Release F64 Controller Relocation PCB (Joystick, FRAM, and NUS-CNT Fusion)

[cy]

As many of you know, I've been working for quite a while now on an N64 portable of my own. Along the way I've developed several of my own PCBs including an N64 controller relocation PCB. This board allows you relocate the NUS-CNT controller chip and oscillator found on OEM N64 controllers. The F64 also features a footprint for FRAM chips like this allowing for built-in controller memory pak functionality! I've gotten several requests now for the files for (or files related to) this project and I've been meaning to release them so here they are!

I'd like to thank @Gman and @SparkleBear for sharing helpful diagrams, providing useful information, and providing component links such as the link for the FRAM chip provided by Gman. I'd also like to thank @CrazyGadget and @Y2K for helping me learn the basics of KiCAD so I could streamline something with so many connections.

Resistor values:
R1 = 5.6k
R2 = 1M
R3 = 10k
R4 = 10k
R5 = 10k

Capacitor value:
C1 = 1Uf

FRAM Chip orientation:

Here are some shots of the CAD work as well as a pic of it fully assembled:

I have included the KiCAD files as well as the files one would need to upload to JLCPCB to order a batch of these.

Enjoy! And if anyone has any questions feel free to leave them in a post below!

 

[Nicholas298]

Simple and clean design, love it!

 

[cy]

The original files I posted for this had an incomplete schematic that didn't include the resistors, capacitor, or Oscilator. There may be a few other minor issues with this, but for now I've updated the schematic and everything else should check out. If you find any other issues, please let me know. Also, please remember that this was my first ever PCB design so I was and still am learning. Thanks!

 

[Elektix]

Thankyou for putting the files up! The chipset footprints are extremely welcomed!

I'm building my own bespoke board at the moment with tacts on the reverse.

I've noticed you've included an additional 3x 10k resistors vs the usual diagram and an extra 1Uf capacitor?

Is there any specific reason you've added them? I'm assuming the cap is for smoothing? But what about the the three additional resistor connected back to Ground and VCC?

 

[cy]

Thankyou for putting the files up! The chipset footprints are extremely welcomed!

I'm building my own bespoke board at the moment with tacts on the reverse.

I've noticed you've included an additional 3x 10k resistors vs the usual diagram and an extra 1Uf capacitor?

Is there any specific reason you've added them? I'm assuming the cap is for smoothing? But what about the the three additional resistor connected back to Ground and VCC?

The 10k ohm resistors are either pull up or pull down resistors (I can't remember which), for the FRAM chip. The first batch of these that I ordered from JLC was missing one of these resistors, and the FRAM chip wouldn't keep save data after losing power. So these are important for that specifically in case you're curious. I don't remember what the capacitor was for though if I'm being honest.

 

[Elektix]

Ah thanks for the quick response! I'm building the board on KiCad as I type, so brilliant timing!

I'll be sure to follow your schematic to the letter

 

[cy]

Recently, I found myself revisiting the connections made in this project for work I was doing on another project. I'd like to thank @YveltalGriffin for teaching me the basics of two layer PCB design. I'm no electrical engineer, and I don't plan to change majors, so asking him and other people in the community for feedback really helped me to improve my design skills.

To that end, I decided to use some of my newfound knowledge and skills to create a better version of this project. In doing so, I was able to add a micro controller for joystick support, and I was even able to make the board smaller despite adding more pads and components.


Here's the new board populated and unpopulated (ignore the micro controller lol):

And here is a comparison between the first and second revisions:

Here are a few screenshots of what my work looks like in KiCAD:

I gotta say, I'm really happy with how this came out! This design is so much cleaner and more functional than my first design. The dimensions of this are X 35.1mm by Y 25mm. From what I understand, in terms of board space, this board is a decent bit smaller than Gman's design. That isn't a knock on him though, my board ends up being a bit thicker on the Z axis with the FRAM chip and NUS-CNT being added to the thickness. So really, this design might function as an alternative to Gman's design for builds that can afford to sacrifice a few millimeters in thickness for the sake of being smaller.

Anyways, now that I've attempted to justify this board's existence, I've gone ahead and updated the original post with the files for version 2. There are a few minor tweaks between the released version and the version I have pictures of, but they should function identically. I also left the files for version 1 up for the sake of preservation, I'd advise against using it however since it is larger and inferior in every way to version 2.

This project relies on Gman's code which can be found linked in this thread. Special thanks to Gman for making the code to make these kinds of boards possible!

 

[Oddcon_]

Thank you for these files they have proved very useful.

I am working on a project which involves the prompting of a CNT-NUS chip via an Arduino. I used the version 1 relocation PCB for this project and soldered up all of the components except for the FRAM chip. However, during testing I got no feedback from the N64. What sort of signal should I be putting outputting to the button pins in order to prompt a response? Also is there a reliable way to test if the board has been fried during the removal from the Controller board?

Any help would be greatly appreciate as I am new to working with this chip.

-Oddcon_

 

[cy]

Thank you for these files they have proved very useful.

I am working on a project which involves the prompting of a CNT-NUS chip via an Arduino. I used the version 1 relocation PCB for this project and soldered up all of the components except for the FRAM chip. However, during testing I got no feedback from the N64. What sort of signal should I be putting outputting to the button pins in order to prompt a response? Also is there a reliable way to test if the board has been fried during the removal from the Controller board?

Any help would be greatly appreciate as I am new to working with this chip.

-Oddcon_

The button pins get shorted to ground to create a button press. So in an actual use case scenario, one end of the tact switch would be wired up to one of the button pads, and the other tact switch would be wired up to ground. This applies to every button pad including the dpad. This doesn't apply to the joystick though.

The best way I found to test the board is to connect it to an N64 console using an original N64 controller cord. Red gets wired to 3.3v (VCC), black gets wired to ground, and white gets wired to data (or D). Once connected, you can verify that it is working by connecting it to the N64 and turning on a game that would normally give you a "no controller" prompt when you don't have a controller connected. If it doesn't give you a "no controller" prompt, then it should be working. You can further test this by wiring up some buttons.

A few other things I should mention:
- Rev1 of this project has a number of bad practices that I wasn't aware I was doing when I first designed it. It does still work reliably, although I did have issues one of my boards. Replacing the board fixed the issue, but I would strongly recommend that anyone using this project use a rev2 board in the future. They're smaller, more feature rich, and are better designed overall.

- I already mentioned this in a previous post, but Gman made a similar board that functions at least as well as if not better than my board. A link to this can be found here:
https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/n64-controller-module.6215/

- If you're still having problems getting it to work, I would try flipping the polarity of the controller's oscillator. I remember I had the oscillator going the wrong way after assembling one of these boards, and flipping which pins it was connected to fixed the issue.