Bacteria project: N64³: --abandoned--

[marshallh]

The unpopulated footprints are there because Nintendo overengineers their PCBs, and once they start a production run with a new board, they cut out the parts they don't need. So, cost savings.

[bacteria]

Excellent, thanks. I guess that means that these parts are irrelevant, so won't stop my system working - thanks for that marshallh !

[bacteria]

Got over 3/4 of the wiring done, will finish it tomorrow...





I have been very careful on my testing with the multimeter to make sure I don't appear to have any shorts.

Wiring is very fiddly!

[robm]

NICE!

[schmellyfart]

Looking great so far!

See that light green rectangle with 3 solder points towards the bottom of the board on the right? Do you know if they serve any purpose?

[jjhammerstein]

looks just like where AV was connected.

[schmellyfart]

its cant be av, thats further off the the side

[jjhammerstein]

I know, that's just what it looks like.

[schmellyfart]

oh gotcha

[XCVG]

It doesn't seem to be connected to anything.

[schmellyfart]

thats what i was thinking, thanks.

[bacteria]

I wondered that myself a while back; they don't connect to anything so aren't important.

I think they might be a proof reference that the board is produced correctly - a bit like litho printing (commercial printing, like books, newspapers, etc); there are marks printed on the side of paper with the ink colours used to print the sheet, if for example blue is missing, then the sheet failed to have blue printed on the rest of the sheet, so a quick look confirms if the printed sheet is fine or not. You see these marks on newspapers, like this:



My guess is that the marks you refer to on the N64 board are similar reference points to prove the making of the board successful; can't see any other reason for them!

[bacteria]

Ok, finished the wiring, checked it all. Turned system on, no picture. The LED is shining brightly so that indicates the system is powered fine, but just not getting a picture, or sound for that matter. Can't see the problem; perhaps it just isn't possible to pull off. Most I got was a slight flicker to the screen, not even getting that now.

I have been as careful as I could be with cutting and wiring this up, it just refused to work.

Pretty annoyed as that means this project is dead now. Oh well, as I mentioned at the start of this WIP, there was a good chance of failure...



I will spend the afternoon clearing my project desk and continuing my work on the TurboGrafx board reduction, then will work on two projects at the same time; finishing that system and also N64 to fit in my project cases. It makes sense as I can prepare and paint the cases at the same time that way. I think this time around I won't start a new topic but will wait until the end of the project and post final pics then and some WIP pics (unless I get a stream of people saying they want a WIP as it progresses that is); I designed my cases to take an N64 board easily, so no point posting "same old" pics in a thread. What I will say is that I intend to make both systems red and black as that looks quite fab; and will also experiment with the PSP joystick - as mentioned before, if they are good, it will be better to use them in portables as it stops large sticks sticking out of a portable and enables making flatter systems.

Still annoyed by the above failure after pouring many hours labour into it; never mind!

[XCVG]

I WANT A WIP!

I like reading people's project logs.


It's really too bad that your N64 died. It would be a really cool portable.

[palmertech]

That is too bad. Were there any high speed traces you rewired? If not, there is no real reason it should not have worked... Unless shortening the traces messed up the timing somewhere?

If I were you, I would give it another shot by scraping off the enamel on each of the traces right at the edge of the board, and having a short jumper wire connect them; That is what I am doing with my GBC right now. Sandpaper works for removing it, but also removes the enamel around it, so more fiddly to make sure it does not contact ground. I would use a small, sharp pointed tool to scrape it off each trace, I use a very small sharp flat-edge screwdriver.

A tip for getting them painted: Ask any local body shops if they are planning on painting any cars that week, and what color. If they happen to be doing the color you want (Or one you are fine with) see if you can slip the guy a few bucks to put your cases in the booth along with the car, as it will only take them a few seconds. It will look a lot better than what even Krylon Fusion is; The same as Custom NES guy's custom consoles.