PS2 portable system

[lburna95]

Alright well I'm new to making portable systems,and my question is what is the best place to use for making pcb boards.I plan on redesigning a psp system with ps2 internals and using a small harddrive with something similar to hdloader, hdadvance etc... harddrive technique to play the games off of.Making the case is not hard at all,but designing and getting the pcb made is my problem at the moment.I can design the actual board with the CAD experience I have,but what really is the best place to use for getting a pcb made.Thanks in advance for any input,and any help on the subject is welcome.

[64M320N3]

Wow...
i dont think you could get a working ps2 the size of a psp iven with a new board; unfortunately the ps2 needs all of the parts it's got (other than video out port, controller ports, etc.)
Actually i was looking for a pcb maker too.
PM Electric Rain, making things that require custom pcb

[lburna95]

Thanks for the help 64M320N3 I sent Electric Rain a PM and hopefully we can find someone that can help us out.When it comes to a project like this the design of the pcb is very important.I plan on using a modchip that will launch into an additional bios other than the original,so the disc drive won't have to be used at all.I have to get rid of the disc drive in order for this to work,because as you mentioned space is going to be an issue.

[64M320N3]

as you mentioned space is going to be an issue.

It always is in the portale world, unfortunately.

[Valium]

I'm pretty sure the PS2 is the size it is for a reason, if they could be smaller, they would be. I'd imagine it's for cooling.

[Kyo]

I'm pretty sure the PS2 is the size it is for a reason, if they could be smaller, they would be. I'd imagine it's for cooling.

Well, the disk drive + controller board might make quite some room, but I still doubt it'll be possible to cram it in a PSP case. Especially not with a screen and harddrive.

[Valium]

I'm pretty sure the PS2 is the size it is for a reason, if they could be smaller, they would be. I'd imagine it's for cooling.

Well, the disk drive + controller board might make quite some room, but I still doubt it'll be possible to cram it in a PSP case. Especially not with a screen and harddrive.

No controller board, and the disk drive is actually very tiny on the slim. There's no way it'd fit in a Psp, even without a screen and hard drive. It's small, but not that small.

[Kyo]

No controller board?

Well it doesn't change anything, I didn't think it was possible anyway.

[Valium]

The slim is probably the most thought out mobo of any console I've seen so far, almost no wasted space. Brings a tear to my eye.

[lburna95]

Well I'm pretty sure it can be done,but we will see there is quite a bit of work that has to be done.The PS2 slim can be even smaller,but it has to be redesigned which is why I have to create a new pcb board.I don't think anyone could just take the motherboard from a PS2 slim and cram it into a psp system.If you can then flaunt it,because I don't see it happening as well.There is plenty of stuff that can be removed to save space such as drive controller board,controller ports, AV out ports etc...I believe it can be done or I wouldn't invest my time with it at all.I know most of you have your doubts,and I have no problem with that.I don't think I'm wasting my time, even though it may seem like that to most people.

[Ben Cebhrem]

Even I've got to doubt this one. I don't think you'd save much space, if any at all, by recreating the PCB. It's not the difficulty of reverse engineering it that would bother me, but plotting it, double checking it, and the fact that the PCB is likely to cost at least $100. And for what? To remove the drive controller? You'll still need to have a controller pinout on the board, video/audio out, etc.... No offense, but I don't think it can get much smaller than it already is, certainly not for the price it would cost just for the board (not to mention the days and weeks you'll need to figure the out the pinout, and then the hours to desolder/resolder what are likely to be BGA and SMT chips).

I wish you luck if you're hellbent on doing it. Just be aware that it will be difficult, and very costly- without making a mistake.

[lburna95]

I agree it will be difficult,and as you said there is no room for error.The outcome would be priceless though,and even if I don't get it to work I still learn from it.I'm aware of how much time it will take,and have no problems investing my time.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.

[Valium]

Everything you mentioned you could remove, wouldn't take off nearly enough space to make it even come close to fitting into a Psp. You'd have to leave NO space unused on the mobo to even come close, you'd have to redesign the whole thing, which is near impossible since there are no datasheets for any of the chips, traces going inside the pcb that you can't even see, and the whole fact that if you cram everything right beside each other it'll overheat within a minute of turning on.

[lburna95]

I still don't understand why you think I have to cram everything together? Look I'm not a complete moron if that is what you think.The system is going to be designed completely different.I've already mentioned this awhile ago the PS2 slim mobo is not going to be used,and even when your mind is set on a slim PS2 mobo being the smallest thing ever created it can be created even smaller.You know what I think and this is just a guess,but you probably think I'm trying to squeeze the same design into something smaller.I plan on recreating my own design and building it from scratch.Honestly I think you take me for an idiot Valium,and this is the very first form of electronics I've messed with.I might be considered a newbie on here by my post count and you might see me that way,but my knowledge on electronics is very strong.Sorry buddy,but keep doubting this project as it gives me more motivation.

[hailrazer]

Well everyone here doubts you.

How is that for motivation ?

Now go get it done and you can thank me later for the needed motivation.