Ok im kinda new to this and was wondering a few things

gamerjr · Post by **gamerjr** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:00 pm

I suddenly got in the interest of hacking consoles but the only one major part of it is i have little soldering abilities. I was wondering if you are able to do this project without much worry of soldering ablities and about how much it costs. Not including casing and a seperate price for casing please.

Website · Post by **Life of Brian** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:30 pm

A lot of this requires soldering, so that's one thing you'll have to practice. However, I started a couple of years ago not knowing anything at all about soldering and now it's no problem.

General cost is about $150, give or take. Screen is around fifty, system is around forty (assuming you get an SNES mini), and then then there's the case and batteries. If you don't have the necessary tools, however, the cost is a whole heck of a lot more. I've built up quite an arsenal of tools and supplies that makes projects like this go a lot smoother and easier.

gamerjr · Post by **gamerjr** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 11:40 pm

well i have a soldering iron not a desoldering though. exacto knife and a few other usefull things. i know i need to get the screwdrivers also but i can get those online also. Also about how long does it take a novice to finish this project? im only in high school so i have plenty of free time.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 11:30 am

How long? About three meters.

Best way to learn is to get desoldering braid, a soldering iron (30w) and solder; and an old mobo which is dead - practice soldering wires to wires and wires to pins and components on the dead mobo; and desolder stuff of the dead mobo. This will improve your soldering skills.

DukeNukenFourEver · Post by **DukeNukenFourEver** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:33 pm

You could also, if hard of sight, buy/make some goggles/glasses with these magnifying like things on them, helps me see real good up close on what I'm doing.

gamerjr · Post by **gamerjr** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:24 pm

also would i be able to hook up a DS battery? i have a cracked up DS but the battery works fin.

17daysolderthannes · Post by **17daysolderthannes** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:21 pm

I would imagine not, I'm almost certain an SNES and screen would take a lot more power than a DS battery could sustain.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:05 pm

A DS battery is a definite no.

gamerjr · Post by **gamerjr** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 6:30 pm

K just checking. I will be starting this hopefully next week when i get some of my b-day cash

17daysolderthannes · Post by **17daysolderthannes** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:55 pm

gamerjr wrote:K just checking. I will be starting this hopefully next week when i get some of my b-day cash

ya know, not to discourage you or anything, but if you're still in high school, keep in mind, this isn't exactly "easy" stuff. Building a handheld requires extensive knowledge of circuitry and a honed skill in soldering. Unless you plan on basing it on someone elses very well documented portable, I would suggest trying something smaller and less expensive until you really learn what you're doing. After all, if you screw up, you'll probably be out a solid $80 between the screen and game system, and thats if you do something cheap like a Genesis or N64. With a SNES, you'll be out a full $100 or more, and that's a lot for high school.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:21 am

No, you don't need an extensive knowledge of circuitry at all. I don't know Ohm's law, or many other things, however I can do what I do - all you need to do is research in this forum and spread several hours reading old threads for the mine of information they hold. You also need to learn how to solder - there are guides for this (some in the Forum 42 section / Technical forum). The only electrical components you need are capacitors (220uf, 10v+), resistors (2k ohm), capacitors (100uf, 10v+), TI step-down regulators, lots of wiring (strip old cables you have lying about for this). Just use other people's guides - they are knowledgeable on electronics so use their guides. Armed with this information, you can do anything by copying - that gets the system working, the casing and design are up to you.

17daysolderthannes · Post by **17daysolderthannes** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 10:34 am

bacteria wrote:No, you don't need an extensive knowledge of circuitry at all. I don't know Ohm's law, or many other things, however I can do what I do - all you need to do is research in this forum and spread several hours reading old threads for the mine of information they hold. You also need to learn how to solder - there are guides for this (some in the Forum 42 section / Technical forum). The only electrical components you need are capacitors (220uf, 10v+), resistors (2k ohm), capacitors (100uf, 10v+), TI step-down regulators, lots of wiring (strip old cables you have lying about for this). Just use other people's guides - they are knowledgeable on electronics so use their guides. Armed with this information, you can do anything by copying - that gets the system working, the casing and design are up to you.

17daysolderthannes wrote:ya know, not to discourage you or anything, but if you're still in high school, keep in mind, this isn't exactly "easy" stuff. Building a handheld requires extensive knowledge of circuitry and a honed skill in soldering. Unless you plan on basing it on someone elses very well documented portable, I would suggest trying something smaller and less expensive until you really learn what you're doing. After all, if you screw up, you'll probably be out a solid $80 between the screen and game system, and thats if you do something cheap like a Genesis or N64. With a SNES, you'll be out a full $100 or more, and that's a lot for high school.

Covered.

I was wondering if all these people making portables REALLY knew every in and out of the processors, etc. or if they were just basing it on documented information. I still suggest making a smaller electronic project to start off. I remember when I made a solar powered keychain game (like old Tiger electronic games but keychain sized) for an 8th grade science experiment project. It was pretty sweet for someone in 8th grade, but it was really low tech, it was just a solar panel from a smashed calculator soldered onto the battery + and - terminals of the game. Still though, playing centipede off solar rays was pretty cool. I'm surprised no one has made a commercial variation of it. Thats a little smaller than I meant, but I would work with something of lesser value to get started instead of frying a $50 SNES the first day.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 2:34 am

I think it is fair to say that most people get their knowledge of what-goes-where from Google searches, however sometimes the information isn't forthcoming, so some electronics whizz gets clever with their oscilloscope and learns what connects to what (eg RGB lines) and then posts it so the rest of us can Google it!

Sometimes things can be fairly standard or you can use existing knowledge you have to effect, eg mini joysticks, controller boards, D-pads, etc.

gamerjr · Post by **gamerjr** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 3:37 pm

I know quite a bit about circuitry actually. I am a nerd at heart, i do rubiks cubes, programming, and now begining consol hacking. Though i will need to do some reasearch i think i will be fine. And since when does a SNES cost 40? I can get a Mini for 15

w00tLOL · Post by **w00tLOL** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:44 pm

here in australia you can get a mini snes for Au$20 but screens a a little more - $50-80

i sold my first 'portable' to a school mate for $100, thats $20 profit to buy more tools to make better systems.

the snes is a good place to start as the only tricky part (or annoying part) is the cart slot.

next easiest is probably a psone (just gotta be carful with the cd drive)

older consoles like the nes can be easy but oftem more trouble than its worth for a beginner.

ive only been at this for a couple of months and i only had moderate nerd skills, but now i can fix a blown screen and build power supplies, amps etc from memory.

if you end up in the electronics industry, the skills you pick up with the help of the people here are invaluable.