Official Gamecube IDE/USB interface thread (PROJECT BEGUN!)

Biolriz · Post by **Biolriz** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:30 pm

Nice work! i like the way you are documenting things now!

I was going to ask about 2.5" so it was good that you explained that.
i assumed you where going to use 2.5" anyway.

I've only roughly looked over it, but i think i'm satisfied now.
It shure looks like you've done your homework!

A littlebit sceptical about that 100uF up with the 5v next to the ide, but i don't think it'll hurt.

Now i really need some sleep. i've just slept a few hours a night the last week (too much caffeine & programming..).

Again, nice work!
I look forward to buy a couple from you when they are done!

toodles · Post by **toodles** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:08 pm

I realize I'm a bit late, but I'd love to help however I can. My electronics knowledge is limited, but I've designed more than a few boards in EAGLE that ended up getting make and sold. I usually deal with arcade stick controllers, but this is still my kind of tech

You wanted another pair of eyes on the eagle files, and I'd be happy to help, but you keep mentioning comparing the schematic. Umm, what exactly are we comparing it to? (I dont know any of the back story here, so Im unclear on what all has been done or needs to be done).

One thing I do want to saw with the quickness is do NOT order from Sparkfun/BatchPCB. They just turn around and order it from goldphoenix; one proto board from Sparkfun can run $35-$50ish bucks based on size, and you get one. If you place an order for the $99 special from gold phoenix, you could get a ton of them. (EAGLE board shows <3"x2" for mainboard, and under 1"x1", so 7 sq in for the pair, so you're looking at about 22 sets for the $120 ($100 for the special and $20 for panelling the two designs))

Bibin · Post by **Bibin** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 5:31 pm

Question; while the hardware aspect of this is simply brilliant and is apparently going quite well, how will you handle the software aspect of this? By that, I mean getting the gamecube to load the games off of disc images in the first place?

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:03 pm

Thanks toodles, but I'm already almost done ordering the boards. The schematic I'm referring to is Destop's original schematic. It can be found... somewhere in this huge thread... I don't know.

You can get to it from the page that I linked to in my first post... it's inside a ZIP folder with all the software and stuff. I know I could get the boards A LOT cheaper if I ordered more than one at a time, but I'm trying to save money... all I need right now is one prototype. Once I perfect the design and start taking orders, I will obviously order in bulk... probably through Gold Phoenix.

Bibin, that's all been done already by the creator... There are only a few minor things left to figure out. You should skim through this thread a bit.

EDIT: DONE!

I'm SO excited right now! I don't know how to express it in words!

*tries to calm down* Yeah, so I just put through the order to BatchPCB. Both boards passed the DRC bot first try!

And it was only $27.19 shipped!

EMOTICONS!!!

*cough* *failed to calm down* Tomorrow I'm going to read this again and be ashamed of myself, but today I couldn't care less, because this is FINALLY getting done! The ONE thing (money) that has been holding me back this whole time is finally out of the way! Now I just have to wait... this is going to be the longest 3 weeks ever. Sparkfun said I'll receive a shipping confirmation in 10-18 days... so, I should have my boards by the end of the first week of November. My camera I'm not so sure about yet... you guys are going to have to wait a while longer for the next blog, but at this point it won't be that exciting. I'll basically just be showing the Digikey parts and a mock layout of them on a paper printout of the board. But, I'll also be talking about the history and purpose of the project. This may not be of much interest to long-time followers of this thread, but it should serve as a nice catch-up for everyone else.

Is it inappropriate to wish Godspeed upon myself? Whatever, I'm doing it anyway. Good luck and Godspeed, 'Rain!

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:03 pm

You wrote:Good luck and Goodspeed, 'Rain!

SECONDED!

Man, what will we be seeing soon!

Videos! I demand videos!

SS

Mario · Post by **Mario** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:51 pm

Can somebody summarize this thread for me? This sounds like a great project, but I don't want to read through 30 pages to find out what has happened so far.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 9:58 pm

ShockSlayer wrote:
You wrote:Good luck and Goodspeed, 'Rain!
SECONDED!

Man, what will we be seeing soon! Videos! I demand videos!

SS

I said "Goodspeed." *Fixed.

You'll get your videos soon!

And Mario, when that happens, they will include the summary you're asking for. I want the next video blog to focus around bringing everyone up to speed with everything that has happened here and around the rest of the internet (Dextrose, TehSkeen, I think MaxConsole...) regarding this project.

Mario · Post by **Mario** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:01 pm

So, basically, you've done it? If so awesome! Amazing.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:06 pm

...Wait, done what?

Wow, this thread is just TOO long...

grossaffe · Post by **grossaffe** » Wed Oct 15, 2008 11:41 pm

Its not done until its tested.

TheOnlyOneHeFears · Post by **TheOnlyOneHeFears** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:12 am

@Mario

He's ordered the PCB, now he's got to wait for it to be printed and shipped, then he can start soldering.

Great job ER, congratulations on getting this far when so few people (about 1 other, maybe

) have. Godspeed indeed, and do us proud!

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:46 am

By the way guys, toodles brings up a very good point... If I use Gold Phoenix for my bulk PCBs, it will only end up costing me a few bucks a board.

It looks like $100 boards won't be a problem at all. Also, the CF version probably won't have the FX2, so I might sell those for even less!

Since I have nothing to do until I get my prototype boards, I've been practicing de and re-soldering some SMD components... I definitely need the practice, but I'm getting noticeably better each time I do it, so I should have a relatively perfected technique by the time the boards finally get here.

khaag · Post by **khaag** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 6:56 am

Out of curiosity, how many prototype boards are you making?

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 12:39 pm

this is awesome! Congrats. I'll buy a few for sure.

It'll be a sad day when this thread gets pushed off the page by newbies asking for someone to build them a portable. Naw, it'll be Stickied for sure.

Electric Rain · Post by **Electric Rain** » Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:53 pm

khaag wrote:Out of curiosity, how many prototype boards are you making?

Depends on how much interest I get (and how many people actually pay for theirs up front). I can get about 25 boards for $100 through Gold Phoenix... problem is, I don't know who wants a HDD version, who wants a CF version, and who wants some other version that I'll probably think of.

But, I guess to answer your question, 25-30, probably. They will be a mixture of different versions. I need to read up a bit more on how they handle multiple designs in one order...