Hacking Chiip Opensource Modchip

[klick]

You might be able to find someone to install it on craigslist.


what is craigslist?

@nixpins
will u try to install the chiip yourself? (cause u said u are a soldering newb)

It's a site where people can post things they are selling, services, jobs, etc.
Heres the Germany section of craigslist
http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/de

cool thx
in which category could be what Im searchin...there are very much and i haent found anything yet (Frankfurt)

 

[dohclude]

Is it safe to say that Chiip firmware development is dead?

 

[arthurkok2]

Is it safe to say that Chiip firmware development is dead?

i'd say.... go with OpenWii now..

 

[orb_nsc]

I emailed Cadex yesterday, he said that a new firmware will be coming out in a couple days. He says he's just been real busy lately.

 

[quadomatic]

Hey everybody. I have no prior soldering experience, and I've been reading up on all the stuff about the Chiip, and it doesn't seem so hard to build. Plus, I figure if I'm able to build the Chiip and the programmer first, I figure I'll probably be able to install it in the Wii.

Does anyone think making the Chiip and installing it is too large of a task for someone with no prior soldering experience?

I've been looking around a lot on how to solder, and I think I understand it. I was thinking about breaking apart some old remote controls and trying to solder wire to it to get some practice.

 

[RougeRat]

Hey everybody. I have no prior soldering experience, and I've been reading up on all the stuff about the Chiip, and it doesn't seem so hard to build. Plus, I figure if I'm able to build the Chiip and the programmer first, I figure I'll probably be able to install it in the Wii.

Does anyone think making the Chiip and installing it is too large of a task for someone with no prior soldering experience?

I've been looking around a lot on how to solder, and I think I understand it. I was thinking about breaking apart some old remote controls and trying to solder wire to it to get some practice.

I think it's very possible. My first time soldering was modding my PS2 and I managed to pull that one off. I'm pretty good when it comes to the DIY stuff and I like to tinker. It took me a few tries, but with patience it's not too difficult to solder something. The wii is more difficult to take apart than it is to mod.

Practicing on somethign else is a good idea though. Just look at pictures of what a solder joint should look like and compare it to yours. Keep trying until you get it.

 

[quadomatic]

Here's my DigiKey order:

Not a bad price.

Are these all the parts I'll need to build the programmer and chip (minus the wire, solder and soldering iron of course)?

 

[orb_nsc]

It looks like you have everything you need there. You can do this! Just follow the instructions carefully, and take your time. I had it up and running on the first try, and I'm far from a soldering expert.

 

[arthurkok2]

hmm, your order could take a while, the capacitors are backordered

 

[TheVirus]

Radioshack carries all the parts needed (except the Atmel chip). You can get the Atmel chip for free from Atmel, just order a few samples. I ordered 8 a week ago and I haven't seem them yet, but my friend already built the Chiip for me.

The programmer he built didn't work so I built my own. RS had all the parts needed. It took about 30 minutes to make the programmer, mainly because I didn't have enough wire and they were all different lengths.

Installing the Chiip is a bit of a job, make sure you have a 15w iron and nothing higher. Use 30awg wire and nothing bigger, otherwise it'll be rough to not cross wires. You should get a magnifiying glass to make sure the pads aren't lifted and that you have full contact. After you solder, give the wires a little tug to make sure they are connected. Don't pull hard, but just a light pull.

I paid $8 at RS for the parts for the programmer. You don't need anything for chip itself, but the resistor/LED helps to know if the chip is getting power.

 

[quadomatic]

hmm, your order could take a while, the capacitors are backordered

I haven't ordered it yet. I'll probably order the parts within the next week though, and I'll remove that from my order and pick up the capacitor at radioshack.

I have another question. Should I use clear flux solder or rosin core solder?

 

[diglett]

...

 

[quadomatic]

The solder below at Radioshack is great for this.

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-silver-bearin...pi-2062725.html

Also, I think their 28 pin socket is a bit pricy for what it is. I saved around $1.25 per part by using the 3M 24 pin .3" socket since you don't need the four pins on the end of the IC.

I got some LEDs because my friend wanted them, but in retrospect I wouldn't bother with that or with the capacitor for the chip itself.

Good luck, you should have some fun.

Whats the difference between all these different kinds of solder?

Also, do I need to buy flux paste? I heard that the solder has flux paste inside it, so your supposed to melt the solder onto the joint and not just on your iron, and I've heard that your supposed to melt solder onto one part of the soldering iron's tip, apply flux to where you need to solder, heat up the solder point with one part of the soldering iron, and then to apply the solder you melted on the other side of the soldering iron.

It's all very confusing. Can someone clear that up for me?

 

[TheVirus]

I didn't use flux, but I wish I had, would make things easier. I just used generic rosin core solder from RS. I didn't get the silver bearing stuff or flux. You just apply a tiny tiny dot to the pad and put solder on the tip and wire and the solder will flow onto the flux and attach to the wire.

 

[quadomatic]

I didn't use flux, but I wish I had, would make things easier. I just used generic rosin core solder from RS. I didn't get the silver bearing stuff or flux. You just apply a tiny tiny dot to the pad and put solder on the tip and wire and the solder will flow onto the flux and attach to the wire.

Let me make sure I understand.

So you put a dot of flux onto the point you want to solder a wire to. You apply some solder to the wire. You put some solder on the tip of the soldering iron. Then you put the wire onto the soldering point and put the soldering iron on top of the wire and the point your soldering and then you're done?

 

[diglett]

...

 

[TheVirus]

Yeah, that's it. The only problem with the flux is that if you screw up and get it on other points, they could be connected and cause a short. The points are incredibly small and it truly isn't necessary. I haven't used flux in well over a decade, but then again I really haven't soldered anything either.

If you don't want to use flux, just make sure you have a small tip. The tip that came with the RS 15w iron is fine, but with a smaller tip it would make life easier.

 

[quadomatic]

thx for the advice

diglett: thanks for redirecting me to that thread. I didn't realize how much was actually in there. I posted a question in there. I figure theres no harm in putting it in here too though.

Question about soldering. I read that you're supposed to apply solder to the wire you're about to solder to a point on the wii, and you're supposed to apply solder to the point on the wii. My question is, couldn't the solder on the point and on the wire solidify before you stick the tinned wire onto the point on the wii?

For installing the Chiip, can I use the 30 gauge wire for everything? Including the programmer? Or do I need another kind of wire too?

When building the programmer, the end of the resistor that goes into the connector that connects to pin, has to be soldered right? How do I go about soldering that connection? How do you solder wires and resistors together?

How do you solder wires/resistors/led/capacitor to a chip? Is it the same as soldering wires to a point on the wii's dvd drive?

Also, can you open the Wii without a tri-wing screwdriver? Maybe with a really small flathead screwdriver? Someone said something about that stripping the screws. What does that mean?

Also, kind of a dumb question, but why do things have to be soldered at all? Couldn't the wire just touch the point on the board, and work? Or is the outside of a soldered joint insulated by the outside of the solder?

I would appreciate if someone could answer these questions. Thanks.

 

[TheVirus]

thx for the advice

diglett: thanks for redirecting me to that thread. I didn't realize how much was actually in there. I posted a question in there. I figure theres no harm in putting it in here too though.

Question about soldering. I read that you're supposed to apply solder to the wire you're about to solder to a point on the wii, and you're supposed to apply solder to the point on the wii. My question is, couldn't the solder on the point and on the wire solidify before you stick the tinned wire onto the point on the wii?

It will solidify, but it'll heat back up when you apply the iron to the point. The purpose of tinning the wire is it kind of acts like flux in that the solder on the iron will flow onto the wire.

For installing the Chiip, can I use the 30 gauge wire for everything? Including the programmer? Or do I need another kind of wire too?

30AWG is what's needed for the Wii. You can use 24 or 22 or pretty much anything for the programmer. The points on the back of the DSub are fairly large, so bigger wire would work. I used 24, I think, and it's perfect. I just ran out and had to cut up what I had left. 30AWG would work fine, the programmer doesn't need much current, but bigger wire is easier to work with. If you want to make the programmer look slick and contained, you should use 28, since it bends easier and more flexible than the bigger wire. I believe 28 AWG is 2x the thickness of 30, so it's great for making it a small contained project. If you don't care, then any wire will suffice.

When building the programmer, the end of the resistor that goes into the connector that connects to pin, has to be soldered right? How do I go about soldering that connection? How do you solder wires and resistors together?

The resistors have bendable wires coming out of them. Just cut them to about 1/4-1/2 inch left and stick it in the DSub hole and solder. All 5 resisters then connect to the capactior, which also has long legs. I snipped the resistors fairly short and bent them in an L shape to fold over the capacitor leg. With the capactior, the longer leg is positive and that's what connects to the resistors, the resistors aren't polarized so it doesn't matter what end goes where.

How do you solder wires/resistors/led/capacitor to a chip? Is it the same as soldering wires to a point on the wii's dvd drive?

Since the points are bigger and precision truly doesn't matter, you can glob solder everywhere, especially when connecting the 5 resistors to the capactior. The DSub has tubes on the back end for the wires to go in. Just tin the wires and shove it in the holes and apply more solder. The pogrammer is extremely easy to make, just follow the instructions and look at the user pics. When I did it, I soldered everything to the DSub first and then connected it to the IC Socket.

Also, can you open the Wii without a tri-wing screwdriver? Maybe with a really small flathead screwdriver? Someone said something about that stripping the screws. What does that mean?

You can, but you probably will strip the screws. What that means is you remove the grip for the tri-wing. If you strip the screw, there's nothing for the screwdriver to grip onto and you're left with a circle on top of the screw. Get a tri-wing screw driver. I tried opening mine without one and got 2 screws off before almost stripping the 3rd.

Also, kind of a dumb question, but why do things have to be soldered at all? Couldn't the wire just touch the point on the board, and work? Or is the outside of a soldered joint insulated by the outside of the solder?

The solder is needed to maintain the connection. If you try to glue it or tape it on there, chances are it'll pop off over time. Glue isn't conductive so if the wire floats in the glue, then it won't work. Soldering will allow the connections to last for years and years and years. There's really no other way to do it.

I would appreciate if someone could answer these questions. Thanks.

Hope that helps.

 

[quadomatic]

Thanks a lot. That really helps. One more question though.

How do you solder wires/resistors/led/capacitor to a chip? Is it the same as soldering wires to a point on the wii's dvd drive?

Since the points are bigger and precision truly doesn't matter, you can glob solder everywhere, especially when connecting the 5 resistors to the capactior. The DSub has tubes on the back end for the wires to go in. Just tin the wires and shove it in the holes and apply more solder. The pogrammer is extremely easy to make, just follow the instructions and look at the user pics. When I did it, I soldered everything to the DSub first and then connected it to the IC Socket.

So i can just heat up the lines on the socket and apply solder like normal, except its even easier because you can just stick lots of solder on there and it won't really matter, as in it's not as sensitive/easy to break as the motherboard?