Worklog Mini Mii

[Paul3854]

Hi Bitbuilt, I've lurked around this website and asked a few questions, but now it's time for me to work on my project. Like the title, the Mini Mii (might change, hopefully it's not taken either) is going to be my Portable Wii project I'm working on. Now I might not have the skills or knowledge for everything. I tried learning from here and different sources for while, I'm also always ready to learn more. This will be my first attempt at this, and I know I'll mistakes at times, but I'm ready for the challenge, no matter the price or time it'll take me. If I mess up, welp I mess up. Everything I choose now will probably change when going throughout the project. (ALSO sorry for the huge post at once, I had a lot of time with the Wii, but was right away busy to start posting)
Things included:

• Custom OM6 cut, I found the original OM6 cut to be vague and cut out important things.
• Gamecube ports
• Ds sliders and buttons
• 4, 18650 2500mah batteries
• 7inch screen
• HDMI output
• (Not sure about audio yet)
• (Not sure what material for case)

The owner of the Wii was a friend of my sister, they had Spongebob stickers all around it.

Right after that I checked if everything worked and installed PortablizeMii

Games worked on it fine except Wii games which I am unknown why yet.
Afterwards I opened it up.

It was a 6-layered board, was kinda upsetting, but I'm sticking with it.
Yesterday I purchased 4 PTH08080WATZ regulators and will be expecting it by the end of the week.

 

[jefflongo]

What custom trim did you have in mind? I don't see the 6 layer trim to be "vague".

 

[Paul3854]

Just a little bit larger trim of the OM6 trim, the things I just don't like is how the OM6 trim cuts off RA1 which is needed for the 3.3v and the data for the gamecube ports relocation

 

[GingerOfOz]

• Custom OM6 cut, I found the original OM6 cut to be vague and cut out important things.

Could you elaborate on this? What is being cut out that you feel is important? Custom cuts are a bad idea pretty much all the time.

Gamecube ports

Keep in mind that GameCube ports cannot be relocated on an OM6 trim. If you're worried about starting over on all of your GC games (which is understandable) look into the GCMM tool, which allows you to transfer saves from your memcards to a file usable by Nintendo.

• 4, 18650 2500mah batteries

This sounds good, except for the 2500 mAh part. If you are going to be using a six layer board and a 7 inch screen, you're going to want all the battery life you can get, so I would instead go for the Panasonic 18650s, which have 3400mAh per cell.

One last reccomendation I'd make would be to switch to a 4 layer board. To my knowledge, no one has built a portable using a six layer board, at least in the past 5 years. The battery life saved would be significant, as well as the ease of cooling the Wii, and if you really, really need GC ports you'll have to use a 4 layer anyways. It means buying something, but it'll be worth the $20 max you'd spend on eBay to get one. Or maybe you're one of those lucky people who has people unloading Wiis for cheap nearby.

Anyways, I hope this project turns out the way you want!

 

[Paul3854]

What is being cut out that you feel is important?

The RA1 chip just for example. Also when I say GameCube ports I'm talking about the the 4 ports for the GameCube controllers. For the motherboard I've heard people saying that it uses a lot more power and makes more heat, just sucks that I have to restart, and I'm SCARED that the next Wii I buy will also be another 6 layer.

 

[Gman]

The RA1 chip just for example. Also when I say GameCube ports I'm talking about the the 4 ports for the GameCube controllers. For the motherboard I've heard people saying that it uses a lot more power and makes more heat, just sucks that I have to restart, and I'm SCARED that the next Wii I buy will also be another 6 layer.

If the Wii you buy is a family edition wii (any color), or not the color white.. it will absolutely be a 4 layer Wii.

 

[Paul3854]

If the Wii you buy is a family edition wii (any color), or not the color white.. it will absolutely be a 4 layer Wii.

Isn't the family addition RVL-101? So it doesn't have the gamecube controller ports?

 

[GingerOfOz]

The RA1 chip just for example. Also when I say GameCube ports I'm talking about the the 4 ports for the GameCube controllers. For the motherboard I've heard people saying that it uses a lot more power and makes more heat, just sucks that I have to restart, and I'm SCARED that the next Wii I buy will also be another 6 layer.

Doh . Dunno why my mind immediately jumped to memcards, sorry about that.

And keep in mind that these trims have been extensively tested, so if any of the parts cut off were important it would be explicitly stated in the guide.

Gman gave a nice TLDR on which Wiis to buy. Here's the full guide. I'll generally go into eBay, search "black Wii broken", and hunt for an inexpensive one that has issues reading discs.

And don't be afraid to start over now. This is the best time to start over, rather than months down the road. Good luck!

 

[Gman]

Isn't the family addition RVL-101? So it doesn't have the gamecube controller ports?

yes

 

[Paul3854]

Do you think I could use my 6 layered motherboard for extra parts if I need them?

 

[Gman]

Do you think I could use my 6 layered motherboard for extra parts if I need them?

No

 

[Stitches]

Do you think I could use my 6 layered motherboard for extra parts if I need them?

The bluetooth and wifi modules could be kept for spares, since they're interchangeable. The rest of the components on a 6 layer apart from maybe U9 and U10 aren't really worth anything, unless you want to measure and desolder all the passives.

 

[cheese]

Just a note, while the family wiis don't have externally accessible gamecube ports, it still supports gamecube games and can have gc controllers wired into it just fine.

 

[Paul3854]

Could I wire the GameCube ports from my 6-layered to the the family edition? (Anyways I already got my eyes on a black RVL-01 Wii from eBay i'm soon going to buy with free shipping )

 

[Matthew]

Just a note, while the family wiis don't have externally accessible gamecube ports, it still supports gamecube games and can have gc controllers wired into it just fine.

Could I wire the GameCube ports from my 6-layered to the the family edition? (Anyways I already got my eyes on a black RVL-01 Wii from eBay i'm soon going to buy with free shipping )

That's exactly what Cheese just said.

 

[Paul3854]

I'm bringing this post back, I'm stupid and stopped documenting my worklog here .
I got a new Wii, black 4 layer and I successfully relocated the Bluetooth and u10. I trimmed down the Wii, got regulators with 2 8000mAh lipos, and a 5" screen and it all booted up. https://www.ebay.com/itm/181915367832 https://www.ebay.com/itm/311721987212 https://www.ebay.com/itm/291812803861

Then after that I got audio working using a lm4863 https://www.ebay.com/itm/282273883752, internal controls using a GC+, got HDMI out using a Sewell Wii to Hdmi that I ripped the case off, and wired up the Gamecube controller ports. Also I got a 35mm heatsink and blower fan to keep it cool. https://www.ebay.com/itm/322829680260

(Outdated pic)
Then I started working on the case, I planned on 3d printing the case.
I started to get interested in Kicad and PCB making and I eventually started making some boards I gotta thank Herma for helping me through the basics.

Volume Control

ABXY LEDs, this was something inspired by Madmorda's amazing casted buttons, I had some clear oem colored ones and I had to add some LEDs. For some reason I wanted it so that they would turn on when you pressed the button, but also be forced off and on without messing up the button functionality.

Low Battery Indicator, this worked until I tried charging the batteries and the red board started to smoke . Decided just to use this battery percent indicator from ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/263216619408

Now this is my newest board, USB switch that Is still in production. It's so I can connect the portable to a computer and edit the contents of the USB drive. I thank Ginger and Aurelio for helping me out on this board.

And this is it now, a bunch of wire spaghetti. All is left is to make the USB Switch, finish the case, and just rewire everything inside .

I really want to empathize that I thank the whole BitBuilt community for dealing with me and helping me get this far.

 

[DeoNaught]

Then after that I got audio working using a lm4863 https://www.ebay.com/itm/282273883752, internal controls using a GC+

Care to elaborate? :eyes:

also, if you want to, you could use VGA on that screen, if you are confident in your ability to soldering to the AVE

 

[Paul3854]

Care to elaborate? :eyes:

I connected audio from the Wii to a digital potentiometer pcb I talked about earlier, and then took that audio into the lm4863 with two speakers, one for each left and right. This is the speakers I used: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1pcs-40x20...h=item4b4db69b62:g:Tz8AAOSwxjxa8Q8w:rk:6:pf:0 I haven't really tested them out fully but they seem to sound fine.
For the GC+ I bought it from Madmorda, thank you Madmorda, I've did the basic testing and that all, decided to use 3ds slider for the joysticks.

also, if you want to, you could use VGA on that screen, if you are confident in your ability to soldering to the AVE

I want to have HDMI out of this portable and the Wii replaces component with VGA so I can't do that.

 

[Danielle]

Woah! Amazing work! Keep it up!
I love how you managed to use the Lithium-po batteries, even though they explode(when not correctly charged) are you going to use those 2 li-po batteries as your official MiniWii or?

 

[Paul3854]

Woah! Amazing work! Keep it up!
I love how you managed to use the Lithium-po batteries, even though they explode(when not correctly charged) are you going to use those 2 li-po batteries as your official MiniWii or?

I plan to, although there are a few problems, like you stated I have to constantly be safe with them, so I made the batteries detachable. Another thing is that they're big and heavy but that doesn't bother me and just depends on the case design etc etc.