Tried and failed..again...

I swear, I have the worst luck with Game Gears. 

So, I attempted to transplant a Game Gear ASIC to the replacement board that I was able to get. However, I had the hardest time getting it to solder in.

To start off, I did manage to desolder the cartridge connector and external port connector from the dead Game Gear.

Next, I attempted to remove the ASIC from the dead board. It's that square IC near that gold circle.

Since the board was dead, I broke off the part of the PCB that had the ASIC on it. The PCB sat a lot better on the little heating plate that I got a while back.

I used a Chromebook charger to power up the heat plate. I tried to get it to go up to 250°C, but it topped out at 148°C. I used a hot air rework wand to help coax it out. After a few minutes, it came off clean.

I started prepping the new board for the ASIC. The first attempt was...bad. I did try to line up the pins and solder them in place, but it would move just enough to get misaligned. This ended up getting pins crossing over and touching the adjoining pins. I tried several times to fix it, but it got worse. I used the hot air again and removed the ASIC to try again. Before I went for a second attempt, I bought a digital microscope.

It took a few days for the microscope to arrive. As soon as it did, I got back to work. I reattempted to solder that ASIC in. With the microscope, it made it much easier to solder the ASIC to the new board. All was going well until I got to the final side that I needed to solder in. For some reason, it kept bridging pins. 

 I'm just not good at fine pitch soldering. I still need practice. Even with this microscope, I just couldn't get it to sit properly. I changed soldering tips to a blade tip and tried again, using the blade to separate the pins a little better. All was going well until...

I applied too much heat and I ended up ripping up some traces from the board. 

Oh, don't worry, I'm already upset with myself. 

I thought I'd try finishing up the installation by installing the old LCD board I tried to install and failed 2 different Game Gears. Unfortunately, all I got was a white screen. 

Again, still upset with myself. 

I removed the ASIC again with hot air, and took a few days away from this project. I may attempt to fix those traces and re-reattempt to solder that ASIC in. Until then, but because I just want a decently modded Game Gear up and running, I ordered a pre-populated board.

Maybe I might try fixing my Atari Lynx II next? I don't know. I don't think I have the mental capacity to do any mod or repair work during the holidays. It's just getting busier and busier at work, and I just don't have the energy when I get home to work on these. I'll more than likely post about getting that new Game Gear board installed before the end of the year. Maybe after the new year, I'll look at fixing, at least, the Lynx.

Some new projects coming up in the *near* future...

So, remember a while back when I accidentally killed 2 of my Game Gears? Well, one was dead even after a recap and I killed the other one trying to install an LCD mod. Well, I might be able to revive at least one of them for now. 

I was able to pick up an SYF Game Gear mainboard from High Score! Tech supply a few weeks ago. I've been checking the site daily since August to check availability of the board. Randomly, I checked the site late one night before I went to bed and saw that they were available! I was gonna scoop up 2 of them, but the site owner mentioned that he will be carrying the v2 revision of the board soonish. So, just that I have at least one to revive (the one that wouldn't work even after the recap), I ordered one.

 I did get it after a week or so, but I haven't started the process just yet. I plan on getting a different LCD screen replacement in the near future. Once I'm able to get it, I'll start the rebuild process. 

 As much as I want to get this project done, I'm not looking forward to some of the things that I need to do. Primarily, I need to remove the ASIC from the dead Game Gear mainboard, the cartridge port, and the external port. The external port and cartridge connector are through-hole parts, so desoldering those would be easier. The ASIC, however, needs to be removed from the mainboard using a combination of a high temp heat pad and hot air rework.I did get some tools that will make that IC removal easier, but I'm still a little apprehensive about the removal.

Since I was in the mood, I ended up getting another GameCube to mod. I didn't feel like going to PRGE again this year, but my niece was going. I asked her to look for one for me. She did manage to find one for me, but I forgot to mention to look for a certain model for me. I wasn't specific about looking for a DOL-001; the one she found for me was a DOL-101. That's on me, I wasn't thinking.

I've been doing research about fully modding a 101. There are many mods I can do to it that takes a little more effort (read: a lot of soldering). I've already saved some stuff that I'm planning to buy so when I'm done with the Game Gear, I can start on the GameCube. Hopefully, the Game Gear rebuild will be done without many hiccups. 

Stay tuned! 

Not dead...

I have trigger finger on my right middle finger. It sucks. It's hard to write, 10 key, type, even hold a soldering iron.

I'm probably gonna go see the doctor again to either get a cortisone shot or to arrange surgery for it. Either way, it might be costly.

Just took a vacation with the kids back to Maui, with a few days on Oahu. The only game related thing involved with that trip is that I added another game to my collection; one that I've been seeking out in the wild for a while now. 

 

 

What's nice about this was that it was less than any other place I've looked at and it was complete! There's a few more for me to collect to complete it.

 

I've been wanting to resurrect the 2 Game Gears that I killed trying to update the screen mod to it. There is a replacement mainboard that let's me transplant the ASIC and some other components, adds rechargeable batteries with USB-C power, and updated LCD screen. I've just been patiently waiting for the boards to be available again. 

I guess that's it for now. I guess I'll update when I'm able to get those Game Gear replacement boards and start that repair/update.

Some PlayStation things going on...

My co-worker and I have been discussing mods for PS3, PS2, and PS1. He's been thinking about modding all his old PlayStations. So I've been suggesting some YouTube videos that I have followed. He managed to get his PS3 modded and working perfectly. That made me take a look at all my old PlayStations. 

There are some new PS2 mods recently, the newest one being Multi-purpose Memory Card Emulator (MMCE). It uses either an open source PS2 memory card (SD2PSX) or the Memory Card Pro 2 from 8-bit Mods. I opted for one that I found on Aliexpress from BitfunX that is based off the SD2PSX. I followed a tutorial from Tito of Macho Nacho Productions to get my SD card set up and read for when the memory card came in. 

I got the SD card loaded with the proper files and put it in the memory card as soon as it arrived. I did all the settings that Tito mentioned in his tutorial on OPL, but it wasn't loading the games I had on the memory card properly. To make it work, I had to change the timing settings that Tito mentioned back to what the original settings were. 

I also spent some time to get my old setup on the PS2 updated. With my old Free McBoot memory card, I updated it so it would work a bit better with my 1TB hard drive and also another old SD to memory card to load games (MX4SIO). I really don't use the MX4SIO as much anymore, but it probably will come in handy if I need to test a game or something in the future. It wasn't much when I purchased it (~$20), and I did buy it from a well known creator in the retro gaming community, so the cost is justified.

I then moved on to the PS3. It's been a while since I've played with the custom firmware (CFW) that I had installed back in 2018...at least that's what the last homebrew I installed said. I first took care of updating all the apps that I needed for installing and playing backups. It took a few minutes to get that all up to date and tested. 

I went and tried to remember how to install disc images to the hard drive. I've tried both disc images and package (pkg) files. I had to check some YouTube videos on how to get the disc images on the drive, but the pkg files needed a better refresher course on getting to work. I had to install a few more apps to get the downloaded pkg files to work properly.

I spent the last few days getting games installed and tested. The main game I wanted to really play through was a game called Folklore. I remember trying the demo and thought it was a pretty neat game. I spent a few hours playing it and having fun. 

I'm planning on getting my PSP and PS Vita updated as well. It's been some time since I've messed around with them. I'm really not worried about my PSX, as I already have one modded with an XStation ODE. I have another one that needs to have an XStation installed, but I'll have to do that on another day.

2025 is a GO!

Looks like I missed a whole month of stuff to post...anyway.

 

 

I managed to finally get my hands on a Mister! This is a lower cost board that does the same things the OG DE-10 Nano does. I really can't explain fully what it does off the top of my head, but THIS WEBSITE explains it better than I probably could.

I got this since a lot of retro gaming enthusiasts highly recommend it. After playing around with it for a few days, I'll agree. It works way better than my old Raspberry Pi 3b does playing retro games. The fact that the Mister plays N64 and Saturn, often hard to emulate consoles, nearly flawlessly sold me. 

I've been working on getting my office in order. So far, I've got most of my HDMI connected consoles all on switches connected to my main HDTV. So far, I have a PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, an Amazon Fire Cube, and the Mister connected to it. I have several ports open so I can connect my RetroTINK 5x Pro, RetroTINK 2x Pro, or OSSC at any time.

Lastly, I've been 3D printing some display mounts for my completed LEGO Star Wars builds. I've had my X-Wing hidden from view for a while. It's nice to finally have it displayed on a shelf with other Star Wars builds. I also printed some stands for the Speed collection cars that display them a lot better than just laying flat on my shelf.

At this point, I really don't know how much I'll be posting in 2025. It's not that I'm not doing projects (I am, but not at a daily pace). I'm just tired. I'll post if I feel something is post-worthy. For now though, let's welcome 2025!

XYZ Davinci Mini W 3D Printer...

I got this XYZ Davinci Mini W from a family member. If I recall, they got this for free from an online group. It's a small desktop printer, having a print volume of 150mm x 150mm x150mm. It's not bad for a starter printer, to be honest. It gets those interested in 3D Printing a chance to get their curiosities sated.

A few things I'm not liking about this printer is that the print bed isn't heated. A heated bed usually helps with bed adhesion for that first print layer and helps keep the print from falling over. For this situation, it works fine with laying painter's tape on the print bed and use a glue stick to help with bed adhesion.

Another thing is that you can't use any slicer to print on this. You need to use XYZ's software in order to print on it. That means, for some printers, that the printer needs to be connected to a PC all the time. The W on this printer means that it can connect through WiFi, but it still needs to be connected to a PC to set up the WiFi. I still need to get this set up.

Lastly, the printer can only use XYZ's filament spools. It has a DRM chip that knows (through the software) if there's an official spool or not. I had a spool that's XYZ branded with the DRM chip on it, but the filament was getting bad. I searched for any updates for the printer and found one forum that had update information for the printer. I followed the instructions and updated the firmware to a more current one. With that update, it eliminates the DRM filament spools requirement and allows any filament to be used.

With the printer updated, I used some spare filament that I kept to do a calibration cube print. I got everything set up in the software on my PC. There was an option to do a bed leveling 

After having the software slice the print, I sent the commend to print to the printer.

Printer in action! The fans are a bit loud, but it worked as it should. Before I started the print, I put some painter's tape and used a glue stick to get a good first layer adhesion. It took about 10 or so minutes for the print to finish.

So. How did it do?

Honestly, the print came out pretty good. I did measure the dimensions and it did pretty well. There might be a slight elephant's foot effect, but nothing that a little slicer setting couldn't fix.

I'm planning to let my son use this to introduce him to 3d printing. He's shown some interest since I've since I've got my Ender 3 Pro and FLSun QQ-S Pro and sidelined my Anet A8. I hope that interest is still there. It'll be easier for him to learn with this super simple, all-in-one software.

Working on the cocktail table...

Well, Happy Birthday to me (10.27), first off! 😋 Nothing special today, just chilling.

I "teased" a little pic of my current project...

 It was the control panel off of a Taito cocktail table. It was working, but there was some things I felt I needed to update on it. Mainly the actual controls.

Though I don't mind the nostalgic feel of the old leaf switches, the actual directions were not triggering as quick as I'd like it to. Some directions weren't triggering at all. I had to change things up and use clicky buttons like most newer controls use. I took the control panel out and started to make a map of the wiring.

The old panel just used a piece of plywood. The holes were different sizes, the joystick wouldn't work with the joysticks that I wanted to use, and the overlay on the control panel needed a refresh. I picked up a slightly thinner plywood sheet and cut it to the same size as the old panel. Using the 1 1/8" drill bit I bought for the Atomiswave project to make the holes for the buttons and joystick. I was able to mark off where all the mounting screws go and drill them out. After everything was done, I sanded them smooth. 

 I got around to crimping wires down and verifying that all the buttons were triggering properly

I made a plug in harness for it and finished up getting the wiring cleaned up.

I chose this image for the control panel overlay. I had it printed on a plastic-like material. Holes were cut and buttons and joystick was installed. 

Next was to tackle a proper mount for the game mainboard. This is how I received it, with the board "secured" down with 2 sheetrock screws. Didn't look good.

I also wanted to tackle another issue. The 60 in 1 board needs a 3rd button to easily go through the settings menu. There was no third button on the control panel. To "fix" this, I used these metal angle brackets that I got for another project to hold additional buttons. I drilled out the holes in the bracket to fit some mini push buttons I got for the Neo Geo cab project 5 or so years ago. I also ground down the edges of the bracket because they felt very sharp. 

To mount the main board, I used some old OSB that I had from my garage shelf project 4 years ago and cut it down to fit the board. I also printed some PCB standoffs so the main board isn't sitting directly on the wood. The OSB was sanded down smooth and screwed into the cabinet with some self tapping screws.

In order to get the 2 buttons that I need for the menu installed, I soldered connections to the converter board (Konami CP to JAMMA) and made a harness for it. I installed the button panel I made near the first player control panel.

Here's the updated control panel installed. 

I had a few issues with the first test. The biggest one was that the down direction for player 2 wasn't triggering. I check for connectivity issues from switch to harness and there was no connection at all. After some troubleshooting, it turns out that the wire in my harness wasn't crimped properly. After crimping a new connector, it finally started working. 

The next issue was the joystick itself. It was hard to play most games, mainly Ms. Pac-Man. It was proving difficult to switch directions, especially when playing with the speed option on "fast". 

The culprit was the joystick restrictor. I didn't think anything of it being a round restrictor. Playing any game with 8 way movement worked really good. However, on games that use the cardinal directions (ie. Ms. Pac-Man), it didn't work as great. I printed this 4 way restrictor and installed them. I tested both orientations (square for 8 way-ish, diamond for just the cardinal directions). The diamond orientation made it much easier to play Ms. Pac-Man, but hard to play Xevious or 1942. In the square orientation, it made Ms. Pac-Man a little more tolerable to play, but not the best. I decided to leave it at the square orientation for now. I just need to install the restrictor on the second player side and we're done with controls. It's now decently playable.

The next task is to get this monitor fixed. It's tinted red a bit, and the top (really, the right) of the screen has a little collapse on it. Might be an easy fix, but I need to figure out what monitor is in there and if I'm able to pick up a capacitor kit for it.

For now, though, the cocktail table is working a lot better than when I got it. Stay tuned for more work on this cab!