Do we have room for another N64P? (t64 WIP)

[HotDog-Cart]

Aww man, unfortunatly you're going to have to halt development.

Theres no more room for another N64P. :(












Just Kidding.

[dragonhead]

Hey kibble how exactly did you go about desoldering all those SMD ICs?

Ok here's a link to the video:

I NEED THAT STUFF. also, very pro vid.

[snowpenguin]

Then the second half: how to resolder such small and closely spaced leads? Do you apply solder to the board, place chip on, then heat with heat gun? Or what?

[kibble]

Then the second half: how to resolder such small and closely spaced leads? Do you apply solder to the board, place chip on, then heat with heat gun? Or what?

You can probably do that. I've seen a video where they actually did something similar to removing the chip but in reverse:

Added flux to everything, and then just moved a molten blob of regular solder across all the pins. I guess I'll see how it goes when I go to solder the chips back on. I also have a very fine tip for my soldering iron so if it comes to it I'll do every pin, one by one.

Another method I've read about is, applying solder paste to all the pads, then putting the board with all components on it in an oven and turning it on to a certain temperature, don't remember what the temp was. As soon as it hits that temp, you're supposed to shut it off and let the board cool, I'm not sure if I'd trust myself to remember that the board was in there.

Aww man, unfortunatly you're going to have to halt development.

Theres no more room for another N64P. :(












Just Kidding.

Dang, just when I was getting somewhere too......

I've been meaning to order that Chip Quik stuff...looks magical.

It's the closest you'll ever come to seeing some real magic!!!....... or not. LOL

[ShockSlayer]

Great work, I like what you've done so far, and I am looking forward to the finished product!

SS

[kibble]

I am looking forward to the finished product!

SS

And so am I. I'm still working on the board, I've got some of the controller to memory card connections done on the layout.

I went to a flea market today to look for a PSone screen but, no dice. I did, however, find plenty of 64's and one Atari 2600. I would have bought at least one more 64 and the 2600 but, I didn't have much cash on me and I was determined to find that screen. I also didn't want to buy a 64 because I wanted to check up on the serials and see which one's might have the DAC that outputs RGB. I don't want to dissect the one working 64 I have that has that chip.

[Axaj]

PSone screens are best found on ebay (usually).

[Life of Brian]

I can't believe I've overlooked this thread for so long. I just now read everything and I'm quite impressed.

Oh, and LOB64 compliance FTW. Just sayin'...

[BENFTW]

Wow! This looks great. I can't wait to see it when its done.

[palmertech]

Looks awesome!

Just an issue that I have heard about, not sure if you have considered (I thread skimmed, sorry). But I know that the CPU and RAM traces are very sensitive, enough that you cannot rewire them with wire. In fact, you cannot even cut a trace and reconnect it with a less than 1" length of wire.

Is it possible that your board design changing trace lengths/moving them close together will cause issues? If so, how do you plan on fixing it?

[kibble]

Is it possible that your board design changing trace lengths/moving them close together will cause issues? If so, how do you plan on fixing it?

I don't know if it'll cause any issues. I'm trying to keep traces looking as close as possible to what the original board looked like, just slightly shrinking things and moving some things around. This is all one big experiment basically, I'm hoping for the best, I just don't know what'll happen.

[BENFTW]

And so am I. I'm still working on the board, I've got some of the controller to memory card connections done on the layout.

I went to a flea market today to look for a PSone screen but, no dice. I did, however, find plenty of 64's and one Atari 2600. I would have bought at least one more 64 and the 2600 but, I didn't have much cash on me and I was determined to find that screen. I also didn't want to buy a 64 because I wanted to check up on the serials and see which one's might have the DAC that outputs RGB. I don't want to dissect the one working 64 I have that has that chip.

How much where the N64s at the flea market?

[kibble]

How much where the N64s at the flea market?

I don't know, didn't ask. I didn't want to ask because I didn't want to be tempted on spending my money on 64's and not what I was originally there for, the PSone screen.


Here's an updated pic of what the board is looking like. ran most of the connections from the game save memory chip and rumble pak chip to the controller chip.

Still have to tidy up connections between CPU and RCP....but I've been lazy.....

Haven't had too much time to work on this as life (read: work) has been getting in the way. Unfortunately work is a necessary evil as it provides the income required to buy materials and stuff.

[eagle5953]

I'm assuming that you are comparing to a cut-down N64 board - which is about 12 by 9 cm.

As it is shown in the pic, the board measures 13 x 9cm

So, in the end, it's not going to have a substantially smaller footprint than the official N64 board, but it will instead have some nice features for making portables (built-in memory card, expansion pack, power circuitry, rumble, cart slot header, etc). Or am I missing something?

[kibble]

So, in the end, it's not going to have a substantially smaller footprint than the official N64 board, but it will instead have some nice features for making portables (built-in memory card, expansion pack, power circuitry, rumble, cart slot header, etc). Or am I missing something?

My main goal is to get everything working. If successful, all the other options like controller, memory, rumble etc can be omitted and a smaller board achieved without having to drastically redesign the board, I'd just have to do away with most of the right side of the board. I figured if I'm gonna make the whole board, might as well add all the bells and whistles while I'm at it, get them all working first and then I can cut down and make a smaller, reduced board later without much effort, maybe along the lines of 9 x 9. The fact that I'm adding all the other stuff to it now makes it so that I don't have to include a separate circuit board for controller into the portable later. The whole board as it is would be just a few mm on each side bigger than a game cart.