tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20153143774396883662024-03-12T16:24:26.177-07:00DIYtronicsMy electronic projects, How to's, Repairs, and Disassembled Hardware photos and videos.sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-57424590376922065572019-06-28T05:35:00.001-07:002019-07-19T07:39:31.716-07:00Necroing My Own BlogI haven't posted anything since the end of 2014 (wow nearly 5 years ago, gone in a flash). I just wanted to explain what's been going on since and why I've changed format. Sorry this post is so late, I've just had a ton of other priorities and sort of forgot I even had a blog lol. I started out making Youtube videos and doing sister write-ups on this blog and it was manageable when I was only putting out content a few times a month at best. However, I started wanting to do weekly content and creating blog posts started to get very time consuming, adding even more work on top of the increase in time I was spending editing more videos. On top of this the complexity of projects and repairs I was doing was increasing. All of this added to my load of finishing up school and starting a career. So I decided to just move to only producing content for Youtube.<br />
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As for technical write-ups, for awhile I started just uploading technical design files to the cloud and linking them in video descriptions, but this method was unsustainable. Recently, I got the feeling that to do my projects justice I need both video and written project logs so I was tempted to resume my blog. I decided instead to go with Hackaday.io and here's why. I am already an entrenched member of the Hackaday main site, regularly commenting and having my projects published. Additionally the sister project .io site has built in utilities to handle uploading and sharing project files directly in the editor.<br />
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So I will continue to produce content on other platforms for the time being and leave this blog here as part of my history record (and who knows I may decide to return to posting here in the future). I just want to thank everyone who visits this blog and comments for their support and if you want to see more of what I do then my Youtube channel can be found <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGF65XOfUqPD2H7GbwCNsHg?view_as=subscriber">here</a> and my Hackaday.io project page is <a href="https://hackaday.io/projects/hacker/231849">here</a>. For the time being this will be my last post. So long and thanks for all the fish ...sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-9618276814037640562014-12-17T10:59:00.001-08:002014-12-17T11:05:59.044-08:00Mameboy Advance Arcade BuildSo I know its been a long time since my last blog post or youtube video. This fall I've started working as a research assistant in addition to graduate school so needless to say I have had to put my personal projects on hold. But now I am home for winter break and want to get some of those projects I've been putting off done ... or at least closer to done.<br />
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This brings me to one particular project that I've dreamt of for quite awhile. My first game console was my Gameboy Advance SP and I love the system to death. I always thought it would be cool to be able to hook up the system to a TV to play. Many years passed and I learned of a product that could be purchased off Ebay that would do just that with a little modification of the Gameboy Advance. Out of box it is compatible with both the 32 and 40 pin Advances even though the description says you need to buy another adapter for 32 pin compatability but it will not natively work with the SP. It is called the Gameboy TV Converter shown below courtesy of Ebay.<br />
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So I sprung for one. After I received it I installed it into an old GBA I had lying around and was dismally dissapointed. The flat flex cable that was used to intercept LCD data for the converter was just press fitted on and this meant a lackluster connection that would cause the image to be unstable or not work at all sometimes. I knew that I had to solder the wires to make a reliable connection. So I found this really helpful site with pinouts and instructions on just how to do exactly that: <a href="http://retrorgb.com/gbargb.html">retrorgb.com</a>. I carefully soldered up an .1" edge connector to IDE wire and then made the connections to the test pads around the ZIF connector on the GBA. <br />
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I plugged everything in and this is the result of my half hour hack: </div>
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Success!!! Now to load up one of my favorite games:<br />
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So my next move is to wire the TV converter to a spare GBA SP I have with a busted screen. Then I plan to build a table top arcade cabinet with a 5" LCD and stuff all of this into it. It will be called the Mameboy Advance Arcade. You just pop your cart into the coin slot area and play your favorite games on a bigger screen with arcade controls. This will take quite a bit of work so this project probably wont get done over winter break but will be a work in progress.sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-69008899158751822342014-07-15T16:28:00.002-07:002014-08-03T18:13:01.123-07:00PS2 Modbo 4.0 Installation and Translucent Case ModI know its been awhile since my last post but I've been busy completing my and preparing for graduate school. However in my usual weekend activity of perusing retro game stores I came upon a deal that I couldn't say no to. I managed to find a slimline model 79001 ps2 in the as is/broken pile at a retro game store for the paltry sum of $8. This is where piles of seemingly broken game consoles and accesories go when they are deemed unfixeable. But so far everything I have found and bought from this section has been repairable.<br />
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So I got home and plugged everything in and hit power expecting nothing but I was wrong. The ps2 was fully functional with some caveats. The disc spindle sometimes doesn't grab the disc correctly and the multi video out jack sometimes needs a wiggle to get rid of interference. I will address both problems in the future. I gave her a good clean since she was full of dog hair and a dead fly. I joked to a friend that I literally debugged a game console.<br />
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Attaining a second slim ps2 (my first was a silver model 90000) has prompted me to dig out a modbo 4.0 modchip I purchased around two years ago for $4 off dealextreme but didn't have the courage to install on my only system. But now I have a cheap practice system so I had little to lose. First I downloaded installation diagrams for my model with the help of google images.<br />
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I only needed to solder 21 pins. The four in the box labeled F were by far the most difficult since the pitch of the pins was so tight. But I took my time and surprisingly everything worked first go which is rare for me.</div>
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I used 30 awg wire wrap wire from radioshack and tried to be neat with laying it out. For the power wires I used thicker stranded wire. I used scotch tape to secure the trickier wires double sided foam tape for the modchip pcb. Even with my temperature controlled iron with a fine tip some of the joints proved difficult but patience prevailed in the end.</div>
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And here it is booting some backups I made. Before I had to use swap magic discs to boot my copies but now they play like my pressed originals. It works with both ps1 and ps2 games plus I can boot ulaunchelf from a memory card. And now before anyone starts arguing about the legality issues I create my backups from the original discs that I purchased and only use them so I can leave my originals safe at home when I go off to college. I would cry if anything happened to my original discs. Finally I've ordered a translucent grey replacement case for the system and will post pictures and a video when I have gotten and installed it.</div>
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<br />sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-74471783598526536222013-08-26T18:04:00.002-07:002014-05-29T08:57:34.637-07:00End of Summer Break Massive UpdateSo it's that time of year again where I have to put most of my projects on hold until I come back home for a break. It's a bittersweet time but I wanted to give a quick update on my current projects that I've made headway on but unfortunately will not get to complete for awhile. I can't be bothered to do individual posts because I'm busy packing but here is everything I have been working on this summer in a huge picture and video filled montage.<br />
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First up is my portable SNES project (it will end up barely being larger than a game cart). This starts with a short story so here it is. I found a "broken" retro duo at a used game store for $4 so I couldn't
say no (I even made a short video on it up on my youtube account - sjm4306). I took it home and immediately tested it to find that the SNES
side was still fully operational but the NES side was kaput. Ok this
worked for me because I ordered a free sample of a small enclosure from
OKW awhile ago that is almost the exact size of a SNES cart so I've been
wanting to make a tiny portable SNES. So I set out to trim the retro
duo SNES board to fit in said enclosure. Here are some progress videos.<br />
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Progress Video #1 <br />
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Progress Video #2</div>
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Progress Video #3<br />
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Progress Video #4<br />
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And that is where I left off. I need to find a cheap 3.5" composite lcd off of ebay which will work. The majority that I bought in the past seem to have rolling video issues with the video output of clone systems. So I will try and see if I can find one that works while I am at college. I plan on finishing this guy up over winter break after I come home.<br />
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And now for something a little different. The second project I've been working on is a 3V DC to 200V AC inverter so I can drive an electroluminescent (EL) panel to backlight an old gameboy pocket I have laying around.<br />
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Did I ever mention I love clear or translucent electronic devices ... anyway back to the update. I carefully removed only the back reflective layer on the lcd so I could backlight it. For the electronics I used a pic16f886 (I will end up porting the code to a smaller pic later after I get everything working) to drive an inductor based inverter. This generates around 200V DC which I then chop up to simulate AC with another output from my mcu. I will make a simple schematic and place it below when I get the time but for now here are some pics of it driving various EL panels I pulled from old electronics.</div>
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For fun I wired a voltage doubler to boost the output to 400V AC. It all works off of a 3.7V lithium ion battery and only draws about 25mA.</div>
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And that is where I left off. I still need to move on past the prototyping stage. I'll finish it later.</div>
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Next up I finally got major work done on my desktop speakers and class D amplifier. I pulled the speakers from a system someone threw out and the wood came from an old speaker cabinet with a dead subwoofer. I cut everything with a hacksaw and finished it with sanding blocks and my dremel.</div>
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I can be very methodical and organized when I try. Warning crap loads of pictures below.</div>
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And here is the TI TPA3122D2 stereo 10W class D amplifier to drive the show. I did a short test video.</div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/sG18uco_vyw/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sG18uco_vyw?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sG18uco_vyw?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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I bought some sealant and spray paint for the enclosures which I still need to finish. I just need to mount the amp (I'm tempted to go with a digital volume and control system with a rotary knob and lcd screen) and then I will be done this entire project.</div>
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Finally my last project was to build a clock. But it won't be just any clock. I bought a bag of 200 water clear blue leds off ebay that I've been itching to use. </div>
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So why not make a huge led matrix and make a clock that can also scroll text from a computer. The only problem is how to diffuse 200 leds by sanding each and every one.</div>
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My solution:</div>
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1000 grit sandpaper and an electric drill.</div>
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Unfortunately I only got around to sanding half of the leds before I got sick of it so this project is on hold. I even got as far as trying out wood for the front panel.</div>
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But I opted for just mounting the leds on perfboard for ease of assembly.</div>
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I still have to finish sanding the rest and solder (oh what fun) all the leads to the board. Oh well I'll leave all that till I have enough motivation to finish this.</div>
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Finally (the truth this time) I would like to end off with a perler bead creation I made. I found some old beads my sister and I played with when we were kids so I found it fitting to make some video game sprite art to hang on my wall. Say hello to Samus from the original Metroid.</div>
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But it all ended quickly as I only had enough for one sprite. Oh well, maybe I'll pick up some more beads later so I can make an entire montage to tape to my wall.</div>
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And that is about everything I have done this summer (aside from work and taking graduate record exams). Phew that was exhausting. Before I finish I also want to let you guys know that I wont be making posts for TeardownTube episodes on my blog so if you want to see new episodes then subscribe to my Youtube channl <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/sjm4306">sjm4306</a>. With that out of the way I hope you enjoyed my adventures. Although summer is drawing to a close I have much planned for both my blog and Youtube so stay connected.</div>
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sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-67337293973933797612013-07-11T17:48:00.000-07:002013-08-26T18:05:06.545-07:00Super Joy 3 NES on a Chip Modifications<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As a preface to the ongoing project below, as usual I was wandering Ebay and I happened upon a used Super Joy 3 for $8 so I couldn't say no. It is a "Famiclone" or also known as a NOAC (Nintendo on a Chip) meaning it is a cheap Chinese reverse engineered custom ASIC of the original NES. The beautiful thing is that is has a onboard Famicom 60 pin slot to accept original games. This can be rewired to accept US NTSC 72 pin NES games. So I set about making these modifications in order to build my own tiny portable NES. The only thing that stands between me and my dream is that I lack a 72 pin NES cartridge connector and I dont want to buy one if I can help it. So how did I work around this problem? Ingenuity!<br />
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I simply took an old ATA PC motherboard and desoldered the PCI connector slots from it with the help of my handy heat gun (warning it may look like a hair dryer but it gets MUCH hotter!) as I noticed it was about the right fit for the NES cart edge connector. <br />
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One problem is that the 72 pin card is much too wide so I needed to cut and splice two sockets together. Here I marked off where to cut by opening up a NES cart for reference and used a small hacksaw.</div>
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Looked like a good fit. But the PCI slot has many more pins than necessary and the alignment was a little off so some had to be removed with pliers to insure there were no shorts.<br />
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Both sides were now finished so I set about finding the right fit and tediously testing each pin with my multimeter. Overall everything fits like a glove.</div>
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Now I needed to add some plastic spacers to connect both sides and give some mechanical rigidity</div>
so I added some scrap black ABS plastic cut to size with my Dremel and glued with some super glue.<br />
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Finally I soldered the 60 some pins with IDE ribbon cable and rechecked the connections with my multimeter. Notice how the center five pins which would be located at the black plastic are not connected on either side. This is because these were brought out to the bottom expansion port of the NES which was never used to I left these pins out.</div>
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This is where I left off for now. I still need to remove the Famicom cart slot from the Super Joy 3's PCB and solder in my FrankenCart Slot. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything works. If not then this was still a good exercise in modifications. I'll update this page when I make more progress.</div>
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sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-48285449906808603322013-05-22T12:13:00.000-07:002013-05-22T12:14:09.555-07:00Update and Quick Wii ModIts been awhile since I posted my last project but now that I'm done with classes and finals I can get back to working of some unfinished and new projects. I've got plans involving retro game systems, toasters, lasers, motors, mirrors, hard drives, lcd screens, microcontrollers, and much more. It'll be a summer of hacking and making and I will enjoy every moment of it. So I hope you will too as I strive to bring more documentation and worklog videos to my site and youtube channel.<br />
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With that out of the way I decided to start off my summer by finishing a project that I've been putting off for quite awhile. A few years ago I found a $30 Wii at a thrift store that was in perfect operational condition. I instantly purchased it and went home to see about modding it. I was fortunate that it was a launch model which meant that the drive could read recordable discs unlike the newer D4 drives which could not. So I went and bought a Wiikey Fusion for around $40 and installed it in between the original drive and the motherboard. This device would allow me not only to play my backup games, but also play games off of an additional SDHC card.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ht0uaGyAo5M/UZ0RHRxX3DI/AAAAAAAAAbc/dncwBayfcak/s1600/Wiikey-Fusion-Wiikey3-Modchip-for-Wii-KT-20013-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ht0uaGyAo5M/UZ0RHRxX3DI/AAAAAAAAAbc/dncwBayfcak/s320/Wiikey-Fusion-Wiikey3-Modchip-for-Wii-KT-20013-.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
From my understanding, the device works by patching the security code into the data bus when playing a copied game, or by emulating the original disc drive when play off of the SD card. Because it is a hardware Actel FPGA implementation, Nintendo can do very little in the way of software updates to restrict its use. The installation was very simple. I had to remove the internal disc drive, place the fusion in between the Wii's mainboard and drive, and attach the SD card reader to the fusion. This took minutes and only required a tri-wing and small phillips screw driver and a small pocket knife (instruction can be found online). I then fed the SD card wiring to the outside and mounted the slot on the outside. It stayed this way for the good part of a year.<br />
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Just yesterday I wanted to play some Skyward Sword and found the externally mounted card an annoyance and hideous to be honest. So I decided to internalize it last night and did the modifications this morning. The fruits of my efforts can be seen below.<br />
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The problem is that there is very little free space in the Wii where I could mount a SD slot. I wanted to leave the front facing slot untouched so I opted to mount the second slot on the back above the two USB ports. For this I need to move the Wifi antenna down a bit and tape it to the top of the air duct plastic. Then I used a dremel's drum sander to remove the plastic mounting standoffs from just above the two gamecube memory card slots right under where the SD card is mounted. This allowed me to mount the small board flat so it would fit in the small space. I then used hot glue to hold the slot in place.<br />
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Next I used my dremel with the cutoff attachment to cut a rough SD sized slot after doing some measurements and drawing the outline on the plastic with a pencil. I then finished the cut with a pocket knife to clean up the edges. I made sure everything lined up and found that the screw post just to the right of the slot was preventing the case from closing. I took off a bit of the plastic and then everything fit like a glove.<br />
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In the end the slot is still a little rough but it can be cleaned up later. But for now I have a hard modded Wii with an internal secondary SD card slot to play backups off of. Everything looks stock with the exception of the small slit on the back. I am very happy with how this turned out and now I need to get back to playing some LoZ :-)</div>
sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-48772131976455704022013-03-27T10:19:00.001-07:002013-03-27T10:20:31.225-07:00Epson emp-s4 Projector LED Mod<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Recently during one of my Ebay window shopping sessions I came across a listing for an 'as is' Epson projector missing a lamp. It was sold as is because it would turn on and then simply flash a lamp error and since the lamp is much more expensive than the projector as a whole, the seller undoubtedly decided to sell just the projector rather than purchase a new bulb. The best part was that he was willing to part with it for $25 with free shipping. As far as I could tell nothing else was wrong with the projector so I took the plunge.</div>
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While waiting for it to ship I read up on the control systems that these projectors use in order to control the ballast and lamp assembly. It looked like nothing more complicated than tricking an input to the main board to make the projector think a real lamp was inserted while in reality I would use a high power LED but more on that later. </div>
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A week later it arrived in a huge box and as I hurried back to my dorm room I tore it open in excitement. It has three lcds, one for red, blue, and green. These three images are added together with the help of a lens to create the final image. The next step was to remove the ballast and figure out how which two wires from its control cable sent the lamp ok indication. I noticed that the ballast (the circuit board on the bottom left in the picture below), had a digital control circuit mounted vertically with three optoisolators near the i/o cable. These chips are necessary to insure that the digital low voltage i/o dont mix with the high voltages present in the rest of the ballast or else this projector might release its magic smoke. In addition two of the optos were facing left while only one was facing right. This hinted to me that the one lone opto was the output sent to the main board pictured in the upper right below to tell it that the lamp was operating perfectly fine so that the projector would stay on instead of shutting off and giving an error like it would without a lamp inserted.</div>
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So my solution was to short out the two wires that led to this opto (found with the help of my multimeter). I also needed to tape down the lamp door safety open switch so it could operate with the cover off. Now when I shone a flashlight into the lens input on the upper left of the image above I could faintly see an image being projected from the projection lens on the bottom right. Bingo, now I was getting somewhere. Now I needed more POWER!</div>
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I had bought a 30W 2000 lumen LED and 2A ac/dc driver in anticipation of this exact purpose a while ago so I dug that out of my parts bin along with some optical lenses to focus the light. I drilled into an old pentium cpu heatsink and attached it to the LED because after a few seconds it got rather hot. The fan came with the heatsink so I just wired it up in parallel with the exhaust fan seen below to the upper right of the picture. Then I used some framing wire to attached the glass lens to the assembly. This ensures that the light is concentrated and evenly dispersed into the small window to the left.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eXdpwPzJID4/UVMc7L0OXKI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/xyqPzd01cH4/s1600/2013-03-26+15.55.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eXdpwPzJID4/UVMc7L0OXKI/AAAAAAAAAaQ/xyqPzd01cH4/s320/2013-03-26+15.55.12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Next I need a way to turn on and off the led because having the light on all the time when the projector was plugged in was no fun. I could have gotten fancy and dug into the buck control circuitry of my LED driver and done it that way but I opted for a more universal approach in case I wanted to upgrade the light source in the future. I patched a ac cable into the power input of the projector's main power supply board to gain access to 120V AC. Then I used a beefy relay pulled from an old computer battery backed ups (uninterpretable power supply). This small beast could handle 5A at 125V so it should be sufficient for the task. I placed out of the way it in a crevice in the bottom left of the projector as seen in the picture below. Normally when the coil is unenergized it opens the circuit so the LED is off. When it receives the signal from one of the other optos (I carefully tested with the projector open to see which control line to the ballast changed when the projector was turned on and off) it sends current through the relay switching the AC voltage into the LED driver thus turning the LED on. This way the hacked on LED would behave exactly like the original lamp: it turns on and off with the projector with no user intervention.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clhTOaKtDD0/UVMc_tXhf4I/AAAAAAAAAaY/Xdi9DjGpBfA/s1600/2013-03-26+15.55.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-clhTOaKtDD0/UVMc_tXhf4I/AAAAAAAAAaY/Xdi9DjGpBfA/s320/2013-03-26+15.55.33.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The LED driver in the protective plastic shield on top of the main power supply can be seen above in addition to the small optoisolator and flyback diode circuit I built to handle automatic relay control to allow the projector to turn on and off the LED itself.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RdVmW43KvjY/UVMdFrSX4KI/AAAAAAAAAao/p8KmssL8dMI/s1600/2013-03-26+15.56.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RdVmW43KvjY/UVMdFrSX4KI/AAAAAAAAAao/p8KmssL8dMI/s320/2013-03-26+15.56.00.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I pulled ground and +12V for the relay coil from these two spots on the main board.</div>
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Finally a picture of the entire device fully modded to my liking. Its a thing of beauty.</div>
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Now for a test I played some video games on it for an hour and measured the internal temperatures to make sure that it would be fine. Here is a projected screen size of about 30" in pitch black room for your enjoyment.</div>
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And what game did I test I hear you ask. Only one of my favorites of all time ;-)</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xE2n87l3Vbo/UVMdMp51RkI/AAAAAAAAAa4/HtLcXaPct8w/s1600/2013-03-26+20.38.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xE2n87l3Vbo/UVMdMp51RkI/AAAAAAAAAa4/HtLcXaPct8w/s320/2013-03-26+20.38.09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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These images were about 30-35" diagonal. Not too bad. They look better in person its just that I had to use my phone cameras as I forgot to bring home my nice Sony camera for spring break. I can push the image to 45-50" and still be viewable in a pitch dark room but brightness degrades quickly. I'll see if I can get my hands on a 8000 lumen 100W LED and make this almost as bright as it originally would be with the stock lamp. Here is a quick video of the internals and it operating for those who are interested.</div>
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For now I will go ahead and call this hack a success. Now let me get back to beating Castlevania Symphony of the Night for the millionth time ...</div>
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If you have any questions feel free to comment below and I will do what I can to help.</div>
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sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com47tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-22160754267041999652013-01-04T15:40:00.002-08:002013-01-05T11:22:03.771-08:00Yet Another POV Clock Project!Yep. I'm at it again. Yet another POV display (my third iteration in fact). I'm a sucker for things that move and blink rapidly. You can see my past POV projects in the Projects tab above.<br />
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This time instead of using a rotating disc or arm like I've done in the past I've opted to use a wand that oscillates back and forth to write out the image. I got the idea after seeing a commercial clock that uses the same mechanism. But you know it's no fun buying something ........ you have to make it to fully enjoy it!<br />
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So I stated off by testing out several methods to generate the oscillations. I took apart several harddrives to harvest the armature coils and magnets only to find that they couldn't bear the load of a long wand and still oscillate quick enough and with large enough magnitude to be useful. So I dug into my junk bin to see if I could find an idea.<br />
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I found a stiff yet springy piece of metal, a 'U' shaped plastic cut from a DIP tube, some coils from the brushless spindle motor in an old VCR I took apart ages ago, and two neodymium magnets from an old name tag. These would be the main components that would make up the armature and electromagnetic assembly. The springy metal is secured to the end of the plastic tube and the magnets are fitted on either side of the tube an inch or two above the metal. It looks something like this:<br />
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The leds are soldered to a little piece of perfboard and connected down the length of the tube with magnet wire. Here is a few pics of mechanism and leds working:<br />
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Warning!!! Physics lecture incoming: so here is the general concept of how the mechanism works. The springy metal is secured to the base, and the coils are mounted on either side of the two magnets on the arm. A microcontroller with an adjustable oscillator drives a transistor which switches the coils which are wired in parallel. This kicks the magnets and the armature every once and a while inserting kinetic energy into the system (it's essentially a forcing function and a mass spring system which can be described by a simple differential equation). By tuning the rate of the driving electromagnetic pulse to the resonant frequency of the spring and mass armature you can get it to sustain a large amplitude oscillation. I knew Physics would come in handy one day!<br />
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So, now I have a reliable oscillating mechanism as seen in this video:<br />
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And I have managed to get the leds all wired and working with a simple demo going: <br />
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So all I need to do now is add a photointurrupter to sense when the arm is at the starting position so that I can sync up the display and then code software for a character set and animations as well as add a real time clock chip. Oh and finish the case and solder the circuit. Don't worry I'll keep you all updated in the next upcoming steps for this project and I'm planning on releasing all of the code and schematics just because you guys are awesome. Stay tuned for the next thrilling installment of POV Clock!<br />
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UPDATE!!! I've used the electromagnetic pulse controller's led output as a sync signal to varying degree to display the ceremonious "HELLO" message as a first text demo as seen below.<br />
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Note that I am seeing some problems with the low refresh rate manifesting itself as an annoying flickering. I'll have to think something up to fix this problem. Until then!sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-71415569020316468132012-12-20T12:22:00.002-08:002012-12-20T12:22:12.379-08:00TeardownTube - episode 14 - Nintendo DSHere's the 14th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I explore inside a vintage 2004 Nintendo DS, the first in the line of the current gen dual screen portable game consoles. How did Nintendo manage to squeeze two 3" LCDs into your pocket? Find out in the video above.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbY8NKKxBxo">TeardownTube - episode 14 - Nintendo DS</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-60245624454183950362012-12-04T21:43:00.000-08:002012-12-04T21:53:41.081-08:00TeardownTube - episode 13 - PSP GoHere's the 13th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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<br /><object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q5ahmT_S9S8/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q5ahmT_S9S8?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q5ahmT_S9S8?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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In this episode I tear into a sexy PSP Go I managed to score "broken" on Ebay for only $30. A stupidly easy fix. How did Sony manage to fit all of the goodness (well except for the UMD drive) of the psp down into the miniscule PSP Go? Find out as I explore and delve headfirst and have a "Go" at the PSP Go ... see what I did there?!!<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5ahmT_S9S8">TeardownTube - episode 13 - PSP Go</a><br />
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Wanna read my repair experience for this device? Read the writeup <a href="http://diytronics.blogspot.com/2012/12/broken-psp-go-repair.html">HERE</a>!sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-49317852312022576932012-12-03T20:55:00.003-08:002012-12-03T21:03:48.974-08:00Broken PSP Go repairI was crawling around Ebay about two weeks ago looking for good deals on broken but repairable electronics like I normally do. I've bought up countless iPods in the past to repair and resell. In fact just over Thanksgiving break I found a Nintendo DS that works perfectly but has a broken hinge for $5, but that is a story for another day. So begins a tale of an adventure on my most recent excursion.<br />
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This time I found a PSP Go (the full sized PSP's little digital media only cousin) that was listed by the seller, who was a reseller likely with no specialized knowledge about hardware, as "not turning on" and "unable to test without a charger". The description and the price ($30) piqued my interest. The photos posted showed that the unit was in good physical condition (with the exception of some scratches on the lcd). I wagered on the unit not having any water or electrical damage. It takes some experience and intuition to be able to tell what is repairable and what is too far gone. I just felt it in my gut that this would all work out in the end. So I took a gamble and quickly bought the device. I just hoped I hadn't thrown $30 away on a expensive paper weight. After all that has happened in the past.<br />
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It just arrived today and I excitedly returned with the small package to my dorm room to begin operation. I was so excited that I slammed my knee into my desk twice and winced in pain as I attempted to diagnose the device. Just as the seller said the device did absolutely squat when the power switch was pressed. No surprises there!<br />
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So I opened her up. Thanks Sony for using standard Phillips screws! If only they wouldn't use proprietary hardware ... but I digress. I was inside in under a minute. The only thing that was keeping me from the battery was an annoying warranty void sticker. Hah like I care. RIPPPPP! Well there goes the likely long gone warranty. I measured the voltage on the lithium ion battery and unsurprisingly it was completely dead. Oh well. Like the seller I didn't have the charging cable ... cough cough .. proprietary hardware ... so I was seemingly out of luck.<br />
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But I'm an engineer and engineers are stubborn but more importantly they are resourceful. I had a familiar max1555 (lithium ion/polymer battery charge controller) wired up on a breadboard. Of course another problem popped up, the battery used an annoying tiny connector but all was not lost. I'm up at college so all I had was some twisty ties so I cut off the insulation and just poked the wires into the connector, dirty and ugly but it'll work. Now I just needed 5-8V preferably without sacrificing a USB cable or power cord. I had a USB to USART bridge module on hand and luckily it has a 5V output so I just tapped into that. I plugged it into a USB wallwart and waited for the battery to charge a bit. I hooked up a meter to keep an eye on the battery's voltage.<br />
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Well after the battery sat there for a while I grew impatient so I measured the battery to make sure it had some charge and threw it back into the device. I waited with bated breath as I flipped the power switch ... big fat NOTHING!!! Of course it wouldn't be that simple. Oh well ... save me Google! A few minutes of research netted me with the hint that holding left on the D-pad while pressing power may yet resurrect my unit. I had nothing to lose so tried it ...<br />
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... and the PSP rose from its slumber to greet me with the XMB. Yeah. Now we are cooking. I thoroughly tested the unit and everything works. I ended up getting a device which used goes for around $80-100 online for only $30. All I needed was some patience, perseverence, and a huge pair of ... engineering skills!<br />
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Every device I fix or take apart gives me experience and knowledge. I highly recommend going to thrift stores or surfing Ebay and picking up cheap old electronics to mess around with. There is no guarantee that everything will work out as well this experience, but the skills I have gained from not just my successes but also my failures work to further my capabilities as well as my confidence. Every little lesson is invaluable.<br />
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Sorry I rambled on for a bit, but I just felt like trying to inspire other fellow engineers just starting out to take the plunge and mess around with some otherwise "broken" electronics and possibly save them from ending up in a landfill. Engineering and life are about being fearless and resourceful when conditions are not optimal. In the end I will be happy if my writeup was marginally entertaining and inspired others to do something similar.<br />
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As always comment below if you have any questions or are in need of advice. I always try my best to help. See you at my next electronics hacking or repair escapade!sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-82148012940091835562012-11-20T15:14:00.003-08:002012-12-04T21:10:39.763-08:00TeardownTube - episode 12 - External DVD Burner DriveHere's the 12th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I take a peek at the inner construction of a standard laptop DVD burner drive inside of a usb to pata enclosure. How do they make these small enough to fit into the slimmest of laptops? Find out now.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6g48ZmdZaM">TeardownTube - episode 12 - External DVD Burner Drive</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-82842504268892550982012-11-10T13:10:00.000-08:002012-11-10T13:10:26.593-08:00TeardownTube - episode 11 - Western Digital Passport External DrivesHere's the 11th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I look inside two of my Western Digital Passport series drives. Is WD pulling a fast one on consumers? How did they manage to make the usb 3.0 drives even smaller than their older usb 2.0 variants? Watch to find out.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdvCG6AZciI">TeardownTube - episode 11 - Western Digital Passport External Drives</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-19806342998039275992012-10-27T12:56:00.001-07:002012-10-27T12:56:41.199-07:00TeardownTube - episode 10 - AAXA Technologies P1 Jr Pocket ProjectorHere's the 10th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I tear into my recent purchase. I've finally jumped on the bandwagon and bought a pocket pico projector. See what sorcery allows such a tiny device to project up to a 40 inch image.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KXUI9QAFpI">TeardownTube - episode 10 - AAXA Technologies P1 Jr Pocket Projector</a><br />
sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-23318547384228108902012-10-27T12:52:00.002-07:002012-10-27T12:52:30.196-07:00TeardownTube - episode 9 - Gameboy Color and Game CartridgesHere's the 9th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I take a look at the first Nintendo portable system to sport a color screen. Just how similar is it to its monochrome cousin, the gameboy pocket? Also as a special treat I explore the insides of a few gameboy and advance cartridges as well as a flashcart I had sitting around. Enjoy.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNOT1UNUHxA">TeardownTube - episode 9 - Gameboy Color and Game Cartridges</a><br />
sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-4893983249535676722012-10-27T12:46:00.002-07:002012-10-27T12:46:45.956-07:00TeardownTube - episode 8 - Gameboy Advance SP+Here's the 8th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if
you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are
not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment.
Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-SZQU5rNEco?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In this episode I continue on with portable video game hardware history. What magic did the engineers at Nintendo squeeze into the foldable gba sp+? Watch to find out.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SZQU5rNEco">TeardownTube - episode 8 - Gameboy Advance SP+</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-21885222624545577902012-09-17T15:49:00.000-07:002012-09-17T15:49:09.498-07:00Nokia LCD PIC driver revampIt's been quite some time since I've published my last <a href="http://diytronics.blogspot.com/2011/05/controlling-nokia5110-lcd-with-software.html">post</a> on interfacing a Nokia 84x48 monochromatic LCD to a PIC microcontroller but I recently got the itch to port the driver code from its original assembler to the language I use most now, C. Once again I opted to write the SPI interface in software since it gives greater flexibility although at the cost of speed. I've upgraded from my paltry pic16f84a to the pic16f887 which offers several improvements including more memory, gpio, and an internal oscillator as well as many useful peripherals.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HcB4DH5PED8/UFelXrbAKxI/AAAAAAAAAV0/M90MB9rPxaM/s1600/2012-09-17+18.22.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HcB4DH5PED8/UFelXrbAKxI/AAAAAAAAAV0/M90MB9rPxaM/s320/2012-09-17+18.22.27.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've also picked up many useful programming tricks up my sleeve since then. This time I've made the driver faster as well as added direct support for drawing full 84x48 black and white images that can be drawn in Microsoft paint. If anyone wants I can write up a tutorial on drawing an image in paint and exporting it to another program to generate the hex array that my PIC uses to draw. But for now enjoy the pretty pictures.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YJeM2fEpdPk/UFelZhzcbKI/AAAAAAAAAV8/mh1n4GaAwJ4/s1600/2012-09-17+18.15.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YJeM2fEpdPk/UFelZhzcbKI/AAAAAAAAAV8/mh1n4GaAwJ4/s320/2012-09-17+18.15.32.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GcV6aRWz7RQ/UFelams7WRI/AAAAAAAAAWE/Yt6eglLOEHc/s1600/2012-09-17+18.15.44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GcV6aRWz7RQ/UFelams7WRI/AAAAAAAAAWE/Yt6eglLOEHc/s320/2012-09-17+18.15.44.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JqkflDIEUis/UFeldMtLL1I/AAAAAAAAAWc/RIlKRXL_9m0/s1600/2012-09-17+18.16.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JqkflDIEUis/UFeldMtLL1I/AAAAAAAAAWc/RIlKRXL_9m0/s320/2012-09-17+18.16.15.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQBsORlrAt8/UFelcLaV6TI/AAAAAAAAAWU/h19gddzAAj0/s1600/2012-09-17+18.16.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BQBsORlrAt8/UFelcLaV6TI/AAAAAAAAAWU/h19gddzAAj0/s320/2012-09-17+18.16.04.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WZERhX1-Skw/UFelbbZoZ_I/AAAAAAAAAWM/y5z6zev1NfQ/s1600/2012-09-17+18.15.54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WZERhX1-Skw/UFelbbZoZ_I/AAAAAAAAAWM/y5z6zev1NfQ/s320/2012-09-17+18.15.54.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This software will make it much easier to develop user interfaces and graphics for future devices. I realize that the display I am using is a bit outdated, but the practice is useful towards someday interfacing to much higher resolution color displays. Anyway, I think I've rambled on for long enough. Here are the source and image files. Feel free to ask for any help should you wish to integrate this display into your own project. Stay tuned because I have many cool projects and videos planned.<br />
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Files up on <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?yful41fyd7cnd">MediaFire</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-83906123111861731132012-09-07T11:03:00.002-07:002012-09-07T11:03:13.776-07:00TeardownTube - episode 7 - Gameboy PocketHere's the 7th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/CMqXv7x9Ydw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In this episode I venture into the past of portable video gaming when I lurk inside an old gameboy pocket. Find out what makes up the device which provided many children hours of joy in the 90's.<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMqXv7x9Ydw">TeardownTube - episode 7 - Gameboy Pocket</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-90896373719659831792012-08-28T13:11:00.002-07:002012-08-28T13:11:32.917-07:00TeardownTube - episode 6 - Hard Drive<br />
Here's the #th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ktjm8bMJVU?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In this episode I venture past the warranty stickers and torx screws in order to get a peek inside an old 40GB pata 3.5" disk drive I had collecting dust in a drawer. I will be going back to college soon so I will have to put off uploading episodes until I get settled. I will definitely be back and I have some cool surprises planned. Stay tuned!<br />
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ktjm8bMJVU">TeardownTube - episode 6 - Hard Drive</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-62314090273699695122012-08-09T06:01:00.004-07:002012-08-09T06:02:01.778-07:00TeardownTube - episode 5 - Gemei 4GB MP4 PlayerHere's the 5th episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/cDcx1qEybsA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In this episode I reveal what cost cutting measures Chinese companies use to make the cheapest devices possible. Is it possible that I found a cheap MP4 player which isn't doomed for the trash and is worth more than the sum of its parts? Watch to find out.<br />
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Link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDcx1qEybsA">TeardownTube - episode 5 - Gemei 4GB MP4 Player</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-6107139576494404562012-07-31T13:22:00.003-07:002012-08-09T06:02:13.783-07:00TeardownTube episode 4 - Palm Tungsten T2Here's the fourth episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device
dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for
repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OvBPNgjgs3A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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In this episode I take a look at an old Palm computer I found at a local thrift store for a few dollars. Have I finally met my match: a device which I cannot dissect? Watch to find out. </div>
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Link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvBPNgjgs3A">TeardownTube - episode 4 - Palm Tungsten T2</a></div>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-47776427907578005132012-07-26T14:25:00.005-07:002012-07-26T14:26:18.163-07:00TeardownTube episode 3 - PSoneHere's the third episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device
dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for
repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I crack open an old playstation one I scored at a thrift store a few years back. Its modchipped and awesome when paired with the 4" screen attachment.</div>
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Link: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjphGOzSS7A">TeardownTube - episode 3 - PSone</a>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-66204586472019998962012-07-23T07:14:00.002-07:002012-07-26T14:27:26.388-07:00TeardownTube episode 2 - GamecubeHere's the second episode of TeardownTube. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device
dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for
repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LxHq_B0WDno/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LxHq_B0WDno?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LxHq_B0WDno?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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In this episode I take a look inside an old Gamecube that was collecting dust in my closet. And then I put it all back together.</div>
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxHq_B0WDno">TeardownTube - episode 2 - Gamecube </a></div>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-50461714390095582162012-07-13T05:39:00.001-07:002012-07-26T14:26:28.855-07:00TeardownTube episode 1 - Floppy DriveI've started a new show on Youtube called TeardownTube and just posted the first episode. Join me as I tear apart and comment on various devices for your entertainment. Subscribe, comment, and like if you want to see a different device dismantled every week. The videos are not detailed instructions for repair but rather just for entertainment. Enjoy.<br />
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In this episode I dismantle an old 3.5" floppy drive I pulled from an old tower PC. Ahh ... the smell of vintage computer hardware.</div>
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Link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmu6uRh3qDo">TeardownTube - episode 1 - Floppy Drive</a></div>
<br />sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2015314377439688366.post-89773147033582459362012-06-22T11:39:00.001-07:002012-07-23T07:15:47.663-07:00Fixing a PS3 Controller that Wont ChargeRecently I found a cheap used PS3 at a local Game and Trade that was closing its doors. It's the older "fat" 80GB model. Everything was in pretty good condition except for the controller. It was obviously the store demo controller and thus was unbelievably disgusting. I had to handle it with gloves on. I entirely disassembled it and disinfected every part of it. There were a few things wrong with it:<br />
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1) I never eat or drink while playing for good reason (there was dried soda and chip fragments inside) along with mass amounts of gunk amassed from every hand that touched it.<br />
2) There was a screw missing and the bottom tab snapped off so it was obviously opened before.<br />
3) The analog nubs were missing their rubber tops.<br />
4) I didn't realize it until the controller had low battery, but it refuses to charge.<br />
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I easily remedied the first two with a thorough cleaning and a screw from my screw collection. The third will be repaired with some help from my friend EBAY. Finally the last one was a little tricky. I think the charging issue might be due to some liquid damage. I measure the voltage when plugged into a USB adapter and noticed that instead of a nice 5V, I was getting a unstable 2V. This explains why the PS3 complains about too much current being drawn when the controller is plugged in. I figured I had nothing to lose so I went about trying to fix this problem.<br />
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Ultimately I figured that it would be far easier and cheaper to add in my own charging circuitry than track down the short circuit culprit and replace parts I likely did not have on hand. I started with a chip I am very familiar with and had in my parts box, the max1555. This tiny five pin smt chip handles safely charging the lithium ion battery and even has an open collector output that is on when charging and off when done. It accepts USB 5V or DC up to 7V or so. I etched my own board and decided to make things difficult for my self by making it tiny (it ended up being not much larger than the sot23 package).<br />
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I simply opted for a quick and dirty approach by covering a single sided
copper clad pcb with permanent marker and scrapped the areas I wanted
etched with a scalpel.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6UQ-mGPLqgs/T-Rz8MJVZ_I/AAAAAAAAAS0/DZIh_CpzC8M/s1600/2012-06-21+21.34.23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6UQ-mGPLqgs/T-Rz8MJVZ_I/AAAAAAAAAS0/DZIh_CpzC8M/s320/2012-06-21+21.34.23.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div>
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Size comparison to a US quarter.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vzFhN1igpf0/T-Rz7lHLqvI/AAAAAAAAASo/OA2vNCTGLKM/s1600/2012-06-21+21.34.50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vzFhN1igpf0/T-Rz7lHLqvI/AAAAAAAAASo/OA2vNCTGLKM/s320/2012-06-21+21.34.50.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Man its hard taking pictures of something so small.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtHeqrNeyVY/T-Rz7T4MW4I/AAAAAAAAASc/gbRgO6lZSa4/s1600/2012-06-21+21.58.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wtHeqrNeyVY/T-Rz7T4MW4I/AAAAAAAAASc/gbRgO6lZSa4/s320/2012-06-21+21.58.43.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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All etched and ready to have marker removed with the help of some acetone.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2SCWH7QB4sw/T-RzbgtCb5I/AAAAAAAAAR4/xBRQhsjrX3U/s1600/2012-06-21+22.49.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2SCWH7QB4sw/T-RzbgtCb5I/AAAAAAAAAR4/xBRQhsjrX3U/s320/2012-06-21+22.49.20.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-SfZVvJcSU/T-Rz7PN4h8I/AAAAAAAAASQ/NQpZr4zT3LQ/s1600/2012-06-21+22.46.07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y-SfZVvJcSU/T-Rz7PN4h8I/AAAAAAAAASQ/NQpZr4zT3LQ/s320/2012-06-21+22.46.07.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3exHI_FIc24/T-Rz6_AoAII/AAAAAAAAASE/_-UQ8NlphTQ/s1600/2012-06-21+22.47.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3exHI_FIc24/T-Rz6_AoAII/AAAAAAAAASE/_-UQ8NlphTQ/s320/2012-06-21+22.47.25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Close ups after soldering in the components with a penny as a reference for size.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MlOQKMaPCgE/T-RzbTir0WI/AAAAAAAAARs/o6AGz2Rw4pw/s1600/2012-06-21+23.02.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MlOQKMaPCgE/T-RzbTir0WI/AAAAAAAAARs/o6AGz2Rw4pw/s320/2012-06-21+23.02.15.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zYJy88kw9s/T-Rza9oxQ1I/AAAAAAAAARg/EZzmff5V99w/s1600/2012-06-21+23.02.30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3zYJy88kw9s/T-Rza9oxQ1I/AAAAAAAAARg/EZzmff5V99w/s320/2012-06-21+23.02.30.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I proceeded to test the circuit by hooking her up to a lithium ion battery and measuring voltage and current. Crossed my fingers and held my breath just waiting for a small poof of failure which luckily never came.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-El-E1H0ya7E/T-RzajnfT1I/AAAAAAAAARU/Ng56NoQl3jQ/s1600/2012-06-22+09.23.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-El-E1H0ya7E/T-RzajnfT1I/AAAAAAAAARU/Ng56NoQl3jQ/s320/2012-06-22+09.23.39.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Just shy of 4V, looks good. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kQzMmwXOfXk/T-RzaV9lN4I/AAAAAAAAARI/4444dg0ygd8/s1600/2012-06-22+09.23.53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kQzMmwXOfXk/T-RzaV9lN4I/AAAAAAAAARI/4444dg0ygd8/s320/2012-06-22+09.23.53.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Charging at around 100mA looks safe.</div>
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Finally I needed to desolder (used a hot air gun, Warning: HOT) the USB female jack from the controller board and lift the V+ power pin so it would no longer power the broken internal charge circuitry and instead hooked into my own charger. I had to be quick but gentle with the hot air so I wouldn't damage anything.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-noX23YohyBU/T-SvHZk-LBI/AAAAAAAAAUw/zsFP_niLJ6M/s1600/2012-06-22+12.46.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-noX23YohyBU/T-SvHZk-LBI/AAAAAAAAAUw/zsFP_niLJ6M/s320/2012-06-22+12.46.47.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Pulled socket and used desoldering braid and some alcohol to clean up a bit.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Da1iWCFgNrc/T-SvHA_KLZI/AAAAAAAAAUk/72bh76LbImY/s1600/2012-06-22+12.47.09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Da1iWCFgNrc/T-SvHA_KLZI/AAAAAAAAAUk/72bh76LbImY/s320/2012-06-22+12.47.09.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Cleaned up the socket as well and lifted the V+ pin.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qqw9hr6Azxw/T-SvGeZQCMI/AAAAAAAAAUM/T5WW3H-89Fo/s1600/2012-06-22+12.53.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qqw9hr6Azxw/T-SvGeZQCMI/AAAAAAAAAUM/T5WW3H-89Fo/s320/2012-06-22+12.53.02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Replaced and soldered down.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYrTmnS9IIE/T-SvGh3JA5I/AAAAAAAAAUY/ouNGhviLEkE/s1600/2012-06-22+12.52.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UYrTmnS9IIE/T-SvGh3JA5I/AAAAAAAAAUY/ouNGhviLEkE/s320/2012-06-22+12.52.48.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now all I needed to do was solder three wires: ground, V+ in, and battery+.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63XZhStLTHY/T-SvF9py1OI/AAAAAAAAAUA/LykpcQyWQ08/s1600/2012-06-22+13.02.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-63XZhStLTHY/T-SvF9py1OI/AAAAAAAAAUA/LykpcQyWQ08/s320/2012-06-22+13.02.20.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Battery+ is orange and ground is brown. I used the gnd pad conveniently silk screened for me and plugged the battery in to find the battery+ (red wire on the battery).</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8WEtfY_IGZQ/T-Suk86v9II/AAAAAAAAAT0/NYdNCEdtSvA/s1600/2012-06-22+13.02.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8WEtfY_IGZQ/T-Suk86v9II/AAAAAAAAAT0/NYdNCEdtSvA/s320/2012-06-22+13.02.43.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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V+ in from USB is white and soldered to the lifted pin</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IgMTfWpkXpg/T-SuktY6cFI/AAAAAAAAATo/_9HyFdPxxEA/s1600/2012-06-22+13.03.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IgMTfWpkXpg/T-SuktY6cFI/AAAAAAAAATo/_9HyFdPxxEA/s320/2012-06-22+13.03.47.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Quick test to make sure everything still works. No magic smoke released here.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VbZga0dg_mw/T-SukQTNv0I/AAAAAAAAATc/i9rMcX_oAGA/s1600/2012-06-22+13.19.32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VbZga0dg_mw/T-SukQTNv0I/AAAAAAAAATc/i9rMcX_oAGA/s320/2012-06-22+13.19.32.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Taping wires so they wont interfere with the battery. I used some more tape to attach the charging board to the front under the SONY emblem.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bjMG0hDDVJE/T-Suj468mHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/QgxtRwZAkNI/s1600/2012-06-22+13.23.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bjMG0hDDVJE/T-Suj468mHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/QgxtRwZAkNI/s320/2012-06-22+13.23.39.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Battery inserted.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_1oTw6YU2M/T-Suji9PhjI/AAAAAAAAATE/oEh0acQmprs/s1600/2012-06-22+13.26.11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_1oTw6YU2M/T-Suji9PhjI/AAAAAAAAATE/oEh0acQmprs/s320/2012-06-22+13.26.11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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All put back together and charging status led visible as an orange glow on the front.</div>
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Outcome: Success! Now I just need to replace the nubs and I'll have a good as new controller without having to shell out another fifty or sixty bucks. I already had all the parts so it cost nothing and only took around 2 hours in all. When not charging, the controller looks stock. I feel accomplished and saved a controller from being scrapped. Now I can get back to gaming once it charges up.</div>sjm4306http://www.blogger.com/profile/03706778154317460033noreply@blogger.com20