Miceeno's G-BOY Worklog

[Miceeno]

Started building my G-BOY. Apparently PortablizeMii is very picky about the file system. After trying every combination of SD/microSD card and USB drive I own (formated FAT32 32 kilobyte clusters) I ordered a 16GB SD card and 16GB USB drive and those are now working. I haven't looked into the next steps to getting PortablizeMii working with my intended microSD card so I haven't started my FIRST trim attempt.

I did start the assembly of the G-BOY case and I've ran into a few small problems. First I'm missing my 3D printed power button and I've contacted Noah and Gman. Second I'm not sure if I've got faulty components but my USB-C board doesn't pass the Kingston microSD adapter through to a computer even though the microSD adapter works directly and I'm getting 5 Volts on the CHRG line when I plug in the USB-C cable. Third the power button is unreliable. It only works some of the time, depending on where and how hard it is pressed. I've verified that it's not my wiring by testing continuity between the BTN and GND. When the power button does work my fourth problem occurs which is no 1 Volt output. I've got the 1.15V, 1.8V, 3.3V, and 5V; but no 1 Volt. And finally my fifth problem, the buttons I ordered didn't come with the rubbers. I didn't even think about needing these until the guide called for them. So I've stalled on this project for now. I guess I better make some progress on my N64 for the Summer Competition.

 

[Miceeno]

No continuity on the data lines through the USB port. I don't know if this is by design or not.

 

[Gman]

It would need to be powered on. The data goes through usb multiplexer ic.

 

[StonedEdge]

Yep, that is expected. Data won’t reach there unless the mux switches to read the USB drive. There should be continuity between the USB-c pins and the muxer inputs, I believe which are pins 1 and 2.

 

[Miceeno]

I tried flipping the USB-C cable while trying to connect to a PC as Gman suggested in the PM, nada. I also tried giving the board 5V through the USB with my with my lab bench supply and still no continuity on the data lines. I went back to trying to connect to a PC while flipping the cable and I got it to connect once. Except it disconnected from the PC when I set the board down. I guess the board might need rework or something.

 

[Gman]

Alright I'll figure out what's going on with it and rework/replace it.

 

[Miceeno]

I just found a datasheet on the TI 2110A so I identified the multiplexer. I don't have continuity from the USB D+ and D- to pins 1 and 2 on the multiplexer (D0 and D1). My guess at this point is the USB-C port needs a reflow.

 

[Miceeno]

Alright I'll figure out what's going on with it and rework/replace it.

I'll ship it out on Monday. Thanks.

 

[Miceeno]

I've got my new boards and everything works! Now I've got to tackle the PortablizeMii side. I started playing with this before I got my G-BOY kit and haven't got anywhere with it. I guess I'm struggling with the formatting. I've got PortablizeMii up and running on a 16GB usb drive but for the life of me I can't get my 128GB microSD card to format FAT32 with 32k clusters. I've tried GUIFormatter but the Wii/PortablizeMii doesn't like it. I'm thinking about trying fdisk next or just wait for the BBLoader to get out of beta.

 

[Miceeno]

I finally got time to wrap this project up. I've never even considered building a Wii/GC portable before the G-Boy kit was released. Partially because I've been stuck on the N64 since I was a child (no other console can compare, lol). And partially because I haven't followed the developments in Wii portablization too closely. However the G-Boy kit made this extremely easy. The hardest part was getting PortabilizeMii/BBLoader to install. I literally spent hours formatting and reformatting my SanDisk micro sd card in GUIFormat and fdisk. I tried several micro sd adapters after the included Kingston adapter decided to die on me with zero success. After buying another Kingston micro sd adapter and browsing the forums it became apparent that everybody was using Samsung cards/usb drives. So finally at the end of July I got the damn software to install by simply switching to a Samsung micro sd card. Only after I figured this out did the FAQ come out answering this problem.

After I got the software sorted I had to put this project down to finish my summer contest entry and to start building a big ass battery for a solar project. This solar battery has consumed all my free time harvesting 560 cells to build a 7s80p 6.5kWh battery. I'll probably make another thread on this beast when I wrap it up but this project just stalled because the Sunkko 737G+ battery spot welder I purchased for the project was absolute garbage. In the mean time I've purchased a kWeld but it's on back order. So this gave me a chance to get back to the G-Boy.

So now it was time to do the hardest part (or so I thought) of the build, the trim. I've seen this recurring meme that this trim is extremely difficult and to expect to kill many Wii's in while attempting. Hell I prepared by installing BBLoader on 3 Wii's just in case. I don't want to come off as bragging, but either I got lucky or I'm patient when it comes to sanding because I was successful on my first try. I can't get over the fact that I managed to struggle so bad on the software side when the trim was so easy in comparison. After that the soldering was all down hill.

Here's the nudes on my G-Boy. I did the MX Relocation and the Bluetooth relocation.

 

[thedrew]

Looking super clean! That color is so nice, what filament is that?

 

[A_s6]

i think it’s prusament galaxy purple, i could be wrong though