Bacteria's N64/GBA combined portable - Nintendo 64 Advance

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:24 pm

And the Big Boy advance would have been the first gbap (haha, gbap)

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:50 pm

Kyo - Thanks! Case size could easily be far narrower; it could be made to be as low as 16.5cms wide if I really wanted - using a GameCube joystick, mounting all the buttons vertically on the side and edges - however it would be very hard to hold the case, especially due to the height (it would add a further 1cm to sandwich the two GBA boards). The whole point of a case however is that you either make it tiny or you make it comfortable. If you have small hands your case can be narrower, if you have bigger hands it will be a wider case; so you can hold the case naturally and comfortably. Personally, the gap between by thumb and forefinger is about 32mm (thickness of an N64 cart box) and the length of my forefinger is about 85mm. This means this is about right for a case design. The finished case will be a little wider than normal, but the reason is comfort not any other reason. It is a coincidence that this 85mm can take the GBA boards on the side and not the top, and large speakers, so there is no extra height or length involved; and I love GBA games and better audio quality, so hence incorporated these factors into the project.

The best illustration I can give to the importance of case design and comfort is from a game my wife and I are currently playing (mostly me though!) - Banjo Kazooie. In this game you often need to press Z with the A or the Z with the C buttons; and the right shoulder gets lots of use. If the case isn't a good case, a game like this would be hard to play and/or hard to use.

ShockSlayer - My dream console too! The only way to improve it for me, would have been to also include my GP2x into the N64/GBA and make it a tri-system; but it would have added more issues and wiring nightmares!

CronoTriggerfan - Indeed, but now it is far far better - bigger screen, larger buttons, better buttons, easier unit to hold, etc. Improvements, not detriments; and more portable (as incorporated into dual system).

Valium - as above!

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 9:35 am

Resoldered the N64 wires to the main switch to complete my work so far; tested the system; all 4 mini-switches switched to "GBA" and turned on, everything fine, by G&W GBA cart fired up, I used my home-made buttons and the D-pad, success. I then turned the main switch off, flicked the 4 mini switches from "GBA" to "N64", then flicked on the main switch; Fifa 64 came up perfectly; did same test with D-pad, (joystick) and my home-made buttons - worked perfectly.

Great so far, I sorted out my previous problems, project is getting to the point of a "home-stretch" as the saying goes.

I thought I would try changing the Jumper Pak for the Expansion Pack. For some reason, the Expansion Pack from my unmodded N64 doesn't want to boot on my portable; any more than the other one I tried a while back. Strange. Anyone know why? All I got was the PSone screen flashing but no N64 game. I removed the Expansion Pack and replaced it with the Jumper Pak and everything worked fine again. Anyone know why? Although it would add about 6mm to my case height (board removed), the Expansion Pack would be nice to add. Any ideas??

If no-one knows the answer as to why, so I can solve this, I will have to stay with the Jumper Pak option.

I will start to put the top on the N64 mobo soon, get the PSone screen on top and then crack on with the case. I will have three or four days next week where I can devote a lot of my time to the project (Tuesday-Friday).

dudex77 · Post by **dudex77** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 12:14 pm

Are you including the dpad and l button more the n64 part and do you have a case concept drawn up we could see? Sorry If youve already answered my questions and I just missed something in this long thread

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:04 pm

The exp pack draw a HUGE amount of power, I've left it out of all my portables.

SS

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:19 pm

dudex77 wrote:Are you including the dpad and l button more the n64 part and do you have a case concept drawn up we could see? Sorry If youve already answered my questions and I just missed something in this long thread

Yes, including the D-pad, Z button and the two shoulder buttons. The D-pad will be used for both systems, and some of the buttons will be shared.

The case concept was from photos I made a few postings ago of where the buttons, joystick and D-pad will go. It is, to some degree, still a WIP; although I have formulated it in my mind and how I will achieve it.

Yes, the thread is long, that is because I have been blogging all relevant activities on the project, even when trying a method and "revising and enhancing" the final method.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 4:28 pm

ShockSlayer wrote:The exp pack draw a HUGE amount of power, I've left it out of all my portables.

SS

Thanks SS for that thought. Is that why when I turned on the system I just got the PSone screen turning on and off repeatedly - I know the car adapter takes a lot of draw; is it likely that the Expansion Pack takes a sizable chunk of extra power and is the cause of the problem? I have a TI card, although I am reluctant to use it as everything works fine at the moment; just in case the TI card isn't good enough at maintaining a constant voltage output without spiking (and damaging my system I have spent so much effort in getting to work - that would be painful). Someone said in one of the posts a while back that the TI boards aren't as consistent as they need to be and you can get problems??

If the extra draw by the Expansion Pack is the reason for the PSone screen flicker, that will be a shame as I will have to stay with the Jumper Pak, but at least would account for the problem and give a logical reason for what is happening. Any comments guys??

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 5:24 pm

Well, I had one in my 3rd portable. I got about 3 min of batterylife. I took it out and got 12.

SS

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:57 am

Thanks ShockSlayer - you helped me identify the issue. My Expansion Pack works fine in a regular unmodded N64, it is therefore a loss of available power which is the issue in this portable; which makes sense given the PSone screen was flashing with the Expansion Pack inserted.

I posted a topic about the TI card as I was having issues setting it up, even if I get it working, I may decide to stay with the Jumper Pak as the "safe" option. It is attractive to use the Expansion Pack, but even trimmed down it will make the case about 6-8mm taller; and I can't afford a fry at this stage.

ShockSlayer - how come you only got 12 mins out of your batteries??

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:56 pm

bacteria wrote:how come you only got 12 mins out of your batteries??

I blame my voltage converter, it only gave me 3v.

My next portable will be exact voltages.

SS

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:11 pm

CronoTriggerfan wrote:
Kyo wrote:well, I'm not entirely sure about the case size, but it will definitely be one of the better n64ps, and well, pretty much the only gbap...
The GBA's already portable... >_>

precisely. But I didn't say GBA, did I?

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:09 pm

Kyo wrote:
CronoTriggerfan wrote:
Kyo wrote:well, I'm not entirely sure about the case size, but it will definitely be one of the better n64ps, and well, pretty much the only gbap...
The GBA's already portable... >_>
precisely. But I didn't say GBA, did I?

Kyo wrote:well, I'm not entirely sure about the case size, but it will definitely be one of the better n64ps, and well, pretty much the only gbap...

SS

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:25 pm

SO not the same

Post by **Skyone** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:36 pm

ShockSlayer wrote:Well, I had one in my 3rd portable. I got about 3 min of batterylife. I took it out and got 12.

SS

I think you're blaming the wrong part.

If anything, the regulator should be the most steady source of voltage - you have a bad battery.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Mon Aug 20, 2007 1:41 am

According to the definition (just looked it up on Google), portable refers to "Carried or moved with ease". "Small enough to carry". "Easily or conveniently transported". Therefore any games system made with integrated screen, controller, etc (ie complete system, not in components) is "a portable" (irrespective of how it is powered as the definition refers to something which is portable rather than being able to be used anywhere - eg, a portable television was quoted as an example); so by this definition, the GBA is a portable, my BigBoy Advance is a portable (GBAp if you like technically - all be it less portable in this state

), and certainly this N64/GBA system is a portable. My coffee mug is also portable

- a "coffee mugp"