CATASTROPHIC FAILURE!
Apparently it's difficult to adhere different types of PVC together, and a ridiculous notion to expect them to stick.
Long story short; while I was busy installing hardware, all if the seams started delaminating. Now I get to spend an entire extra day waiting for glue to dry, and get nothing else done.
FML.
577 Feb 3, 2013 5:11 am
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
578 Feb 2, 2013 9:24 am
Re: How is your local chiptune community? (430 replies, posted in General Discussion)
Local chiptune community? I think I'm the only one.
Nothing but Hipster bands and hippies where I live.
579 Feb 2, 2013 9:05 am
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Now, to be completely honest, I only got into chiptune stuff about a week ago. This is only my third DMG mod, and it's the first that involves more than installing optional audio-out. So, don't be too critical of how long it takes me to get this stuff done.
I spent most of my day soldering, being angry, troubleshooting, and then being angry again.
I'm amazed there aren't any references for spreading your Gameboy as thinly as possible throughout a keyboard, and have it still work.
I honestly spent a lot of time being frustrated, and didn't take many pictures today, but I'll show you what I've got.
We'll start with wiring the cartridge port.
Then there was a lot swearing, and tons of this:
Until 11:00 pm...
IT LIVES!!!!!
580 Feb 1, 2013 10:28 pm
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
So, now that the plastics are done, I can start in on making this thing work.
I wanted to relocate the cartridge port to a more centered location. Having the keyboard be a toplaoder with a cart poking out of a prominent position just tickles my nerdy bits... let's just yank you out of there, eh?
Remember how I was saying there was no room for the motherboard? That was only half correct; there's room for the board, just not the things attached to it.
Now, say goodbye to the volume control, link port, power switch, and the a/c jack. In fact, I don't need any of these pieces for the rest of my build, so they'll be tossed in my parts bin.
Now it'll fit.
Now, back to my cartridge port. I needed to mount it, so I took careful measurements, and drilled some holes in my case to run some plastite screws through.
(this photo is of spectacular quality, no?)
Then I had to bend up the pins on my cartridge port.
Installation: Complete
Then there was the issue of connection back to the motherboard.
Simple, Ribbon cable... and a lot of frustrating soldering.
I'm a master of improvising. There was a short lived snag, where I had no way of running the ribbon cable from the motherboard to the cartridge port. Enter careful cutting with a small razor saw. This alone took me about 20 minutes to do, but it was well worth it.
And here's a test to make sure everything fits.
This is the part where patience and finesse come into play: Cutting out the cartridge slot. This was done with a drill, a small razor saw, a pattern file, and a large flat rasp. I wanted it to be perfect, so I really took my time, and did dozens of test fits. I was at it for almost 45 minutes.
More coming soon. I took a break to post this because I'm waiting for some epoxy to dry.
581 Feb 1, 2013 2:24 am
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
So the ABS cement worked GREAT! Those two small chunks in my previous post? Yeah, I couldn't break them apart.
Let's proceed, shall we?
So, I cleaned all of my parts with Isopropyl alcohol, and took a deep breath (you only get one shot when you work with this suff).
I started with the base, using a liberal application of the stinky-ass adhesive.
After that had dried, I assembled the rest of it in one shot. Seriously, this is high stress; the glue sets up hella quick, and you have a limited amount of time to get everything aligned... I persevered, and stuck a bunch of random crap on top to weigh it down and hold everything place.
Unfortunately, my initial measurements weren't quite right, so I ended up with a gap on the right.
Since I'm filling all the seams with bondo anyway, and all I needed was a surface for the two pieces to adhere, I filed down a chunk of PVC and glued it in there.
N64? An omen?
So, after a long day of watching glue dry, I'm pretty satisfied with the results. Here's the top half.
The base. (fear not, mortals, a lot of the plastic for the keyboard frame is going to get carved out.)
Some closing shots. One before the DMG was glued in, and the other of my trashed work station... with the glued in DMG.
582 Jan 31, 2013 7:58 pm
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Sooooo... Here we go!
I took a few binder clips and lined up my plastics.
But then I realized that I didn't have any PVC cement... But I DID have ABS cement... so now it's drying, and we'll see how well it works in a couple of hours.
(note: it's always a good idea to test your adhesives on sample material before implementing it)
583 Jan 31, 2013 4:39 pm
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Vex wrote:
You also have loads of room to add in whatever audio outs you want. Pitch shift using one of those wheel knobs. Duuude the possibilities! You could rock the sucker as a badass studio setup or maybe add pegs on the bottom and rock it as a keytar live! My mind is freaking running with ideas like crazy! When i have the cash and time I may have to borrow this idea and do something similar. I think i could gather some parts from friends and I already have a few gameboys i could part out for this!
That's the idea 
I'll be able to select between the two potentiometers with a three position toggle switch (left-off-right). I'll have the selector switch because one of them is self-centering and the other isn't, and will give me more modes to play with. Audio out? HELLS YEAH! My Dad's an engineer for E-MU, and he hooks me up with all kinds of interesting leftover parts and mule rigs, so I can implement virtually any audio-in that I want. I totally encourage you to build anything and everything you can.
Victory Road wrote:
so deft! i'm imagining straplocks for cz101-style keytar shenanigans. this keyboard is going to sync with LSDJ, yeah?
I actually have an old Yamaha keytar that I want to modify in this fashion... just need to do a little more research. And, yeah, LSDj sync is part of the plan.
584 Jan 31, 2013 9:19 am
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Vex wrote:
I had a very bad day and seeing this made me forget why. This is beautiful I cant wait to see it finished!
Thanx, I appreciate that.
I can't wait to see it finished either. It should at least be functional by Monday.
585 Jan 31, 2013 7:56 am
Re: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
nitro2k01 wrote:
How are you going to access the cartridge for say upgrading LSDj or backing up your songs?
After I have all the epoxy set, I'll cut a port in it and make it a top-loader. Don't worry, I have this whole build planned out... rechargeable battery pack and everything.
586 Jan 31, 2013 7:46 am
Topic: My Crazy Ambitious DMG-01 Build (126 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Okay. I started this project this morning at about 9:00.
I had an extra PS/2 keyboard, and a friend had just given me her tired looking Gray Brick... then things started happening.
(these are not the actual pieces I started with... but they are almost identical)
I had just finished learning how to do the keyboard interface, and when I went to start swapping the cables and popping off the unneeded keys, I struck on this insanity.
I promptly split the Gameboy open, and slapped the front half down to see what I was working with.
It looked good to me, so I grabbed a pencil and took a quick trace... you'll never gues where this is going *sarcasm*
I used a box cutter to slowly cut through the plastic (a dremel tool would have ruined it) and then snapped it out with a pair of pliers. The result was a nearly perfect sized hole, and only required minimal filing to finish the edges.
It fits perfectly.
Then there was a problem; Where was I going to put all of the hardware? I had room for the daughter board, but that was about it.
For about an hour, I rummaged around in my garage and in my closet, hoping to find some suitable plastic case or dead game console I could cut up to add on to the keyboard... I was coming up with nothing. Then, as I wandered through the garage, I spotted this old USB Midi keyboard that I had harvested parts from years ago... this makes my build complicated, but if I get it right, it'll be a thing of beauty.
(I got excited when I found the keyboard, and forgot to take pictures before I gutted it out)
I still have the hardware that goes here, so now I can easily add volume and pitch control (and any number of other mods... because now I have plenty of room for it!)
First step was to remove ALL of those support pegs from the innards.
(mega hand cramp)
Then I took careful measurements, and busted out the hacksaw!
CHOP CHOP CHOP!
Wasn't a fan of how the back of the keyboard set with the new plastic, so I busted out my trust razor saw.
Then I spent about an hour dealing with my spacing problem... with a hand file.
Hard work pays off. I got the rough fit to line up properly.
My work space got kinda hectic, so I took a break to clean up.
And here we are, at the end of a LONG day. I dug out some components and installed them.
I'll wake up bright and early, start in with the epoxy, and turn this thing into two solid pieces. I can't wait to start doing the wiring and get this monstrosity up and running!
587 Jan 31, 2013 6:53 am
Re: These are some gameboys I have modded (17 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
walter b. gentle wrote:
i couldnt help but notice your post saying you "got into chiptunes" something like three or four days ago. do you mean got into modding stuff or like actually learned about chip. cause modding looks fun and all but if you discovered lsdj a couple days ago i might start crackin on learning how to use it before going buckwild with the mods. i dont mean that in a negative way. we have plenty of people here that are nuts about pimping gameboys. just saying theres a difference. good luck to you sir.
I learned about it, and immediately jumped in. Built my first DMG, ordered my LSDj cart, downloaded a bunch of software... It's been a blast so far.
I've been playing with the software through various emulators. Cynthcart was pretty straight forward, and I'm learning how to work with LSDj (the Gameboy interface is simple, but there are some subtle nuances I haven't quite figured out yet) and as I go along, I'll learn how to use any other software that pops up. I'm an autodidact, and I thrive on learning new things. I honestly look at this like programming... like drag and drop programming with art and music.
I welcome any tips or tricks you might have. Learning anything requires information.
588 Jan 31, 2013 6:11 am
Re: These are some gameboys I have modded (17 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Lazerbeat wrote:
Teh D3th St4r wrote:Admin?
Yup!
12. Thread titles should describe the topic of the thread. Please avoid titles like "Help!" or "Have you seen this...". Something like "How can I do a beefy bassdrum with Midines?" or "I just saw a chip music reference at the bus stop" is good. Staff reserves the right to edit unclear thread titles to something more descriptive.
I appreciate the clarification.
I will make sure to read the forum rules a little more thoroughly.
589 Jan 31, 2013 5:29 am
Re: These are some gameboys I have modded (17 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
DataFix wrote:
WHY DOES YOUR GAMEBOY HAVE A TAIL
Tiz a Dongle, son... I didn't have any panel mount 1/4" jacks, so this what I ended up with.
themask wrote:
Teh D3th St4r wrote:Oops! Didn't notice that...
Your lamp is also looking a little green towards the bottom
Damn... I... uh... It's not mine.
590 Jan 31, 2013 5:00 am
Re: These are some gameboys I have modded (17 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
Lazerbeat wrote:
clarified titled.
Admin?
591 Jan 31, 2013 4:26 am
Re: These are some gameboys I have modded (17 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
themask wrote:
nice bowl
Oops! Didn't notice that...
592 Jan 31, 2013 4:25 am
Re: These are some gameboys I have modded (17 replies, posted in Nintendo Handhelds)
defiantsystems wrote:
Why buy Gameboys when you have a C64?
I'm just having fun learning all of the mods, and I find building things to be deeply satisfying.
I haven't bought anything yet. As of right now, I'm just working with spares and parts from my collection.