No output to composite in

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I've completed step 13 of the guide and checked continuity between the signal and ground for composite, as well as, D+ and D- on USB. I did use the alternate points on the Wii board for USB (closer to edge of trim) and made sure both data lines were in their respective locations. Also, all voltages are reading correctly on the Wii.

Powered on, I get the backlight in composite mode, but no text. Changing source to VGA turns off the backlight.

Two things I noticed, but am not sure if it makes a difference.
1) I'm getting continuity between the composite signal and ground lines with no power applied. I assume that's normal?
2) In the photo you can see how much slack is in the USB data lines. Does that need to be cut back for a shorter run?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.
BTW, while not in the photo, I did have the USB drive plugged in for testing.
IMG_20200729_141656.jpg
 

jefflongo

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Damn nice wiring.

No it's not normal to have continuity between composite and ground. You should have about 75 ohms there (maybe your meter detects that as continuous, mine does for < 50 ohms).

Where are you pulling composite from? Also, if you think it's a USB issue, short reset to ground and then boot. It will boot you to priiloader where no USB is necessary to boot.
 
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Thanks. I'm trying to keep everything clean, but then I got some solder on the ground plane mount point, and made a mess of it trying to use desoldering braid LOL.

I pulled composite from the via at the end of the highlighted trace in the guide. Seemed a little easier than connecting to the resistor.

I'll check the resistance between composite and ground and see what it reads, and I'll connect reset to try to get into priiloader. Thanks!
 

jefflongo

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Thanks. I'm trying to keep everything clean, but then I got some solder on the ground plane mount point, and made a mess of it trying to use desoldering braid LOL.

I pulled composite from the via at the end of the highlighted trace in the guide. Seemed a little easier than connecting to the resistor.

I'll check the resistance between composite and ground and see what it reads, and I'll connect reset to try to get into priiloader. Thanks!
You can totally remove that solder from the screw hole with braid, but youll need to set your iron to around 400C because the ground plane can sink a lot of heat. Also helps to put a bit of solder on your tip first for better transfer.

The easiest place to grab composite is from the pin on the composite cap closest to the edge of the board (the one you removed).
 
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I'll give the relocation to that electrolytic pad a go tomorrow. Only had time to check the resistance between ground and composite. I was reading only about 38 ohms.
 
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Still not getting a signal after relocating the composite line and connecting reset. The LED has been indicating low battery during testing, so I'm currently charging them.
I saw Shank's post in testing the U10 relocation, and everything checked out.

Will I still get a signal if 480p was enabled in system menu before the trim?
 
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If you enabled VGA in Bbloader, you could try wiring that up and testing. If you do only the two sync lines and one of the color lines you will have black and white image on screen. But might be easier to test that out.
What are the voltage line Ohms? Check each one and make sure none are bridged to ground. The 1.15v line can sometimes bridge to ground if not sanded enough I've noticed.

Also, if you show a picture of the other side of the board it might help us diagnose. :)
 
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Measuring between the solder joint of my input voltage lines on the Wii board and a mounting point ground, I have the following resistances:

1.15V - 40 ohms
1V - 180 ohms
1.8V - 41.5 ohms

This was taken with the Wii board wired to the PMS, but no batteries installed.

Also, I'm measuring 0.4V at the composite connection when powered.
 

jefflongo

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Measuring between the solder joint of my input voltage lines on the Wii board and a mounting point ground, I have the following resistances:

1.15V - 40 ohms
1V - 180 ohms
1.8V - 41.5 ohms

This was taken with the Wii board wired to the PMS, but no batteries installed.

Also, I'm measuring 0.4V at the composite connection when powered.
Those seem reasonable to me.

Did you make sure that the MODE pin is not connected to 3.3v when testing composite? Do you get a "no signal" screen or a black screen when powering on?
 
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The MODE pin to 3.3V is one of the steps for wiring VGA, right?
If so, that's definitely not connected.

The screen is all black when turned on (no text whatsoever), but you can definitely tell the backlight has kicked in. If I change the source to VGA, it goes black as if unpowered.

I have a microscope I can photograph with if you want close ups of any certain areas/connections.
 

jefflongo

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So the information I've gathered so far is that you've checked all the voltage rails and they are acceptable when powered on, you've gone through the U10 trouble shooting guide and there's no problems there, you currently have reset shorted to ground, and the display is recognizing some sort of signal on the composite input.

Are you testing with a battery attached? The PMS cannot power a Wii without a battery, even with a charger connected.
 
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Everything you said is correct.

During the trim I had used painters tape over the chips and then kapton tape over that from edge to edge of the trim on both sides, so I doubt it's debris related. Even with that, I still sprayed with compressed air after removing the tape.

I also did 6 steps of sanding the edges all the way to 1000 grit before removing the tape.

I did end up using U9 for the U10 relocation, only because I "felt" it took me a little too long to get U10 freed from the board even though there was no visible damage to any components or the pads. U5 and U9 came off quick.

All testing was performed with a battery and without the charger connected.
 
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jefflongo

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One immediate thought is that perhaps the U10 via soldering is not reliable. Some boards (like this one) don't expose the copper on the vias very well. You might try desoldering it, and manually scraping some soldermask off. Typically, I test my U10 relocation before the trim to rule this sort of thing out. At the very least it's worth reflowing it.

When I see a black screen issue, it's usually not a power thing. It's more often than not either the U10 relocation or the video connection.
 
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I'll give that a try tomorrow. I scrubbed the vias a little with a fiberglass pencil for the reset connections, but didn't think about doing that earlier when I made the U10 connection.

Just want you to know that I really appreciate all your help.
 

jefflongo

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I'll give that a try tomorrow. I scrubbed the vias a little with a fiberglass pencil for the reset connections, but didn't think about doing that earlier when I made the U10 connection.

Just want you to know that I really appreciate all your help.
No problem, I understand this can be a frustrating process. But with your level of detail I'm sure you're going to finish with a great end product!
 
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Still no output after having redone the U10 connection. Voltages look good at both ends of the connection.

Just out of curiosity, I had installed BBLoader before the trim with nowifi and VGA. I verified that 480p was enabled in the system settings.

Would that make any difference in the post trim's ability to output composite?

BTW, I had posted above that I was reading 0.4V across any composite location and ground. I measured again, and it's actually 0.24V.
 

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Everything wiiside looks really good to me. Have you tried connecting composite to another tv or monitor to make sure it isn't an issue with the screen? And composite should always work, you couldn't have done anything during the software stuff to disable composite, that's something you can only do with hardware
 
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