Ben Heck's Portable N64 Part 1

[@khandarwilliam5439]

Can you make non-portable PSP?

[@derikbreon7685]

Khandar William I was going to say the same thing!

[@nebulawars]

Khandar William TowerPSP love it!

[@soldierofjudgement0477]

Good idea!

[@NeoJ4K3]

Khandar William Vita TV has got you covered

[@smokeydops]

Just glue it to a brick

[@berkant_k]

Why doesn't Ben use a newer screen with RGB/S-video instead of the PSONE monitor a newer monitor with rgb or s-video gives more sharper picture then a composite video

[@element14presents]

Cost, ease of hackery, familiarity and availability. Mostly.

[@berkant_k]

Ok

[@emuboy85]

the world wide supplies of the psone screen are almost gone mostly becuase people were using them for modding, they are pretty expensive now, Ben, please, can you use another one in your next project?

[@nicko5945]

Andrea Campanella thank you for throwing that out there. It really is a shame to see them hacked up the way they are. They are not nearly as abundant as ben would have people believe. Please use something else next time ben!

[@FoxMccloud42]

But Adafruit has better and cheaper options to offer. And availability isn't so great anymore. In my region they became very expensive and sometimes only availible in a package with a psone for over 150€. Cheap ones are realy extremly hard to find. There are even a overing for over 300€ for a used one.

[@derek7808]

Can you make a portable Sega GameGear ?

[@element14presents]

Hang on...

[@aarongarza4769]

Derek Lol

[@mncpoops4005]

The Ben Heck Show maybe you could do the opposite to portable systems. Make a "home console" version of the Game Boy, Game Gear, and Atari Lynx all in one system?

[@dan_loup]

A home game gear is quite easy because it outputs a composite signal internally that is captured and digitized by the LCD controller. It's how it does support that tv adapter.

[@SonyTrinitron]

THIS GUYYYYY.

[@mwbgaming28]

i did something similar to this with a PS2 slim i just attached a screen and a battery to it with no other mods and it worked very well

[@BigJoker]

Wait, so what killed the first N64? Did you re-check your soldering on the RAM expansion relocation? I wouldn't figure that would totally kill the entire unit. One weird quirk I've noticed with my N64 is it not powering on at all unless that thick power supply that plugs into the back is in just the right position. Since I've tried multiple bricks with multiple consoles, I think it's more at fault with the outlet on the console rather than the power brick itself. I wonder if that may have been your issue.

[@MrMrchatcity]

+The Ben Heck Show I've always loved watching these projects ever since your 1st 360 laptop, Now even more than in past they fricken astound me. Ben&Co your channel inspired me to learn more about the subject and eventually lead me to decide to go back to school even at the ripe old of 32. From the comparatively little I've managed pick up It has given me a whole new appreciation for these builds. The fact you only use the original hardware and never settle for any kind of emulator is really where you and your crew's expertise and love for the craft shows. Keep up the great work.

[@GoldenGrenadier]

is there the possibility of taking a portable console and making it sedentary?

[@animedrawer69]

Lukemorse did that with a gamegear

[@AndrzejAdaszewski-r8t]

I have been coming back to this video for the past 7 years. A true gem imho.

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

If you have the model number of the LCD screen in the PSONE monitor, you might be able to find an LED upgrade kit online. I once accidentally found one when looking up how to change these fluorescent bulbs from a similar screen.

[@SyndicatorDylan]

Would you be able to make a slimmer game cartridge to reduce the space needed?

[@Jeffball610]

Awesome. This project seems to have more issues to overcome than others. I love seeing things not go the way you plan and having to reevaluate your plan. Very much an analogy for life :) Can't wait to see the next 2 episodes.

[@DowningsBasement]

Just wondering... Why do you need to use the 12V up-volt reg? 7.4V will power everything more than enough, even that particular screen. I've never once had to use an up-volt in any of my N64p projects, so I'm just kinda interested in the logic. Excited to see where this ends up though!

[@TeamBelmont91]

Y'know, Ben, I am curious in terms of patents and all that; since the N64 is close to 20 years old, when do you think we will see 3rd party consoles or handhelds on the market that fully utilize N64 stuffs?

[@montiebro]

Can you show how you made the battery pack in more detail? I understand the 4 batteries getting 7.4v but how to make the regulator and step up and what parts do I need?

[@Cspence216]

Back in 97 when I got my n64 for Christmas, a couple of days later, I stuck a piece of wire in the cartridge slot and the other end connected to my gameboy, don't judge me, I was 10 years old. lol. I don't know what I was thinking. Trying to play gameboy on the big screen, lol. My question is do you think i fried my board? A capacitor or something? Or maybe I can just replace the pin connector? It stills looks brand new, Power light still comes on, but games don't play.

[@Defensive_Wounds]

What sort of *sodder* do you use Ben?

[@nightshademagia]

Defensive Wounds *sodders* (That looks like tin sodder tho.)

[@megacharlizardz]

Hey Ben, any chances of a Nintendo Switch tear down in the future? I personally would love to see you take apart the joy-con controllers for modding purposes (such as making custom controllers) and to understand how the HD rumble really works.

[@Gadgetman1989]

could you upgrade the stock ram? that way you didn't have to upgrade the expansion slot? and you should get in touch with metaljesusrocks for the bottom expansion, there's been quite the buzz about the 64DD

[@armandavart5704]

Amazin project! Just for fun, I'd like to see an Apple Pippin teardown to see what's inside and make a hardware comparison with the PS, Saturn and N64.

[@bender3455]

When you made the power supply, you used a regulator to regulate the voltage to 3.3 volts, then I'm assuming you stepped the 3.3 volts to 12 volts, am I correct? In other words, the 12 volts comes from the regulated 3.3 volts and not directly from the batteries using a stepper regulator? By quadrupling the voltage, doesn't that bring the current to a crawl?

[@SverdIndustries]

Isn't it a really bad idea to wire li-ion batteries in paralell if they didn't come that way?

[@Jenisonc]

Your show is so addicting and I know nothing of almost anything you say. I still can't look away. plus N64 is my favorite console. Happy to learn and see what's on the inside!

[@jd52wtf]

Which model exhaust blower is that on your Epilog laser cutter? Looking for something similar.

[@joachimpri]

how do you submit an idea for ben heck? I have an awesome one which i have no idea how to build. maybe ben and felix can help?

[@SeamusCampbell89]

Just throwing this out there but the opening title credits are 14 months old. Anyone else think it's time for them to be updated?

[@CFLanger]

were those car jumper cables on the back of the battery board?

[@brendan9734]

Cool, but can I somehow add a portable built-in disc drive into the system? I'm assuming the circuit board and disc drive would be the most important bits and then we could just hard wire the expansion ports together...

[@LetsPlayKeldeo]

Oh and @BenHeckTeam can we get a site with the Instructions for this kind of Build ? Im new to this but Im allways stoaked what you are able to do so is it Possible that we could get an easy to follow instruction on this one ?

[@PlaidX]

I cannot find the 3.3 voltage regulator used in this video. googled the Lm256 and nothing comes up

[@murilomauro]

why don't you use an everdrive cartridge (without the case) instead of regular ones? I think that might turn out more portable.

[@michaelmclaughlin6141]

On the older motherboardboard there are 2x2mb ram chips and on the later boards they have a single 4mb ram chip. Why not acquire 2 of the 4mb chips from the newer boards and replace the 2x2mb on the older boards and then remove the socket and add the resistors to the mainboard to terminate everything? I know the ram chips can be replaced as i did it on my own N64 but i still used the jumper pak to terminate it all.

[@god617]

can you put a raspi inside an Xbox one, using the HDMI-In function to create an all in one game system, with the power being supplied by the Xbone?

[@nightshademagia]

BabyTaco RetroPie + Xbone = awesome (even though I don't own an Xbone)

[@colinstu]

why do you have to bring the voltage down, and then bring it back up? why not use a regulator or whatever that brings the current voltage up to 12v?

[@Nobody-vr5nl]

I've got a portable ps1, Gameboy, n64 in my pocket. it's called a phone.

[@VinkeHD]

Have fun with playing with touch controls

[@GoldenGrenadier]

Bas V on android its possible to plug in a controller via USB OTG. emulation just isn't the same though.

[@dan_loup]

The nintendo 64 emulation is pretty much the black sheep of the emulation world. Awful communities, being stuck for 15+ years on the same shitty imprecise emulation method, "exclusivity", N64 being a plain bizarre undocumented system that not even the developers had full access to... Yes, you can play mario 64 with the fade effect missing and Zelda on your phone, but anything more obscure or even the banjo games start to show the limitations of the HLE thing.

[@GoldenGrenadier]

Dr_Kachu san Trust me Dreamcast emulation is even worse. there are all those windows CE games that nullDC can't emulate and demul is still in alpha. Theres the disparity between cdi and gdi rom types. makes me kind of sad.

[@dan_loup]

At least when it runs a game, it runs it right, except when talking about ikaruga on certain emulators where the bullets go invisible.

[@Gamerguy8585]

Why not use a ultra hdmi mod instead of rgb amp

[@Gamerguy8585]

Jason Blaha Fitness what?

[@Ozz_Derovar]

Pretty sure that wouldn't be to useful with the monitor he is using.

[@marchingmolar]

The Ultra HDMI isn't commercially available for self installation. I'm sure Ben has the connections to get his hands on one to do it himself, but then his viewers wouldn't be able to do that mod on their own as well.

[@Gamerguy8585]

Justice Muffins thats true

[@gozinta82]

Why use an Ultra HDMI mod when the system itself doesn't display at that resolution? Especially considering it's being displayed on a 6 inch screen...???

[@buds4life211]

I'm having a problem on my mod where I can get picture and video to show up but the video is in like a negative color/effect. do you have any advice on how to fix that?

[@legoleaderRyman]

what console would you recomend for a first portable project?

[@Ghetto187Murda]

Do you still have that Sega Dreamcast portable?

[@EvanTrease]

hey Ben lately I have not been able to watch any of your videos via the KZbin app on my PS4 is there any way that you could remedy this or do I need to contact youtube?

[@matthewrasmussen4181]

How many days will the three episodes actually take?

[@studioviper3016]

what's the name of the song that plays at the 10 minute mark?

[@Kawagae]

OT. How can you recycle a 27 "imac? Has the motherboard broken

[@Harlequin43]

I wonder why he chose to leave out the small yellow caps from 3.3V circuit while he included them in the 20V circuit?

[@timmyOG]

Why is it so difficult to rewire the ram pack thingy?

[@GHzGangster]

timmy GTO Contacts are really small, and of course when you put in all that effort, with any luck it will stop working.

[@zaprodk]

Because it's a highspeed bus. My best guess is that the rewiring didn't work because Ben didn't cut off the original pads, so they acted like a stub on the high speed line, making reflections and destroying signal integrity.

[@crimsun7186]

It's a high speed bus. One of the things that can happen is that you get corrupted data because of delays between traces/wires being even a millimeter too short/long.

[@tacokoneko]

i am just terrible at soldering but luckily i know better than to even try soldering such tiny data connections as found on pcbs like that

[@invaderkendall]

watching the ram port mod I was reminded of my adventures UNbending a VGA output on a motherboard. I made a cardboard spacer to maintain pin separation and just went slow. The goal was to bring the jack inside the case for a built-in monitor.

[@jorenmartijn]

Finally, a Nintendo 64 portable! It feels like you had a lull in really interesting ideas for a while, but this looks like a great project. And, you know, we still would like to see a GameCube portable some day. :)

[@charlesevans6568]

What console hack for a beginner would you recommend?

[@davidrahn9903]

Those 18605 Li-Ion batteries look really crusty. Did you rip them out of an old laptop battery pack or something?

[@allluckyseven]

Many N64s died to bring us this portable.

[@mOczakowski]

So BEN, did u ever figure out what happened to the N64 first board?, and why it stopped booting?

[@kanongdl3766]

can you make a video of how mod ninitendo 64 controller to change the joystick and z button more close to d pad?

[@vaughndecost5751]

is it possible to make an installed GameCube in a TV? that would be cool

[@JonathanKayne]

14:05 you said "Hot glue the heck" haha very funny!

[@Jamtartzz-o2x]

sooooo are we gonna see part 3 about the same time as the dreamcast 2 is released

[@CheffBryan]

So many of us love the N64 because it's both what we grew up with, thus nostalgic, but the games are also a ton of fun. Plenty of us have played Skyrim, but still return to Ocarina of Time because we still enjoy it.

[@FurEngel]

Note for the RAMbus mod, I don't think soldering new wires onto the traces was a good idea. I would have designed and ordered up a custom thin PCB and placed the additional ram there.

[@TimothyTimPSP]

I'm not sure how destoying mutipul n64's is a good idea. You know they don't make an anymore. Right?

[@tams805]

And...?

[@TimothyTimPSP]

Gamelog That's a good thing. D9nt get me wrong. I love the stuff Ben dose, but take it easy on destroying consoles. Soon they will all be gone.

[@KhanGarth]

There are still jillion's of them around

[@TimothyTimPSP]

Garth Palmer you don't seem to understand my point and that cool, but. destroying ANY N64 is bad. one day they will be gone.

[@KhanGarth]

he's not just destroying them, he's salvaging parts from them. one day if people were to keep destroying them blatantly, eventually they would be all gone, but that'll never happen mainly because a lot of retro gamers still own one and would never let it be destroyed.

[@kenpachi4854]

Do you sell any of these ._. I cri for the dreamcast one

[@hackedbygeneralkingreviews6772]

Can you make a Gamecube Portable (Maybe with Controller Inputs)

[@MushroomKingdoom]

What will happen if the batteries lose voltage? is it possible?

[@andremoore810]

Love these portable builds, youre amazing at what you do please keep these types of videos coming. Some of the best content on youtube guys!

[@richiepg2681]

Is there a way to play n64 roms through a flash cartridge on a gameboy advance ?

[@Thecawesomeone]

It's been about 7 years since I tried portablising an n64, but I thought you could run the 12v line off of 7.6 volts.

[@AJB2K3]

Did you know that pod racer could use 2 controllers or 2 analogue stick from the controllers

[@xanokothe]

Man you are the god of portables, really.

[@thomastheluckyman7737]

that name is reserved for gman modz

[@thiagocamargoalima]

I did not quite get why the RAM expansion didn't work at first. Can someone give me further explanation?! thanks :)

[@Vitaliy001]

what battery brand do you guys usualy use? tadiran seems like a good brand but i plan to use them for an e-bike application , seems like there are too many fake or used up samsungs, sony,......

[@maker_karen1785]

Foxnovo is what we have lying around the shop.

[@th3d3wd3r]

3s of 18650s would give you sufficient voltage to directly drive the display, and only one buck converter would be needed for the 3.3v rail. Would also reduce the needed cells to 3 and lighten the amp draw 8)

[@CassieCollision]

"I would not recommend the N64 to the beginner hacker." I wish I knew that way back when I tried my first attempt at making a portable N64 when I was 12. That system never saw the light of day ever again, haha.

[@mwb52888]

If I buy you a 4k camera, will you use it?

[@tydogfpv7940]

First a Ps1 vs N64, now making a hybrid. Good job Ben, keep it up.

[@DesignBuildExecute]

Can we take up a collection and get Ben a hot air rework station?

[@DFX2KX]

InterAct made a +8MB expansion pack. I remember them being incredibly expensive, even for the time, and they had their own heatspreader that replaced the topcover door.

[@TheSliderW]

Does anyone know the trick to use this NTSC screen on a PAL console and vice-versa ? So far, I've tested the screen on a pal console but i always get a deformed image while an NTSC console ( Saturn in this case) connected to the back input does display a clear image. I've noticed the pal/ntsc switching capability on the mn5814a chip (pin 46) but it doesn't seem to do the trick. What else should be done ?

[@kenball1980]

@Ben Heck, would you guys consider making a portable first generation Wii with the backwards compatibility with the game cube? theres also a buch of great n64 virtual console games that were ported over just for the wii as well as some nes games. its so versatile. i modded mine and added a 2TB external HD to emulate my back ups from Atari, NES, SNES, GENISIS, NEO GEO, GAME BOY ADVANCE, TURBO GRAPHICS, N64 (not so great!!) GAME CUBE (running natively)....its awesome runs flawless minus the N64. I preffer it over my Raspberry Pi 3 for emulating. its a shame noones figured out how to put KODI on it yet. I never likes the Wii controllers but the classic pro controller is great, if you havent tried it, plus you can plug 4 gamecube controllers right into the side of the Wii. (Just that first model, I think its a RVL-001?) All in all i have over 4000 games all contained in the unit/hd while the physical games stay protected behind glass, where they belong. Ive got about 4 months of tinkering so far, trying to reach perfection. Anyway Id love to see your take on a portable Wii!!! please, please, please!!! 😊😊😊

[@hiddentape2911]

Hey all! Does anyone know how I would go about drawing a direct digital feed from an "Original Xbox" before it gets converted to analogue component? I do not mind some tinkering but I just want a direct HDMI feed. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

[@Crimson_Lycan]

can you do some Sega game gear repro pcbs cuz capacitors go bad and the surface mount pads strip off too easily... so maybe make the capacitor areas pth mount if possible. if you can though...

[@teee854]

Strangely i dont know if this is just me but i cant watch any of your videos via youtube on the ps4. When i try to play or even search Benhack it freezes and i have to restart youtube. As far as i know It works fine on other platforms. If any one else has a PS4 check it out.

[@Soraviel]

The Golden era console Nintendo 64, turned into a portable console, now that's awesome.

[@thecorruptedbit5585]

Crazy how things have changed! Chopping up a PS1 LCD to make a portable would seem crazy today

[@alexromano5502]

so glad I found this channel. awesome, cant wait for the next 2

[@stalejarmund5862]

Will you do a PS4 slim portable??

[@user-jk6rp5xh3n]

I remember when you made the N64 portable :) I've been a fan since then! always checking your site before youtube even existed :P

[@robintst]

The most experience I've done in modding is ordering the Blinking Light Win for my NES and installing it myself. And that didn't require any real engineering expertise, just a Phillips head screwdriver to open the machine and my strongest death grip to get the original boards and ZIF socket apart that sat slotted together for 30 years.

[@donnierussellii4659]

Ben is a retro superweapon. It is as if thousands of N64s cried in terror and then were silenced.

[@Towertime7500]

Can we use another screen?

[@papagarv]

You don't actually need the full 12V to run the N64. You can just use the 7.4V from the batteries directly to power the screen and the console.

[@dendyx5007]

Can you make a portable 64dd (disk drive)?

[@Crymzon1980]

@TheBenHeckShow Love your work, do you remember the old Sharp Nintendo TV? I was watching a video on it and it hit me, has Ben Heck done an up to date console/HDTV all in one???? Would be something interesting to see :D

[@Harlequin43]

He didn't mention what kind of step-up voltage regulator he utilized in the power circuit ((

[@Edu_RJR]

how many n64s you went through to make this video?

[@ferniec7023]

Hello friends I need some help I purchased a big big star wars millennium falcon and I want to install a PS4 pro and Xbox 1 and a switch into it but some of the cables from the power button to the console are too short and the cables from the fans to the CPU are too short does anyone know where I can buy some longer ones.

[@strouze]

what would you do to a switch?

[@shaunmulsay9722]

the screws are much different on the n64 then the PlayStation my question is how did you get them out cause there is no way you used a regular Philips

[@rubenthehuman]

Nintendo uses Triwing and gamebit screws for the external ones. Just search on ebay for "nintendo 64 screw" or "nintendo 64 gamebit".

[@crimsun7186]

Just gamebit ones. The SNES uses the same screw as well for both cartridges and the console.

[@Sorry6985-g4r]

So glad i found this channel

[@gtaveira]

Can someone explain what's the reason to "knock the voltage down to boost it up again"... I don't understand why!

[@x_x_w_]

because they need both voltages.

[@tetsujin_144]

6:03 - "Heat up, push, get a little movement, let cool, release, heat up, push, get a little movement, let cool, release..." I'm thinking, when is the beat gonna come in?

[@stevehodgson1420]

i've waited so long for this one

[@Leo-Tyrant]

Me too.

[@nerd_mor]

PLEASE release the .STL when it comes time for it

[@mattsnyder3358]

I remember seeing an article about a handheld N64 Ben made in Popular Mechanics or something like 15 years ago.