Bacteria's "Make a portable Nintendo N64 handheld" video log

Finished wiring, did first test, tentitively - after all, been doing a fair bit of work on the system and this is the test to see if it works or fries. Anyway, it works fine, although I must have a dry joint somewhere as if the case front is tilted a little I get a light buzzing sound and the video garbles, move the case a bit more and all fine again. Will have to see if I can find where the issue is on the many many joints that have been soldered too. At least the system is working, it's now at the troubleshooting stage! (these projects never work great first time around, there are always things to resolve).

Toying with the idea of making a video in the next days, after finishing this project but before doing final videos, of "hints, tips and modding techniques" to cover a spectrum of things like relocating capacitors, cutting a board and attaching small wires to tiny traces, trimming boards and reducing shorts, etc - general, helpful modding tips and techniques that I think people will find very useful. Actually, i'll do it - it will be of benefit to people.

Back to troubleshooting on the project, testings, etc. I have two more pieces of video to take before releasing the final WIP project video - the bit I have just done, when it all works ok, and case closing. All being well, video should be uploaded during the week, it all depends upon how long troubleshooting and general testing takes, before can move to the next stage.

Initial tests - there are lots of things to test, all the buttons, controls, etc etc.

So far, only getting output from one speaker, not sure the problem with the other one - could be lost part of a trace when reduced the PSone screen board a bit more a while back - can solder the contact straight to the capacitor on the back of the board - no problem. Pluged in th multi-function port - volume + and - work fine but must have missed wired the screen contrast - as the + is fine. Recharge is fine, as did before; the joystick seems ok, no "controller missing" when game starts so controller must be ok (did a fair bit of rewiring to that). Got to test the d-pad (which was rewired to traces), buttons (I know Start works, that is all I have tested so far). Also then need to test headphone jack, external controller, memory/rumble pack, rumble motor, Z button, shoulder buttons, confirm joystick is responsive. Lots to do yet, testing will be done over playing a few games as some test different ways.

This stage is the fun and frustrating part of the project - fun because you start to see things coming together and frustrating as you need to keep removing the console board, etc to make repairs and get things not working, working.

Pic so far - put the two case halves together, sandwiched between a 1 inch thick foam pad, so no chance of shorts, and easy to separate the case halves for testings.

Ignore the look of the screen image - camera clearly doesn't like the reflection of the screen image and the external lighting - the lines are not on the screen image.

 

Video 19 uploaded!

Removing reset button, installing shoulder buttons, installing fan assembly to keep system cool.

 

Something just came to mind. If you ever do another portable w/ an analog stick, you could save yourself some mechanical trouble by using one of those PSP flat analog modules. You can buy those little guys all day long from JP online stores and the resistance values shouldn't need any dorking with (just wire it in).
-ud

 

Yes, you can use PSP joysticks, the ones for the phat controller not the slim ones. The slim ones (I tried one a while back) didn't move to center properly, so the character never stopped moving. I searched the net and YouTube and found this to be confirmed. Someone used a PSP phat joystick and it worked fine apparently. Thing is also though, the PSP joystick is only just ok in games on the PSP, it's hardly easy to use accurately though as it is so small, that is an issue as you don't get the accuracy. Also, in a portable system, the PSP joystick seems to require the middle of your finger to be directly above it for best control, which is another issue - using a normal joystick gives greater flexiblity.

So, yes, you can; but there are reasons it isn't perhaps ideal.

 

Relocated the expansion pack on the N64 board, got it working nicely; then decided to bend the wires backwards (as planned) to flatten it against board - one single wire came loose, so when the system was turned back on, it shorted and fried the N64 board.

No problem, going to use a new N64 console board to put in proper heatsinks this time, relocate the expansion pack and trim the board right down in size, including wiring directly to the cart pins and removing the whole area. No problem, I have a few spare consoles!

Still expect to complete by end of April with any luck; although obviously this problem has caused a delay!

 

Fantastic! System shut, barely, but shut! Portable is working fine, been tested. I'm going to paint the four screw heads red so they integrate with the case colours, and also make a couple of decals and put them in position. Here is a pic showing the case shut, as below.



Technically, the project is completed now; however I need to remake the multi-function port to make it small, and edit all the mini videos for video log #20 and compile into one under 10 minutes (like the other videos).

I'll then extract some parts from the videos and upload them here and on the forum, generic mini sections.

Then, i'll do some final testing before making a video of the portable working in full swing, showing various games being played, as well as a walkaround for the system too.

All this should be done by the end of the week!

So, two more updates to come onto this thread - video log #20 (when edited, compiled and added to it), then final video in the next days.

 

Congratulations!

Have fun playing with it!

 

Video 20 uploaded!

This is the last video in the series. Covers more aspects, finally case closing.



The next video will be demonstrating the system working and playing games; also will show "final touches" made to the syste after the above video.

 

Portable is finished, here is the final video in the series - system demonstration, specifications, game demonstration!

* iNto64 final video demonstation *

Please feel free to join my forum and chat room too guys!!

 

Your handheld was featured on Gizmodo! Congrats.

 

Thanks! It's also been honoured on many blogs too; especially when Engadget featured it too!

 

Great vids, man! I found your breakdown of the PS LCD and all of the wiring diagrams really informative. The finished iNto64 looks boss, too. I've never really been too curious about the console-to-portable thing before, but watching you take it for a spin really piqued my interest!

 

Great, if you are curious, have a go at making one!

I took videos of some other games too, like Pokemon Puzzle League (using the d-pad for gameplay, as it needs), however ran out of video time so didn't include them (YouTube only allows 10 minutes for a video to run).

 

Reason for bump is legitimate: i'm offering this portable console system for a raffle, low cost to buy a ticket and you could win this system (or other prizes).

Link to the raffle details and also short YouTube video:

http://moddedbybacteria.freeforums.org/raffle-competition-t1180.html