System Link

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 6:51 pm

I was thinking about making a system link for linking two N64 portables. I have no idea where to start with this though.

Post by **gannon** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:28 pm

Read up on some of Ben's guides.
He did the same thing with the atari, so it's basically the same process.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:15 pm

I was reading it and am still confused. Has anyone ever even done a system link to another portable(of the same console type) before?

Post by **gannon** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:29 pm

Use something like a dsub-9 connector and wire audio, video, 5V, and controller lines for how ever many you want. I'd wire it so the 5V goes into a digital switch or relay so that every unit except for the one with the game in it only has power going to the screen, speakers, and controllers.

JackFrost22 · Post by **JackFrost22** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 6:43 am

To link my 2 ataris(not portable yet) I used a 25 pin connector but only used 18 pins. You wire 9 to p1 output and the other 9 to p2 input. Then you make a cable that take the p1 output and puts it to the p2 input on theother. You both need carts but atleast you can have your own screen.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 3:16 pm

I found the 5 volt connection on the board but where on the board do I solder wires to get the video and audio over to the other system?

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:47 pm

I was going to solder wires from the A/v on the wierd jack thing and also a 5v spot I found to the three pins on the controller connection I'm not sure what to do about the master port.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 9:51 am

Sorry to bring this up again but the N64's nearing completion and I still want to add the system link.I know you have to set it up where the slave is recieving the a/v and the master is sending it out so how do I set that up?

Post by **gannon** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:32 am

I'd set it up like this.
1:ground
2:audioL
3:audioR
4:video
5:7.2V
6:p1o
7:p2i
8:p3i
9:p4i

Basically, you wire the 7.2V to your screen so you don't have to turn both system on. I'm not sure what voltage the controllers require, so you might have to add another voltage line, or a regulator inside the unit.

Oh yeah, and p1o is inverted inside the cable with p2i.
I'll see if I can draw a wiring diagram if you need it.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 11:40 am

A diagram would help, I'm kind of confused by what you're saying. I get pins 2-5. The batteries in the seconed N64 portable would take care of the controller, screen, and system power right? I'm still not sure on how you would setup the slave system though. Because you need it to recieve the the A/V and send it to the screen and stuff.

Post by **gannon** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 1:01 pm

THis picture really isn't the best.
In this diagram, the second system uses the main systems batteries to power it's screen and controller. I think if you put a relay in it you could make it use it's own batteries to power the screen though.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 2:13 pm

Why don't the other 5 pins have anything connected. So is there going to be a slave and master or is it just setup with one port. What's the con. data. Sorry for all the questions I'm really confused.

Post by **gannon** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 2:26 pm

the other 5 pins are connected, I just thought that it would be messy. They're just connected to the spots that correspond to their color. Con. Data is the controller datalines.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 2:37 pm

So the green lines are the first and last pins on controller one and two. So that wiould be the setup of the master port but how do you setup the slave now. Doesn't the 3.3 volts need to be connected too? One last thing I don't see a 7 volt spot on the mobo there's only 3 and 12

Post by **gannon** » Fri Aug 06, 2004 2:46 pm

I meant the 12V line since it only requires 7.2V. Also, all controller data lines are the middle pins of controllers 1-4, not just 1-2. This would allow a 4 player game, although the battery drain would probably be too high if you didn't use a relay to activate the units internal batteries.