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Vigo's SNES. Classic console gaming on any TV.
BurgerKingDiamond:
what the hell is taking so long??? >:D
mattmayhem:
I too am curious as to how this is coming along. Looks great so far!
Vigo:
Hey! Update on the way! :)
Thanks for the support everybody! I have been working on my SNES this weekend, and am ready for another update! I haven't been able to work on this project for quite a while since I have been busy with preparations for baby I have on the way. It's probably only going to be a few days now until he is here! ;)
--- Quote from: Mikezilla on December 31, 2010, 02:57:34 pm ---Holy ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- Vigo I just stumbled onto this thread. How are things turning out?! Sounds/looks like an awesome project. I agree, I think the SNES controller is the best, that and the PS2 controller. Mostly the SNES one though since I love me some Nintendo ;D
Please update with that you are are doing! Cant wait to see it! :cheers:
--- End quote ---
Thanks Mike! :cheers:
Yeah, the PS2 controller is awesome as well, Sony was smart enough to take the SNES controller design and improve on it. My only beef with the controller is that it seemed much harder for me to remember the button names. I guess I have a harder time with shapes than letters, but back in the day I would have to look at the controller every time it told me to hit "Square" or "Triangle". When all is done with the project, I plan on making player 3 and 4 to be wireless PS2 style controllers. It might just be tempting to use them for player 1 and 2 though. ;D
OK, on to making my next project update!
Vigo:
Part 3
Controller Gameport
OK! Let me just pick up where I left off with the USB gameports. I have already soldered the SNES ports on to the USB SNES controller device. Now, I need to change the external USB port to an internal USB plug. These are the four wires for the existing USB plug.
I gutted an old computer case I had and took the wiring out. To connect to the internal USB, I needed a connector like this:
I found the old case had an audio connector that was identical to this kind of USB connector, so I just took out the existing wiring, and soldered it to the gamepad board.
I found there is a nice groove on the SNES port that the gamepad board fits snugly into. I popped it in with a little hot glue, and now the board is mounted and out of the way.
Now, I just added a LED to fill in the old SNES slot. I stuck with a red LED for tradition sake. If I decide to give the case a paint job, I might change the color on the LED. Now, the entire gameport is complete. 8)
SNES case
So the SNES case uses their own special set of security screw heads. I have a bunch of security screw bits, but the set does not include the Nintendo bits. Luckily, After exhausting methods I heard about for getting these things off (like the melted bic pen trick) I found that there is a metric socket that will turn these screws pretty well. I was very close to cutting the case open. I am glad I was feeling patient that day.
So here is the inside of a SNES:
??? Even by 1991 standards, that's a whole lot of wasted space! I guess it was no surprise, but it seems like making a video game system compact wasn't very trendy back in the day.
I pulled out it's guts, and got to work:
So, I'll start from the top (literally...as in the top of the case :D)
There was a lot of extra plastic around the eject button area, as well as a few unnecessary screw mounts. I had to lop that plastic off before even starting:
I wanted to make the power and reset switches fully functional. The reset switch was a tight squeeze, it was competing for space with the motherboard RAM. I had to make the switch as far towards the front as possible. Using a cue from how the SNES rest switch was always set up, I used a spring to make a reverse switch. I melted in a screw for the spring to latch on to. (and reinforced it with hot glue)
I decided to use the type of switch that many BYOAC'ers have lying around, arcade cherry switches. I hot glued these on, and soldered some more pc case connections to make them plug in to the motherboard easily.
Now, I just need a spot to put the SD card hard drive, and there is some dead space lingering around. Since it does not get very hot, I was able to just hot glue the card right on to the case. (I never knew hot glue was so handy)
Now, for those who didn't notice, there are two giant gaping holes in the top of the case. One for the cartridge slot, and the other for the eject button. I wont be putting either of these back in, rather, I will be using the holes for ventilation.
I scrounged up all the speaker grating I could find....
...and mounted it to the case. I put some black backing in at as well, so dust wont get in so easily.
There! The lid is finished! :)
OK! That's it for tonight. I'll try to add more soon!
BurgerKingDiamond:
Looks nice man. Hot glue is definitely indispensable. It makes a really strong connection, but you can easily peel it off if you need to.