Porta64/nPort/nCore - LOG [UPDATED]

Includes but not limited to: SNES, Genesis, Sega CD, PlayStation 1, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, Game Gear and I guess the Virtual Boy.

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Oxzgen
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Porta64/nPort/nCore - LOG [UPDATED]

Post by Oxzgen » Mon Jul 28, 2008 1:26 pm

Porta64/nPort/nCore - WORKLOG
A Work in Extended Progress


Introduction:
So, this is my topic about my N64p that I will be making. For now I'm going to call it Porta64. Its probably not what it will be called, but whatever. I just need some time to think about what I'm gonna call this baby.

What's my goal? I would have to say that I, in the end, would like to have a fully functional N64 with a screen, in a uniquely fabricated case (that looks pristine), running off of internal batteries. My intent is to include every button on the controller, from the controller (no Radioshack kill-switches), and the expansion pack. The cartridge should load from the top or bottom, not into the back of it. If all goes well, this is what I should have...

I do not have experience with porting systems; I have never done this before, and I expect to make mistakes. Before you bash me for not starting on an easier system, let me say that I do have a small background in electronics. I have taken two courses of electronics in high school. Lets hope it goes well!

This is going to be my documentation for everything I do. If I decide to make a second one (not likely) with my second n64, I will use this as my guide and hopefully be able to learn from the mistakes I make while working on this one. I got the two N64s for $70 with 4 controllers and 12 games. Seems like a good deal, right? The only problem is that between the two of them, there is only one expansion pak.


What I've Done So Far:
Day One (7/27/09):
I ordered my screen off eBay and my DC/DC converter from Mouser. Once those get here I can really get going. There are some batteries on eBay too, the same as the ones MarshallH used in his L64. Going to bid tonight...

Now on to the real deal: dissecting the N64. To get the case opened, I tried the pen trick: didn't work... No surprise! So, then, I got my hefty soldering iron out and pressed really hard into the screws. This melts the plastic surrounding and holds the screw in place and frees the screw. Turns out this works pretty well if you don't give a rat's ass about the case (it melts the case to an unusable state). The one exception to this being easy is the middle screw in the front. I got the case about half way off and it snags on me. I shoved the soldering iron around the screw and melted the plastic around it so that the screw wasn't holding anything. Damn screw...

So I'm thinking "Wow... there are a lot of screws holding this thing together." I open it up and find 28 more of the buggers. I had a little trouble with a couple of them. They're metric screws and the driver kept slipping. They are all out now. After pulling for 5 minutes, I counted up the screws and... 26... Two short. I dig around for a minute or two looking for them. They are on the expansion port; mental note... "Don't miss them next time."

So I freed the beast. I carefully put it in a plastic container and test it... It still works! Time for bed...


UPDATE:
- 07/29/08
Yesterday, my 7' x 3' piece of plastic came. Its smooth. I also bought the batteries and so they should be coming! I ordered some new controllers to replace the ones that I ripped apart. I still want to be able to play four-player Gauntlet!

UPDATE 2:
- 07/29/08
I got around to removing EVERY port from the mobo and sadly, in the process, broke pin 48 off my cartridge slot... *sigh*... Well, I don't know if the pin is important (I'm guessing that they are all important). I'll probably have to get a new one... O well.


UPDATE 3:
- 07/31/08
I picked up a couple small heat sinks. They were originally designed for video card ram. They fit good, but when I got home, I was pissed because I didn't have enough to cover everything. I'll have to go pick up a few more. You can see them in the picture below... I think that they should suffice. I also picked up a small fan, in case I need it, and a SCSI 50 Pin cable for my cartridge slot relocation. Gordon1 is going to sell me a new cartridge slot, which is awesome. One last thing is that I received my batteries and DC/DC converter in the mail, so I can really start working. That's all for now.

P.S. I can get some more pictures uploaded in about an hour. (EDIT: UPLOADED!)


UPDATE 4:
- 02/22/09
Sorry I haven't updated in a while, been busy with school and w/e. I'll start back up with the project in the summer or fall if I'm lucky enough to get some time. I have spent time thinking of possible names though: nPort or nCore. Just ideas... I have the new cartridge slot from Gordon1 and am currently working on a way to easily relocate it. I want to be able to remove it when necessary so that I can work on things underneath it.


UPDATE 5:
- 10/11/09
Well, WOW... I haven't been keeping up with this project. But I am finally finding some time to work on it and I have a pretty big update. In the past two days, I have been able to successfully relocate the cartridge slot, remove the power port and the video port, wire up the power adapter to the N64, add metal support for various components, start on a wood mold for the vacuum formed case and carve out pieces of a controller to use in the case design. I thought of this great idea to bondo smoothly cut pieces of the controller into cutouts of the vacuum formed case. It will end up looking like a big white gameboy with grey areas where the controls will be. I think it will look nice.

The relocation is pretty unique from any other N64p I've seen on the forum. I used a ribbon cable with three female 50 pin plugs and two strips of pins on the N64 for the relocation. The strips of pins went on the two outside rows where the Expansion Port used to be. I used two of the female plugs side by side (since there is a gap between the two strips) and it fit almost perfectly. Then the cartridge slot plugs into a single female plug at the other end of the ribbon cable. It was slick. (If your at all confused or just interested, some of the pictures can help you visualize)

As for the power adapter, I didn't realize that the little pegs coming out of the bottom could be removed when I was soldering the leads from it. As a note for next time, I will remove the pegs; they are only a bother to solder around. I glued the little circuit to the N64 so it is not flying around and breaking it's leads. You can see the finished product in the pictures.

I've also had a lot of time to think about which controls I am going to implement into my Porta64. I decided that it would be wise to try to keep all the controls for the sake of being able to play every possible game. I also decided to go against having a video-out port, because you should never really need to use this thing when you are around a TV and AC power (you can use a real N64 in that scenario). I do however think that it is necessary to have a second controller slot, for games like Mario Kart 64. Multiplayer is a must! With that said though, I am not going to include a first, third or fourth controller plug; too many cooks in the kitchen creates a real mess (or really cramped screen in this case). There is no way you would be able to fit and be able to see 4 screens on a small 5 inch screen.

I think that is all I have to say for now, I'll keep in contact with the forum as I move on, I hope to get a lot of work done over MEA break (I don't know if you all have this, it's a 3 day break for teachers to have meetings throughout the state of Minnesota; It's pretty cool). I have added a Tasks list to keep track of what I have done and what I have left to do. Oh! I almost forgot... more pictures on their way.

UPDATE 6:
- 10/17/09
Quick update... the screen has been LED modded, I'm in the process of wiring the LEDs to the screen's power. The LED mod was pretty easy; I did get a little scared while opening the LCD up. I didn't want to break the glass on the LCD. Prior experience with these LCDs tells me that it takes only the slightest pressure in the wrong spot to break the LCD. Everything fit together well and I hope to make a little more progress before the end of the day. I'll add the pictures that I promised tomorrow for sure!

EDIT: Thanks to Michaelthurston, I can finally get some more work done on the Porta64. He advised me of the input and output sides of the terminal, which has been a longstanding question that I have had. Thanks again Michaelthurston! If anyone didn't wanna scroll to the end of this thread and is actually reading this, the left is output and the right is input/charge.

UPDATE 7:
- 10/18/09
The batteries have been charged, I've wired them to the N64 (LED is ON) as well as the screen (it is fully functioning). I finished wiring up the screen from the LED mod, had it wired to the batteries, and powered it up, and saw a tiny amount of light from the LEDs. I thought "Now that can't be right..." Only after fiddling with it for a half hour did I realize that my problem originated at the store. I mistakenly bought a 10k ohm resistor instead of a 10 ohm resistor. The k on the package is really small; I can't believe that the producer expected me to see it.

Anyways, my next step is to fix the screen so that I can put it together with the N64. Then it's the real test... Does it play games? I'm confident that it will and there is no reason why it shouldn't work... Everything seems to be running well. I still have yet to crack open the second controller or even begin to cut apart the circuitry of first one. That comes after I have the screen and N64 working in unison from the battery. One thing I noticed about wiring the power for the LCD is that it is really hard to get the power leads to stay down. After I got them to stay, I hot glue gunned them down.

UPDATE 8:
- 10/19/09
I got everything wired to the batteries and wired together. Everything is now running off of the battery pack, the N64 is correctly outputting to the screen, and life is good. I replaced the incorrect resistor on the screen and it is now producing a brilliantly bright backlight. The N64 runs games, even those that require an expansion pak. I can't attest to the controller working, as I have yet to wire a controller for testing. The screen has an annoying, little hum coming from the speakers, which I will investigate. It seems to be happening on quite a few other screens from what I read online.

I had a good scare when I hooked the N64 to the screen, only to find that it wasn't outputting any video. I nearly went into melt-down... I searched the forum and found this thread, did steps 1 through 3, and no dice. I was about ready to start the arduous task of taking another N64 out of its case. What I failed to see the first time reading through the thread were the additional tips at the bottom, in particular the second tip. I peered around the main CPUs on the N64 and found that some solder splat made its way onto the leads of one side. If you read the tip, it says that you'll be alright so long as the solder didn't get on the main CPUs... Well, I decided I would try to take off the solder anyways and hope that it worked. Use a toothpick when removing solder from the main CPUs, as the leads are very delicate. Anyways, I got all the damned stuff off, flipped the switch, and WHALA! It works and I'm happy! So, the moral of this story is 'Don't give up on your N64 just because someone says that it probably won't make it.' These boards are a lot more resilient than most people give them credit for on this board and on the internet. To say the least, mine has been through hell and back with all the mistakes I have made and it still seems to pull through.

I'm going to try to hook a controller up and play some Zelda, but regardless of my success with that, I'm gonna post some pictures of the thing running in maybe 20 minutes... Until then, I'm out! (EDIT: Pictures Uploaded!)

UPDATE 9:
- 11/01/09
Hey all, I'm taking a period of absence from this project. School has gotten a little tough with the end of the quarter approaching. I can't say how long i might be away, but hopefully only a week or two. I hope to make small pieces of progress on the case in the scarce free time that I have, but who knows if I'll even get that done during this time.

UPDATE 10:
- 12/03/09
Another update! I've been playing around with the setup and placement of different components and i think i have a good idea of where everything is going to be placed. There is a little problem with the slot relocation where the game will sometimes not start. I believe this is because the cable is not held in place and the problem will be resolved when the N64 goes in the case and is held in place. Whatever... anyways, I think I am going to start with the wooden case mold this weekend, but who knows if that will happen. Til next time, keep modding!


Tasks:
+ Order all the necessary parts to complete this operation
+ Dissect the N64 for it's entrails
+ Relocate the cartridge slot
+ Wire up the N64 to the DC/DC power adapter
+ Dissect the LCD screen
+ LED mod the LCD screen and put it all back together
+ Determine the input and output sides of the battery circuit terminal
+ Wire up the batteries to everything, charge them, and let rip

= Dissect two controllers for their entrails
- Wire the two controllers together and to the N64
+ Build a vacuum forming table
+ Construct a wooden mold for forming

- Design/Shape the mold
- Form the case with plastic sheets

+ Put serious thought to the internal layout of the system
- Bondo everything in place
- Test the completed system!!!


+: Done; =: Started; -: Not Started;


Pictures:
UPDATED (07/31/08): - Gallery
a: Image b: Image c: Image d: Image
e: Image f: Image g: Image h: Image
i: Image j: Image

a: The mobo is removed
b: Comparison to an intact N64
c: Proving that it still works
d: The mobo all ports removed
e: Cool, little heat sinks from Micron Center
f: The batteries (sorry for the dark picture)
g: SCSI 50 Pin cable and mini fan (about 2.5cm in dia.) I've been reading around and I don't think I will need to use the fan; it drains power, is noisy, and I have confidence in my heatsinks
h: The PTH08000 DC/DC Converter (so small)
i: Construction in my house (finally done)
j: My project headquarters

UPDATED (10/18/09): - Gallery
a: Image b: Image c: Image d: Image e: Image f: Image
g: Image h: Image i: Image j: Image k: Image l: Image
n: Image o: Image p: Image q: Image r: Image s: Image
t: Image u: Image v: Image

a: Controller cutouts
b: The un-modded screen
c: A headphone port (Yes, I am including it!)
d: The wired-up DC/DC 3.3v converter (View 1)
e: The wired-up DC/DC 3.3v converter (View 2)
f: The relocated expansion port (it's basically just the expansion port flipped on it's side; I'm going for a bottom loaded game cartridge)
g: A broad view of the N64 as it will look in the case
h: The same picture with the cartridge removed, revealing the batteries
i: The other side of the N64 (I added the plate as protection from other circuits)
j: A look under the protector plate
k: The slimmed down expansion pak
l: The face of my vacuum forming table
n: A peek at the plastic frame (that is to say the frame that holds the plastic sheet)
o: The side of the chamber
p: The beginnings of the case mold (it is just two slabs of wood held together with pegs)
q: The un-wired battery circuitry (without the batteries attached)
r: The wired batteries and the charging circuitry
s: The N64 (It is running off battery power now)
t: The wired battery circuitry
u: The modded screen, all wired up
v: The main components of the project laying out on the table


UPDATED (10/18/09): - Gallery
a: Image b: Image c: Image d: Image
e: Image

a: An overview of the system at work
b: A screenshot!
c: Proof that the system is running
d: An overview of the system wiring (it looks a little confusing but it's not)
e: Another screenshot!
Last edited by Oxzgen on Thu Dec 03, 2009 5:33 pm, edited 37 times in total.
Porta64~
Total: [0% | | | | | | | | | - 100%] 90%
- Case: [0% | | | | | - - - - - 100%] 50%
- Circuitry: [0% | | | | | | | | - - 100%] 85%

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Post by eurddrue » Wed Jul 30, 2008 8:32 am

good, can't wait for you to finish! there are free dc-dc converters on Ti.com fyi i just got one!
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wallydawg wrote:
chainfire95 wrote:220V I believe
I think we should check to see if you can withstand 220 volts

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Post by timmeh87 » Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:46 pm

Metric screws?

...
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Oxzgen
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Post by Oxzgen » Thu Jul 31, 2008 12:11 am

Yeah, I believe that all the screws are metric size. I think. They make screws with the screwdriver insert measured in mm. But does it really matter what their measured in... I got them out.
Last edited by Oxzgen on Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
Porta64~
Total: [0% | | | | | | | | | - 100%] 90%
- Case: [0% | | | | | - - - - - 100%] 50%
- Circuitry: [0% | | | | | | | | - - 100%] 85%

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Post by Oxzgen » Fri Aug 01, 2008 2:28 pm

With the resistor attached to the PTH08000, does the wattage matter? And if it does, could someone tell me what wattage I should look for? Thanks!!!
Porta64~
Total: [0% | | | | | | | | | - 100%] 90%
- Case: [0% | | | | | - - - - - 100%] 50%
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Post by Oxzgen » Mon Aug 04, 2008 11:47 am

Bump - Still waiting for a answer about the resistors.
Last edited by Oxzgen on Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Porta64~
Total: [0% | | | | | | | | | - 100%] 90%
- Case: [0% | | | | | - - - - - 100%] 50%
- Circuitry: [0% | | | | | | | | - - 100%] 85%

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Post by eurddrue » Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:13 pm

4.5v-14v, but I think that the PTH08080 works better and for some reason I got 2. Maybe you get 2 for the price of free with them.
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wallydawg wrote:
chainfire95 wrote:220V I believe
I think we should check to see if you can withstand 220 volts

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Post by Oxzgen » Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:36 pm

Well, I already got a 08000. It shouldn't matter. But anyways, you never answered my question about the wattage. Resistors come in like 1/8W to like 5W and I don't know what wattage to get. I would hate to have to restart on a new motherboard.

So... What wattage, if any?
Last edited by Oxzgen on Sun Feb 22, 2009 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Porta64~
Total: [0% | | | | | | | | | - 100%] 90%
- Case: [0% | | | | | - - - - - 100%] 50%
- Circuitry: [0% | | | | | | | | - - 100%] 85%

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Post by eurddrue » Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:39 am

Oh, sorry. I gave you the voltage. No, I don't think that the wattage matters because wattage is just volts muliplied by amps. and I already said what voltage it intakes.
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wallydawg wrote:
chainfire95 wrote:220V I believe
I think we should check to see if you can withstand 220 volts

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Post by xtrmgam3r360 » Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:52 am

eurddrue, change your avatar NOW. It is waaaaaaaaay to large. :evil:

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Post by eurddrue » Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:16 am

Thank you my avatar has been taken care of
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wallydawg wrote:
chainfire95 wrote:220V I believe
I think we should check to see if you can withstand 220 volts

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Post by Skyone » Tue Aug 05, 2008 5:54 pm

Datasheet says at least .05 watt.

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Post by eurddrue » Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:13 pm

skyone, where did you find that? Was it on Ti.com? because I couldn't find it.
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wallydawg wrote:
chainfire95 wrote:220V I believe
I think we should check to see if you can withstand 220 volts

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Post by Skyone » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:42 am

Yep, right on ti.com.

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Post by Oxzgen » Thu Aug 07, 2008 12:43 pm

OK, thanks! I ordered a pack of 1 watt resistors.
Porta64~
Total: [0% | | | | | | | | | - 100%] 90%
- Case: [0% | | | | | - - - - - 100%] 50%
- Circuitry: [0% | | | | | | | | - - 100%] 85%

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