, 4 layer boards but now I have a new question. They are both a black Wii but one has the gamecube ports while the other does not. Any benefit to not having the ports or getting the one that does?

Unless you want to use the GC ports for something, no. They will both be 4 layers.