My first attempt to make something portable

Headline · Post by **Headline** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 2:54 pm

Hello I was gonna try to make a portable N64, but it didnt go very well...

This is my first attempt, so bare with me (you have to start somewhere..)
I chose the N64 becouse its cheap, and got neat games. And i got one at home.

When i read some guides i realized that i had to buy some stuffs, which i will buy when i get the money, but i thought: "Lets start by stripping unnecessary things down"

So i (with a lot of trouble) opened the N64 and screw away all screws, checked if it worken...

Noo, it didnt... WTF i thought, why not? So, i checked, and i realized that i forgot to put in the expansion pack, or any memory... No wonder! So, now that the game is working again, lets strip!

Now, where to start? I know lets take away the N64 DD connector! So i did,(While doing this, i slipped and scrached the motherboard) DAMN, well, lets hope it works anyway... but i never got the chance to try, couse when the DD connector was removed, the Game connector fell off >.<

So i will buy a new one on Ebay when i have money... Well, how many missakes did i do?

(Will continue this project in a month or two, when i have money to buy the stuffs that i need, including a new console)

And, one last thing, Any tips/ideas to make my second attemp to work?

robm · Post by **robm** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:06 pm

Well, first, what's the DD connector?

You will probably WANT the connector to come off anyway, as you'll be wiring your controller (if that's what you're talking about) directly to the board.

Scratching the board isn't that big of a deal, as long as you didn't take out any components in the process, like SMT capacitors or resistors. Even then, that's not exactly a death sentence for the board.

I would say, before you go any farther, start thinking on what you want in a case - you may not have to do any trimming to begin with. For instance, the case I'm using allows me to leave the LCD screen completely intact, connectors and all.

If you can't test because you can't get a controller plugged in, hack off the end and wire it into the board - there's a couple of wiring diagrams here.

If you're talking about the cartridge slot... that just plugs right back in. Pretty nifty, really.

Headline · Post by **Headline** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:15 pm

Well this is the n64 DD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N64_DD

And i will buy the some IDE cable to wire the game slot to the board, and well see what happens

robm · Post by **robm** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:23 pm

Ok, you're talking about the expansion slot. You don't need it, unless you actually HAVE a DD - in which case, this thing would be a portable only by the very basic definition. Leave it off, and wire the cart slot up and you should be fine.

Headline · Post by **Headline** » Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:25 pm

Okay, thx a lot!