i5 Nintendo Entertainment System

[andyroo54]

Hi

A while ago I had the idea oh it might be nice to put a computer in a NES case, I looked it up and sure enough it had been done before.

I got an old NES off ebay for wayy too much money ($30?) rip off.. anyway I pulled the guts out and was left with the case. (I still have the mainboard if anyone wants it? Everything else is gone) I had an old Dell laptop I was thinking of putting in it, but the mainboard was deceptively large, so it was not possible. This was maybe six months ago.

At work someone dropped their samsung slate tablet, smashed it pretty good, screen is stuffed, touch is stuffed, and the case is cracked. We deemed it not worth repairing, the cost is too much, and I didn't want to waste the money to try repairing it myself for a good chance it still won't work with a new screen. So it was written off, but I couldn't bring myself to throw it out.

I was trying to think of any use for it, then I remembered the NES! So I'm thinking..

This


Plus this..


Equals this?



I haven't taken it apart yet, but from pictures I've seen the mainboard is smaller in length than the width of the NES by a good margin, and the wireless/hdmi out are on a separate board which is connected via ribbon cables. I will have to drop the battery which is not a big deal (it's too long).

Screen will be dropped, video/audio out will be done via micro to normal HDMI cable. It only has one USB port so I'm thinking USB cable to USB hub at the front of the console, for controllers/USB sticks.

It has an i5 CPU (Like a 'mobile version') 4GB ram and a 64gb SSD. Plan on running win 8 x86.

I am not terribly good at this stuff. I built a wooden PC a while back. Hot glue will make up 99% of the structural integrity of this thing. It's going to be a hack job inside, but really you won't see it, all you will see is just an old yellowing NES. I'll probably finish it this weekend if I get enough time, I think I might need a dremel though..

[kieranluken]

Sounds good! Nice re-use of broken shit, too much is just thrown out now

Also, cudos on the product placement (O-COW!)

[Liighthead]

loving the idea should be sweet haha (:

[andyroo54]

Originally Posted by Liighthead

loving the idea should be sweet haha (:

Yeah I hope so. I spent some time today installed win 8 but think I'll change it to win 7 because having problems with some emulators.. hyperspin works well though, HDMI micro to TV works well too full HD, games look awesome. Also pulled it to pieces.. the motherboard is tiny.. Should be interesting trying to get it into the Nintendo case half neatly, again, I predict lots of hot glue.

[andyroo54]

Ok well it's finished! Didn't take very long all up.

Installing OS


Installing the one and only chrome! You can see how cracked the glass is. Turns out the LCD panel was also cracked, but you couldn't tell until I took it apart, so the repair would certainly have been worthless.


Hooked up to the TV


With the back removed, no screws, just tons of clips. Used flathead to pry them open.


The guts. Very well designed.


This is the motherboard. RAM is next to the CPU I believe? Mini SSD look how small it is on the right.



Battery removed.


Testing to see if it runs without battery properly, it does. Basically the three ribbon cables on the right go to the dock connector, screen and touch controller. All of these will be removed.


Mainboard removed.


Basically I got a jigsaw and cut out the backing section for the motherboard. This glass was a bitch to get off the bezel, cut my finger pretty good.


Also cut a section of the back plate to sturdy up the frame now the glass is gone.


Glued together, this is the new 'motherboard tray'.


Test fit.


Tablet only had 1 USB, so I got a 4 port usb hub I had and positioned it like this. Almost like Nintendo predicted USB!



Layout of USB cable, didn't have a shorter length. The USB is sat up to fit the plug levels. It's sitting on a speaker from the tablet. The USB hub casing was also very helpful, I used it to prop up and cover the gaps above the USB connectors, also used it at the back to help cover the power in jack, and then finally used another part of the case to attach the wifi board to.





All in. Looks better in real life, I'm pretty happy with how neat it turned out because it had the potential to be real bad.

I couldn't rig the soft switch to the original buttons, so they are there for show. To turn it on you lift the game cartridge lid and hit the button. Blue LED tells you it's on. That's it!

Has about 30GB of space left, but also had a micro SD card slot so I might get a large capacity card.






I need a better controller now.

[Hens]

That's fkn awesome dude. Would be awesome if you could get a 2x2 stacked usb hub!

[andyroo54]

Originally Posted by Hens

That's fkn awesome dude. Would be awesome if you could get a 2x2 stacked usb hub!

Hi Thanks, yes ideally it would be better if I had more. Although the original NES only had two.. I think I want to get one of those USB xbox controller but they are pricey at $50. There are cheaper clone ones but I don't think they are as good.

[NickMate]

Looks pretty slick mate. At that cost, a dare anyone to do better . Shame you can't turn the consoles buttons to power on the pc, you might figure it out one day or someone but help. What would be a good idea is to turn the cartridge slot into a hdd hotwap bay. Then you can mod an old cheap NES Cartridge with a SSD place inside filled with every NES game so all you do is insert the Cartridge/SSD and bam, all games
..or easier, glue the front of a cartridge inside (of course you have to solve the button problem).

Also for the USb ports on front, if you have any original NES controllers you could look at installing this for the authentic look:


http://www.raphnet-tech.com/products/4nes4snes/

[andyroo54]

wow I made front page of reddit with this thing

[IzzehO]

Originally Posted by andyroo54

I couldn't rig the soft switch to the original buttons, so they are there for show. To turn it on you lift the game cartridge lid and hit the button. Blue LED tells you it's on.

There have been a number of NES builds where they've gotten this working. In my opinion this would be the next step to upgrade, it shouldn't be so difficult to replace the guts behind the switch.

Regardless: A nice build. I would definitely do something like this if I had any broken parts lying around (not quite sure whether I want to cannibalize my laptop given I still use it occasionally).

EDIT: Should -> Shouldn't

[paulbagz]

Originally Posted by andyroo54

wow I made front page of reddit with this thing

Yeah just saw this raping karma on imgur lol

-PB

[andyroo54]

Originally Posted by paulbagz

Yeah just saw this raping karma on imgur lol

-PB

Too bad I wasn't signed in haha.

Originally Posted by IzzehO

There have been a number of NES builds where they've gotten this working. In my opinion this would be the next step to upgrade, it shouldn't be so difficult to replace the guts behind the switch.

Regardless: A nice build. I would definitely do something like this if I had any broken parts lying around (not quite sure whether I want to cannibalize my laptop given I still use it occasionally).

EDIT: Should -> Shouldn't

Yeah but they usually use micro Atx which user 'proper' power switches, that would be easy to get working for sure. This uses a tiny little soft button switch running back to a tiny slot via ribbon cable..