Tchay's Prestigious Gamecube Portable(awaiting resurrection)

[Tchay]

ON HOLD UNTIL I FINISH PROJECT P



The Prestigious

This is my prestigious Gamecube Portable worklog. In this worklog, I have set the bar high. Nothing will be without modification in this portable. This will be the smallest and most unique Gamecube portable ever constructed. In this worklog you will have the opportunity to see me transform from a noob to a portabilizer and learn how to do the same.


Small Motor (DD), proof of concept - may not matter, but its another slimming idea if need be.


Note that I edited this first post to show more relevant information.

[samjc3]

If anyone knows of a way to remove these lil guys then let me know

use a screwdriver

why wont you melt a pen? its fun! (but i am a pyro)

[thewise1]

The six pin screws are called torx screws. You can normally get them in a kit.

And I doubt that it will be possibly to get the gamecube and everything down to that specific size.

[Mario]

Like he said, optimistic! As for those screws, looks like you could just use a regular flathead.

[Valium]

Twist the screws with needle nose pliers.

[Tibia]

Your local hardware store should have those torx bits for something like a buck or two. I love torx. They don't strip like phillips.

[Tchay]

Thx guys, the needle-nose pliers did the trick (well for one of them that is).

Here, you can see the laser chips:


Here is the shaft that has the laser go through to the lense. Now the million dollar question is: can the height of the shaft be reduced and still have the laser-to-lense reflection be working properly???? Now either someone knows the answer or I have to see for myself


Here is a better view of the height of the shaft. Would shaving off a bit destroy the laser-lense ratio??? Probably...


Thats all for now! More to come.

[kasar]

really nice man.

glad to see you finally started your own topic with toons of pics, I can see you have some great ideas for the DD, looking good,looking good

sorry hear that about your gf

[Tchay]

Okay! So sorry about the slow progress (I am a noob after all, and don't you forget it )

I've got some BIG plans (well hopefully not ) for my GC portable. After ordering another gamecube only to find that ITS NOT A REV C UGGHHHH, I now have a total of 3 gamecubes to practice on and ruin my GC portable must be a rev C since that allows for more slimmability (not a word??).

I found a Rev C motherboard on ebay for $10 plus shipping = $16.00....If you know of a lower price out there, let me know thx!

Now that being said, can I get away with simply hooking up a Rev C motherboard to one of my 3 rev A gamecubes??? (Hopefully that question hasnt been answered yet on this forum...)

Techknott's old worklog inspired me to not give up on trimming the motherboard. Its possible to cut out a lot of the board, just very tedious to keep track of all the traces.

@Kasar - i appreciate that, but its all good. Theres always something to learn from a relationship

[Tchay]

Update yay! Well its sorta a lame update, but being a noob and all, any update is a good one basically, all I've done is relocated the powerboard, but I got some nice pics for any other noobs out there who are scared of diagrams. Credits to Kasar for the easy directions!

4 wires (12v connected to 5v - credits to SS) and an extra ground wire for mucho power


In case you're a fan of top to bottom

Note that only 4 wires are needed. I have 2 black wires for ground to ensure a good discharge (right terminology? I hope.)

[kasar]

yay! , nice progress man

btw, arent those wires a bit fat?

so, you finally decided to use the 4 wires reallocation mod, did you experimented problems with the DD after doing this mod?

just curius ^^

you are doing a nice progress, keep up the nice job mate.

edit: thanks for credits man

[Tchay]

thx man. Yes, the wires are pretty fat....I'll have to find some sturdy thin wire somewhere. So far the best I will be able to do with the DD is the motor replacement (except this time im using a noticeably smaller motor to reduce the width of the DD, I glued on the cog and I still have to hook it up and test it )

I got a little carried away (again ) and I trimmed a little by the GBA player and digital port but I didnt break any traces and now the thing wont work, ugh. so I have to do some fixing...

[Tchay]

Today marks the completion of 2% of my GCP (prototype) . I say prototype because this portable will lack certain features and be a "proof of concept" if you will. and considering that I still cant get the sound to work, its ganna have to be a prototype.

2% (2% for a noob is respectable right )
- slimmed DD, replacement motor (in the workings)
- ports removed
- powerboard relocation
- GC motherboard slimmed slightly
- controller board slimmed/modified (more to do)

To do:
- test out new motor for DD
- DD relocation (am I safe to use Techknott's diagrams, or was that just for PAL?????????)
- begin controller modifications/relocation
- **obtain variable resistor** i have a spare DD board, but WHERE IS THE VARIABLE RESISTOR???
- begin mem card A relocation, then solder a mem card to board
- begin modifying 2.5" game screen and relocating

plenty more after that, but this will keep me busy for a while

overall:


controller board slimmed, battery relocated - this entire controller board isn't actually necessary, however. The only two things you would need from this board would be the circular battery and the resistor. You could then solder the wires from the controller straight to the spot on the MOBO that receives the controller cable.


after I trimmed this area, the GC stopped working. But thankfully after I scratched along some traces and blew ALL over the board, it worked again (still w/out sound )


this is the horrific soldering iron I have been using...ugh I need a new one...


adios para ahora!

Kasar, why is it better to use tact switches for the controller????

[kasar]

- **obtain variable resistor** i have a spare DD board, but WHERE IS THE VARIABLE RESISTOR???

adios para ahora!

you talk spanish? (just curius ^^, spanish here xD)

Kasar, why is it better to use tact switches for the controller????

well, I didnt used a lot of them really, I did the controller mod with all tact switches at first time.
but buttoms was not as responsive as desired, so I used two controllers at my second controller mod, one of them was intact to solder on it, and I cut the another one to get the D pad part, and the "A,B,X,Y" buttoms part.

I only used tact switches at start and Z buttoms.

if you are talking about my guide, it is an easy way to get all buttoms easly, but if you want better controls, I suggest cut a controller.

[Tchay]

si, un poco! Gracias para tu ayuda. Ahora necissito a freakin pinout for my 2.5" PS2 gamescreen. I emailed Sony and they wouldnt give me a schematic (guess they arent allowed???).