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My NES PC


nespcbuild

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Wow thanks for the comments guys! I'm getting very close to having the hardware part of this project done. I'll update soon with some more pics and details. Ever since I got to the point where I could actually play games on it, that's about all I've been doing though.

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  • 4 weeks later...

It's been a while since I updated this thread and a lot has happened since.

I finished modding the backplate for the mobo but it wouldn't fit inside the NES case because the board was positioned too high and wouldn't clear the controller ports on the inside. Modding the backplate was the biggest PITA and it turned out to be a waste of time. Here's a pic of what could have been:

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I wound up just drilling some holes through the back of the NES case and mounting the MOBO with some stand-offs

I got a nice Nintendo sticker from an ebay seller and used it on the wireless keyboard. I scrubbed off the Logitech logo with some rubbing alcohol and applied the Nintendo logo in it's place. The seller was also willing to print some out in a smaller size to fit on the Sony PS3 controllers that I'm using but they haven't arrived yet. I'll update with pics of the controllers once they're done.

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Here's the case with the T-shaped piece glued back in. I also added an intake fan to the back of the case. Since the back is not usually exposed, it seemed like the best place for it. The exhaust fan sits where the vents are on the top of the NES case.

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I'll upload some more pics here in a while once everything is complete.

I also purchased a 1TB SSHD which I have yet to install. I also got a usb card that adds 4 USB2.0 internal headers and 2 USB ports all inside the NES case. I'll add pics of that later as well. I also modded in a secret door where the black peice sits above the contoller ports. When it's done, I'll be able to flip it up to reveal 2 USB ports on the front of the console.

I've started working on my Hyperspin setup and currently have NES, Genesis, Master System, and SNES installed. both NES controller ports are working and I found a seemless solution for using my PS3 controllers wither with USB cables or wirelessly via BT. More details on that to come...

I also got my reset button working (to reset emulators rather than restarting the computer) thanks to Corny @ Battlenerds (AKA ZacUSNYR). I asked him for some tips on writing a script in autoit that would perform the reset function and he was kind enough to write me a complete script that sends unique keyboard commands to reset emulators based on which emulator .exe is currently running. It works great! I'll add some more detail about all of this stuff when I have more time.

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LOL.

This is an interesting build. Looking forward to its completion.

I'd also be damned interested in seeing that script just out of interest.

Thanks! The cat in the box is the real mastermind behind this project. :)

The reset button is just a standard PC power button wired to pins 2&3 on a serial port. The process is detailed here:

http://www.battlenerds.com/groups/hyperspin-nes-project/forum/topic/resetting-a-nes-game-with-the-reset-switch/

Corny posted the autoit script that I'm using on the battlenerds site here:

http://www.battlenerds.com/groups/autoit/forum/topic/using-serialloopback-to-send-a-key-command/

I asked him a few questions about adding other emulators and tweaking the response time when the reset button is pressed (you have to hold it down for a second or so before it resets the emu) and as he explained:

"The ”Global $asEmuProcs[2][2] =” is a declaration of an array, think it like a small little excel spread sheet. The [2][2] indicates it’s 2 rows, 2 columns (they are 0 based, so counting 0, 1, 2, 3 = 4)

The Square brackets [] after the = is the information. Which you did add right, but you need to change the index, since it’s now 3. So it’d be $asEmuProcs[3][2] = [["nestopia.exe", "+R"], ["Fusion.exe", "^{TAB}"], ["zsnesw.exe", "R"]]

The first part is the process name, if that process name is found running, it’ll go to the next. Which is the key to send (type send into scite and hit F1 on it, read that whole section :) ) +R will send (Shift R), ^R will send (Ctrl R).

The loop in the script (Starts with While 1 and ends with WEnd) has a sleep statement in it to idle the script for a second. Which is where the lag is, if you’re on a decent machine you can kick that down to 500 (half a second). Should be fine to do that. :)"

The way the script works you basically need to hold the reset button down to reset the emulator. I found that tweaking the sleep setting lower than 500 didn't take up too many resources on my machine but would result in the reset button command executing multiple times before I had time to let go of the reset button so I stuck at around 500.

I created an ahk script and compiled it to an exe that I can run when hyperspin starts which will run the reset exe and xpadder but I'm still working on one to exit them both when Hyperspin closes. The one I currently have for exiting works fine for the reset.exe but it kills the expadder.exe process rather than gracefully closing the application, which results in the previous controller profiles (the ones to control the hyperspin menus) not being auto-loaded the next time xpadder starts. If anyone happens to have any ideas on that please let me know. If not, I'm sure I can work something out. I can also share my ahk scripts if anyone wants them but they're pretty basic and would be pretty easy to write with help from a few google searches.

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OK time for an update...

I installed my new 1TB SSHD. It's pretty nice. Not as fast as booting form an SSD but definitely faster than booting form a normal HDD. No pics of that unfortunately.

I installed my internal USB 2.0 expansion card. It adds a few internal USB 2,0 header pins and 2 internal USB ports which house the dongle for my wireless keyboard and a bluetooth dongle that I'm using for my PS3 controllers. Here's what it looks like:

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I also got my Nintendo logo stickers for the PS3 controllers. I still need to buy more controllers. I'm going to use all white ones to match the keyboard. I decided to do away with the oval around the "Nintendo" because it looked too crowded with the "start" and "select" all crammed in so close. Here are pics of the controller and the keyboard:

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I also started working on the hidden USB ports/hinged door for the front of the console. the hinge still needs to be painted and attached but you can get an idea of what it'll look like when it's done from these pics. To cut out the USB ports I screwed on the backplate that came with the ports for a guide, then I dremeled out the holes and then cleaned them up a bit with an exacto. Not perfect, but good enough for me. I still need to find some flat screws for the ports so that everything will be flush. Pics:

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Last, here are a couple of pics of the console after I put it back together. It still has a way to go but it's getting close.

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I also finished my AHK scripts for launching/killing the reset script and Xpadder when Hyperspin starts/stops. Everything is working perfectly XD

Once the hinge for the USB door is done I'll start adding the other various controller ports inside the cartridge door.

--Oh! I almost forgot: I picked up this badboy at the mall on Saturday

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  • 11 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Love this build, but does anyone know of a N64 Modded with a PC or Intel NUC?

carefull with the intell nuc, it doesn't play the mp4's in hyperspin you'll need to convert them to flv and they take up so much space.

to bad i found that out after i bought one :D

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oh i 've seen another thread about it but i didn't get the options when right clicking in youtube (i guess it's running in html5 now).

i've seen 2 other solutions in your link that might work, i'll test them tonight, if they work i'll be so happy ! :D

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  • 3 months later...

Doesn't the mp4 fix work for you? Follow the link in my sig for details.

Hey! Thanks for posting this. I'll have to research it some time as I'm currently using flvs and they take a ton of space! I'm guessing it's somewere in the "hyperspin behaving oddly.../...known bugs" link?

 

Also - for anyone who's been watching this build; there will be updates fairly soon. I'm finishing up the loose ends on the hardware side of things. I've already done a ton of work on the software side and have about 20-30 emulators set up in HS. I plan to post some youtube vids of the NES in action soon.

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Hey! Thanks for posting this. I'll have to research it some time as I'm currently using flvs and they take a ton of space! I'm guessing it's somewere in the "hyperspin behaving oddly.../...known bugs" link?

You're welcome. Yes it's in that link, although the bug has now been fixed in the current beta version so you could just wait for the official release of HyperSpin 1.4.

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