Worklog Wii Pocket

jefflongo

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Even before finishing my first portable, I decided I wanted to do better. So this will be the successor to my first portable. I plan to keep the same level of functionality while having a cleaner, and smaller product. I dubbed this project the Wii Pocket because it will be one small boi. The size of the portable is 167.7 x 92.5 x 32.5mm. I could have gone even smaller, but there are some guidelines I would like to follow, even if it sacrifices total size.

The goals for this project are as follows:
- Custom PCBs and FFCs wherever possible
- Battery clips (no soldering to batteries)
- Zero use of hot glue, screwposts for everything
- Modular design, everything should be easy to remove/replace
- Make it as small as possible while respecting the above goals

Here is the planned feature list:
- Slightly modified "LMAO" trimmed Wii
- 4 18650s
- USB C charging with power delivery
- 4" screen utilizing VGA patch
- GC+ 2.0
- Secret meme "accessory"

Admittedly, I've been working on this for quite some time. I already have the modified "LMAO" trim complete with a successful NAND and LDO relocation. The screen has been modded to run on 3.3v, and I am pretty far in to the case design/custom PCB design. The first set of PCBs should arrive this week. My list of things I still need to do that immediately come to mind are the power/battery management PCB (this will not be quick lol), shoulder button assemblies, and finding an appropriate 50k slide potentiometer for the volume (yes I want a volume slider instead of buttons, and my amp supports this). Here's what I've got so far.

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NAND relocation

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My slightly modified "LMAO" trim which preserves the USB vias, audio preamp input pads, and two useful screwposts (one is blocked by the NAND).

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@Spencer Richardson 's mini GC buttons, and the test fit for the button guides

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Test fit for the 3DS sliders (I've published these for anyone to use in my model repository)

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Screen running on 3.3v

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Front of the case

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Angled view of the case

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Back of the case. Got a nifty smash logo for the fan vent. Notice the battery compartments are elevated. This is to allow airflow when the console is set on a flat surface and to minimize the height of the batteries inside the case since they are the tallest components in the bottom half.

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Inside of the case. Most things are present. The power/battery management board will go on the left side between the batteries and the Wii and will also contain the USB port.

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Here are my latest PCBs I've designed. The first accepts an FFC from the back half of the case which carries p1 data, power, and the speaker audio from the amp. This board contains the GC+ 2.0 on the back and the ABXY tact switches on the front--consolidating two boards from the previous portable into one. The second board accepts an FFC from the first board containing the main stick, dpad, start button, and left speaker signals. Both boards accept the OEM FFC from the 3DS sliders and have output pads for the speakers. I want to give a huge thanks to @Aurelio for helping me along the way with PCB design.

That's all I've got for now. The last board I need to design will surely be the hardest, so that will be the main bottleneck of this project. I'm not planning on finishing this over the Summer because I want to take this one slow so that I have no regrets looking back. Thanks for reading!
 
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jefflongo

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I've kind of put off working on this portable for awhile but I did receive the second revision of my secret PCB in the mail and assembled it. Now I'm ready to announce DockMii!

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I want this portable to be as small as possible but I never compromise on features. Thus I am building a small accessory which plugs in to the portable containing four GC controller ports and a video out port. DockMii detects when the accessory is plugged in and automatically switches the video line from internal VGA to external composite, turns off the display, mutes the speakers, and switches the P1 data line from the internal GC+ to the external P1 controller port. The accessory also has an override switch which allows the screen and speakers to be left on if you are wanting to play with external controllers on the internal screen/speaker assembly. DockMii also has the audio amp built in since it handles so much of the audio already. I've yet to test it on a real Wii and I've yet to test the audio circuit, but I jury-rigged some dummy signals up and it works as expected!

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What if you had the ports on the front on the dock, instead of on the bottom, so it's more of a dock, instead of a dongle, Cause with how you have it now, it's gonna constrict airflow through the back when it's in the 'dock' if you had the ports facing foward, the back would be in the air, and wouldnt have problems with it.
 

jefflongo

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What if you had the ports on the front on the dock, instead of on the bottom, so it's more of a dock, instead of a dongle, Cause with how you have it now, it's gonna constrict airflow through the back when it's in the 'dock' if you had the ports facing foward, the back would be in the air, and wouldnt have problems with it.
If you mean making it more like the switch dock, I don't really want to go that direction because it would put a lot more stress on the connectors. In addition I want the option to be able to play on the internal screen with external controllers.
Also there's no issue with air flow restriction because the battery bumps allow air to be sucked in through the bottom then it blows out the top side.
 
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I mean make it like a stand, not like the switch dock, think like, a dongle, but also a stand
 
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