Bacteria's portable DreamCast handheld console - IntoDream

Previously, a couple of people from my previous forum persuaded me to change the project name not to be "Into...." as this project used two modded tupperware boxes for the case halves. I have decided to revert to my original name for this project, as my projects all all going to be like my last projects - Into... and be red and black. That way, they are uniform.

Spent a while making this logo for the CD tray:



More updates later tonight...

 

Love these foam sanding blocks, they are flexible, bendable and also great sanding blocks.

Apply some PolyFiller filler, sand down, add more to fill in any pits or tiny holes, repeat, repeat - eventually you end up with a completely smooth surface



Don't forget the join between the perspex and the tupperware side, fill in any cracks.



Removed the adhesive PSone sticker from the CD tray, filled with PolyFiller and sanded - smooth!



Some people use bondo, etc for filling, PolyFiller is fairly strong, especially when painted or varnished; it is easy to use and get a smooth surface. You don't use it for strength, just as a cosmetic filler.



This is what it looks like before painting, will look 10x better when paint is applied.



Just given it a couple of coats of plastic primer spray paint, can start the process to paint the case red, and controls black, as is "ma thing" :wink:

 

This project is really looking amazing. That soldering work must of took you ages.

 

Thanks Maggs - indeed, a considerable amount of time. Soldering two rows of 25 pins occupying 24mm space and not having any shorts was not easy! Using thin wire, only just managed it.

Just hoping everything continues to work, I can fix things of course, but this project is so complex that if it stopped working it could be a pain to find the fault and fix; eg a wire works its way loose or a wire to a re-wired capacitor, etc.

Just applied the first coat of paint to the case backing, will need a few more coats yet. I anticipate having the painting completed in the next couple of days, let it dry for a day, varnish another day, let it dry and not touch it much for about 3 days, then it will be ready to handle and use. I will post pics when it is ready and final drying.

 

Every time I check this thread, I have to change my pants.

Amazing work!

 

Thanks!

Time then alecjahn to change your pants again! ;-)

I need to gently sand the holes down to be exactly right, these are pics of the case backing now they are painted and varnished:





(the lighting through my window changed between camera shots!)

There are a few minor imperfections, would take a fair bit of time to resolve and extra paint which would take a lot longer to set. I am setting with 90% perfect as there are never guarantees you can improve much more anyway. The filling on the CD area inside the case is not perfect but good enough, will do - won't see it anyway as at the back of the CD lid area inside the case.

 

Time for a quick video update!

YouTube link

:dance:

 

This was a pic from the video - the parts on the top are a small fan to draw hot air out of the system, an on/off switch from the DC as it can handle up to 3 amps ok, two 2P2T switches to change function of the small 4 button set on the front of the case between volume and contrast for the screen, and as a shifted dpad for playing Q*bert. Larger vent holes at the bottom of the case to draw air in, thanks to convection, and also the processor fan drawing air in, and the DC fan drawing air in and around the rest of the system.

On the bottom are the headphone jack (green) and a recharge jack (yellow) to recharge the li-ion batteries.

The shoulder buttons are in place.



The buttons are wired up, and the perspex sheet made before in place. That is the case front near completion - just needs wiring to the console board.



I had intended to put the controller board against the side of the case, top or bottom, and it would be fine - fine but fiddly. It would also restrict making the case stronger later.

The alternative, is to have the controller board on the top, where the batteries will go - there is just enough space for this to work.

This means I only had to trim one side of the controller board, not both; nevermind, done now, just need to wire it back again. The other part needed trimming anyway as it would not fit otherwise. The offcut (joystick area, etc) was trimmed a little, to fit.

This was to give the idea of how it would fit, so can be wired properly.



There is space for 4 sets of 2 amps 7.4v Li-ions, giving a total of 8 amps, however I may well go for 3 sets instead (6 amps) as the weight will be more evenly balanced, and cheaper (each battery pack costs about £9.50).

8 amps would power the system for 3 hours, 6 amps for 2 hours 10 mins. The system will be quite heavy either way as the actual DC console parts are heavy.

2 hours 10 mins playtime is quite reasonable for sure, however the prospect of 3 hours with one more battery pack is tempting.

Normally, I would open up the Li-ion packs, however might not need to this time, which will save time and hassle. Opening them up is useful if you don't have space to put two cells next to each other and need to separate them and wire them together remotely (NB - a 7.4v pack contains two 3.7v cells).

Here are the choices, I not only need to decide 3 or 4 packs, but also if 4 can be accommodated when things get assembled.



or

 

Pretty sure things will fit in this configuration, if not I can always open up the battery pack on the left and re-set them.



As you see, decided to stay with 3 packs, ie 6 amps. 4 packs would have been pushing my luck inside the case, cramming it all in.

As you may have noticed, upped a new guide in regards to opening up a Li-ion battery and rewiring it - result is in the pic above.

 

Small update, but worth mentioning.

Removed one of the batteries, drilled out the part of the PSone case under it and reglued the battery back. This reduced the amount of space the battery stuck out into the other case half by about 8mm, which makes all the difference in the case to finally close when at that stage. That took over an hour to complete.

Worked out how to make the case halves reinforced and also meet - going to use a set of "teeth" on both case halves to loosely interact, and a strip of steel wire to provide the strength to the cases; not at the stage yet to do that, will do. When done, I intend to spray paint the part the two case halves meet, to look cool - probably in black.

Changed the positions of the drive unit and its board a bit, by about 2cms; hoping it still works ok, will test in next days. Assuming it does, work on the case should start to get fairly swift in the project. The batteries are in now, the controller needs rewiring and all the connections connected to it (which will take a while to complete), that is the last part of the core project completed, assuming it works ok when the system is turned on and tested.

 

I feel that I am on the "home straight" now on this project, which is good news.

Cut a strip of thin steel and put the end over a piece of the thermal gunk from the other DC board, on top of the BA3986FM chip on the drive daughterboard. This chip normally connects to the metal plate around the drive unit, so presumably gets warm. The metal strip should remove the heat, and the air moving in the case will keep the plate cool.

Jiggled the positions of the drive board on the motherboard, and the placement of the drive unit on its own board, being very careful to keep the ribbon cable behind straight. The plastic holder for the drive unit has been cut back so the drive unit is slightly over the fan keeping the processor chips cool - this means the board will fit in the case without needing trimming (apart from corners maybe) and the drive unit will fit through the case backing hole made for it. Those processes took a good couple of hours to do, check, move some capacitors about a bit, etc.

I then turned the system on, hoping all works still ok; did! If not, and I had a short, I might have either had to spend a few hours trying to correct the fault, or far longer starting a new DC from scratch... anyway, all ok, so no issue!



To keep the drive unit in place, used some plastic tubes, hot glued to the board below it.



I have a few DreamCast games, this one is a strange but amusing one - PenPen. Got it for £5 on ebay (including postage), arrived a couple of days ago.

As it turned out, 4 packs of batteries would be possible, just; however I prefer to keep more airflow in the case, and somewhere to put controller board in, so will keep to 3 packs (6 amps).

So, the system works, the case front works, the system section fits in the case now (pretty sure), work remaining:

* finish wiring the controller board
* wire everything to the controller board
* wire the power to the relevant parts
* wire the PSone screen to the system and the system to the controller
* wire all other switches, etc
* install the DC fan in place
* install the rumble pack
* mod the board connecting the controller to the motherboard
* make a section to secure the two case halves together, and make it easy to get into the system if needed

This is "home straight", perhaps just another 10 hours or so work remaining, then can get on with testing the system and make improvements as needed. I also want to see if connecting the system to RGB instead of composite is not only better, but also plays some NTSC games that currently scroll (RGB mode might stop that).

 

Can't seem to change the title of this project to "IntoDream" which it is, updating or editing the post doesn't seem to work. Bother!!


Had to remove the battery from the other side, use a drill bit and carefully work away the PSone screen casing, to then re-set the battery in place as it was before. This lowers the battery by several millimeters, so worth it - makes the system close.



Had a corking idea for strengthening the case sides and also making the two halves meet nicely and stay secured - had thought about making "teeth" however that would be bulky and time consuming. I remembered a strip of plastic I retained in case it was useful for project work - from a replacement car window wiper strip! Basically, it is a strip of plastic in an "H" shape, and the right thickness to support and fit the plastic from the case! The strip is fairly rigid, however can be weakened in strategic places so it moulds around the corners of the casing. One section will have the strip hot glued in place, the other case half will pop into place, and just need a few screws to secure it together - probably four might be enough, two on top and two on bottom.

I like thinking laterally to problem solve!



Recharged the batteries in the case from an adapted battery charger.



More updates to follow hopefully today, if not, certainly tomorrow.

 

Last update today, more tomorrow no doubt!

Moved battery yet again. Reason being that placement of the controller board was either going to be:

1) Sloping against the two single cells, but making placement of the DC fan difficult and also meaning lots of wires connecting the controller to the other case half where all the buttons, joystick, rumble pack and memory card are to be placed, meaning it would be hard to get all the wires out of the way when closing the case halves, and interrupting air flow due to the amount of such wiring.

2) Mount the controller board on the case top; it can be mounted directly above the joystick, i'll just make a ledge for it to rest on and not interrupt the joystick movements - fortunately, there are corners on the joystick surround, so can make a stilt on each corner and make a shelf, the controller will sit above. To do that, the battery standing up needs to be laying down. Wiring will be neater as there will be far fewer wires between the case halves and the wires can be secured in place in the case top.

I went for option 2, reasons being apparent.

So, in the pics below you see how this will fix together. The green rectangle is where the original DC fan will be situated. Air coming in through the vent holes will be moved one side and downwards over the processor chips, and also dragged on the other side to keep the rest of the system cooler, including the metal strip cooling the chip on the drive board. That's the plan anyway, proof of how effective it is will be when the system is turned on for an hour, if the system is working reliably, and the case isn't warm, success.

The blue rectangles show the position the controller board will be placed.

 

Been experimenting a bit, didn't have much time today (between night shifts at the moment).

There is space for a full size rumble motor against the screen, joystick and case, barely, but enough. This is a good place for a rumble motor as it is adjacent to the joystick, where my thumb will be mostly.

Remember I got a MadCatz rumble motor and not a regular one? Reason being it emits a red LED as well as the rumble at the same time, designed to do so. As the joystick I am using is clear on the assembly at the back, guess what - if I connect a second red LED and have them at either sides of the clear joystick assembly, then I get a nice red light glow on the top of the case at the joystick recess itself showing nicely on the front of the case. I will post pics when this is done, tomorrow or Monday. Cool! :mrgreen: Nice touch, unique. Will probably do this as a part video-update, thinking about it.

As you have gathered, not rushing this project, no timescale to work to, however it is coming along nicely, only have the controller to wire up as the major bit remaining.

 

The MadCatz rumble pack, naked: :shock:



The idea is to secure the LED above the center of the joystick so the light is uniform, however the LED is tall, so needed to find a small and flat one. In my bit box there are a few such items, including this one - from one of those VR type gadgets that makes it look like you are looking to a 50" television a few feet from you. My unit only cost £3 as it was broken, was pretty useless anyway. Depending on what you connect to where, the LED shows white, green or red illumination - I want red.



A top piece of perspex was cut out to provide a gap between the joystick mechanism and the top, where upon the controller board will be mounted.



Details in this video (as promised): YouTube

 

Ok, spent about 5 hours today on this soldering - wires from the VMU to the controller, the rumble pack to the controller. Sounds a lot of time, and was, however had to redo some contacts as the continuity tester on my multimeter indicated some of the traces were touching on the wiring, so had to stop that. Also, the wiring is quite fine.

There are three layers on this - the controller board, the rumble pack board, and the relocated part of the controller. The other side needs the relocated part of the other piece of controller, which will be positioned as the 4th layer on the other side. Used a blob of hot glue to secure each board piece to card, and small blob to secure the card to the next board - means they can be easily removed if any repairs needed.



Issue is that the controller has been rewired, the memory card and rumble pack rewired; there is every reason for it to work, however by the same token it might not work, maybe wires too long from the VMU, etc. Also, that is assuming I haven't got the wiring backwards, or will fry the board(s). I have no spares at the moment, so would cause a delay in the project if wiring is done incorrectly at this stage. Only way to know is when done, turning the system on, fingers crossed, hoping all is fine!

 

Bravo *applause* keep up the good work.

Do you visit Benheck by chance too?

 

all done now

 

Many thanks Yakumo! :icon_bigg

 

One thing I discovered today, which is a pain in the butt: nearly wired up the DreamCast controller, and checked the grounds on the buttons and d-pad were universal - they aren't! On a normal controller, you have a common ground connection linking all buttons together, the other connection on the button makes the button press work. Fine. I have however come across some that don't play by these rules, normally some plug'n'play boards like the (crappy) Intellivision one: and now, the DreamCast one!

According to this site I checked link I was expecting a common ground via pin 3. Nada. It doesn't.

Some buttons share a common ground, others don't!

This isn't a big problem, as I used rubber topped tact switches, as each switch is independent as standard, so each side of the contact can be wired to the tacts fine. The d-pad buttons share a common ground, fine.

Issue though is the four separate buttons installed to swap between PSone screen controls and the shifted d-pad controls for Q*Bert. Normally, the grounding from the screen board connects to the grounding on the console and normally, by default, the controller ground connects to the grounding on the console. Not in the DC's case, no, that would be too easy! :banghead:

The original plan was to connect ground between the d-pad and the shifted d-pad and use the two 2P2T switches to swap the signals between the d-pad and the screen controls (contrast, volume). Can't do that now.

Two options, will only know result when testing: 1) swap ground between the d-pad / screen (that might work), although would mean I only needed to install one switch not two before; or 2) add a third switch 1P2T that also changes the ground.

More work, more time :banghead:

Nearly finished wiring the controller, intend to upload pics later.

When it comes initially to testing the system out, will leave the DC where it is, wire the controller wires to the DC and also video/audio too; that way, easier to make changes, although it lengthens the project time a bit in other ways.
There are only two options - 1) wire