I'm having trouble with my N64p...

Post by **benheck** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:06 pm

...wondering if anyone has advice? (I know this is a strange request to make from me!)

It's got a 10 volt power supply going into the 12 volt pin on the power plug, then that goes to a 3.3 volt 2 amp regulator, which sends the 3.3 volts to the 3.3 volt pins on the power plug.

I know the power is sort of working because the fan (which runs off the +5 volts on the A/V out jack) runs and so does the 7.2 volt regulator for the PSone screen.

I noticed the 3.3 reg gets hot fast... might it need to be higher amperage? The N64 power brick says 2.7 amps but I was led to believe 2 was enough... However I tried running it off the brick and the same thing happened (or rather DIDN'T happen)

HELP!

ADDED: Oh, I also rewired the expansion pak back up... I think I did it right, but if not, would that cause it not to boot?

jaytee · Post by **jaytee** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:57 pm

i seem to remember that if you don't have an expansion (or jumper) pack installed, it won't boot (or maybe it gave you a screen telling you to replace your jumper pack).
i don't know what would happen if you wired it up wrong.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:06 pm

Ok first for the 3.3v line. I've read it veries form 1.5 amps to 2.7 so guess somewhere in between, which you are.

The jumper pak to my knowlege and how they say the expantion ones improve graphics I'd say sounds like its the RAM for the system. Double chech the wiring you did, and if you dont have a jumper pak, buy one. They run like $5-15 on ebay.

Post by **gannon** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:16 pm

for the expansion pack: yes. The n64 uses rd ram that either requires a jumper (i.e. the jumper cart

) or the ram expansion cart. If either of those aren't in or wired right it won't boot.
As for the power requirements they are 3.3V ~1.5A and 7.2V ~500mA

Post by **benheck** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 2:43 pm

Hm, I wired the expansion pak but perhaps something is wrong... I noticed a couple spots were NC's but there are a LOT of wires there...

I'll double check... in the meantime anything else I might wanna consider? (problem-wise?)

UPDATE: As far as I can tell the expansion pak is re-wired correctly... and none of the wires are much more than 1 1/2" long (if that). I used single-strand ultra ATA wire...

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:40 pm

If you get a black screen but you know it's sending something to the screen, use the suggestion from the great RPGTKNick: power it without a game for about 10 seconds, then turn it off and try again.

poopiesman · Post by **poopiesman** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:48 pm

sorry to change the subject for a sec but: is the Atari Laptop still happening? it sort of dissapered from the boards...

Post by **gannon** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:49 pm

a need for a large 5V screen is what's holding it back.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 5:58 pm

I noticed the 3.3 reg gets hot fast... might it need to be higher amperage?

I had the same problem trying to run my N64 off a 3.3V regulator. It powered on for about 30-40 seconds. The heatsink I had on it got to hot to touch and the just N64 powered off. It really bummed me out.
I was actually waiting for you to get the regulator to work so I can finish my NEW N64p.
Oh yeah, I got my N64 to run off 1A so its not the amperage.

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 6:00 pm

also, for the regulator, try getting a second one, wire them in parallel, and use a heatsink.

Post by **benheck** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:03 pm

Well I'm sinking the 3.3 reg to the board. The 7.2 reg sinks to the board as well. Nothing comes on when I turn it on, but the screen is working.

Here's the specs:

9 C-sized Ni-MH batteries, average about 10-11 volts (not fully charged, but it should work at this voltage)

Re-wired cartridge slot with the wiring going to the outer vias where the cartridge slot WAS. I flipped the cartridge around but I'm quite sure it IS wired correctly.

Re-wired expansion pack (using thing ultra ATA wires)

Main power going to a switch, which then sends it to the 12 volt in spot on the N64, which branchs off to the 3.3 volt ref, which then goes to the 3.3 volt spots (perhaps this is the problem, but why?)

Controller not hooked up yet (though I tried and that didn't do it either)

Man, I coulda had this thing done today! I'll try again tomorrow, but any help you guys can dig up/suggest tonight would be great.

Post by **gannon** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:56 pm

hmm... no clue, but it sounds like it should work (as long as everything IS wired right)
also, you could just use 6 C batteries if you wanted to save some space

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:19 pm

Try hooking up the old N64 PSU and see if it works. If it does then the regulator must be to blame

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 8:40 pm

benheckc wrote:Well I'm sinking the 3.3 reg to the board. The 7.2 reg sinks to the board as well. Nothing comes on when I turn it on, but the screen is working.

Does it even do that brief flicker you get when you turn it on? If you do, try the power on without a game method I mentioned, and blow on the game. I've found that the N64 is almost as bad as the NES.

sam · Post by **sam** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:31 pm

Shwweeet you going to post what yours looks like when its done?, Also try booting it up with a non rewired exp pack, and onto a regular screen, to see if either of those are the prob?