Fiddlesticks’s Twilight Princess G-Boy

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Hallo all!

I am finally at the point that I think I can start a worklog! I received my gboy kit a couple months ago and have been using my weekends to figure out the software parts. I wanted to do right and get my isos from my own gamecube collection and it was lots of fun figuring out how to use the wii to cleanrip the games! Proud to say I have managed it and I feel quite smug! I also got bbloader and all working on my future portable wii as well so the software side is all done!

I also wanted to give my g-boy an awesome paint job! So I used bondo and sandpaper to make a lovely finish on it, and then painted it! I think it turned out very pretty!

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This weekend Im planning on starting the trim! So wish me luck and expect ill have some pictures to show off!
 
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Dude I love that game twilight princess, and the paint job bravo, excellent job. Can’t wait to see the final product.
 
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Back! I did my first trim! I was fairly nervous, so i think i may have cut farther away in some cases.

I am also a little concerned about 2 things. First in photo 1, the capacitors and such that were supposed to be removed were less than eager to go an tried to take the green with them! Will this be a problem and if not, should i tape it down or remove the pulled up bit?
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Second in my concerns. The dremel jumped and exposed some of the copper on the back side(right of main board). Will this be ok?
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And lastly, do you all see anything that might cause a problem? If not ill be starting the relocation and such tonight! This project is so much fun!
 

Stitches

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That bit you nicked you be fine, it's just a ground plane. Also, any components along the trim edge that the dremel cut should be removed before testing.
 
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That bit you nicked you be fine, it's just a ground plane. Also, any components along the trim edge that the dremel cut should be removed before testing.
Hi Stitches, should i just pull them off with pliers or should i be more delicate?
 

Stitches

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You could desolder them nicely if you want to, otherwise pliers are fine
 
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So when i started the u10 relocation, when it came off it looks like one of the legs popped off. Ive read that i could also use the u9 instead. Would that cause any problems?
 
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Happy almost Turkey day! I managed to make some more progress. I finished the wii prep. Full disclosure, it did not turn out pretty and I am a bit concerned I did some irreparable damage to the wii. I had to upgrade my soldering iron halfway through because it was burning the board! I knew that iron was janky, but sadly I was dumb and inexperience and thought it would be fine.

Details! So I removed the u10 but unfortunately one of the legs came off. I decided to continue and remove the u5 at least and here is where the story turns into a pg horror movie. It did not want to come off! I kept the iron on too long and it burned. I think its likely this sucker is toast, but the pads were all still there. At this point i ordered an actual iron and once it came relocated the u9 instead. I removed it much easier and located it on the u5 and strung that tiny little wire to the right place. I even got the LDO removed very easily. Moral of the story... Good tools make things so much easier! Go figure.
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I may have to get a new wii to re-trim as the price, but I learned alot on this attempt! And its so fun I wouldnt even mind!

In the meantime, I decided to move forward with the gboy guts. It took a little to get comfy with soldering, but with my brand new iron, I think i made mostly ok joints. I am particularly proud of the joints next to the heatsink as I finally got into a groove and those are just lovely little hilltops.
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Now we come to the obligatory question. I am having issues getting the battery to fit into the area in order to test. Is it supposed to be a crazy tight fit? Or should I try and get a different battery? And if so, any links?
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Also, I read I’d have to bridge the u9 spot since I relocated it instead. How do I do that exactly? And of course if ya’ll see anything weird please let me know!

Thanks for all the help getting my inexperienced behind through this project!
 

Stitches

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Bridging U9 is only a thing for untrimmed boards
 
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Continuing our adventure! I received new batteries and was finally able to test the fan and it worked! Woo!

I started on the next step of preparing the LCD. I removed the inductor as directed by step 1 and had a brief issue. I accidentally unsoldered C134 as well! After a brief panic attack, i used the wick to remove it from its solder blob and resoldered it on. I will continue working the next steps today, but i was wondering if there is a way to confirm that it is functioning properly?
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Stitches

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Supply 5v and see if the screen turns on. If you put the cap back then it should be fine
 

Stitches

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Oh yeah, it's pre inductor
 
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Ok. So when i got to wiring 5v step, i saw that the charge ground in the manual was going to a different ground (the same way as the +charge). I thought that was a bit cleaner since the wires would be going the same way and decided to move the ground wire. When i did a test of it, the fan wasnt turning on and it was not charging. I moved the wire back and same story. Being worried about the pms, i did some research and checked some of the wires. The battery was delivering 3.5 to the pms. Both the BTN C22 and the VYSY were seeing the same approximate voltage. (I was careful to avoid bridging my multimeter-if the ghostbusters taught us anything its to not cross the streams) From what i read that seems like a good indication that my pms is still with us. I am not sure what to do at this point. I may try to unsolder most of it and start from the beginning unless theres a better method to figure out whats going on. Any thoughts?

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Hello, been a while but im still working on this. I still havnt been able to get the fan to work or to get the charge working. I tried replacing the charge and corresponding ground wires but no change. Im not sure if im missing something obvious. Im going to replace all the other wires 1 by 1 but if anyone sees something obvious please let me know.
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Well. I replaced all the wires with colorful wires to make sure i didnt switch anything around wrong. Still no charging and no fan. I have no idea what to do now.
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