Bacteria's multi-console system project : UNITY

The finished case front:

I have prepared the boards for the d-pad and 4 button area; on the back of the board the wires are secured into place by superglue. This makes it really easy to identify which wire is up, down, etc.

 

Updated my website with the guide i'm doing here, although doing the guide in more detail there.

Installed the d-pad surround and the first mini board as well as a shoulder button. The pine wood strips are superglued into place, along with the button holes. Used a small amount of hot glue, just as support.

 

Isn't it hard getting a somewhat identical feel of all the buttons and directions? I haven't tried what you're doing, just wondering

 

Different controllers all feel a bit different, whether it be the size of the buttons or shape of the buttons, or the resistance of the rubber pad between the buttons and the PCB and also type of switches used. One of the benefits of making your own controller is you can use the parts from different controllers which you prefer.

 

All buttons and the joystick are installed. Used a little hot glue, and about 1g super glue. Next job is to install the cable (a parallel one as 25 internal wires) and wire the connections up. I'm going to strip the part of the cable inside the controller so can make the individual wires the correct length.



The red button on the underside of the controller is the "Z" button for the N64.

Only button I need to install is a reset button, I wanted to see how everything else fitted in first to decide where to put the reset button. For that, i've a small square tact button to install discreetly.

 

I should have been more clear. What I meant was, isn't it hard getting the same feel across all buttons. Ie. making the left and right directional buttons feel identical, when you are positioning the buttons and PCB yourself? If you install the PCB a little slanted, surely that will have an impact on the feel of the button? Maybe it's not a problem at all since you glued the gray pieces in first. I can imagine that the PCB will lay pretty flat on these

 

If installing one button with a PCB then "about right" is fine, two buttons in a row has a little less tolerance but "about right" is fine; however when installing a PCB with 4 buttons, like a d-pad or the 4 button pad also used, then yes, it is more critical. Using the button holes means that assuming they are all the same height and you are using the same buttons, rubber pad and PCB, then as long as the PCB and rubber pad are pressed against the button holes, the contacts will be as good as they were in the host controller they came from.

There are two things you can do to make adjustments, one is the positioning and height of the posts needing to secure the PCB (with screws) into the casing and also, if the button isn't quite making perfect contact with the rubber pad, you can superglue a thin piece of card or plastic on the back of the button to bridge any gap. This is why it is best to use screws to hold things in place, in case you need to make any final adjustments. In saying that, sometimes there is no good place to make such screwholes in a PCB or there isn't the space in the case, then the PCB just needs to he hot glued in place and have done with it. The only important factors are then of course if the buttons feel right, are level and also the contacts work; the way they are attached inside the casing isn't important as can't be seen when the casings are closed.

 

Now the wiring part.

Here is a photo of my worksheet for the pinout for the service area for the Unity system, which connects the consoles to everything else and everything else to the consoles. Been revised a little, as you can see, however it's my main wiring diagram. The 7 grounds are there only because of the Jaguar (4), 3 of which i'd have needed due to TurboGrafx, the other systems only need 1 ground. Yes, 7 grounds:

Cut the end off the parallel cable i'd used for the previous master controller, cut it down to about 5m which is all I need. Used a cable tie to ensure the cable does not tug out during gameplay, and at the other end of the cable, the wires have all been exposed to trim and wire to the corresponding button controls. The end of the cable sheath has been superglued and hot glued in place. The case has been tested, and closes still. There is no headroom in the controller casing but it closes fine.

 

Internals are wired up, apart from reset button (that needs to be installed) and to the "Z" button. Those will be done in the morning (UK time) and with any luck, i'll have it done in the hour I have modding time before going to work in the morning, assuming it closes first time (it is quite snug in places to close, and that was before the wiring). Then, can test and see what works and what if anything doesn't. I haven't tested the joystick yet, it's all theory that the pots will behave as well as do in original controller and also I haven't over trimmed the new one.

 

Ok, all wired up, and also case halves are closed and screwed together. Everything feels like it should and seems to work, however need to test on the N64 to know what does and doesn't work.

I have decided to only do three more proper updates; one for the master controller as a demonstration, one as a comprehensive re-work of the video for the base unit and also how to build a console into a cartridge for the system and walkthrough; and third for a presentation video in a few months when the system is completed and final. Best to have 3 good videos than fodder.

Start of next year, or later this year, i'll make a few handhelds for sale (N64 mostly), had a number of enquiries to date.

 

Feeling sick today, one of those flu type bugs, had to take the day off sick from work (first day off this year from sickness) and spend some of the morning sleeping, then watched a few films - thought as starting to feel better now i'd test the master controller on N64 for a few minutes. Everything worked first time, properly and it is a joy to use, very happy. Nice to hold, all buttons are responsive and work as should. Only thing that wasn't right is i'd swapped the ground and voltage lines on the joystick so the joystick was working in reverse. Easy to fix, only have to swap 4 wires on the joystick.

This was the final pic before the controller closed up:

When I feel well again i'll take a video and post it.

 

I have spent a while playing games on the systems recently.

Come to conclusion I was being harsh with the HDMI upscaler i'm using, actually it is responsive and gives good output on my main television, and at 1080p too. Not sure why I didn't think that before.

Played several hours on N64 and also time on Wii, MegaDrive and TurboGrafx.

Wii and TurboGrafx have no interference whatsoever, the N64 a tiny amount but that is probably down to the RGB converter on the N64, and the MegaDrive barely any. I will open up the N64 and MegaDrive to see if can reduce further, however it is barely noticeable so just me being a bit picky.

Made good progress on GameCube. The GC is the thickest of the systems, will be 55mm thick when done. Using the salvaged parts from Project Unity, no point using a fresh console especially as the drive unit has had the wiring relocated. The cables used for the GBA board on the GC are a bit long so will have to tie them back.

Secured the GC motherboard and GBA add-on board to a base and the drive unit alongside. My Master Controller can't handle the PS2, GameCube or Wii; so using wireless controllers for these units - for the GC I have a WaveBird controller so using that.

On the subject of the Master Controller, it works really well, happy with it.

 

GameCube ready to be wired up and the sides of the cases constructed. Top right is where the WaveBird wireless receiver goes and bottom left by the GBA port the GC regulator board is likely to be positioned. Making the hole for the GBA port larger than needs to be for airflow. A fair bit of work to do on this yet. The GBA adaptor board is under the GC motherboard under a foam board.

 

GameCube is in it's console cartridge now and almost finished wiring, will have that done tomorrow. I then need to test the system fully.

This module has not been tested since it was in the old system so I don't know if it still works however the only way to know is to basically assume all is ok, wire it all up and cross fingers as it's all-or-nothing. I have also connected a WaveBird controller and board, which has not been used for several years (fortunately i'd taken out the batteries at the time).

One annoyance is the drive unit is so thick, which makes the console cartridge double the height of others (apart from Wii), however it is what it is. I'm using original Wii discs not Wasp after all (not used one of those) - I have loads of GameCube games.

 

Finished wiring up the GC and had previously checked voltages ok, etc.

Switched system on and system did not boot, only the fan worked. After testing a couple of times, no difference. Checked the voltages and zero. Then tested with continuity and found the regulator voltage lines were connected to ground; on closer inspection there was a tiny tiny piece of metal bridging, so removed that and then the voltages worked ok. Ran out of time to retest the system as also cut some power lines when testing to eliminate what could be wrong with troubleshooting.

If I am lucky, as was on another system when similar thing happened, all will be fine; however there is quite a high risk I could have fried the system, which will mean a lot of work to start again with a GameCube from scratch. Fingers crossed when I test tomorrow.

 

Jeez. Stuff like that sucks. It can be so easy to do though. Hope the gc is ok!

 

Spent too long last night trying to fix what should have been an easy fix however no matter what I did, there must have been damage to the motherboard or further shorts as was then finding the 1.91v line were connected to ground and initially the 3.43v line was too, although fixed that. I didn't want to plug the board into the base unit let alone my TV if I know the system probably has a short.

Sometimes in modding it is best to put it down to experience and and start again, so i'm using the old GC board for reference and have opened up my last GameCube console I had in stock, got out all the components. Probably won't bother with the GBA Player option now and just keep it GameCube, to save the extra hassle - if I want to play the GBA Advance i'm better off with the BigBoy Advance handheld I made a couple of years ago with it's 8" screen.

 

Discovered something interesting and unusual.

I connected the regulator board from the GC to the GC motherboard (the new ones); nothing else. Blow me down but the 1.91v on my continuity tester beeps for all the neighbouring pins and ground (?). Usually if you connect a voltage pin to one terminal on a multimeter and the other to ground you get a quick beep and that's it, not a continual one. Thing is though, if I get that on an unmodded board and also my board, perhaps all was fine after all with my old board.

There is only one way to know though, so am connecting the wires i'd previously disconnected and will test the old system tomorrow when I have time. If i'm lucky, then it will all work, if not, i'll continue to use the new board instead.

 

reverse the MM leads and test again

 

I'll try that - does it matter which way round multimeter leads are connected to a circuit when testing for continuity?

I'll do the same thing, check the unmodded new motherboard with the regulator connected only; and then the old board with the leads the the same way, if the result is the same then fine, if not then it will prove the old board is bad. Thanks for the suggestion.

Thinking about it also, when I did the old system I didn't use a multimeter for continuity, I rigged up two old pens and installed an AA battery with a light within and just connected the two leads with a fairly long thin wire, which worked great. Perhaps I should go back to using that instead, especially as then it doesn't matter which way round the leads are, as the only way the light will illuminate is if there is a clear continuity connection.