ryo
06-11-2005, 11:01 PM
I would like to contribute a tutorial mod that I made. With it it will look like you have a built-in wireless controller. Take a look and let me know what you think :)
Total GamerZ (http://www.totalgamerz.com/) Wavebird internal receiver mod
By Ryo
The purpose of this mod is have the wavebird's receiver inside the gamecube at all times. You may want to do this so you don't have to lug around or worry about losing the receiver. Plus it looks cool and will puzzle your friends on how it works without a receiver plugged into the front of the console.
We take no responsibility for anything that may happen if you decide to do this modification. Do this at your own risk. Also, opening your Gamecube will void your warranty.
Needed materials:
-Nintendo Wave bird
-Gamebit or a Sears Nut driver*
-15watt Soldering Iron
-60/40 Rosin core solder .032 dia.
-Electrical Tape
-Solder vacuum (may not be needed)
-Pair of wire strippers
-Y-shaped screwdriver (or I used a small Philips screw driver)
-4- 12" thin pieces of wire
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/materials.jpg
Most of the materials can be found at your local RadioShack. The only things not available there are the gamebit and the controller. If you don't have a gamebit or do not want to order one online, visit *Sears and pick up a 5/32 x 2-1/2 nutdriver (which are kept in the mini-screwdriver isle).
Taking Apart the Cube
You will need to disassemble your gamecube. Take your gamebit/nut driver and take out the four screws on the bottom of the gamecube. Carefully turn the cube back over and lift the top off.
Removing the controller board
The board is located on the front of the cube, right above the memory card slots. The board also houses the system battery, power LED and the reset switch.
Once the lid is off, carefully pull the controller port board toward you and unplug the ribbon cable. Remove the two screws found on the back of the board and remove the plastic molding. Then you should have something like this:
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/controllerboard.jpg
(board may differ a little *pic from anandtech.com*)
After removing the controller board, you will want to decide which controller port you will want to use as the permanent port. I chose port 1 because most single player games require a controller to be plugged into port 1. (Don't fear though, because a regular controller can still be used in the port you chose)
Taking apart the receiver
The receiver is housed in plastic casing and isn't too hard to open. If you have a Y-bit screwdriver, just simply unscrew the two screws on the back of the housing and remove the back. I used a small Philips screwdriver and applied enough force to remove the screws (Caution: This method may strip the screws and the screwdriver). Once the back is removed, carefully pull out the board.
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/wireext.jpg
There will be four wires: purple, red, brown and green. CAREFULLY unplug them from the board and you will be left with the four wires attached to the part of the receiver that plugs into the gamecube. Now CAREFULLY pull each wire out one-by-one. I recommend using a pair of needle nose pliers, and be sure to leave enough wire to strip and solder later on. Now you should be left with a container that looks like this:
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/emptyrec.jpg
Extending the wires
Now you will want to connect your four 12" pieces of wire to four wires that you pulled out of the wave bird receiver. You will need to solder these wires together and then wrap the solder points up with electrical tape. You should end up with something like this:
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/wireext.jpg
Soldering the wires to the controller board
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/socket.gif
Front view of the controller port
You will want to solder your wires that you extended to the following corresponding solder points.
Point 2 - Green
Point 3 - Brown
Point 6 - Red
Any of the four (4) big solder points - purple
We have provided a picture to illustrate which color goes to which point. (Ignore the color of wire we have going to the point, just go by the color as stated in the picture) Also, the controller port picture shown above will be backwards of what of points are on the back of the board. In the picture below the reset switch is at the top and you will have 6 solder points in the center of the four big solder points. The Brown goes on the top left, Green goes on the top center, Red on the bottom left (right below the Brown). The purple can go on any of the big solder points. (Note: The top right, bottom center, and bottom right points will have nothing attached to them)
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/wiresolder.jpg
Once all of your soldering is done, you will want to test to make sure everything was installed correctly. Plug the four wires back into the receiver and then plug the controller board ribbon cable back into the gamecube and power it on. The gamecube will load without the top on and should go into the bios screen. Make sure the receiver and the controller are on the same channel and test it out.
If the controller works, proceed to the next step. If the controller does not work, make sure your solder points are good and that you don't have any crossed solder points on the board. Also make sure the wires are plugged into the receiver and that you didn't break any of the controller boards points.
Receiver Placement
I chose the right side of the cube, opposite side of the fan unit as the side to house the receiver. Run the wires over to the side and vertically stand the receiver by the screw hole. Once in place, you may want to use a little electrical tape to hold it in place.
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/recplacement.jpg
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/recoutside.jpg
Closing it up:
Assuming that you already tested the unit to ensure the installation was a success (make sure to write down which channel the receiver is turned to), carefully put the lid back on. Make sure the receiver isn't in the way of the lid or any internal parts and proceed to put the four screws back in. Enjoy!
All content is copyright Totalgamerz.com. If you would like to use any or part of this information for anything other than personal use, please contact me first for permission.
If you have any questions, comments or need help with this mod. Email me (http://www.totalgamerz.com/staff.php) (ryo) and I will try to answer any questions.
Link to HTML post (http://www.totalgamerz.com/mt-archives/000189.html#189)
Total GamerZ (http://www.totalgamerz.com/) Wavebird internal receiver mod
By Ryo
The purpose of this mod is have the wavebird's receiver inside the gamecube at all times. You may want to do this so you don't have to lug around or worry about losing the receiver. Plus it looks cool and will puzzle your friends on how it works without a receiver plugged into the front of the console.
We take no responsibility for anything that may happen if you decide to do this modification. Do this at your own risk. Also, opening your Gamecube will void your warranty.
Needed materials:
-Nintendo Wave bird
-Gamebit or a Sears Nut driver*
-15watt Soldering Iron
-60/40 Rosin core solder .032 dia.
-Electrical Tape
-Solder vacuum (may not be needed)
-Pair of wire strippers
-Y-shaped screwdriver (or I used a small Philips screw driver)
-4- 12" thin pieces of wire
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/materials.jpg
Most of the materials can be found at your local RadioShack. The only things not available there are the gamebit and the controller. If you don't have a gamebit or do not want to order one online, visit *Sears and pick up a 5/32 x 2-1/2 nutdriver (which are kept in the mini-screwdriver isle).
Taking Apart the Cube
You will need to disassemble your gamecube. Take your gamebit/nut driver and take out the four screws on the bottom of the gamecube. Carefully turn the cube back over and lift the top off.
Removing the controller board
The board is located on the front of the cube, right above the memory card slots. The board also houses the system battery, power LED and the reset switch.
Once the lid is off, carefully pull the controller port board toward you and unplug the ribbon cable. Remove the two screws found on the back of the board and remove the plastic molding. Then you should have something like this:
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/controllerboard.jpg
(board may differ a little *pic from anandtech.com*)
After removing the controller board, you will want to decide which controller port you will want to use as the permanent port. I chose port 1 because most single player games require a controller to be plugged into port 1. (Don't fear though, because a regular controller can still be used in the port you chose)
Taking apart the receiver
The receiver is housed in plastic casing and isn't too hard to open. If you have a Y-bit screwdriver, just simply unscrew the two screws on the back of the housing and remove the back. I used a small Philips screwdriver and applied enough force to remove the screws (Caution: This method may strip the screws and the screwdriver). Once the back is removed, carefully pull out the board.
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/wireext.jpg
There will be four wires: purple, red, brown and green. CAREFULLY unplug them from the board and you will be left with the four wires attached to the part of the receiver that plugs into the gamecube. Now CAREFULLY pull each wire out one-by-one. I recommend using a pair of needle nose pliers, and be sure to leave enough wire to strip and solder later on. Now you should be left with a container that looks like this:
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/emptyrec.jpg
Extending the wires
Now you will want to connect your four 12" pieces of wire to four wires that you pulled out of the wave bird receiver. You will need to solder these wires together and then wrap the solder points up with electrical tape. You should end up with something like this:
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/wireext.jpg
Soldering the wires to the controller board
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/socket.gif
Front view of the controller port
You will want to solder your wires that you extended to the following corresponding solder points.
Point 2 - Green
Point 3 - Brown
Point 6 - Red
Any of the four (4) big solder points - purple
We have provided a picture to illustrate which color goes to which point. (Ignore the color of wire we have going to the point, just go by the color as stated in the picture) Also, the controller port picture shown above will be backwards of what of points are on the back of the board. In the picture below the reset switch is at the top and you will have 6 solder points in the center of the four big solder points. The Brown goes on the top left, Green goes on the top center, Red on the bottom left (right below the Brown). The purple can go on any of the big solder points. (Note: The top right, bottom center, and bottom right points will have nothing attached to them)
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/wiresolder.jpg
Once all of your soldering is done, you will want to test to make sure everything was installed correctly. Plug the four wires back into the receiver and then plug the controller board ribbon cable back into the gamecube and power it on. The gamecube will load without the top on and should go into the bios screen. Make sure the receiver and the controller are on the same channel and test it out.
If the controller works, proceed to the next step. If the controller does not work, make sure your solder points are good and that you don't have any crossed solder points on the board. Also make sure the wires are plugged into the receiver and that you didn't break any of the controller boards points.
Receiver Placement
I chose the right side of the cube, opposite side of the fan unit as the side to house the receiver. Run the wires over to the side and vertically stand the receiver by the screw hole. Once in place, you may want to use a little electrical tape to hold it in place.
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/recplacement.jpg
http://www.totalgamerz.com/pics/wavebirdmod/recoutside.jpg
Closing it up:
Assuming that you already tested the unit to ensure the installation was a success (make sure to write down which channel the receiver is turned to), carefully put the lid back on. Make sure the receiver isn't in the way of the lid or any internal parts and proceed to put the four screws back in. Enjoy!
All content is copyright Totalgamerz.com. If you would like to use any or part of this information for anything other than personal use, please contact me first for permission.
If you have any questions, comments or need help with this mod. Email me (http://www.totalgamerz.com/staff.php) (ryo) and I will try to answer any questions.
Link to HTML post (http://www.totalgamerz.com/mt-archives/000189.html#189)