Solved Immediate Ashida issues

[abbell]

I just finished my trim a few days ago and decided to just go for it with the Ashida. I checked all of the diagrams on 4layertech and all my wiring seems to be in the right spot, I don't see any shorts, and none of my wires are absurdly but some of them could be a little shorter, I guess.

When I switch on power, I am not seeing any video. My usb-to-sd adapter has a light that flashes when it gets power, and it flashes when I turn the wii on. I also measured some voltages, and everything seems to be right, including U10, which gets a constant 3.3 volts. My screen also turns on and flashes a blue screen with VGA in the corner.

I can submit more detailed pictures if necessary, but I was just wondering if anyone had any general troubleshooting tips. I've never built one of these, so I just want somewhere to start.

Also I know my shell is really warped. When I ordered it, the company did not honor my request to ship it already assembled. This lead to severe warping and they refused to even talk to me when I reported the problem. I plan on ordering a new one from PCBway instead once I get everything working.

 

[Teatimetim]

Can you post a closer shot of of the wiring on your board? Also, can you feel the chip getting hot when you power it on? One thing I didn't see you mention was connecting Mode to 3V3 which enables VGA output on the Wii.

 

[abbell]

I’m not at home right now so I can’t get a better picture, but I do have a question about mode. It basically acts as a jumper, right? Also, which point on the Wii should I connect mode to?

 

[Teatimetim]

You can wire mode via 8 to either number 10 (the 3V3 side of the cap), or TP47 to 3V3 anywhere (TP47 is the test pad for via 8 Mode).

It's signaling the Wii to force component and VGA mode, but you have to make sure your Wii is also setup to enable VGA when installing RVLoader.

 

[abbell]

It turns on!

But I am having some issues. Thank you Tim for your diagram (I had mode wired to point 5 in the diagram instead of point 8) so I fixed that and I have video. When I first turned everything on, I had no indication of battery or thermal temps because I forgot to wire SCW and SDW. But I still have a few issues that I do not know how to resolve.

#1: My fan seems to not work. It turns on at full blast for a second when I boot the Ashida but it then stops turning and makes a clicking sound.
#2: I have no audio tab in RVLoader. Should I do something with the SCL and SDA ports on the U-AMP?
#3 (more of a question): Do you need Bluetooth reinstalled for GC2Wiimote to work?

this is very exciting

 

[bobc1674]

You do not need Bluetooth for gc2wiimote to work.

 

[Stitches]

It turns on!

But I am having some issues. Thank you Tim for your diagram (I had mode wired to point 5 in the diagram instead of point 8) so I fixed that and I have video. When I first turned everything on, I had no indication of battery or thermal temps because I forgot to wire SCW and SDW. But I still have a few issues that I do not know how to resolve.

#1: My fan seems to not work. It turns on at full blast for a second when I boot the Ashida but it then stops turning and makes a clicking sound.
#2: I have no audio tab in RVLoader. Should I do something with the SCL and SDA ports on the U-AMP?
#3 (more of a question): Do you need Bluetooth reinstalled for GC2Wiimote to work?

this is very exciting

1. Sounds like either your fan doesn't like being run at low speed, or the blades are hitting the case. You can try setting the fan to manual in RVLoader and turning the speed up until it stops clicking, or you can put a small spacer under the fan frame to lift the blades a bit further away from the case.
2. SDA and SCL are required for RVLoader's U-AMP integration to work and need to be connected either to the Wii directly, or you can daisy chain them off SDW and SCW respectively on the PMS.
3. As bob already said, you don't need the BT module attached for Wiimote emulation to work. You just need to hit B over the respective Wii game and enable it in the per-game settings

 

[abbell]

Thanks for your help Stitches, but I am a little confused on SCW and SCW still. Could you describe it a little more or provide some diagram that shows the U-AMP working with the PMS-2 with proper wiring to those two points? I looked on 4layertech and I can't find a diagram with both. I might also just be missing something.
I will try tuning the fan speed. If that doesn't work, should I consider buying a new fan? I think I am willing to tank that cost at this point.

 

[Stitches]

Thanks for your help Stitches, but I am a little confused on SCW and SCW still. Could you describe it a little more or provide some diagram that shows the U-AMP working with the PMS-2 with proper wiring to those two points? I looked on 4layertech and I can't find a diagram with both. I might also just be missing something.
I will try tuning the fan speed. If that doesn't work, should I consider buying a new fan? I think I am willing to tank that cost at this point.

Afaik there are no official diagrams for this yet, but I can explain it. The 4layertech boards use the i2c protocol to communicate with the Wii. i2c does not work like USB or some other serial protocols that require one physical port per device. i2c supports connecting multiple devices to a single controller in parallel, you don't need a unique pair of vias per device like the USB controller does. i2c supports up to 1008 addressable devices to be connected in parallel/daisy chained off of the same two vias (we'll never need that many tho). SCL and SCW are both Serial Clock, SDA and SDW are both Serial Data. The difference in the last letter I'm not sure about. The PMS and RVL-DD use W, while the U-AMP uses A/L. I assume there's a reason for it, maybe because the U-AMP is an audio device(?), but I'm drawing blanks.

TL;DR: As long as the appropriate data lines are all connected together, everything will function correctly. You can either run a wire from SDA on the Wii to SDW on the PMS, and then run a second wire from SDW on the PMS to SDA on the U-AMP (and do the same with SCL/SCW). Or, you can solder two wires to SDA on the Wii and run one to SDW on the PMS & one to SDA on the U-AMP (and do the same with SCL/SCW). As long as all SD pins are connected together and all SC pins are connected together, you're good. The order in the chain doesn't matter btw, but it's usually easier to wire the PMS to the Wii and then wire the other peripherals to the PMS.

 

[abbell]

Thank you Stitches for the suggestion. I had the daisy chaining idea right but I just switched the C and the D wires. smh. I also ran the fan calibration (I did not know this existed) and now my fan seems to blow air and my Wii stays cool.

I did run into a couple more issues though. I am getting no audio through headphones or speakers unless I hold the Wii in a specific position. I used 34 gauge magnet wire for all the audio wires, so could there be some interference going on here? If so, which wire would it be?

Also I cannot get the GC2Wiimote to work. I am trying it with Lego Batman 2 (one of my favorite games), and I enabled and configured GC2Wiimote but I still have no controls in game.

Thank you much for your help, this is exciting! Time to play Mario Kart Wii with no audio until the thing dies.