Flex PCB breakout for Bluetooth, USB, GameCube controller ports on trimmed Wii motherboards

Why?

Building a Wii portable requires trimming a Wii motherboard and relocating key peripherals such as USB, Bluetooth, and GameCube controllers. This design breaks out these peripherals from the front of the board to a low-profile FFC connector, allowing for more modular builds.

The board is designed to be semi-permanently installed by soldering to exposed traces for the USB and Bluetooth data lines, and to the vias for the GameCube ports.

Features

• Solders directly to the top of a Wii motherboard
• 14-pin FFC low profile connector fits cleanly underneath heatsinks/plates
• Fits within the footprint of all but the most aggressive Wii trims
• Breaks out frequently used peripheral lines
  • Bluetooth data
  • USB data
  • GameCube controller data (x4)
  • Reset GPIO (via magnet wire)
  • Soft shutdown GPIOs

BOM / Ordering

• Grab the Gerber files for the latest release
• Order a 2-layer, 0.5oz copper flex PCB from JLCPCB, PCBWay, Gold Phoenix, or similar
• Purchase a Molex 503480-1400 connector (DigiKey, Mouser)
• Purchase a 14 pin, 0.5mm pitch FFC cable of desired length

Installation

• Solder the FFC connector to the flex PCB
• Line up the 4 GameCube vias in the middle of the PCB with the GameCube vias on the front of the Wii motherboard, and tape into place
• Mark the position of the holes for Bluetooth and USB using a fine sharpie through to the Wii motherboard
• Remove the flex and inspect the marks, they should be over the traces
• Carefully expose the traces for Bluetooth and USB at the marked locations
  • Use a fine craft knife or dental pick to scratch the solder mask off the correct trace
  • Be careful to not expose the neighboring trace
  • Clean the exposed traces
• Line up the PCB with the GameCube vias again and tape into place
• Solder the following vias on the flex to the motherboard
  • The four GameCube vias
  • The Bluetooth and USB vias (to the exposed traces)
  • The POWER GPIO via (P)
  • The GND via at the top right of the "X" of the logo
  • The GND via to the right of the connector
• Solder a magnet wire from the "R" pad to the Reset via on the opposite side of the board
• Solder a magnet wire from the "S" pad to the SHUTDOWN GPIO via on the opposite side of the board
• Test for continuity, and secure in place with CA glue or kapton tape

Installation tips

• Remove any excess soldermask from the vias on the motherboard you'll be soldering to
• Pre-tin the vias first
• I like to tin the bottom of the corresponding vias on the flex
• Use lots of flux

FFC Pinout

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14
USB-	USB+	GND	GC4	GC3	GC2	GC1	GND	BT- (Data 2)	BT+ (Data 1)	GND	S Pad	R Pad	POWER GPIO

Pin 1 is the right-most pin on the FFC, indicated with a dot.

Don't forget that these pin numbers will likely be reversed on the opposite end of your FFC cable, depending on the connector/cable you use.

Future enhancements

• Could potentially also break out the USB1 data lines in future

License

Permissively released under the Solderpad Hardware License v2.1