Help Mod My Gamecube

[ImaGetMines11]

Hi world ,

I want to make a portable gamecube. I am very new to this idea/concept of "modding" game systems and messing with the motherboards ect...

I have been looking around this website for a few days now, and i ordered materials such as
2x gamecubes (assuming i mess up the first one in this process )
1x PS1 screen
1x Special screwdriver-thing that opens a gamecube

I know I need wires and tools, and just MANY more materials in general.
I am wondering where to go from here. Again, I am new to this concept, but if anyone could help me get a general understanding, that would be great!


btw, I have read the guide on this site many times
http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=26398" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

so i sorta understand this, but not really at the same time. Again, thanks!

[hailrazer]

If you've read that guide and still don't understand , it would probably be better to start with something a LOT more simple.

There have been less than 20 portable Gamecubes built, and less than 7 or so that are really any good. It's a very hard system to do properly.

Might want to start with a Noac or something similar.

[ImaGetMines11]

thanks for your reply....

what about a n64? I have looked at those, and they seem pretty simple in comparison to the gamecube. Any thoughts on that?

[hailrazer]

thanks for your reply....

what about a n64? I have looked at those, and they seem pretty simple in comparison to the gamecube. Any thoughts on that?

They are easier but by no means "simple".

Most people that build an N64 portable blow up 2-3 N64's before getting it right. And they take multiple voltages so you need to know how to work with electronics alright.

[ImaGetMines11]

well i fi were to make a portable system, which one would you suggest that i do first?

[hailrazer]

Noac. Or Snes from a Retro Duo. A lot easier and you will get the skills needed to complete something harder

[ImaGetMines11]

I don't want to sound ignorant here, which will probably happen anyway, but what is a noac? I also have tooons of gameboys, from advance to sp to ds. Are those any easier? And thanks for the advice by the way

[hailrazer]

Noac is Nintendo On A Chip. Basically one of those clone Famicom things. It's just easier to work with because they are small.

You can do mods on GameBoys and Colors and Advance but just small stuff like screen mods and led's and batteries.

[ChaoBreeder]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread, but has anyone reverse-portabled a handheld such as a GBA and turned it into a console? Like they made it bigger and hooked the controls up to a custom controller?

BTW, if you don't already have it, I would strongly recomend buying Ben Heck's book. It tells most of the basic electronics skills and tells you how to make some portables. (PSONE, NES, SNES, and an Atari).

I was also thinking of starting with a GameCube but realised it's too complicated to start.

[bassmasta]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread, but has anyone reverse-portabled a handheld such as a GBA and turned it into a console? Like they made it bigger and hooked the controls up to a custom controller?

BTW, if you don't already have it, I would strongly recomend buying Ben Heck's book. It tells most of the basic electronics skills and tells you how to make some portables. (PSONE, NES, SNES, and an Atari).

I was also thinking of starting with a GameCube but realised it's too complicated to start.

[Tchay]

@ImaGetMines11

Its okay if you don't quite understand the Kasar's guide yet. I read that guide like a million times (warning: intense exaggeration) and I still got confused by it.

Honestly? Learn as you go. My first project was the portable Gamecube, and I did it without Ben's hacking book (which you can find on this website) - I'm still perfecting my portable as we speak. You have to actually solder, wire, and play around with the Gamecube components before things will start making sense in your head. Try to mimic what the guide tells you to do and then look for answers on this website if you get lost (which you will )

Eventually you will be able to steer off the noob path and do things your own way that are best suited for your portable. That is when things start getting kickass! But it takes a lot of work before you get to that point.

You will be lost in the woods for the first few months, but that will go away if you stick with it. Thats my two cents, take it or leave it

[ImaGetMines11]

thanks man, i REALLY (x infinite) do appreciate your comment on this

im not going to lie, i even watched your video's on youtube....i recognize your username as a youtube channel, i think, and you show everyone your portable gamecube without the finished case. Its like "97% complete gamecube portable" or something like that lol (sorry if i confused you for someone else)....trust me, i have looked alllll over the place

and yours were good, just giving you credit

just wondering, how many gamecubes and ps1 screens did you go through before you made your first successful portable? I mean i don't want to put your long and hard work into perspective or anything. Rather I just want to know how this whole process went for you, if that makes sense?

[ImaGetMines11]

btw, can anyone tell me where i can find ben heck's "book" about all these electrical components?

[Tchay]

@ImaGetMines11

Yes, that was me on youtube but those videos are WAY out of date. My case looks much nicer and I have the controller almost entirely installed.

Here's Ben's hacking book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... icia017-20

I broke about 4 or 5 gamecube motherboards before I made that portable you found in the video. Now, that was because I was impatient, reckless, and wanted a smaller motherboard. I also broke about 3 disc drives, but that was pure recklessness

I got the controller and the 3.5inch screen wired on the first try. I got the disc drive relocated on the second try. I have technically not used a PS1 screen yet. BUT....I am using one for my second gamecube portable which is currently underground

Preliminaries
The whole process for me? Well, to be fair, I had done a little modding before I came to BenHeck. My very first time soldering, I added an external PS2 joystick to the PSP. Ironically, this method was created by none other than Ben Heck. I had no idea who he was at the time though; I was just doing what he said . I then added a "ViperGC" modchip to my gamecube. I was so scared of breaking my gamecube at the time

Wishful Thinking
One day, I was playing my Nintendo DS and started wishing I could play Metroid Prime on it....lol. So I started google portable Gamecubes to see when Nintendo would come out with the next gen handheld. I then found some portables made by people from this site!!! But, I felt like they were all to big to really enjoy. So, one day I decided I would make one my own way and have it be the smallest one ever made. This was back in April of 09, right after my girlfriend dumped me

Reading
For the first month, I spent my time reading EVERYTHING on this website. And I mean EVERYTHING. Plus I had to save up to get supplies so its not like I could do anything else. I read Kasar's guide probably 50 times before I actually started soldering. Then, I slowly tried to follow each of Kasar's steps....one by one. I wasted about two months trying to make the motherboard smaller.....but I learned a lot at least

De-noobification
I felt lost in the woods for a long time. For a while, I was just mimicking what this site told me to do. "Do now, understand later" Things finally started to click for me in August 09 when I successfully soldered a 3.5" screen to the gamecube motherboard. The real trick, though, to portablizing is persistence. Each time something didn't make sense, I would google it. That helped me learn about video types, series/parallel, and circuitry in general. The point when I no longer felt like a noob was after I successfully relocated the Disc drive (including extension cables and other crap). After that, I didn't feel lost and could figure things out on my own.

In many ways I am still a noob, but I have a method down that works pretty well. And I am obsessed with trying to make the Gamecube as small as possible. I'm not kidding either: like I would spend hours at night mapping out case designs and spots I could cut on the motherboard. Yes, I had most of the motherboard mapped out in my head!!

I think I blabbed for long enough. Hopefully this was useful and not just tl;dr

[ImaGetMines11]

That really did help a lot, thank you for a long and detailed response!

The only problem i really have with this kind of stuff is the "making it more portable/smaller". Like if I open up the gamecube and didn't relocate anything; wired all the necessary components to have a controller, motherboard and tv all in sync, that doesn't seem TOO difficult (I know it would definitely still be a challenge). But thats not very portable, like you mentioned earlier.

But i dont understand exactly what parts you can slim down, or what you can cut off that is "useless" in a portable gamecube/whatever. There really isint a "guide" to that, and i guess you have to find out "the hard way" lol.


In a sort of "p.s./side" note: Sorry about the girlfriend part. My worst break-up was my 8th/9th grade summer; my girlfriend broke up with me by writing a letter while i was at a sleep away camp for a month, which was the worst thing everrr lol (at the time).