Worklog Wiide-Boy, 4.3" widescreen portable

[vipe_202]

Been bouncing the idea around for a little while now of doing something like a g-boy inspired portable, my ps2 portrait portable turned out well in the end, chunky but working, so I inevitably ended up tackling the first bits of a Wii portable.

Just concept phase currently with some hardware stuff collected.

Features list will be aimed at the following:

• 4.3" IPS 800*480, have 2 and both look amazing and working
• driver board for the screens is similar to Benge's O-Wii so thanks to him I have a 3.3v conversion
• GC+
• joy-con styled pcb breakouts and joysticks
• aiming for 2x 26650 cells but I'm also looking at my 1s4p 20,000mah pack, both fill a similar volume
• dual tac buttons for the rear
• heatsink that was sold on bitbuilt store
• Uamp, cause digital is awesome
• Standard OMG trim for the 4 layer, although I may consider nand relocation for some layout adjustments
• USB Pd Decoy 12v/9v, maybe a DC jack as well for redundancy
• RVL-PMS from JLCPCB
• 1s Power indicator like my ps2
• PUI speakers like those in my ps2 portable 20*15mm
• external usb or sd card, leaning sd card cause 512gb microsd is a small decent footprint but may have both wired up
• Small tactiles for necessary buttons, vol +/-, power.. etc
• The case I'm aiming for is about 115mm w * 155mm H not sure how thick yet, when it's finished I'm hoping to get it outsourced in MJP semi clear

Screens were tested so far with hdmi from a pi 4 retropie, but I will likely used VGA patches on the wii.

Next phase, board assembly RVL and 2 wii trims. USPS shipping is lagging behind with my GC+, nand flex, cooling and dual tacs so stuck waiting on that for now.

 

[vipe_202]

Wiide-boy progress report:

Trimmed and ready to play, almost still waiting on postal service.

So far driver board for LCD is trimmed a bit smaller, had a mishap with hot air so one driver board is more or less toast. Wii composite is working, I'll have to get a controller port and usb added to get VGA installed and testing.

I had assumed the trace points would have been a little more annoying to solder to but I might be just fine there

 

[vipe_202]

I couldn't keep my hands off.... I didn't feel like leaving it at composite.

VGA patches on and wiring done. Thanks Benge for finding that pinout photo, I had failed to probe my RGB locations on the driver prior to trimming it. Kinda hard to take a clean photo of the screen but it looks great.

Got a few things from that electron shepherd website, once I realized I had my pin 1 to 4 backwards, the little sd card board works great even their little GC controller port, possibly a micro build with my other wii. Now to load up a larger SD card and probably go through several case prints.

 

[vipe_202]

Design update:

So far it's shaping out nicely, but I never thought I would dislike a black colour like I dislike black Petg.

Nice thing is there's a good chunk of room in between the controls for GC+ to fit and the UAmp in the lower cavity. Besides working on this I've been having a little fun with the partybox files so my second Wii may just be going into one of those builds. The driver board with ribbon cable are going to be more room than I'd like but it should work out. Need to get Bluetooth and MX relocated, and then hopefully build my GC+ boards from jlcpcb.

** Adjustment

Something felt off with my left stick and dpad, until I realized I had them staggered the wrong way

Fixed

 

[vipe_202]

Ok case print 3 I think... Love the feel of this size it is more comfortable than I expected, my PS2 portable needs a slimming some day.

GC+ on the way! Thanks jlcpcb. Good progress for now on the portable.

 

[goosewerks]

This looks great! I much prefer portrait to landscape layout.

 

[Senor Avocado]

Me too! Portrait boyz unite!

 

[vipe_202]

This looks great! I much prefer portrait to landscape layout.

I honestly don't mind either orientation, but landscape requires going outside my build volume of 180mm so portrait design is the way to go. Honestly it isn't too much bigger than the g-boy, although that's only cause I still have more to do so that could change.

 

[vipe_202]

So busy weekend figuring out model placement and finally got a solid feel for rear triggers. The dual tactiles I'm using are different from the ones you could get previously on the bitbuilt store they are discontinued alps smd dual tacts that are a more distinct press feel between the first and secondary. Almost like stacking 2 harder pressing 6mm tacts on top of each other.

The one thing I will say now I do have to thank those involved with the g-boy design as I took my inspiration on the triggers from there. A more comfortable feel than I anticipated.

The only thing not seen in these photos is the round hole in the rear shell that will have the tac for the z button beside the right analog trigger

********
Update: Jun 22

So my design was more awkward after some fake play testing, a redesign was in order. Used the shape of the old button and made a shell with a button seated in it for the triggers. Much more reliable clicks. The shell was an unanticipated snap fit as well.

 

[socketman163]

The internals look clean dude

 

[vipe_202]

Awe yeah! First time doing the MX relocation and Bluetooth relocation and I got it working, now comes the daunting task of wiring everything.

Also learning from my mistake don't wire Bluetooth with uneven wires like this it won't work. Even lines and twisted data lines like usb makes your life easier. Thanks to @Shank and @GingerOfOz for those tips on discord.

 

[vipe_202]

Next few days will make or break it, battery tests and thermal tests before I wanna consider it done and "safe" still love how it's turned out though

 

[vipe_202]

So after some testing, modifying VGA and composite access, battery is safe as far as I can tell heat is good and finished log is posted.

Finished Build