Question How to wire the GameCube regulator?

[Cradiak]

I've been following Kasar's GCP guide over on ModRetro, but some of the images he uses when showing how to wire up the regulator to the mobo have broken links and a YouTube video that's since been taken down. The one picture he does have doesn't seem to match up with how he said to wire it, so I'm just double checking before I fry something. Can someone tell me which pins on the regulator go to which pins on the mobo?

 

[jefflongo]

Nobody really makes GameCube portables anymore because the Wii made them obsolete (can do everything a GC can do except smaller, more power efficient, doesn't require a disk drive/extinct modchip, and doesn't randomly fry itself [speaking from experience]) but some info on GCs are still available online. A quick google search yielded the image you were looking for (but since you're not far in I would highly recommend abandoning the GC for a Wii where you will have a much better end product and more access to help since it appears you are new to this hobby).

 

[Cradiak]

Nobody really makes GameCube portables anymore because the Wii made them obsolete (can do everything a GC can do except smaller, more power efficient, doesn't require a disk drive/extinct modchip, and doesn't randomly fry itself [speaking from experience]) but some info on GCs are still available online. A quick google search yielded the image you were looking for (but since you're not far in I would highly recommend abandoning the GC for a Wii where you will have a much better end product and more access to help since it appears you are new to this hobby).

It might seem obvious to you since you are more familiar with these, but that picture really doesn't tell me what I'm looking for. I had already found that image and others but it doesn't say which pin is which in regards to the number (pin 1,pin 2 etc) and even if it did I don't know if there's a standard or not. Meaning one picture may refer to pin 1 while another person might refer to it as pin 12 for example. Idk, but I don't want to make assumptions because if I wire up the regulator board incorrectly I risk frying the mobo.

Also, that picture and the website it belongs to are just for a trimming guide, I didn't see any info on rewiring the regulator board.

As far as the Wii portable, I've already made one. And I just so happened to have a gamecube I didn't need anymore so I'm giving it a makeover. I realize the Wii is a better system to mod, but as this is a hobby of mine, that doesn't matter to me. I enjoy the challenge

Sorry if I seem dense, I'm just being extra careful since it's such a delicate process, and like I said, some of the stuff that may seem obvious to you more experienced folk goes right over my head, so please excuse my ignorance.

 

[jefflongo]

It might seem obvious to you since you are more familiar with these, but that picture really doesn't tell me what I'm looking for. I had already found that image and others but it doesn't say which pin is which in regards to the number (pin 1,pin 2 etc) and even if it did I don't know if there's a standard or not. Meaning one picture may refer to pin 1 while another person might refer to it as pin 12 for example. Idk, but I don't want to make assumptions because if I wire up the regulator board incorrectly I risk frying the mobo.

Also, that picture and the website it belongs to are just for a trimming guide, I didn't see any info on rewiring the regulator board.

As far as the Wii portable, I've already made one. And I just so happened to have a gamecube I didn't need anymore so I'm giving it a makeover. I realize the Wii is a better system to mod, but as this is a hobby of mine, that doesn't matter to me. I enjoy the challenge

Sorry if I seem dense, I'm just being extra careful since it's such a delicate process, and like I said, some of the stuff that may seem obvious to you more experienced folk goes right over my head, so please excuse my ignorance.

So you see the pins in those image, those match up with the regulator board when it's plugged in. So you just need to match up the pins as if it were plugged in. If you are unsure which group of pins you are working with on the regulator board side use a multimeter's continuity function to find the group of pins that are the same.

If you read through that trimming guide it tells you how to wire it up. You can group set of pins that are alike and adjacent to each other with solder and just connect one wire to the corresponding group of pins on the regulator board. Use at least 22AWG stranded wire. You need to connect 5v, 3.3v, 1.9v, and gnd (12v is not necessary, only for the preamp, you can connect anywhere between 5-12v here although higher voltage is better). If you aren't trimming the board further I would recommend connecting the thermal protection as well.

Good luck!

 

[Cradiak]

So you see the pins in those image, those match up with the regulator board when it's plugged in. So you just need to match up the pins as if it were plugged in. If you are unsure which group of pins you are working with on the regulator board side use a multimeter's continuity function to find the group of pins that are the same.

If you read through that trimming guide it tells you how to wire it up. You can group set of pins that are alike and adjacent to each other with solder and just connect one wire to the corresponding group of pins on the regulator board. Use at least 22AWG stranded wire. You need to connect 5v, 3.3v, 1.9v, and gnd (12v is not necessary, only for the preamp, you can connect anywhere between 5-12v here although higher voltage is better). If you aren't trimming the board further I would recommend connecting the thermal protection as well.

Good luck!

Okay, thanks for breaking it down for me! I went through 3 mobos on my first wii build, so I'm trying to be careful and avoid that this time around lol I appreciate the help!

 

[Cradiak]

UPDATE: I wired the regulator up and everything powered on okay, thanks for your help!
I edited a pinout Ashen made to dumb it down a little more for my own use, I so credit goes to him for the original picture. I'll upload the edited picture here just in case anyone else might benefit from it.

NOTE: The pin numbers aren't necessarily numbered according to the standard, I just put a number on them for reference and then the corresponding number on the regulator.

 

[Stitches]

UPDATE: I wired the regulator up and everything powered on okay, thanks for your help!
I edited a pinout Ashen made to dumb it down a little more for my own use, I so credit goes to him for the original picture. I'll upload the edited picture here just in case anyone else might benefit from it.

NOTE: The pin numbers aren't necessarily numbered according to the standard, I just put a number on them for reference and then the corresponding number on the regulator.

View attachment 6223

If I were you, I'd use two wires for ground, and two wires for 1.9v. You need a lot of ground for a gamecube, and 1.9v has a large current draw.

 

[Cradiak]

If I were you, I'd use two wires for ground, and two wires for 1.9v. You need a lot of ground for a gamecube, and 1.9v has a large current draw.

Gotcha. How thick does the ground wire need to be? I read that it does need to be a big wire, I used a stranded wire from a 12v 1.5A power supply, it's much thicker than the other wires. I only have 1 wire on the 1.9V though.

Here's a picture of the two wires I used, the small one is what I used on most of the connections, but the thicker one is the one I used for ground. I think the smaller wire is around 22-23 awg, I'm not sure about the thicker one.

 

[Stitches]

Gotcha. How thick does the ground wire need to be? I read that it does need to be a big wire, I used a stranded wire from a 12v 1.5A power supply, it's much thicker than the other wires. I only have 1 wire on the 1.9V though.

Here's a picture of the two wires I used, the small one is what I used on most of the connections, but the thicker one is the one I used for ground. I think the smaller wire is around 22-23 awg, I'm not sure about the thicker one.
View attachment 6224

For GC, I'd generally say use 20-22AWG wire for power and ground. Not sure about the larger wire, looks big enough, the smaller one looks 24-ish. Two of the larger wires will do fine.