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An Ode to the 3DO - S**t just got R.E.A.L.
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22-12-2022 4:57pm#1
For my final mod/repair/restoration of the 2022, I decided to tackle a console dear to my heart, the Panasonic 3DO. I still remember reading about it in magazines, how it was going to be a game changer, its insane launch price, and the pretty lob sided war it waged between it and fellow 32bit machines like the PS1 and Saturn. Regardless of how it panned out, it's a piece of hardware that still holds a certain mystique to me - never being affordable for me when it was out, much the same as the likes of Amiga's and such. So this year I decided to buy one, but I wanted to grab a condition nice Japanese 60Hz model, for that full screen full speed 32bit awe....
^^ Looks wise, I think it's a sleek looking machine. There's a nice build quality to it, and the gold Panasonic contrasts nice with the charcoal/dark grey overall finish. This one was complete in the box, with an all important second controller (the price of original 3DO controllers these days is bananas!). I spotted this on eBay, closed eBay, went back to see it still listed, closed it again, went back again....for about two days....until I caved and hit the button on it.
^^ Luckily it had the all important 240p/480i switch I've only recently learned about. Normally the output is 480i on these, but if you get a model with this switch, you can switch to glorious 240p instead.
^^ First thing to do here, is replace the internal 100v transformer, with a nice EU friendly 240v one. I've seen this model recommended, so Mouser provided!
^^ Console opened, and ready for work.
^^ Original transformer removed. This one takes 100v AC from the wall, and outputs 15v AC to the mainboard, whereby it's then converted to DC on the mainboard itself.
^^ The new one needs to be configured to output how we want it, so as per instructions, we tie pins 2 & 4 together, feed 240v AC then to pins 1 & 5, and then pins 6 & 10 will bring the 15v AC to the mainboard for us.
^^ Test fit, and pre-emptive issue noted. Some of the pins come very close, and even touching, some of the metal shielding. These will need to be bent/shaped for safety.
^^ Done, it's now safe to wire up and then install.
^^ Pins 2 & 4 now linked, and protected with heat shrink. I didn't heat the shrink sleeve yet, and will do that when the other pins are wired up.
^^ One of the few important pieces that @Steve X2 printed up for me for this job. This piece is a resin/flexible cable shroud that I'll use to allow the new power cable to exit the console. It was designed by Mark (from Mark Fixes Stuff) and is millimetre perfect. There's a nice amount of 'give' in it too so it won't break, and will protect the cable while giving a factory finish appearance at the rear of the console too.
^^ I've also made a stupid error here above, which will come back to bite me later on when I notice it!
^^ Pins 5 and 1 are now fed with what will be the new power cable, bringing 240v to the transformer. Heat sleeving here is now shrunk on this side too.
^^ Last step is to bring wire up the final two connections that bring the 15v to the board. For this we'll reuse the existing/original connector, which I've snipped off of the old PSU here.
^^ Another Steve X2 special here, he printed up this super set of 'helping hands' that can be used to hold two cables for you while you solder them.
^^ We need to extend the cables on this connector, as they'll no longer reach the transformer given its been changed out for the new one.
^^ That's everything connected now. If your 3DO has a centre-tap cable, it'll connect to pin 8...mine doesn't have one though so it's left empty here. The glaring error still in place, I hadn't noticed it yet!
^^ Time to test fit.
^^ In test fitting, I see the error now. The bloody printed resin sleeve is backwards. There's a bonded plug on the the far end of the cable, and the connections on this end are soldered and sleeved in place....balls. I have to remove the two connections, swap the piece around, and re-do them.
^^ Done!
^^ Strain-relief cable tie in place. This will prevent the cable being pulled on from the outside, and causing issues inside the machine/breaking off internally.
^^ Perfect fit. Will it work though??
^^ Time to test...
^^ AC turned on, no explosions yet anyway...
^^ Sweet as a nut. No step down needed, the Jap 3DO lives with 240v from the wall!
^^ It's asking for a disc, better oblige...
^^ This came with a secret copy of The Need for Speed (or OverDrivin' in Japan)...
^^ Works perfectly, nice. Forgive the awful photo of the awful composite picture...I'll rectify that at some stage maybe next year with an RGB mod.
Next up, the ODE continued....
Post edited by Inviere on4
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Another piece Steve had, was a damaged 3DO ODE (why aren't they called 3DODE's??). He said it was damaged in shipped, with the USB header ripped off the board completely. It took some traces with it too, so it was in bad shape.
^^ Two of the traces will need to be rebuilt, and the front panel connector was torn off too. This isn't necessary for the internal mod I'm doing, but still, I'll fix it so it's back to normal anyway.
^^ First thing was to add new solder to all the connections, and use the desoldering gun to remove all of the solder. That'll give me a better idea of what needs to happen/be repaired.
^^ Same here, new solder added on both sides.
^^ PCB mounted on a pcb stand, makes it quick and easy to flip it around for working on both sides.
^^ All holes vacuum pumped. You can see here that the ground pin (the left most of the small x4 holes) still has its eyelet in place, so that's fine. Of the two data pins next, the leftmost one is fine, with the trace just slightly exposed. The next data pin has had its trace stripped away, and the 5v pin which is the last of the four, is damaged on the other side (trance gone.)
^^ Front panel connections de-soldered too, because I'll want to add fresh solder to these anyway.
^^ New USB header port from Mouser, perfect fit (test fit here.)
^^ Test fit shows where the rebuilt traces need to connect to the new header pins.
^^ So on the other side, we'll start with the 5v trace. I've exposed the trace here, to be able to solder to it and patch it up. The eyelet from the hole is gone however, so there's nothing to solder the rebuilt trace to, and nothing to solder the pin of the new USB header to. I have an idea though...
^^ A small cut of enamel wire here, soldered to the trace, and then fed through the VIA so that I'll be able to solder it to the pin of the USB header.
^^ Poor pic, but you can see the other end of the tiny enamel wire passing through the hole where the pin will go beside it. Once they're beside each other, I can solder them together, thereby restoring the 5v line.
^^ Back to the main side now, I've exposed the trace of the broken data connection here. Same procedure, I'll rebuild it with enamel wire.
^^ Here's a shot of just how tiny the enamel wire is, in comparison to a standard USB header. It's perfect for rebuilding traces like this.
^^ Trace tinned, and then one of the enamel cable soldered onto the old trace.
^^ Enamel cable cut to length here, and ready to be soldered to the pin that will come through the hole beside it. The trace originally ran to the small resistor on top, so I'll solder it to that too.
^^ USB Header installed, and soldered up. Continuity checks indicate all connections are back in action.
^^ Pic of the repaired trace on the topside.
^^ Front panel repaired, this was quick and easy thankfully. I don't need this front panel, but at least it's there now for any future use if necessary.
^^ Time to remove the original cd-rom drive.
^^ Ribbon cables disconnected.
Part 3 next....
Post edited by Inviere on2 -
^^ Steve was again kind to print these up for me. It's a mount for the ODE, and a front cd-drawer mount so there's no gaping hole caused by the missing drive.
^^ 250GB SSD Drive, and a SATA to USB connector, that'll allow the SSD to talk to the ODE.
^^ SSD and ODE mounted on the mount!
^^ Mount mounted, and ribbon cables connected.
^^ CD Drive panel removed from original drive, and mounted using the 3D printed bracket.
^^ Ok, it still turns on, no smoke, it's looking good....
^^ Oh sweet, the ODE still works! Well it boots....can it load game images though?
^^ I put x1 image on the SSD for testing...
^^ Boom! It works flawlessly.
^^ It even uses the CD-Access light, the same as the real cd drive would.
^^ All back together, looking perfect. A happy 3DO'mas to one & all.
^^ Bonus translation of a sticker on the front of the box.
Post edited by Inviere on3 -
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