Worklog The Wii SPii

StonedEdge

a.k.a. ClonedEdge
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After having put the WiiSPii together, I noted some difficulties in the build process that could be simplified further if people choose to make an SPii of their own. I've started to go ahead and make some small improvements to the case assets. One pain in the ass job I found was wiring 9 wires through the hinge to the Wii vias. Its impossible to know where to wire each one without using your multimeter and its just a little tedious. This flex cable should solve all of my issues in one go, and make use of the amazing 3.5" RVL-DD board in the store when the time comes.

It is a flex PCB that uses castellated holes to directly solder to the RVL-DD's 10 data vias, CK, DI and 3v3/GND lines (plus i2c, woops, forgot those). On the other end of the flex are vias dedicated to soldering to the direct digital video lines (and audio, with testpads) from the GPU. The flex will fold over 90 degrees to line up with a dedicated FFC slot in the case and go through a cutout in the AIO PCB (I still need to add this). I plan to take a couple of paper cutouts and fold/loop it through the hinge to make sure the lengths are perfect before ordering these with Gold Phoenix fab house in China.

It does feel like this project will never end, but I think this is absolutely the final addition I will be making before moving on to other projects.

Flex cable solders to the back of the Wii vias like so.

Flex Cable Wii.PNG


Flex cable gets folder over (90 degree bend at the fold dotted lines), to then be subsequently fed through the hinge slot.

Flex Cable RVL-DD_TOP.png

Flex_Folds.PNG

FFC_SLOT.PNG


Flex cable is looped through the hinge 2-3 times (need to test the length of this part), similar to how a lot of flex cables are used on Nintendo clamshell designed portable consoles (and the SP, too). Castellated holes get directly soldered to pads of RVL-DD PCB.

1610783902725.png

Flex Cable RVL-DD.png

FLEX_EAGLE.PNG


Vias are accessible on end of cable to directly solder to Wii motherboard. Extra testpads for grabbing 3v3, GND, CK and DI signals via magnet wire to the Wii, as well as i2s audio data. Extra GND traces placed between digital video signals for better return paths, as well as for shielding the 54MHz clock signal.
 
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Benge

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It is a huge improvement, it makes it look more professional, I love it <3
And over time it should be more reliable than cable, and more easy to troubleshoot.
 
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I know this post is a little old but is the BOM available for the PCB? I was wanting to put one together but don't see the BOM list anywhere anymore. I love the idea of a hinged wii portable.
 
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