GameBoy as external HDD

Hi everybody.

I watched this forum for a while now and got this feeling of modding something myself. I thinked for some time what to mod, because I use a laptop and don't want to touch it. ( Yes there is much fear :D ) Then I saw this article about someone putting a winXP pc in an old gameboy. I had two old ones lying around and thought: You want a new external HDD, you have a gameboy, you like the idea, why not give it a try.

Cutting this long speech short, I decided to mod one of the gameboys into a new external HDD. I put this in the idea zone because i did not start yet. Hope it is right in here.

If someone here did this already please share you knowledge with me, because this is my first mod. I will appreciate any kind of helpful information or idea.

Oh and please forgive my mistakes, but english is not my native language. But I will try to write it the best I can.

Here are some pictures of the two Gameboys

This is the kind of HDD I want to install in it. Note this is just an example. Not sure about the actual one that I will use.

This is a sketchup model i made for this project. It's not very detailed or useful in the moment, but i will do most of the planing with this. It will be improved in the next days.

All mesurements are in Millimeters, because i'm form germany.

To make it more complicated i want to add a nice feature to the gameboy. I use a remote controll to switch the power to my pc and all the stuff on and off.

The switch

I want to mode some of the buttons to the original gameboy buttons to control the power. I will post better pictures of the remote later. Have to separate the parts first.

Please comment on the idea and/or give tips. I appreciate every help i can get.
mfg doesi 87

That's a pretty cool idea...rest assured no-one else will have one at least!

Jump in there dude.

-Dave

Thanks Dave. I think it will be a nice feeling to have something not built for you somewhere far away.

I separated the remote unit and got an idea how it works.

The remote unit

Thats how i think it should be possible to connect a different switch to the unit

I will solder some cables to the marked points and connect them to a test switch to be sure it will work. There is just one problem. The remote uses one on and one off switch for each channel. But i want to have an on/off switch. Not sure how to make that, but it is still time to solve that little problem.

You don't need to solder a wire to all the three blue pins, as they're already connected.

As for making it one switch for on and off, I think that depends on the receiver. What are you using for that?

Welcome to the boards doesi!

This is going to be pretty cool. I wonder if you could still use the screen for something? That, would be killer.

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You don't need to solder a wire to all the three blue pins, as they're already connected.

As for making it one switch for on and off, I think that depends on the receiver. What are you using for that?

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You may laugh, but i realized this in the same moment i unplugged the soldering iron. Will have this in mind when it comes to the real soldering.

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I wonder if you could still use the screen for something? That, would be killer.

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Yes, that would be cool. But i have no idea how i could use it. But i will think on this.

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As for making it one switch for on and off, I think that depends on the receiver. What are you using for that?

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I want to controll a simple powerplug (?). Here is a picture that will explain what i mean:

It is not really a remote for the notebook but for the power. I need this, because i can't reach the plug without crawling under my desk and breaking me every bone i have :) .

But i might found a solution for the switch problem, if it is not possible to get an on/off switch. I use two of these plugs at the same time. And there is a button to control all plugs at the same time. I could use this one and connect the on function to the A button on the Gameboy and the off button to the B button on the GB.

Thanks for your suggestions and interest.
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So i decided to open the gameboy and see what is inside. But the thing is screwed with very strange screws. They have a triangular shape. So i have to wait till tomorow or maybe tuesday to go to the local hardware store and pick up a screwdriver for these screws.

Because of this i had the time to do a little 10 min mod i found in here. Change the light of your mouse sounded pretty nice for the beginning. Since all of my viewable hardware is black with silver and all leds are blue i wanted the mouse to be the same.

I opened the case of the mouse and fought my way down to the LED.

Then i soldered in a blue LED lying around and guess: It worked. I know you've seen this many times, but it still makes me proud that my first attempt destroyed nothing. So here is the final result:

I know it has nothing to do with the gameboy mod but i got bored not being able to open the gameboy and just wanted to something else.

Love the idea dude. I'll be watching this one

Yea, Nintendo and their weird screws :)

Oh, and I love that mod idea. And your speakers, cause I got the same sub :) which model from Logitech you have? I got the Z-340, and I love them :)

Thanks for your interest. I'm using a Logitech Z-640, but both rear speakers are broken. So it's only a 3.1 system. For 5.1 sound i use my medusa headset. But the Logitech system was great when it was complete.
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To solve the screw problem i bought this nice little thing at the hardware store today.

But to open the last two screws on the gameboy i had to drill their holes a bit bigger, which caused them to burst. But thats not a big problem, because i can't use the screws to close the case when it is done, because i have to remove the screw-housings to have enough space for the HDD.

The i removed the inner parts and cleaned the case.

I tried to keep some parts of the 'mainbord', where the button-controls are. To get these parts i drilled some holes around the area i wanted to keep and cute the rest with pincers. The i drilled small holes in the connection points and soldered wires to them. Sorry for the bad picture but my camera couldn't get it any better.

Then i removed the battery-part of the case and glued the backplate in place. I will remove the rest of the unnecessary plastic tomorrow.

Also i tried to do some work on the remote control but the force wasn't with me. I soldered the unneeded wires out and attached new ones to the right places. It worked for one single time. But when i try it now, it won't work at all. It gets power and doesn't look damaged, but the led won't light up.

Maybe i will find the reason for this behavior later this evening.

I also ordered a 120 GB HDD and an external case today. Hope the things will arrive on wednesday.

This does not realy belong in the idea section any more. Would be nice, If some of the mod's or admins could move it. Thanks.

Moved to the works in progress forum.

Looks good though!