Worklog Frii Lite

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Hey all,

Welcome to my first worklog of my first Wii portable. I have the nasty habit of renaming my device to include part of my name. At home I have Fredbook Pro, a Surfred Pro 3, a Airport Frexpress, you get it... So let's welcome the future member of this family, the Frii Lite!

My background is software development, but my hobby of building computers evolved into building a computer into an old NES case, into a Raspberry Pi into a GameBoy case, into an arcade from scratch. None of these projects had very tricky soldering or electronic requirements. My greatest accomplishment is having the NES controller port on the NES function as a USB port through the original port.

So finishing this project won't be easy, but Covid-19 is giving me quite some extra time to spend at home, together with that and registering for this competition, I'm hoping to push myself to create my first Wii portable.

You could say that I should just build a simple Wii portable for my first portable, but if I'm anything, I'm competitive. So a "normal" build will not suffice.

As the name implies, the form factor will be that of the Switch Lite. At least in the length and width, probably not in depth. But let's see how far I can push it... Since the Lite has a wide screen and for the Wii portable a 4:3 screen makes more sense, I would like to use the gained real-estate for GameCube buttons/layout instead of Switch buttons/layout. I'll have to try my hand on 3D modelling and 3D printing.

Feature/Spec Wishlist
  • USB-C Charging
  • 5" 4:3 screen
  • GameCube button and sticks, except for maybe the shoulder buttons. Might go for the Switch solder buttons, with two Z buttons and double tactile L and R.
  • 4x 18650 batteries or a flat lithium alternative to reduce depth space?
  • internal usb storage space
  • 3d printed frame that matches the Switch Lite in width and height and the smallest depth.
  • headphone jack, maybe speakers
  • RVL PMS
  • GC+ v2.0 Controller PCBs
  • Heatsink and Blower Fan
  • Have (most of) the ports at the same location as the Switch Lite has them
It's very ambitious for my first portable, but I just mostly want to get started in this field and hope to learn a lot along the way! I do have quite some time to spend on this, so hopefully I can make it work!

Feel free to comment or ask questions. But not too technical, I was hoping to ask you those. This is my best Photoshop or end result I hope to achieve. The color will be GameCube purple.
mockup.png
 
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So it begins...

The day started with a lot of fails. I can't remember how many times I've formatted my microSDs into 32kb clusters, moved the corresponding files to them, letterbomb and try to run the cheese installer. After a lot of fails, I tried to "format" the Wii. My Wii's are all in Dutch. Without the SD or USB, I started up the Wii, went to Wii Settings > Memory > Erase memory. After this, you restart the Wii and have to set it up. This time, for language, I choose English. Location still The Netherlands. Set the date and time (important for the letterbomb) and give it a nickname (Frii Lite). Now it was time for the 100th format 32kb clusters/move files/letterbomb/cheese installer ritual of the day. For the first Wii it was a success after using this trick that cheese mentions. One the second Wii it turned out the Mac Address had changed with the memory wipe (even though with the first one, it didn't). So I had to rebuild PortablizeMii/format/move/letter/cheese, and... SUCCESS!!

Tomorrow I'll start on the case design, while I wait for parts I've order on the BitBuilt store. Sorry if this worklog is a bit noob orientated, but that is because I am a noob myself in this...

Good luck to the rest of the competition, I've seen some amazing entries!!!
IMG_20200418_185954.jpg
 
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Nice dude, problems happen and the only thing you can do is look for a solution, that's what makes all of this engineering rewarding!
 
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Cool idea! I have some suggestions though. How thick is it approximately going to be? It's better if you use switch sticks instead as they take up far less space. Also, I think this color is Atomic Purple and not GameCube Purple, but that's just a minor detail.
 
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It's better if you use switch sticks instead as they take up far less space.
If you do want to the switch joysticks, but you still want the look of the original GameCube sticks, Madmorda made a video about modding the switch joysticks to look like GameCube joysticks.

 
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I wish I could be in the competition but I just joined on Tuesday, and I don't know how long my portable would take to build because it is my first portable. EDIT: Monday, not Tuesday.
 
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Cool idea! I have some suggestions though. How thick is it approximately going to be? It's better if you use switch sticks instead as they take up far less space. Also, I think this color is Atomic Purple and not GameCube Purple, but that's just a minor detail.
I'm gonna try and finish the 3D model this weekend, then I can give an estimate of the thickness. But I might first go for very thick, put everything in and see where I can slim it down. Might have to go for either two batteries (instead of four) or a thin one (although they get quite hot I've read).

Atomic Purple. Good to know! I just used GameCube purple to clarify it should look like a GameCube (color and button wise). When I get to painting, I'll find out what matches most. Will definitely check out Atomic Purple!

And thanks Aaron for that video! Will have a look at that to save some more space. Thanks for the support everyone. I haven't been sitting still. I opened up my first Wii (my 6 layer one) to get a feel for what to expect. If I finish the design, I might attack it with my Dremel. To see if I can Dremel a Wii without killing it. Good to know for when it's for real on my 4-layer one. If I don't brick it, it seems like it might fit nicely in an old NES case I have around... (side project).
IMG_20200501_181226.jpg
 
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This is my first go at 3D designing... I'll probably start with just printing the top, try to fit the components and make adjustments from there. Will have a look at the Switch sticks as well. So far I've cut two batteries to have the device be thin in the middle, with just two grips sticking out.
Frii_Lite_bottom.png Frii_Lite_side.png Frii_Lite_top.png
 
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Wow, looks good for your first 3D design!
Credit goes to @Gman, as I used his Solidworks files from the G-Wii as the base for my design. So I didn't have to 3D design all the components (batteries, OMGWTF trim, screen, etc). After that, I've watched a bunch of HowTo Fusion 360 videos :) I hope to obtain a 3D printer soon and do a first print. When I get my parts, I'll do a fitting and see where I can save some more space, to get the case more like a Switch Lite.
 
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