Worklog Wii U R&D Thread (WURD)

[zal16]

I know the vWii don't works without the disc drive, but about the GC/Wii injects? They works without he (and de_fuse patch)?
It's possible to do a undervolt, specially on more demanding lines like 1v and 1.15v?
What is the power consupmition and current(A) in vWii mode? Is much less than last revison of original Wii hardware?

 

[Lazr]

I know the vWii don't works without the disc drive, but about the GC/Wii injects? They works without he (and de_fuse patch)?

A missing disc drive is fine for GC/Wii injections. They don't even know if the disc drive is even missing, as its entirely emulated.

 

[zal16]

And about undervolting? It"s possible?

 

[YveltalGriffin]

Undervolting doesn't seem possible, at least with wires. Whenever I try to decrease the core rail voltages the system just hangs.

However, after brainstorming with Benge at MGC, I've decided to design a modified 1v/1.15v reg board that will sit on the motherboard next to the SOC and solder directly to the core rail copper. This will eliminate all voltage droop and should improve stability. There's a chance some mild undervolting will be possible with this new reg board.

I haven't measured vWii mode power, simply because it doesn't matter for portablizing until we get vWii disc drive patches. Keep in mind that in vWii mode, the console has a bunch of extra hardware blocks running to upres the video to 1080p and pipe it to the 1080p HDMI transmitter. Plus, all the Wii U hardware that's "turned off" in vWii mode still consumes some static current while idle. So it's virtually impossible for the system to beat an undervolted Hollywood-2 Wii.

 

[zal16]

Why not use stock regulators to undervolting? Are they that much worse?

 

[Viilmo]

Why not use stock regulators to underclock? Are they that much worse?

Yes, you would have to trim them out first and they are physically bigger and much more inefficent

 

[YveltalGriffin]

Right. They're huge, they need at least 12V, the 1v one is two-phase (meaning it has two giant inductors), and we don't have full documentation for the controller ICs.

The 12v input they require is the main issue. Going from 3.7V→1v is a lot more efficient than 12v→1v. And managing 4S batteries in a portable is trickier, since you need balancing. Custom regs solve all of these problems

 

[Viilmo]

Right. They're huge, they need at least 12V, the 1v one is two-phase (meaning it has two giant inductors), and we don't have full documentation for the controller ICs.

The 12v input they require is the main issue. Going from 3.7V→1v is a lot more efficient than 12v→1v. And managing 4S batteries in a portable is trickier, since you need balancing. Custom regs solve all of these problems

They actually need 12V? I thought it was less so I didn't write it down.
12 fucking volts and all because drive go spin

 

[zal16]

I have no interest in trimming the board. I think about removing the useless disk drive and filling it with batteries. so I can play on the gamepad and keep the console wherever I am, without depending on wall sockets. It is also in my interest to make it more efficient, so I think I will choose this model that ends at -50, it will also be necessary to replace the regulators, regardless of whether they are spacious or not, just targeting efficiency. Using SD cards/flash drives and SSDs can help with low consumption too.

 

[zal16]

@YveltalGriffin
Can you sell the bistro regulator board?
Because i don't have expertise do build theses boards