New guide I found on Engadget

DK · Post by DK » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:39 am

Just started watching it and I just hope it'll stop nooby questions about the N64.

http://revision3.com/systm/n64/

dfukuba · Post by **dfukuba** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 3:56 pm

Hey,

I was the one who did the show, hopefully everything i said was correct. This is the first time i hacked any kind of system, if you guys have any comments let me know.

--Danny

(i learned everything from this forum, it rocks!)

jjhammerstein · Post by **jjhammerstein** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 4:35 pm

dfukuba wrote:Hey,

I was the one who did the show, hopefully everything i said was correct. This is the first time i hacked any kind of system, if you guys have any comments let me know.

--Danny

(i learned everything from this forum, it rocks!)

Oh, hey.

Good job there.
It's not pretty, but it gets the job done.

Try using a better case though.
You talked about using project boxes. Do it, it makes a world of difference.

DK · Post by DK » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:25 pm

Quick question, why did you use one of the notoriously easy to fry clear N64's to portablise?

And also, I found out the hard way that TI won't ship the power regulator to the UK. Been waiting a year for mine

eurddrue · Post by **eurddrue** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:34 pm

DK wrote:Quick question, why did you use one of the notoriously easy to fry clear N64's to portablise?

And also, I found out the hard way that TI won't ship the power regulator to the UK. Been waiting a year for mine

they aren't that hard to portablise or fry...

Gordon1 · Post by **Gordon1** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:08 pm

eurddrue wrote:
DK wrote:Quick question, why did you use one of the notoriously easy to fry clear N64's to portablise?

they aren't that hard to portablise or fry...

And you would know a lot about that.....

eurddrue · Post by **eurddrue** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:14 pm

Gordon1 wrote:
eurddrue wrote:
DK wrote:Quick question, why did you use one of the notoriously easy to fry clear N64's to portablise?

they aren't that hard to portablise or fry...
And you would know a lot about that.....

what?

palmertech · Post by **palmertech** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:31 pm

Gordon1 wrote:
eurddrue wrote:
DK wrote:Quick question, why did you use one of the notoriously easy to fry clear N64's to portablise?

they aren't that hard to portablise or fry...
And you would know a lot about that.....

eurddrue, your newbness is showing. Around here, it is pretty common lore that the clear N64s fry more easily, with a lot of anecdotal evidence.

@Gordon1: I think that eurddrue was kinda clueless, but IMO, the clear N64s may be just the same. I know that that clear being hard myth has been around forever, but there are quite a few people who abused them with no problem, and I have personally fried 1 normal N64 that I was VERY careful with, and my clear N64 is still alive and kicking (I thought it was dead, so I just started cutting it down as a practice for my real board. Then, I realized I had the jumper pack in the wrong way.

Lo and behold, it still works!

Anybody else here think the clear N64 thing is just a myth?

themadhacker · Post by **themadhacker** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:40 pm

It sounds like a myth to me. How can a system's color affect how easy it is to fry?

eurddrue · Post by **eurddrue** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:40 pm

umm, that is just a myth, I have had mine apart for like 6 months now and it working just fine, btw my portable is all wired up

*ahem* I should have said: n64s aren't that hard to portablize, and the clear n64's haven't ever fried on me.

there

I was just a bit to lazy to say that

jjhammerstein · Post by **jjhammerstein** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:48 pm

themadhacker wrote:It sounds like a myth to me. How can a system's color affect how easy it is to fry?

When they were made.
The colored ones are newer, and supposedly of a cheaper build.

Supposedly.

palmertech · Post by **palmertech** » Tue Dec 02, 2008 8:55 pm

eurddrue wrote:umm, that is just a myth, I have had mine apart for like 6 months now and it working just fine, btw my portable is all wired up

*ahem* I should have said: n64s aren't that hard to portablize, and the clear n64's haven't ever fried on me.

there I was just a bit to lazy to say that

N64 are harder than other systems, due to the multi-voltage requirements. Even Ben hates them.

I was reading some old stuff on POD, and supposedly they lacked "The protection circuits". Sounds fishy to me, all the same fuses are there.

EDIT: Also, nice work on that guide, I can see it being useful to a lot of people.

Neildo_64 · Post by **Neildo_64** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:12 am

N64s are my specialty and I can say that the colored models ARE cheaper built and that the N64 is easy to fry. Just because you are working on an N64 doesn't mean it will fry though. If you are dumb about working with it, chances are higher but you may even still keep a working board. I don't know what makes them so sensitive to whatever it is that ruins them, but it does happen. I have had N64s last through fires, water, dirt, dropping, and other bad things that still worked. However I have also had N64s that stopped working out of the blue for no apparent reason at all. They are not hard to work with like everyone says, they can just be frustrating when you've done so much work to a mobo and then it goes up in smoke.

Post by **marshallh** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 12:26 am

Nintendo used a lot of cost-saving measures nearing the latter half of the console's production -- I think this started with the seventh board revision, released along with the colored cases.
They switched to a 1x36mbit RDRAM chip instead of 2x18, redesigned the CPU/RCP to use less power and run cooler, but most importantly they removed a lot of bypass and noise filtering caps that will save the earlier boards when you zap them with static.

The later models are preferable if you can keep static under control and want to save battery life - they run cooler and use less power, but like others say don't live well outside their plastic case.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Wed Dec 03, 2008 1:43 am

Less power you say... Mhm, sounds tempting