The 64Box - PICTURES FINALLY POSTED ZOMG!!! (Page 5)

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:00 am

You asked about heatsinks, just bought some, not played with them yet. Cost about Â£11 delivered for two packs of 8. Thermaltake.

Sorry to make this point, but is actually this a "live" project? There are conflicting posts, and no pics, but lots of irrelevant postings (more like Forum 42). No offence meant in any form, BTW.

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Sun Jul 01, 2007 8:23 pm

Well now...

I purchased some cheap surplus heatsinks from Halted, but I need to know...

How do you use them...? I might sound stupid...but hey, I've never worked with heatsinks before. How are they secured down? Don't I need thermal grease or something?

Someone help me!

- Juice

PS: Sorry - still no pics...I have no access to a camera at this time. Just trust me that I am getting work done. I'm trying to only ask for help when I need it, and have decided not to post any updates unless I have questions or pictures (More likely the former).

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 1:23 am

johnbjuice wrote:Well now...

I purchased some cheap surplus heatsinks from Halted, but I need to know...

How do you use them...? I might sound stupid...but hey, I've never worked with heatsinks before. How are they secured down? Don't I need thermal grease or something?

Someone help me!

If they have have a peel-off surface (like you get with double sided tape) then peel this off, and stick the heatsink straight onto the processor. You need to make sure the whole processor is covered with heatsink(s). The bond is not great, but when the chip heats up you will probably find (as I did) that the gunk melts a bit and makes a strong seal on the processor (job done).

If there is not the above, you need to use thermal paste (Arctic Silver is best). Some mix in a little superglue into the mixture, but the best method, as marshallh suggested, is to secure the heatsink to the processor by dragging a wire across the heatsink on the processor and securing it both ends in place (hot glue / solder to grounds on sides of mobo).

johnbjuice wrote:...and have decided not to post any updates unless I have questions or pictures (More likely the former).

Good, without these there is no point in posting anything, and it isn't fair on other posters. Pics are the key, that is what people like to see, also they provide evidence rather than hearsay...

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:12 pm

FINALLY! Pictures are here! I finally got access to a camera, and now you can see these beautiful pictures (Well...they're actually terrible, but they're the best I could do with my crappy old webcam).

The N64 itself, heatsinked and working -

The inside of the front part of my case - the PS1 Screen board and the button wires -

The front of the case. The screen needs to be properly mounted, but the buttons are done. Yes, they are laid out on the side. I like them there. More on that later. The 2 holes are for the D-pad and stick -

Sorry I am so slow...maybe I'll finish someday. My progress isn't quick, but I have yet to fry my 1st N64! (Maybe it has to do with my precautions, like grounding myself and using anti-static surfaces!

)

- Juice

schmellyfart · Post by **schmellyfart** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:32 am

This is looking good. Is your case one of the "ZN"s from polycase?

Would you explain why you have the buttons on the side. Ever since I saw it last night, I've been trying to think of practical ways to hold and play it, and I cant think of any.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 10:43 am

Yes, schmellyfart, I was thinking the same thing. I am all for unusual and practical designs; my project after all is using a "unique" design, but I can't see how this design can be held. It is clearly a thick depth, and you would (presumably) control the buttons on the side with your thumb and forefinger - however this means you can't hold the case. I can only think of using the case if it is flat on the desk; but even then, I can't see how you would be able to grip the case and use it comfortably. Am I wrong?? Hopefully I am??

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 10:32 am

@ schmellyfart - Yes, it is the ZN-45, the bigger one.

@ bacteria - I actually had a whole dilemma about how to do the buttons, as they would not fit on the front (Not enough space!). But I tried holding the case a number of ways, and it just turned out that propping the case up w/ my right hand and holding it with my left worked best. My right hand's thumb and pointer finger are left free for the side buttons and the other fingers for support and the R button. My left hand controls the D-pad and thumbstick, as well as the L and Z buttons. (And support) Believe it or not, I can comfortably hold the case like this - in fact, I like it even more than the raised control scheme I see most often used. (Stick near top left, D-Pad out of the way on the left, and buttons mostly crammed up to the top right.) Maybe that's just me. But it isn't too importaint - I'm the one who will be playing this console (No intent to sell) so I don't care how ugly or different it is! I just want N64 on the go!

I hope that my control scheme wasn't too confusing. If someone wants to play and doesn't like it, I can always plug in an external controller and turn the internal one off. When this is over, I'll put a youtube up of me playing it and how it all works.

More pics would be coming soon, but I get my wisdom teeth out in about a hour...yeah...maybe this weekend.

- Juice

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 1:27 pm

Any chance of pics of your hands holding the N64 console in the same way as you would be playing it?

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Wed Aug 08, 2007 7:41 pm

Well, right now I am recovering from having my 4 wisdom teeth pulled...yeah...

But eventually, say next week, I will post some more pics.

- Juice

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:42 pm

Here we are - a video. It's low rez, but the best I could do. Bear with me.

Watch This!

It works very well in my hands - the C buttons will be a little weird at first, but I think I'll get used to them. Up is the top one, then left, then right, then down.

The start button will either be on the back with the other triggers, on the top, or on the side. I haven't decided yet. Since it isn't ever used heavily in play, its placement isn't too important. It just needs to be there.

- Juice

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:14 pm

Also - I am using a 1st party controller for my portable, and I realized something - the contacts on the board for the A, B, and C buttons are strange...unalike a typical button which has two contacts, separated and then closed by the button press, these buttons have 4 little contacts that intertwine...two on the sides and two above/below. The side ones are blobs, while the above/below ones are shaped like lines going up/down in between the side ones...maybe I might need a picture instead of this explanation...

Best I could do...anyone know why there are 4 contacts? Which should I connect to my tact switches? HELP ME!

- Juice

Master of Portables · Post by **Master of Portables** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:31 pm

if you look, there are some copper solder pads on the traces. You should connect the wires to those solder pads instead of the "blobs" (Using the trace, you can identify the solder pads button by following it to one of the blobs). and I don't know why there are 2 contacts, but 2 of them are the same, and the other two are the same because they are connected by a trace...

johnbjuice · Post by **johnbjuice** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:45 pm

Well the way I've done it on the others is scratched away some of the black stuff and solder to there...

It does appear that there are only really 2 wires, each split in to 2 contacts...I don't know why.

- Juice

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 4:50 pm

Yes, when you have 4 strips on a contact it works as: A B A B normally, the "A" or the "B" is the ground. If you connect the 4 directions to a D-pad, this is why there are 5 wires to connect (4 directions, one ground).

If you can solder directly to them, as you can on some controllers (as with the 3rd party N64 controller I use, and the GBA mobo), then great, if not, use a multimeter and find out where the connection traces to (typically a small copper contact, you can put a blob of hot solder onto this, then solder a wire to it (be careful!). For example, it looks in your pic that the contact to solder to for the down direction is directly above the down button? - solder to this with one wire, the other wire to the common (ground) connection.

I have used this principle several times, works fine.

spinout · Post by **spinout** » Sat Aug 11, 2007 6:13 pm

Just hook buttons to ground and the contacts listed and you have buttons that work just fine.