Trimmed Dreamcast Board Makes For Perfect Portable [2021]
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The trim features the PIF relocation which makes the board a good deal smaller. I used a custom PIF breakout PCB to facilitate the relocation. I plan to consolidate this all into a guide soon. I also swapped the 2 2MB RAM chips with 2 4MB chips for double the memory without the added size of the expansion pak. This build has pretty much everything you could ask for besides controller/video out which I still stand by is kind of gimmicky for these devices.
A few years ago I hoarded several ultraVGA modchips from a limited time buy. I am finally able to use my first! The modchip turns the digital video from the n64 into super crisp VGA, it looks fabulous. With the digital audio and VGA used, this is one of the highest fidelity N64 experiences. This also means that the N64 on-board audio/video encoder is 100% bypassed, I am not even supplying power to it on my trimmed board.
First pic is of the finished item, as per last page of the guide. INTRODUCTION: There have only been about a dozen such units made in the past from different modders, one of those was mine a few years ago. I therefore thought it would be nice to make a guide to show others how to make such a unit themselves which is the reason for this tutorial. I will keep the guide easy to follow and logical. The guide should be accurate for any reader, apart from the screen used and its wiring; the DreamCast can use VGA, S-video or composite video output so the choice for a screen to use is large; all you need to know is the voltage (and what it needs), and the connections for the video signals - any queries, there are many screens discussed in general on my forum, www.bacman.co.uk/home so if you join up and post your project, I and others will give you assistance in that area too, and you can post your project in progress so when you need advice we can provide it. The main issue with a DreamCast console unit is because they are a few years old, many consoles don't play many games any more, so you need to test your unmodded console to check it works, plays most games you have and also the controller works too. In my experience about 1/3 of consoles still work fine, others have issues, hence why you need to use a trusted console for a project. Don't worry, you will not have to do any board cutting or reductions, so the actual build of the system is far easier and less liable to have problems. The point of course of making a DreamCast into a portable by making a custom case, attaching a screen and controller, and batteries, is to play the system free of cables and not needing to run off the mains for power or use your home television. One thing though, the DreamCast is a thick unit, there is little you can do about that, and also you need to use the system comfortably - so don't expect to have a slim or small console handheld with a DreamCast - it isn't going to happen. Sure, you can make a system about 3/4 the size of the unit i'm making here however that will need a lot of skill to make well, and defeats the object of a tutorial like this as it would be aimed at an audience that were experienced in modding rather than someone with little experience, which is where this tutorial is aimed at. In saying that, you will need some knowledge on basic soldering, step-down regulators, voltages and very basic electronics knowledge - again, the reference section on my forum, www.bacman.co.uk/home is there with the guides if you need that knowledge and hand-holding.
Although we are going to use the actual casing from the DreamCast console (so don't throw any of it away), the console gets hot normally, so we need to take steps to keep it cooler for a portable. That means more fans, using heatsinks not metal plates and also increasing airflow. Use screwdriver to pry off the metal plate that was connected to the chips before, it isn't needed (pic 1). Be very careful when cutting metal not to get shards of metal in your eyes (wear goggles) and also make sure you are not going to slice off your finger if the cutting tools slip, hold the tools properly, and have fingers out of the way. Score the metal fairly deeply as per pics below, then bend to snap the metal off. When you cut metal (I used a metal circular cutter on my Dremel), use a sanding drum or similar to remove any metal shards, if you don't and there are little metal shavings, they could cause shorts on your motherboard and kill it, so always take precautions. The point is to expose the chips on the motherboard to allow space for heatsinks and decent airflow (last pic).
You don't need to do this process unless you want the option to connect to an external television rather than just the internal one we will use for the portable; if you want this facility then you will want to relocate one or both of these ports (you don't need to relocate the serial connection really, just the video one) so they are able to integrate into your portable's case where you want them located. First step is just to snip the edge connectors that hold the ports to the motherboard in place, two on each port (pic 1). Bend off the metal clips and lift the ports up gently (pic 2). Bend them back and forth, gently, until the pins snap off. Run your soldering iron over the pins, removing the part of the pins still attached, this not only removes those bits of metal debris but also re-solders the joins too, make sure of course you don't "bridge" any connections (ie short across the connections), if you do, run the soldering iron over them to remove the excess solder and therefore the bridge. (pic 3) Flux and tin the pins (as per step 6), and solder wires to the pin connections (pic 4), then use hot glue to keep them in position, you notice in (pic 5) I have laid the wires flat so it is easy to see what connects to what; hot glue sticks the wires to a piece of paper.
The official DreamCast controllers use reed switches to detect how far a joystick is moved or shoulder button; which is little use in a portable as you really need pots not reed switches. There are some third party DreamCast controllers that use pots - look on the edge and you see the joysticks are connected to pots - ideal. (pic 1) Open the controller up, you see the back of the board is blank, which is handy. We don't need to trim the controller board down either. (pic 2 and pic 3) As usual, don't throw any part away as you'll need most of it. Keep all parts in a box for easy location. (pic 5) Desolder the shoulder triggers and joystick off the board and retain them. (pic 4)
We want the portable to feel good to hold and stable to hold, right? That means the handholds need to be out about 60mm on each side so when you hold the system your fingers won't get in the way of the middle section of the system (where the console board is). So, mark out on 2mm thick styrene what your case will end up being in size, taking this into account. (pic 1) Use an old CD as a template for the rounded corners - reason is we'll use styrene to wrap around the corners (step 18) and any tighter and the styrene will be under too much stress. Superglue some 6mm thick pine to the inside of the old console case (pic 2) so it can be superglued to the piece in (pic 1), done in (pic 3, pic 4) Cut out some vent holes from a different case, superglued it in place, filled in the gaps with filler, sanded smooth. (pic 5), filled in the gap the old "on" LED occupied before - I want the LED to show at the front of the system not the back. (pic 6)
We want to run the portable off external power (7.4v - 12v input) however we want the system to prominently use batteries. The DreamCast and screen is a hungry beast to run, it works at 2 amps; so i'm going to use three sets of camcorder batteries, Sony NP-F550 compatible batteries, they are Li-ion cells and have their own protection circuits built in, they are also cheap to get hold of. Three sets of batteries should let the portable run for up to about 2.5 - 3 hours before needing charging. Now the clever bit - going to have the battery packs removable, so when the voltage is getting low, just change them for a new set and keep playing for longer! Got some battery charger units for these batteries, very cheap off ebay too, as they are custom made battery holders (pic 1) Made holes of approximate size for these (which were trimmed about half the thickness) and also for the batteries too in the case (pic 2) Then, painted the case front and back, and varnished it, and left it for a few days to dry out fully (pic 3) When the case was dry, then made the holes the right accurate size by using my Dremel and also files. Wanted the holder to fit nicely in place (pic 4) When in place, hot glued the holder, as i'd drilled out a hole so the hot glue could get inside and hold the holder to the case (pic 5) As you see, first one done (pic 6), all three done (pic 7) As you see, the holders are designed to touch the inside of the case against the case front section, so the batteries don't stick out too far, but far enough to remove and insert them (pic 8, pic 9) The DreamCast logo is stuck back on the case, which was removed before painting. Painted the inside of the system where the CD rests, to look nice (pic 10)
Painted the buttons and joystick and then used spray paint sealer (I find the one for metallics best) so the paint doesn't rub off. (pic 1) Installed the screen and speakers in place (pic 2) The back of the controller board is flat, (pic 3) which makes it easy to hot glue in pieces of pine in the case so it is out of the way (pic 4)
The next steps were to get the Dreamcast running off of a smaller power supply that could be run off a battery. For this, I chose the PICO PSU. It's an ATX power supply intended for embedded systems using PICO or MICRO ITX boards. It provided all of the necessary power needs as the Dreamcast runs off of 12v, 5v, and 3.3v just as a PC does. The other advantage of the PICO PSU was that it could be run off of any 12V power source. Which means a battery can power it. Whereas the original power supply required 120V AC wall power which doesn't work well in a portable. 2b1af7f3a8