Discussion Ideas, questions, etc, Post em here!

[jefflongo]

Hey, just joined and I want to make a "laptop" style portable out of an old famicom I got for cheap, I'm kind of confused just how you connect screens to consoles? I see a lot in the guides about getting composite outs from consoles, but how do you actually connect those to raw screens? Do you need driver boards?

Yes you need a driver board for the display. Also the driver board has to actually support composite video. Then you just solder a wire from the composite video pin on the console to the composite video in on the driver board. Then connect a gnd wire between both for the return path. You'll also need a means to power the screen. Many screens run on 12v, but can be operated on lower voltages such as 5v (check the guide section for more info on this).

 

[nim]

How do I find driver boards?

 

[jefflongo]

How do I find driver boards?

Most displays you buy will come with a driver board. Most people use car backup monitors from eBay.

 

[Dustin Fisher]

Hey all! I just joined this forum and it seems very information dense so far and I really appreciate that. My goal is to make a portable that can play GameCube games and I see that a Wii is a very plausible way of doing this! I have attempted to make a GameCube portable in the past and that was a lot of fun! although unsuccessful. I have made a successful raspberry pi handheld and that turned out pretty good I think. Regardless, I have prior experience in soldering and electronics but I keep seeing that people use custom regulators when doing the OMGWTF trim and I was wondering as to why not to use a step-down regulator from online? such as this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GJ0SC2...olid=1KUHS9P9WPW0U&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Will it work as a replacement regulator when going through with this? I have a power supply to tune them. Thanks in advance!

 

[Cradiak]

Hey all! I just joined this forum and it seems very information dense so far and I really appreciate that. My goal is to make a portable that can play GameCube games and I see that a Wii is a very plausible way of doing this! I have attempted to make a GameCube portable in the past and that was a lot of fun! although unsuccessful. I have made a successful raspberry pi handheld and that turned out pretty good I think. Regardless, I have prior experience in soldering and electronics but I keep seeing that people use custom regulators when doing the OMGWTF trim and I was wondering as to why not to use a step-down regulator from online? such as this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GJ0SC2...olid=1KUHS9P9WPW0U&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Will it work as a replacement regulator when going through with this? I have a power supply to tune them. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum! I'm working on a GameCube portable right now, good stuff.

That step-down regulator looks like it should work. I'm not sure how the size compares to the custom regs most use here, but assuming size isn't an issue I don't see why they wouldn't work. Only pro I guess to making your own is they don't have to be adjusted/programmed to get the right voltage, they are hard wired to regulate the voltage to the desired amount, so it may be a bit more reliable because it's a master of one trade so to speak instead of a jack of trades (er, voltages...), but that's just speculation. Some of the other guys here can probably illuminate more on that, I haven't had to mess with custom regs yet.

 

[GingerOfOz]

Hey all! I just joined this forum and it seems very information dense so far and I really appreciate that. My goal is to make a portable that can play GameCube games and I see that a Wii is a very plausible way of doing this! I have attempted to make a GameCube portable in the past and that was a lot of fun! although unsuccessful. I have made a successful raspberry pi handheld and that turned out pretty good I think. Regardless, I have prior experience in soldering and electronics but I keep seeing that people use custom regulators when doing the OMGWTF trim and I was wondering as to why not to use a step-down regulator from online? such as this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GJ0SC2...olid=1KUHS9P9WPW0U&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Will it work as a replacement regulator when going through with this? I have a power supply to tune them. Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the forum! I'm working on a GameCube portable right now, good stuff.

That step-down regulator looks like it should work. I'm not sure how the size compares to the custom regs most use here, but assuming size isn't an issue I don't see why they wouldn't work. Only pro I guess to making your own is they don't have to be adjusted/programmed to get the right voltage, they are hard wired to regulate the voltage to the desired amount, so it may be a bit more reliable because it's a master of one trade so to speak instead of a jack of trades (er, voltages...), but that's just speculation. Some of the other guys here can probably illuminate more on that, I haven't had to mess with custom regs yet.

Actually those regulators are a terrible idea. We reccomends the PTHs because they are the cheapest, easy to regulators that actually work. Those ones are notorious for just about everything: being DoA, melting down, overblown specs, extreme heat, etc. A portable is an investment, and cheaping out on regs is a great way to ruin the whole product.

So long story short, they rarely work, and if they do at first then they don't last long.

Good choice with the Wii though, you are right in assuming that it's the best option for portable GameCube games. Hope this helps!

 

[Dustin Fisher]

Ahh, i see! Thank you for the feedback! I will take a look into making custom regulators and seeing if that is an adequate option but i do not see why it wouldn't. Can you recommend a place to look up making custom regulators on bitbuilt? I can't seem to find the right thread.

 

[cheese]

Ahh, i see! Thank you for the feedback! I will take a look into making custom regulators and seeing if that is an adequate option but i do not see why it wouldn't. Can you recommend a place to look up making custom regulators on bitbuilt? I can't seem to find the right thread.

https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/custom-regulators-an-explanation-and-guide.754/

The Guide Hub will help you out, we've spent some time writing and proofreading the guides in there.

 

[Jack Jepson]

Hi! I'm REALLY new to all this and will need some hand holding but I wanted to share my idea for the playstation 2.

my idea was to basically to turn it into a slapper, more compact console with a decently sized screen. I wanted to make it about the size of the disk tray.

 

[Dustin Fisher]

a PS2 portable sounds really cool! do you mean one of the full-size disk trays found in older desktops? that should be plenty of space if that's the goal. what is a slapper? also, I think there is a ps2 section on the forums that you may wanna peruse through.
https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?forums/sony.147/
I honestly don't know much about PS2's but I'm sure there are tons of people to help you over there with trimming guides 'n' such

 

[Jack Jepson]

I just posted here because it said to "ideas, questions, etc". but no, it's not a portable. it's honestly just a smaller version of the console with a few changes and added stuff. also, I'm bad at typing so "slapper" was an error on my part I meant to say slimmer.

 

[CON64]

Hi everyone, I'm completely new to modding consoles but I'd like to get started. I currently have 2 n64s that aren't working, a NES that isn't working, and a gameboy advance sp that seems to have all parts but is in peices. I would like to fix my NES and one n64 to run like normal, however I want to turn the 2nd n64 and gba into modding projects. Does anyone have a suggestion of a project with these that a beginner could possibly do?

 

[cheese]

A portable n64 would be a good project for a beginner, only a couple regs and minimal wiring is required to get it running

 

[mimaef]

Hello everyone! Am I able to remove the section of the original SNES controller port that has the LED? I would like to make a custom case for it, but the only thing in my way is the board for the port is too long on one side with the LED and would stop me from going with the size I want. Looking at the board, it appears to me that the side with the LED is only for powering the LED itself and I may be able to trim it down. I looked all over with no answer other than how to switch the LED out, but I did see that some console boards could be trimmed to something smaller, so I'm hoping! I've included pictures. Thanks for the help.


Edit: Alternatively, would I be able to just nab one from the newer, SNES jr?

 

[Shank]

From what I understand, that board is just traces aside from an LED and a current limiting resistor for it. You should be able to cut that part off no problem, rewire it if you want an LED, or even desolder the ports from the board and just run wires by hand from the bare ports to the console.

You should make your own thread for your SNES project. Based off what you told us on my stream, I'm sure many members here would be interested in your project

 

[mimaef]

From what I understand, that board is just traces aside from an LED and a current limiting resistor for it. You should be able to cut that part off no problem, rewire it if you want an LED, or even desolder the ports from the board and just run wires by hand from the bare ports to the console.

You should make your own thread for your SNES project. Based off what you told us on my stream, I'm sure many members here would be interested in your project

Thank you for the help! Electronics is a new place to dive in for me, so I'm both nervous and excited about it. I'll definitely make a thread once I have a tiny bit more to show for my project.

 

[Tobaganner]

I have a 4 layer Wii and was wondering if there are any guides for relocating the Bluetooth module for the OMGWTF trim

 

[fibbef]

Believe it or not, yes. There's a small section in this guide for Bluetooth, including a couple nice diagrams.

 

[Luingus221]

I'm new here, and I wanted to learn how to do these kinds of things. I have some experience with these kinds of things, as I've connected up a bunch of things to the Raspberry Pi I have at my dad's, and wanted to do more than that. One of the big questions I have is what are the basic supplies for doing this? I know I'll of course need a soldering and desoldering iron, but what else would I need? One of the first projects I want to do is repair my 3DS XL, as it has an internal screen issue.

 

[AfroAddy]

Hello friends! I just recently found these forums through Shank Mod's youtube video for the Kill Mii lol. I've actually been wanting to try modifying some of my old electronics around and thought this would be a fun place to start The first project I wanna attempt is 'portabilizing' my old PS2 (SCPH-75001), albeit a daunting one for sure. I have so far, a soldering iron (idk if I'll even need to use it?), ordered a 3.5" screen (HiLetgo 3.2" IPS TFT LCD Display ILI9481 480X320) and some screwdrivers and such for getting started. I also will be trying to use this plastic first aid kit as its case (~5.5"x4.5"x1.5" i think?) which is in the picture. Nice to meet you all!