Hardest part of N64p?

Beware of Guard Metroid · Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:21 pm

I've been contemplating whether or not to include a N64p in my "Nintendo Portabalizing Gauntlet" and I wanted to know some things. What do some of you think who have completed one think is the hardest part? Could you list what was hard about it, how long it took to complete it and how many tries it took. I've heard this is one of the more difficult portables and with my limited N64 library I'm not sure if this would be such a good idea. Thank you to anyone who responds.

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:35 pm

the hardest thing is getting an N64 to not die. i've only had 2 that lasted longer than a day out of the case. 3 died, one lasted several months until i desoldered something, and the current one is happy. then you have to get something to get 3.3v (which is easy now that we have free dc-dc convertors) and everything else is pretty much straight forward wiring and stuff

Beware of Guard Metroid · Fri Apr 21, 2006 8:56 pm

maybe something a little more specific than don't die?

Thank you though.

joevennix · Post by **joevennix** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:24 pm

Cart slot relocation is hard until you get it right

toby dawg · Post by **toby dawg** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:39 pm

yeah im not even trying to relocate my cart slot.... so it sticks out the back! big deal! bens hand built snes had it stick out the back...

superdeformed · Post by **superdeformed** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:54 pm

Most people say that N64s fry easily, although I've never had that problem. Out of the 3 I've taken apart, only one stopped working and that was after I chopped off a significant portion of the board (as well as a few resistor and capicators

). If you're looking at the usual list of modifications, then relocating the controller slot is the most frustrating (I won't say hard, because it's mainly a test of patience and how good your equipment is). The board is fairly thick and has a very large ground plain, so it's a somewhat tedious task desoldering all of the pins attached to ground if you decide to remove the expansion port, but other than that it goes pretty quick. If you know what you're doing well enough and have a decent iron it shouldn't take more than a few hours to remove and rewire it.

Removing the power connector is also bit of a pain (again because of the ground connections), but there are few enough pins that you can just heat it up to pull it out without removing all of the solder. Soldering wires back onto the board shouldn't be a problem at all though. As has already been said, everything else is pretty straight forward. If you have everything sorted out for power, it's just a matter of hooking things up to the right places.

csurban · Post by **csurban** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:06 am

I found that the only way I fried my 2 N64's was because of sheer stupididity. The first I broke by just playing around with it and imputed the wrong voltage. THe second one I killed because i was invistigating the controller ports with a knife with the power hooked up. Then I say a little spark and knew it was all over. Plus both my boards were 1999 and 2000 ones! I think the 1996's have breakers to prevent voltage surges. The best advice is: Stay grounded for stactic electricity and NEVER NEVER NEVER work with the N64 while it has power. And im not talking about the on-off swich. I fried mine while it was off but still pluged into the power supply. dont give it power unless your are done or are having a test run.

daguuy · Post by **daguuy** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:11 am

my first one was impossible to kill untill i desoldered some stuff to make it fit better. then next three died (though they may have come back to life, i'll have to test them) and the one i have now and the one i overclocked are fine. maybe it's just certain N64s that die easier than others. i don't think relocating the cartridge slot is hard, it just takes a while to tin everything

Neildo_64 · Post by **Neildo_64** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:38 am

I had a huge 12V battery (the kind they use in the little jeeps and cars and stuff for little kids) that I was testing with a long time ago (before I actually thought about it) and the ground was hooked up then I dropped the positive line onto the middle of the N64. ZZAP!! sparks and everything. The wires i had hooked to the TV and everything were INSTANTLY black/gone and black smoke poured out from underneath the mobo. To my amazment, it worked fine afterwards.

WOW

Warrior_Rocker · Post by **Warrior_Rocker** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 12:52 pm

I have fried 13 consoles, yes THIRTEEN! n64's various reasons, some stopped working right after i had them out of the case, others died due to 12v being accidently fed into the 3.3v line, some fried because they hated me (cant be proven) and others died during various attempts at relocation of parts...

point is be super careful, ground yourself, and everything, make sure its all properly grounded, and that the n64 is not getting grounded through your television set (unhappy end to another n64 board)