Worklog [2023 Contest Entry] DS Lite XL

[nintendont]

maybe, but I think it will not be very aesthetic
View attachment 33052View attachment 33053

Wow, looking at it with it closed is even more impressive.
The gba slot is excellent to use as an extender. Try not to "overengineer" the bottom shell lol.

The 3d printed part can be indented to fit the top ends of the cartridge.

Like those toolbox inserts but 3d printed,

Hope you make another thread as requested by mods!

 

[CoBrArOx]

Because I'm using a DS Lite and not an original DS, I don't think there are any internal capture cards that I could use. However, the TV out mod could be used to send the DS screen info to a dedicated capture device!
I'm working on designing the PCBs so that they are as easy to install as possible.
Unfortunately, it's turning out to be quite a lot of work, so I don't think I'll be adding the TV out mod for the meantime.
There's definitely space for it though (and a larger battery), so I may revisit that at some point.
Thanks for your interest!

Have you seen this mod kit? For the TV out function. https://dsdigigumods.com/product/ds_lite_5_3/

 

[yandhiisntreal]

have their been any updates? been following this for a bit

 

[CoBrArOx]

What happened to this project? It was very promising.

 

[verbeast]

Quick update on boards!

Board designs are finished and being ordered. Here’s a preview of them:
Board for relocating the upper and lower screens, as well as the left side buttons and potentially the volume slider:
View attachment 42571

Next is a flex cable to make is so that I don’t need to solder around 80 wires to and from the 0.33mm pitch FFC screen connectors:
View attachment 32301
This necessitates the removal of the original screen connectors.

I also needed to make my own flex to carry the upper screen signals through the hinge…:
View attachment 42572

… And a PCB in the upper clamshell to connect the hinge flex to the screen and speakers, which I ended up making into a thin, rigid PCB instead. The DS line usually has the upper pcb and hinge flex combined, but I decided to split them up for ease of assembly and potentially reduced cost. This means I’ll need to get and solder an extra FFC, but I think this is worth it.
View attachment 42573

Finally there are 2 more straightforward PCBs: One to relocate the GBA slot to move it forward slightly and another to do the same to the headphone/mic port and start/select buttons.
View attachment 42574View attachment 42575

I 3D printed the rigid boards and 2D printed paper dolls of the flex PCBs to check that they’d fit before ordering.

My paper doll of the hinge flex became pretty hard to work with, but I was able to get it through the hinge and see that it lines up with the connector locations on the upper and lower PCBs:
View attachment 42576

I also checked that the base flex PCB lined up with the solder points on the DS lite board:
View attachment 42577

It’s pretty hard to tell if everything is lining up because of how small the solder locations are, but it seems like things are in the right place!

I’m happy with how the boards look so far. Routing the boards with screen signals was challenging due to the number of nets, but I had a lot of fun with the artwork on some of the boards. I may need to come up with a 3D printed jig to help with lining things up before soldering.

My next update will hopefully be me testing the boards when they arrive.
Until then!

I really want to make a build similar to this and I was wondering if you actually finished this project or if you have any of the PCBs / 3d models available anywhere.

 

[LCandell]

Have you installed tv out mod already?
When you install custom firmware on your DS, the top screen shows only yellow pictures, so you have to install the dual wifi mod suggested by ↓↓↓↓ or you will not be able to use both screens in handheld mode

Have you seen this mod kit? For the TV out function. https://dsdigigumods.com/product/ds_lite_5_3/

Maybe you should use extra space to put Blue Retro inside your DS
Using ESP32 and neo geo firmware you will be able to pair bluetooth controllers to play

 

[jayjair1]

Hi all,

My entry for the 2023 Summer Build Contest is my project to create a DS Lite XL (DS XLite?)

View attachment 28239

The premise of this project is based on a reddit post I saw where someone was able to wire the DSi XL screen to the DS Lite by u/HecmacGPD (not sure if I can post a link, but searching DSi XL screen with ds lite yields the post as the first result)

The project will involve creating a 3D model of the DS Lite shell assembly that has been scaled up to match the DSi XL screens, about a 1.3x increase.
The idea is similar to the GBA XL and GBA XL SP that I started, but this time I plan to make my own screen adapter.

I’ve previously created a model of the normal DS Lite shell that I plan to use as the base for this project:
View attachment 42549

Test prints that I’ve done of this shell model are very promising, so it should be ready for scaling up and altering:
View attachment 42550

I’m also planning on creating a flexible PCB that connects to the screen connectors and button test pads in the DS lite and has connectors for the new screen ribbons and shifted button locations.

As a stretch goal, I was thinking that I could use the extra space to add some sort of video output port using the DS Lite TV out mod, posted on lostnintendohistory’s github (again, not sure about adding a link, but searching lostnintendohistory ds lite tv out brings up their github repo)
(This is definitely a stretch, based on how I still haven’t finished the GBA XL SP that was my project last summer, oops)

I’m really looking forward to this project, the modeling should be a lot of fun and the flex PCB should be a cool challenge!

is there a tutorial how we can make it?

 

[IAMKINGOFKEYBOARDS]

is there a tutorial how we can make it?

Agreed, would love to make this myself. Big ds lite fan, but bigger screens would be a huge upgrade.

Also, if you are still interested in installing 3ds sliders in this, you might want to check out some 4 way tact switches. They work perfectly with the d-pad as they're not analog.