What a beautiful open source design. I love the fact that this can very likely save most non-working NES consoles assuming the CPU/PPU chips aren't dead which I feel like is pretty uncommon.
i built one with reverse engineered aftermarket CPU\PPU compatibility is pretty high, I see small issues in some games but for the most part they work well. I got them for pretty cheap too. I 3d printed custom cases and been selling clone NES's for 80.00 getting a pretty good profit. Part number UA6527 (NTSC) or UA6527P (PAL) for 2a03 CPU and part number UA6528 (NTSC) or UA6528P (PAL) for the PPU. I did notice some games sound slightly different with the PAL part but the NTSC part I haven't heard any duty cycle sound problems. As for the PPU every game I tried runs identical with zero issues, before I found the 2a03 part I created a FPGA drop in replacement with a MAX10 part and circuit board I designed, if anyone wants that schematic and Verilog HDL I'll upload the project to github.
I would love the link for the FPGA implementation. I've been tinkering with making a DIP-40 FPGA board for replacing various old CPUs/PPUs. If I ever finish it, keep an eye out for what I intend to call an MPU "Mimic Processing Unit".
Get an AVS from RetroUSB, they're a lot more convenient to use than the old NES nowadays and offer a lot more features. There's other NES clones, but I think the AVS is a lot easier to justify than an Analogue NT.
@7 Angels 7 Plagues With how much NES's go for online, it's pretty much even now. Considering all the maintenance the front-loader needs to keep going, most people would rather avoid the hassle and get something made for 21st century use.
I have been interested in this board for quite a while now. The person who makes it also made a cool project several years ago called the Super 8 bit which was a similar concept of an optimized NES board with original main chips and modern components.
I like the name: NESsessity! But if you don't have a case, you could call it Bare NESsessity, the only problem is that Bears come around an sing a song and dance along.
Dude, this is amazing! I can't wait for the era of replicators, where you can ask for any old computer system you want and instantly get a brand new version of said computer system, right there, n your hands. And this is already part of the way there!
I have done quite a few repairs to NES systems and 72-pin replacements. I was working for a Game and Console reseller, repairing consoles and controllers.
All of the boards are sold out until July 1st. Placed myself on the wait-list and it'll be a fun project to work on so in case the current 1985 boards stop working, I'll be building these boards. Love seeing modern replacements for an NES.
Just soldering in and of itself is a difficult art to master i see so many people who do things like this and just butcher the soldering and burn whatever they're working on. I can appreciate the difficulty of the task but your soldering technique is so absolutely immaculate it's satisfying watching you work.
Thanks, I really appreciate that! It does take time to learn how to solder, and it's skill that I continue to work on and improve. Hopefully the videos are helpful as well if you are trying to learn some new techniques!
Oh I was waiting for this one! I did an old toaster with a hidef nes mod and this board! Everything works flawless! This is an awesome replacement nes board!
awesome build! im new to soldering and i never thought to solder the top side of the components to hold them in place on one side, i always just bent the pin slightly but they would still wobble sometimes. great little trick
Absolutely awesome! I had no idea this existed. Thank you for the video. That Microphone for the Japanese version of Zelda to be able to use a mic to kill enemies? What?! That's one of my favorite games and I never knew about that either! Subscribed.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah we really missed out with not having the microphone in the United States. It’s funny, the original instruction manual has a hint that if you shout you can kill some enemies, even though that’s not possible with the American version
I can just imagine kids in the 80s sitting in their room randomly screaming. I’m sure parents loved it! No wonder they didn’t give the US that feature, there would have been news stories and lawsuits lol
Well stumbling through TH-cam and I ended up here and so pleased I have. Great idea for a new project I never new existed. Really excited about this one and thank you for a great video!
I really wish that something identical to this existed for SNES. I've recently learned how to do a full recap a SNES, and I've successfully done two different consoles (a SNS-CPU-RGB-01, and a SHVC-CPU-01). This sort of project looks really fun and interesting.
@@LIRetroGaming That's awesome first time I played it was at a local arcade then when I saw it was out for Nintendo back in the day that was Christmas present me and my brother played that all day christmas def fun times
in regards to the NES microphone, i know that on the famicom, the mic was part of controller 2. i originally thought that in the western NES, it was possible with a controller mod, and that the pin in the socket just didn't have something to connect to. now i figure get some wires connected to the board and glue a mic externally
The microphone circuit on the NESessity is 100% optional to build. It works by detecting a certain volume level and triggering an input that normally only the Famicom uses. A LED can be installed to indicate when the input is active. Since the NESessity microphone is in the console instead of built into the controller, it does not mix the microphone sound into the audio output like the original Famicom did.
I'd love to build something like this if a modern CPU and PPU replacements were ever to be produced. It'd be neat to see that an NES could still be constructed even after all the original parts have turned to dust.
They kinda have, and there's absolutely no reason they can't be made as drop-ins today, except the cost of having bespoke ASICs manufactured is, for the moment, still out of reach for hobby projects. (And.. you know.. flying under the radar of taking someone else's intellectual property and doing manufacturing runs from it.) For starters, the original ICs have been photographed at the gate level, so you can actually see every trace and junction. This makes it possible to reverse engineer them to create a perfect 1:1 replica. And that's not something far-fetched, since you can take the "plans" for the chips into a language like Verilog or VHDL and use those to program an FPGA. (That same "code" could be used to synthesize a new ASIC as well, subject to the logistical issues above.) I don't know if anyone's done a perfect RE of the originals -- I think a project did or does exist to do so -- but there are already a few empirical recreations, based on analyzing the inputs and outputs and creating the "black box" in between that, functionally, is essentially the same. That's the basis of other projects, like HDNes and the Mister cores. They may not be _totally_ flawless, but they're close enough for just about any sensible comparison.
Cheapest solution is to use an FPGA to create the NES hardware. With that said, FPGAs can now recreate all electronics from the seventies and eighties with near circuit-pefection, so there is pretty much no need to stick to the cartridges anymore over the much more durable SSDs we have today. Heck, you could theoretically make an affordable emulation station with FPGA and NVMe storage that fits all of 1970-2000 (up to playstation1 / N64 / Saturn) as small as an RPi for as little as 100-200 dollars, depending on mass production prices.
@@wertigon Yes, they are well soft-replicable that way. Even simpler (at least by the viewpoint of the savvy-but-not-enough-for-fpga) is to make a microcontroller piggyback, any modern mcu can emulate practically any of those chips, even many of them at once. Of course it's not original then, but nor are any other modern replacements either. I am very glad that all these replacement boards and tinkering mentality exist, but I personally fail to get the kicks from vintage equipment made non-vintage with modern parts, especially with intentional modifications on its functionality (piggybacking purely for unobtainability reasons is an annoyance but forgivable). Especially if not using cartridges, I rather find it more sensible to just run the emulator on a general purpose PC ;-)
Surface mount and through hole resistors should have the same longevity. There’s only a few electrolytics on the board, most are ceramic. Sometimes electrolytics are needed as they have properties that are not available on ceramics (aside from capacitance and voltage)
Finally got my board and almost all the parts. I am gonna start soldering this week end. I can’t wait! I also have the HDMI mod in my other NES that is going to migrate to this.
I did use some flux during this video, but I don’t think that you need it every single time you solder. If you do, then there’s something wrong with your solder
Well, after about a month and a couple of bad solder joints, I got my Nesessity 1.4 working! I'm super excited and this channel has me hooked on modding now. I might try some of the GBA mods you just posted next
Damn, you hit me "BAD" with that BGM, DUDE, i came for the build, stayed for the music... well, for all the content really but, nonetheless killer ST you used.
this video came up on my home page and after watching it I noticed only 3.3k subscribers. I'm honestly surprised that this isn't a bigger channel. Techie asmr for the eye balls should be a thing.
Thanks, I appreciate the support! The channel keeps growing and I hope that these videos are helpful for anyone that wants to get into console repairs/mods!
Flipping the LCD has to do with the changes in the power and reset circuit that you find in the NESessity. I actually think the easiest solution would be to make a PCB specifically for the power and reset, rather than using the original
Very nice video! I really enjoyed it. Man, your solder skills are respectable. This board also makes the NES achieve a new level of customization. Really cool.
Sounds like what I need. I have an NES with a hex controller chip busted due to dropping a screwdriver on a repair but it still works except for controller port 2
Brings back memories of bruised thumbs from mashing the controller buttons until they were mush and didn't work any more playing Zelda. Had to learn how to fix them or would have had serious withdrawal symptoms, this was before replacements became available. Sound familiar? Nice work on that NES, I think I will try to resurrect mine.
The Nesessity board kits sold out within 15 min of becoming available on 12June21. I *barely* managed to get one. Unfortunately, I have two broken front-loader NES consoles. Both have board damage - one has water damage and the other literally has a hole in it where something speared through it 0_o. Luckily the CPU, PPU, and crystals are still good (tested them on my go-to NES in the lab. That means I’ll be using an OpenTendo board for console #2 (Edit) looks like more Nesessity boards will be in stock on 17June21
This is actually really cool!! 😎 I wouldn't mind getting something like this and finding an old Nes to scrap for parts. 🛠️ Throw it in a custom case or even mount it to some acrylic or something. With the poor state some Nes systems are in nowadays, I can see why stuff like this exists plus the benefits of added functionality. 👍
It’s definitely time consuming. I suggest getting the NESessity running first, then worry about the RGB after you’re certain that everything is working fine
Where did you source the Blinking Light Win from by the way? The official site doesn't have them in stock. Is this another version of the blinking light win or perhaps a knockoff of sorts? Please do let me know where you got one from as I have been eager to get one myself for a project I'm working on. Thanks!
I'm honestly kind of amazed that you were able to do this much & this well with your soldering without using any flux! How on earth did you pull that off? What sort of Solder do you have, magic solder?
I used mg chemicals 60/40 leaded solder. Solder definitely does have an expiration date, and as long as it’s new it does a good job of making stabile joints. I do use flux all the time, but I just happened to not need it for this particular project
@@LIRetroGaming Wow, really? That's interesting, I didn't know that about solder! How old can solder be before it expires or starts to not work as well?
what I wish for that there where somewhere to get like a complete kit with the boards all the components and the UA6527 and UA6528 clones or original which is cheaper and then like a 3D printed case. I would love trying to build my own nes but living where I do in Sweden finding all components with out the need of importing would be hard and you rarely find broken nes you could get the CPU and such. would been a bit nice for an armature like me have a complete kit just to have me focus on learning how to build it and solder.
This comes close to a complete kit - the only parts you need are the CPU, PPU, and a Nintendo shell. So basically a kit plus a broken Nintendo is all you need in the end
How much did this board kit cost? If it's cost effective then may be worth using. Something that allows for easier RGB mod install would be a great feature too!
@@LIRetroGaming Lol I actually posted that before watching the whole thing, saw that it comes w a breakout board for the RGB kit. VERY nice! If I ever decide to build the ultimate toaster then I may give this a go. Would be just for shits & gigs as I already own a Hi-Def modded AV Famicom, but would still be cool to have.
So glad I still have an original NES. Need to replace the 72 pin connector (a replacement part I have), but it's good to know it can live again if it ever shits the bed.
This idea opens up a lot of possibilities. You could make an entirely different form factor and custom case, make it portable, etc. If I was assembling lots of these I’d keep a bucket of no clean flux handy and just dip the thing in it first lol
Minor thing, but that Zelda microphone thing for killing the Pols Voice actually works on the NES release as well, they never removed the code for it. It just obviously never worked on the NES because there wasn't a microphone.
Really admire what you do. You’re very informative & interesting to watch. Just one caveat though - and you’re probably aware - the lighting you use doesn’t do the work you’re performing justice. I know good quality lights are expensive and if you can ever afford some, it would help you immensely. Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
Thanks I really appreciate the feedback and I’m glad you enjoy the videos! You are right, I do not have good lighting at the moment and I’ve been slowly upgrading my equipment. I now have a 4K camera and a quality microphone which does make a big difference
What I love about this video? The old-school 8-bit music! What game or games were used in the creation of this video? And if anyone ever gets a chance to listen to it, there are people who take actual music and convert it into 8-bit and 16-bit format. Two of my favorites are Unleash the Archers tracks: Soulbound and Apex.
What a beautiful open source design. I love the fact that this can very likely save most non-working NES consoles assuming the CPU/PPU chips aren't dead which I feel like is pretty uncommon.
Yes I really love this whole idea. And you are correct, most of the time those chips are still functional
@Shaliqua Smith nes of theseus, neseus
I want to see this done for more consoles as well, it would do wonders for preserving them
i built one with reverse engineered aftermarket CPU\PPU compatibility is pretty high, I see small issues in some games but for the most part they work well. I got them for pretty cheap too. I 3d printed custom cases and been selling clone NES's for 80.00 getting a pretty good profit. Part number UA6527 (NTSC) or UA6527P (PAL) for 2a03 CPU and part number UA6528 (NTSC) or UA6528P (PAL) for the PPU. I did notice some games sound slightly different with the PAL part but the NTSC part I haven't heard any duty cycle sound problems. As for the PPU every game I tried runs identical with zero issues, before I found the 2a03 part I created a FPGA drop in replacement with a MAX10 part and circuit board I designed, if anyone wants that schematic and Verilog HDL I'll upload the project to github.
I would love the link for the FPGA implementation. I've been tinkering with making a DIP-40 FPGA board for replacing various old CPUs/PPUs. If I ever finish it, keep an eye out for what I intend to call an MPU "Mimic Processing Unit".
I’m 42 and I’m so mad I threw away my NES back in 2003. Wish I kept it. However I still found a lot of my old games.
Glad that you found your old games! At least it’s not too tough to find a working Nintendo these days
Get an AVS from RetroUSB, they're a lot more convenient to use than the old NES nowadays and offer a lot more features. There's other NES clones, but I think the AVS is a lot easier to justify than an Analogue NT.
@7 Angels 7 Plagues With how much NES's go for online, it's pretty much even now.
Considering all the maintenance the front-loader needs to keep going, most people would rather avoid the hassle and get something made for 21st century use.
It's amazing you kept it that long! I'm 42 and I don't think I had mine past '91 or so.
By the way, Take a look at the title of the show now. It's always been Beavis and Butt-Head now. Never had a hyphen for me. Mandela Effect.
This board has every feature that I wanted an original Analogue NT for. I'm definitely buying it when they come back in stock.
I certainly recommend it! It’s a fun project and I get a lot of use out of mine
How does it fair against copy checks?
This is pretty neat. Someone could potentially sell these pre-assembled and you would just have to provide the chips. Long live the NES.
I have been interested in this board for quite a while now. The person who makes it also made a cool project several years ago called the Super 8 bit which was a similar concept of an optimized NES board with original main chips and modern components.
I like the name: NESsessity!
But if you don't have a case, you could call it Bare NESsessity, the only problem is that Bears come around an sing a song and dance along.
You say that like it's a bad thing
Haha.
Never did I think I would witness a dad joke of such high levels
Ive been working at a radio shack-esque style shop for about 7 years, this sort of project is right up my alley. Gonna try to order one
Dude, this is amazing! I can't wait for the era of replicators, where you can ask for any old computer system you want and instantly get a brand new version of said computer system, right there, n your hands. And this is already part of the way there!
I have done quite a few repairs to NES systems and 72-pin replacements. I was working for a Game and Console reseller, repairing consoles and controllers.
Awesome! I love working on the NES and they are normally pretty robust systems to work on
That Bad Dudes song is a master piece!!!!
Yeah I really love that game. Had it since I was a kid
All of the boards are sold out until July 1st. Placed myself on the wait-list and it'll be a fun project to work on so in case the current 1985 boards stop working, I'll be building these boards. Love seeing modern replacements for an NES.
Best part of a friday is the fix it friday!
The musical NES build portion is very nice for those of us who mostly listen to videos rather than watch. Kudos. :)
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Music from the original Nintendo is some of my favorite stuff
@@LIRetroGaming what game is that from? (especially the first one)
@@awilliams1701
3:08 Bad Dudes Stage 2
6:30 Silver Surfer Stage 2
8:00 Batman Stage 4
11:03 Journey to Silious Stage 3
Just soldering in and of itself is a difficult art to master i see so many people who do things like this and just butcher the soldering and burn whatever they're working on. I can appreciate the difficulty of the task but your soldering technique is so absolutely immaculate it's satisfying watching you work.
Thanks, I really appreciate that! It does take time to learn how to solder, and it's skill that I continue to work on and improve. Hopefully the videos are helpful as well if you are trying to learn some new techniques!
intro music is from gremlins 2 game over? feels
Oh I was waiting for this one! I did an old toaster with a hidef nes mod and this board! Everything works flawless! This is an awesome replacement nes board!
Awesome, glad to hear that you made one of these as well! It was a fun project
glad someone was finally able to update and make a replacement power supply.
Yeah and I have also updated one for the opentendo which I will show in an upcoming video
My childhood came rushing back hearing this. Much ❤️ to nes and accessories.
awesome build! im new to soldering and i never thought to solder the top side of the components to hold them in place on one side, i always just bent the pin slightly but they would still wobble sometimes. great little trick
Thanks! Yes I just use a little on one leg of the component to tack it into place, then solder everything on the bottom of the pcb
Would love to see the RGB board installed and how that compares to the NESRGB kit on original hardware.
It’s going to happen, so a video will come out soon
@@LIRetroGaming did you ever do that video
@@jamisongillespie3524 th-cam.com/video/1xAclbcCRYE/w-d-xo.html
Absolutely awesome! I had no idea this existed. Thank you for the video. That Microphone for the Japanese version of Zelda to be able to use a mic to kill enemies? What?! That's one of my favorite games and I never knew about that either!
Subscribed.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed the video! Yeah we really missed out with not having the microphone in the United States. It’s funny, the original instruction manual has a hint that if you shout you can kill some enemies, even though that’s not possible with the American version
This wowed me, even back then nintendo was innovated.
It was a dumb feature for Zelda anyway. You just shout into the microphone and the rabbit enemies die I think.
I can just imagine kids in the 80s sitting in their room randomly screaming. I’m sure parents loved it! No wonder they didn’t give the US that feature, there would have been news stories and lawsuits lol
I really love the soundtrack of this channel, its delightful to watch and listen !!
Thanks, I try to keep the music interesting!
Well stumbling through TH-cam and I ended up here and so pleased I have. Great idea for a new project I never new existed. Really excited about this one and thank you for a great video!
This is pretty cool. The retro community needed a option like this to help preserve and keep the Nes going.
Those Follin boys with every soundtrack an absolute banger.
- you can yell at enemies
I already do that
- and actually effect them in-game
I'm listening
This one of the best videos I've seen on youtube. especially beacuse I love math, electronics, programming and gaming
Thanks, I really do appreciate that feedback
Really great video! I didn't grow up with the NES, but I'm happy to see that people are interested in older consoles
Thanks! It’s great that there are projects like this that can let older consoles get restored
I'd love to see systems like the Atari VCS/2600, the Sega Master System, and Mega Drive get the same treatment. :D
When he said "Bridge Rectifier" automatically thought of Electroboom
Electroboom would be disappointed that it looks like most of the power coming in gets WASTED in the 7805 regulator.
FULL Bridge Rectifier
i thought you can't hook the power up backwards...
17:18 the original will also work on dc power. The original one also doesnt care about the polarization of the dc power.
Yes, that is correct. Both the original and the NESessity have bridge rectifiers installed on the power PCB
I really wish that something identical to this existed for SNES.
I've recently learned how to do a full recap a SNES, and I've successfully done two different consoles (a SNS-CPU-RGB-01, and a SHVC-CPU-01). This sort of project looks really fun and interesting.
I hope we can get something like this for the SNES and N64 in the near future.
Yes, I certainly hope so!
With how popular and expensive both can be right now. It's only a matter of time.
Has there ever been anything close to it for the N64? Don't think FPGA is even on the table yet there.
No, but there have been some leaks a while ago about the n64's construction plans. That probably speeds up the process.
Looks like a fun kit to practice your soldering skills.
Yeah definitely, it’s good because most of the soldering is through hole and not surface mount
@@LIRetroGaming With the right tools and techniques, surface mount is ultimately way faster than through hole. Drag soldering is a fantastic thing. :)
This is actually so nice everything marked on the board making it so easy to do. I might have to pick one up
I recommend it, it’s a fun project!
Man, he can solder so fast, it's almost like it's sped up :D
Someone is about to get whooshed here I know it
@@anthonymorris8891 That was clever
This is awesome, once it comes back in stock I will get one with the parts in the event that my NES should stop working one day.
You have the best taste in NES music.
Love the Bad dudes soundtrack that takes me back
I love that game, one of the first ones I got with my NES
@@LIRetroGaming That's awesome first time I played it was at a local arcade then when I saw it was out for Nintendo back in the day that was Christmas present me and my brother played that all day christmas def fun times
in regards to the NES microphone, i know that on the famicom, the mic was part of controller 2. i originally thought that in the western NES, it was possible with a controller mod, and that the pin in the socket just didn't have something to connect to. now i figure get some wires connected to the board and glue a mic externally
The microphone circuit on the NESessity is 100% optional to build. It works by detecting a certain volume level and triggering an input that normally only the Famicom uses. A LED can be installed to indicate when the input is active.
Since the NESessity microphone is in the console instead of built into the controller, it does not mix the microphone sound into the audio output like the original Famicom did.
First video i've ever seen from you and this made my day! How have I not seen this before!
Thanks, I’m glad to hear it! Glad that you enjoyed the video!
This is awesome man! Congrats on your channel blowing up, Your channel definitely deserves it
Thanks man, I really appreciate it! And as always I’m a huge fan of your channel as well
I love the ship of theseus approach to building an NES.
Never thought I would think about the ship of Theseus argument with console modding, but it’s definitely true here!
18:17 - I was ready to scream out loud - "NOT 16:9" ... But hey - you know what you're doing! Great video!!!
Beautiful.. I have no words. It's amazing to see some things that should of been in the past.
Check out odd tinkering to clean up the yellowed case...
Found you via this video today and subbed! Looking forward to seeing what else you're done!
Thanks, really appreciate that!
I'd love to build something like this if a modern CPU and PPU replacements were ever to be produced. It'd be neat to see that an NES could still be constructed even after all the original parts have turned to dust.
Yeah I hope someday modern replacements can be made for those chips
They kinda have, and there's absolutely no reason they can't be made as drop-ins today, except the cost of having bespoke ASICs manufactured is, for the moment, still out of reach for hobby projects. (And.. you know.. flying under the radar of taking someone else's intellectual property and doing manufacturing runs from it.)
For starters, the original ICs have been photographed at the gate level, so you can actually see every trace and junction. This makes it possible to reverse engineer them to create a perfect 1:1 replica. And that's not something far-fetched, since you can take the "plans" for the chips into a language like Verilog or VHDL and use those to program an FPGA. (That same "code" could be used to synthesize a new ASIC as well, subject to the logistical issues above.)
I don't know if anyone's done a perfect RE of the originals -- I think a project did or does exist to do so -- but there are already a few empirical recreations, based on analyzing the inputs and outputs and creating the "black box" in between that, functionally, is essentially the same. That's the basis of other projects, like HDNes and the Mister cores. They may not be _totally_ flawless, but they're close enough for just about any sensible comparison.
Cheapest solution is to use an FPGA to create the NES hardware. With that said, FPGAs can now recreate all electronics from the seventies and eighties with near circuit-pefection, so there is pretty much no need to stick to the cartridges anymore over the much more durable SSDs we have today.
Heck, you could theoretically make an affordable emulation station with FPGA and NVMe storage that fits all of 1970-2000 (up to playstation1 / N64 / Saturn) as small as an RPi for as little as 100-200 dollars, depending on mass production prices.
@@wertigon Yes, they are well soft-replicable that way. Even simpler (at least by the viewpoint of the savvy-but-not-enough-for-fpga) is to make a microcontroller piggyback, any modern mcu can emulate practically any of those chips, even many of them at once. Of course it's not original then, but nor are any other modern replacements either.
I am very glad that all these replacement boards and tinkering mentality exist, but I personally fail to get the kicks from vintage equipment made non-vintage with modern parts, especially with intentional modifications on its functionality (piggybacking purely for unobtainability reasons is an annoyance but forgivable). Especially if not using cartridges, I rather find it more sensible to just run the emulator on a general purpose PC ;-)
Your soldering skills are great.
Thanks, I appreciate that! With enough practice and the right tools I think it’s something that a lot of people can pick up
Not sure why you don't have more subscribers. This project is dope!! Great content!!
Thanks so much! This was one of my favorite projects to build
I've got to ask. why isn't this using surface mount resistors and ceramic caps for longevity?
edit: and a switching voltage regulator?
Surface mount and through hole resistors should have the same longevity. There’s only a few electrolytics on the board, most are ceramic. Sometimes electrolytics are needed as they have properties that are not available on ceramics (aside from capacitance and voltage)
Is there any chance at all you have a copy of the component list you showed. I pretty much knows where everything goes...but I loved that idea.
Yes, you can actually find the component list on the manufacturers website
Awesome...thank you.
Finally got my board and almost all the parts. I am gonna start soldering this week end. I can’t wait! I also have the HDMI mod in my other NES that is going to migrate to this.
That’s awesome! I hope you have fun putting it together
13:21 Did the board designer make a mistake and flip the +/- position on the LED?
That’s a good question and I’m actually not sure
I didnt know this was a thing. So glad to have watched this. Thanks alot good work!
Awesome, I’m glad you enjoyed it! Definitely a fun project that I recommend!
I never understood how people can be so in depth with a project that requires soldering and then just not use flux
I did use some flux during this video, but I don’t think that you need it every single time you solder. If you do, then there’s something wrong with your solder
@@LIRetroGaming Yes you're right that you don't need it every single time but it makes your solder balls much more neat.
Well, after about a month and a couple of bad solder joints, I got my Nesessity 1.4 working! I'm super excited and this channel has me hooked on modding now. I might try some of the GBA mods you just posted next
That is awesome! Glad that you found the remaining issues and got it working!
Damn, you hit me "BAD" with that BGM, DUDE, i came for the build, stayed for the music... well, for all the content really but, nonetheless killer ST you used.
Thanks man, this is the kind of music I listen to while I work on consoles
Love the music from Bad Dudes! Great video!
Dude, the Silver Surfer NES song freaking rules!
this video came up on my home page and after watching it I noticed only 3.3k subscribers. I'm honestly surprised that this isn't a bigger channel. Techie asmr for the eye balls should be a thing.
Thanks, I appreciate the support! The channel keeps growing and I hope that these videos are helpful for anyone that wants to get into console repairs/mods!
Awesome video. I'll check out your other videos. Hopefully you have a tool showcase somewhere for people who don't work with electronics a lot
Did this kit come with the RGB board? Did you just choose to not use it? Edit: Just had to watch another minute. Going to order one of these.
Flipping around the power LED, is that a bodge solution to an oversight in the PCB design perhaps?
Flipping the LCD has to do with the changes in the power and reset circuit that you find in the NESessity. I actually think the easiest solution would be to make a PCB specifically for the power and reset, rather than using the original
wow, you can soldering so fast even without flux!
Very nice video! I really enjoyed it. Man, your solder skills are respectable. This board also makes the NES achieve a new level of customization. Really cool.
Thanks! This was a really fun project to make and I’m glad that you enjoyed it as well!
Sounds like what I need. I have an NES with a hex controller chip busted due to dropping a screwdriver on a repair but it still works except for controller port 2
Nice video, as i understand it you can play japanese famicom games with this through the everdrive?
That is correct, you can play all the Japanese games with an everdrive and they sound correct with the expansion audio mod
That board looks pretty good but the gold peeling off the game cart contact pins.
Brings back memories of bruised thumbs from mashing the controller buttons until they were mush and didn't work any more playing Zelda. Had to learn how to fix them or would have had serious withdrawal symptoms, this was before replacements became available. Sound familiar? Nice work on that NES, I think I will try to resurrect mine.
Nice! Bring that old NES back to life and enjoy some classics!
Cool video! I would have liked to see you mount the board into the housing, connecting it up and all.
Sorry for omitting that! Although it’s about the same as reconnecting an original NES board
I would love to see these kind of open source boards be taken further to turn frontloaders into toploaders
That would be cool, but with the blinking light win I no longer have to worry about wearing out the cartridge connector
Oh wow i didnt know NES kits were available. I'm going to have to get one
The Nesessity board kits sold out within 15 min of becoming available on 12June21. I *barely* managed to get one. Unfortunately, I have two broken front-loader NES consoles. Both have board damage - one has water damage and the other literally has a hole in it where something speared through it 0_o. Luckily the CPU, PPU, and crystals are still good (tested them on my go-to NES in the lab. That means I’ll be using an OpenTendo board for console #2
(Edit) looks like more Nesessity boards will be in stock on 17June21
Would love to see you using flux to get nice clean solder connections
Pretty sure I did in this video, but it’s been a while since I watched it. I use it frequently, but flux isn’t needed 100% of the time either
Music is awesome. Can't seem to find them myself tho could you elaborate in the desciption better? Thank you so much! Love the channel!
really cool PCB to keep them old consoles alive
Yeah I hope that more projects like this are made in the future!
I just putvthe controls on back with low profile knobs to keep it clean so i can put the case on.
The glory of PCB boards ! Where would we be without the printed circuit board !?
This is actually really cool!! 😎 I wouldn't mind getting something like this and finding an old Nes to scrap for parts. 🛠️ Throw it in a custom case or even mount it to some acrylic or something. With the poor state some Nes systems are in nowadays, I can see why stuff like this exists plus the benefits of added functionality. 👍
Yeah I’m really glad projects like this exist and I got this one just at the right time!
This is pretty cool. If you've ever seen a Nomad, that would be awesome to do that to an NES.
Interesting timing where both open tendo and this coming up around the same time
Yeah I think that the NESessity was developed first but they did get released around the same time
I've got my kit, but I'm waiting for the NESRGB to come back in stock. Seems like a lengthy project, for me at least.
It’s definitely time consuming. I suggest getting the NESessity running first, then worry about the RGB after you’re certain that everything is working fine
Is there a pre-soldered kit of this? I am visually impaired and would love this plus RGB mod for HDMI support :)
That would be awesome but for now I think it only comes in kit format. I might be building these for people if they are interested
@@LIRetroGaming I am also legally blind would you be willing to put one of these boards together for me and I pay you thanks
should have RGB, HDMI or some options over composite
I actually did a follow up video where I installed RGB so you can check that out!
Where did you source the Blinking Light Win from by the way? The official site doesn't have them in stock. Is this another version of the blinking light win or perhaps a knockoff of sorts? Please do let me know where you got one from as I have been eager to get one myself for a project I'm working on. Thanks!
I was lucky enough to get my blinking light win when they were still in stock. But I know that eventually they will be in stock again
This would be perfect for an arcade nes project 👌 just news to find a way of making two controllers for the cabinet
The 8 bit music on here is great. Is this from various games, some sound like Double Dragon or Megaman.
Thanks, the music list is in the description
I'm honestly kind of amazed that you were able to do this much & this well with your soldering without using any flux! How on earth did you pull that off? What sort of Solder do you have, magic solder?
I used mg chemicals 60/40 leaded solder. Solder definitely does have an expiration date, and as long as it’s new it does a good job of making stabile joints. I do use flux all the time, but I just happened to not need it for this particular project
@@LIRetroGaming Wow, really? That's interesting, I didn't know that about solder! How old can solder be before it expires or starts to not work as well?
@@skins4thewin It depends on the solder contents and manufacturer but after about a year or two it can expire
Oh this is awesome! I gotta get my hands on one of these kits!
what I wish for that there where somewhere to get like a complete kit with the boards all the components and the UA6527 and UA6528 clones or original which is cheaper and then like a 3D printed case.
I would love trying to build my own nes but living where I do in Sweden finding all components with out the need of importing would be hard and you rarely find broken nes you could get the CPU and such.
would been a bit nice for an armature like me have a complete kit just to have me focus on learning how to build it and solder.
This comes close to a complete kit - the only parts you need are the CPU, PPU, and a Nintendo shell. So basically a kit plus a broken Nintendo is all you need in the end
Nice choice of classic NES soundtracks.
How much did this board kit cost? If it's cost effective then may be worth using. Something that allows for easier RGB mod install would be a great feature too!
I actually did an RGB install in a following video!
@@LIRetroGaming Lol I actually posted that before watching the whole thing, saw that it comes w a breakout board for the RGB kit. VERY nice! If I ever decide to build the ultimate toaster then I may give this a go.
Would be just for shits & gigs as I already own a Hi-Def modded AV Famicom, but would still be cool to have.
So glad I still have an original NES. Need to replace the 72 pin connector (a replacement part I have), but it's good to know it can live again if it ever shits the bed.
Yeah this project is awesome for that reason. You can always make a new one from scratch!
Really nice choices in music, fantastic video.
Thanks so much, glad that you enjoyed the video! Can’t go wrong with NES music!
it would be cool to see this in a clear case.
I would love to see that as well. I hope eventually I figure out a way to make something like that happen
lmao, the Bad Dudes music was a nice touch!
Can’t go wrong with that soundtrack!
This idea opens up a lot of possibilities. You could make an entirely different form factor and custom case, make it portable, etc.
If I was assembling lots of these I’d keep a bucket of no clean flux handy and just dip the thing in it first lol
Minor thing, but that Zelda microphone thing for killing the Pols Voice actually works on the NES release as well, they never removed the code for it. It just obviously never worked on the NES because there wasn't a microphone.
That’s awesome!
Really admire what you do. You’re very informative & interesting to watch. Just one caveat though - and you’re probably aware - the lighting you use doesn’t do the work you’re performing justice. I know good quality lights are expensive and if you can ever afford some, it would help you immensely. Thanks for sharing with us 🙂
Thanks I really appreciate the feedback and I’m glad you enjoy the videos! You are right, I do not have good lighting at the moment and I’ve been slowly upgrading my equipment. I now have a 4K camera and a quality microphone which does make a big difference
It would be interesting to see something like this for the original Gameboy
Yeah I would really love to make a game boy from scratch
What I love about this video? The old-school 8-bit music! What game or games were used in the creation of this video?
And if anyone ever gets a chance to listen to it, there are people who take actual music and convert it into 8-bit and 16-bit format. Two of my favorites are Unleash the Archers tracks: Soulbound and Apex.
I recognize Journey to Silius around 11min I think? That bad ass Sunsoft music is the best :)