Gaming DSi hardware hacking?

[9fiftyfive]

Hey guys! I recently tore down my old DSi to try and fix it. I wanted to know if, while its still apart, if there are any cool hardware hacks for it (replacing screen, speakers, camera, adding HDMI out, etc.) other than just painting the buttons a different color. I hope this is the right place to ask. Thanks!

 

[FAST6191]

Obviously I have to mention
https://gbatemp.net/threads/dsi-downgrading-the-complete-guide.393682/
https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-twltool-dsi-downgrading-save-injection-etc-multitool.393488/

Other hacks. As far as I am aware there are no video out hacks like there are for the DS and 3DS.

Otherwise there is not a lot I can point to that you can follow -- the DSi was a bit of a failure and that seemed to dampen enthusiasm. Most hardware hacks we see on other devices are fairly elementary electronics though so you can probably remake them (rapid fire is invariably stick a pulse into controller port/pad/debug port and external controllers tend to be much the same). Looking at http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=274 I am not sure if there are any really nice test points but those photos there are a bit washed out on the silkscreen so I can not follow the tracks easily.

You might replace the charge port with a microUSB.

I am not aware of anybody looking at the DSi audio side of things (here is a 3ds one https://gbatemp.net/threads/hardwar...volume-of-your-3ds-some-models-so-far.400221/ which might be similar) but you could stick your own amplifier in there and put some better speakers in of the same impedance but better quality.

I have never been a fan of adding random LEDs to things but if you can tap a voltage that can handle the current draw (or stick a transistor that can use something to switch directly off a power rail...) then you can stick a random LED somewhere.

Camera stuff... never seen this done on console come to think of it and barely seen it done on phones and the like. Not sure if the camera has a decent IR filter you can remove but that is about as far as simple mods will get you. Otherwise you would be looking at a proper project ( https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeselectricstuff/search?query=camera ).

 

[9fiftyfive]

Obviously I have to mention
https://gbatemp.net/threads/dsi-downgrading-the-complete-guide.393682/
https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-twltool-dsi-downgrading-save-injection-etc-multitool.393488/

Other hacks. As far as I am aware there are no video out hacks like there are for the DS and 3DS.

Otherwise there is not a lot I can point to that you can follow -- the DSi was a bit of a failure and that seemed to dampen enthusiasm. Most hardware hacks we see on other devices are fairly elementary electronics though so you can probably remake them (rapid fire is invariably stick a pulse into controller port/pad/debug port and external controllers tend to be much the same). Looking at http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=274 I am not sure if there are any really nice test points but those photos there are a bit washed out on the silkscreen so I can not follow the tracks easily.

You might replace the charge port with a microUSB.

I am not aware of anybody looking at the DSi audio side of things (here is a 3ds one https://gbatemp.net/threads/hardwar...volume-of-your-3ds-some-models-so-far.400221/ which might be similar) but you could stick your own amplifier in there and put some better speakers in of the same impedance but better quality.

I have never been a fan of adding random LEDs to things but if you can tap a voltage that can handle the current draw (or stick a transistor that can use something to switch directly off a power rail...) then you can stick a random LED somewhere.

Camera stuff... never seen this done on console come to think of it and barely seen it done on phones and the like. Not sure if the camera has a decent IR filter you can remove but that is about as far as simple mods will get you. Otherwise you would be looking at a proper project ( https://www.youtube.com/user/mikeselectricstuff/search?query=camera ).

Thanks a lot!

 

[hecker_isaac]

if anyone ever finds any of the NDS family with a hdmi or video output let me know, ive always wanted to play my ds games on the big screen

 

[FAST6191]

if anyone ever finds any of the NDS family with a hdmi or video output let me know, ive always wanted to play my ds games on the big screen

Various options exist now.
Capture devices got made for a few of them. They are quite rare nowadays and consequently quite expensive but it is what it is.
Loopy (who originally did the jumbotron DS you might have seen) and katsukitty capture being where you might start there.
Some network options do exist but debate rages whether they are play grade or not.

It was also found that the DS lite had an unpopulated header

https://gbatemp.net/threads/team-re...ut-feature-with-cfw-and-circuit-board.583466/

The various FPGA simulator devices (see mister and analogue pocket) have not quite made it to the DS when I last looked but they do GBA very well so it is a minor step in many ways to get to that.

Depending upon what you want to do then you might also be able to play emulators on TV and use a dumping tool to grab and send saves every which way. Don't know what we are suggesting for DS as PC controller these days but it is within reason as well (we have hacks to control various aspects of games, see the pokemon typing network hack). If I had to make one I would probably grab a test program and fire the results to a simple netcat type setup a la some of the cruder save dumpers.