I want to add an external reset switch to the N64

Seems I have been wrong. I checked the N64 AGAIN only to find the button is busted...

Readings seem to change. One moment it's an NO button, next it's NC. What the hell man???

I do believe it should be a standard push-to-connect then...

And yes these, changing readings come from the same 2 points on the button. The ones in my images.

 

He mentioned de-soldering it. I was providing an alternative if he was removing it anyway.

Yea I was thinking about that. It seemed like the last time I checked one it was push to connect. I'll check some boards tomorrow.

 

Always has been and always will be. Especially since spare parts aren't being manufactured anymore and there is always the option of making a few bucks on a spare part.

Never know when you'll need a reset switch for a N64 either but you can be damn sure I'll have one when I need it.

 

You can dis-assemble the reset button to clean it.

 

Assuming its push to connect - just solder 2 wires, 1 to each side. No traces need cutting. Nice and easy

 

Does anyone have more information what exactly happends uppon a reset?

My N64 doesn't want to reset either, I already desoldered the reset switch and connected the reset pin on the Pif to ground via a push button. Still doesn't work. I think there might be a broken trace somewhere or something.

I've got a 24MHz 8 Channel logic analyzer at hand but no clue what to check.

 

Just connects reset leg of the PIF to ground. The PIF handles the reset.

Check that the reset leg of the PIF is getting pulled low when you press the button is the first step in the chain

 

You could just buy a remote control for your power outlet.

 

Has anyone verified if it's push to connect, to make the N64 reset?

I don't understand the "getting pulled low" part, sorry (I'm new to all this). I know that you mean I should solder the reset leg
of the PIF chip to a wire, connect the wire to a switch, connect the other end of the switch to a second wire, and connect
that wire to a ground point (on the back of the motherboard), but I don't understand what "getting pulled low" means - do you
mean check with a voltmeter or whatever they are called? If so, how do you do that?

 

That would work (even though it seems a bit like overkill!), but I have heard that powering on/off electrical devices reduces their life expectancy, as it's better to have a continuous current through them than to break the power (which is why, I imagine, reset switches exist on consoles, as otherwise they'd just have on/off switched) is this true?

Plus the Everdrive 64 requires the N64 to be reset to save any gamesaves, so I don't want to get into the habit of breaking the power, when I should really reset the N64. Thanks for the suggestion, though - I didn't know remote controlled power socket devices even existed.

 

Connecting something to ground = pulling that line low.

 

I finally got around to doing it today, and it works great, so thanks to everyone for their help. I'm very pleased with it, as it's my first real attempt at soldering (I started an electronics course at college, but it finished as only three people turned up, sadly). I didn't actually end up modding my usual N64, as I couldn't get the motherboard out, since one of the screws was impossible to shift, so I dug out my spare N64, and thankfully that was easy to strip down.

When I did get the motherboard out, I saw that the line Sonicdude10 had highlighted in red on his first photo was much too small for me to cut/solder, as I could barely even see it on the motherboard (my eyesight isn't fantastic), and I wasn't sure if the switch should be break-on-press or connect-on-press (I'd bought one of each, when I bought my soldering iron kit and wire, yesterday). So I thought I'd try the easy way (well, easier, since I'm so new to soldering), and I soldered a wire to the two points highlighted in Sonicdude10's second photo (the back of the N64 motherboard); the RESET SOLDER POINT and GROUND, and it turned out that the N64 reset if the reset switch was pressed (as you'd expect, since I'd not altered the reset switch), or if the two wires were connected (which connected the RESET SOLDER POINT and GROUND). So I connected the wires up to a press-to-connect switch, wrapped it along the joypad cable, and it now functions as a reset switch that's within easy reach of the joypad - great! I was very lucky that it turned out to need a press-to-connect switch, as if it needed a press-to-break switch then I'd have had to physically interrupt the feed in the existing switch to insert the connections for the press-to-break switch, which (though trivial for most people on this board) would be more complicated than what turned out to be all that was required, and I might well have got something wrong.

I have to admit, the final soldering is very messy, even I can see that and I know nothing about soldering. I put black masking tape over the motherboard, to protect everything close to the two solder points on the motherboard, so the solder didn't leak and connect with anything it shouldn't. And I put more masking tape over the finished solder points to stop them ever making contact with the heat sink thing under the motherboard (I don't think they would, but it was an easy precaution to take), tested it and everything was fine, put the N64 back together, tested it again with the Everdrive and various games, plus a couple of real game cartridges (can't see that it would make a difference to the reset function, but I tried just in case) and everything works great.

So thanks again to everyone for all of your help, especially Sonicdude10, but also everyone else who offered advice.