A Wii PC

A Wii PC I've been experimenting with a bit of Wii Homebrew, but this is an offtopic post - about another interest of mine - pico and mini-itx computers. I've found replacement Wii plastic cases for sale on eBay at about 15 EUR. By my calculations this would be ample room to fit a pico-itx motherboard and construct a "wii pc". I was wondering if anyone else had tried this or similar projects? I was thinking of putting something like this inside: [img]http://mini-itx.com/reviews/pico-itx/images/pico-itx-0025m.jpg[/img] The wii case internals will be about 200 x 150 x 40. The motherboard is 100 x 72, a slimline DVD drive would measure 129 x 128, and the hard drive would be 70 x 100. I think that could all fit inside. I am imagining I will need to fabricate some internal structure for the machine, and before I go ahead and buy all the parts to give this a go, I was wondering if anyone else had tried it. Anyone?http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15029#msg-15029Sat, 06 Jun 2026 00:54:11 +0200 Phorum 5.2.23 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,34412#msg-34412 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,34412#msg-34412 darklink OfftopicSun, 20 Sep 2009 03:47:59 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,27117#msg-27117 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,27117#msg-27117
I hope to be back on this soon.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicThu, 30 Jul 2009 18:04:38 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,26701#msg-26701 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,26701#msg-26701 scanff OfftopicMon, 27 Jul 2009 19:13:06 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22739#msg-22739 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22739#msg-22739 Zack OfftopicMon, 29 Jun 2009 16:52:07 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22710#msg-22710 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22710#msg-22710

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ChuckBartowski
I didnt mean it like that when i said 1080p wii. I meant it would look like a wii and would be HD. Not that it would actually play wii games.

yeah, got that - i was replying to an earlier comment about running dolphin.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicMon, 29 Jun 2009 07:44:58 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22662#msg-22662 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22662#msg-22662

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musicinstinct
No... it's not going to run the Wii Emulator. But performance wise it's doing really well with just the generic video card drivers. I still have to work out how to compile the VIA drivers as I believe this is the answer to getting max performance out of the graphics.

I've been busy with work over the past couple of weeks so I've not had much time to work on the WiiPC. I do almost have everything mounted in the case, so will post more pics soon.

I didnt mean it like that when i said 1080p wii. I meant it would look like a wii and would be HD. Not that it would actually play wii games.]]> ChuckBartowski OfftopicMon, 29 Jun 2009 02:01:21 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22160#msg-22160 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22160#msg-22160
I've been busy with work over the past couple of weeks so I've not had much time to work on the WiiPC. I do almost have everything mounted in the case, so will post more pics soon.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicThu, 25 Jun 2009 17:20:07 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22129#msg-22129 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,22129#msg-22129 z400100500 OfftopicThu, 25 Jun 2009 05:21:22 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,21855#msg-21855 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,21855#msg-21855
"The S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro II is a DirectX 7 (without T&L) onboard graphics solution (shared memory) of VIA for laptops with VIA C7-M CPU and VX700 North-Bridge, which is intended for office applications and hardly suited for 3D games. There is no Aero support.

The 128-bit 3D graphic core offers hardware DirectX 7 support but without Transform & Lightning (T&L) unit. Two pixel pipelines are able to render two textures per turn with a triangle rate of up to 4.5 million triangles. The pixel filling rate is up to 200 million pixels per second (texel up to 400 millions)."

I don't think that 3d would be capable of running Wii at all, let alone any 3d game less than 4 or 5 years old. My Radeon Xpress 200M has more power than it.]]> dewdude OfftopicWed, 24 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,20961#msg-20961 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,20961#msg-20961www.tigerdirect.com]

Now that one would be sick. It would be the first 1080p wii!]]> ChuckBartowski OfftopicWed, 17 Jun 2009 03:21:01 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,20885#msg-20885 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,20885#msg-20885 Zack OfftopicTue, 16 Jun 2009 15:18:59 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,20835#msg-20835 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,20835#msg-20835 ChuckBartowski OfftopicTue, 16 Jun 2009 01:46:08 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19480#msg-19480 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19480#msg-19480
Would be funny to run dolphin on that thing so you can play Wii games. I doubt the graphics card would be good enough though.]]> scanff OfftopicSat, 06 Jun 2009 01:17:42 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19316#msg-19316 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19316#msg-19316

And here's a first attempt at positioning stuff inside the Wii case:

It's going to take some trial and error until I'm happy with the positioning.

I've got a hard drive at the back of that picture connected to the motherboard via SATA connector. The 2.5" hard drive is bigger than the motherboard! There's a separate IO board you can see in the picture on the right. If I want even more cables inside the box I can use the IO connectors that plug straight onto the motherboard rather than use the IO daughterboard. Here's some of the cables:

There's a rather nifty power supply to go with it:

]]> musicinstinct OfftopicFri, 05 Jun 2009 00:18:02 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19252#msg-19252 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19252#msg-19252
I've got some unboxing pics to upload. Everything fits quite nicely in the wii case.

There are a few mounting holes that would have been useful, but unfortunately they're slightly out. I'm going to have to make some new ones or glue something into the case. The VGA connector lines up with the wii's fan on the back of the case, so I'll have to cut some of that out too.

I've got Ubuntu netbook remix downloading, and will try and boot from USB until I get the correct hard-drive cable.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicThu, 04 Jun 2009 14:58:46 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19106#msg-19106 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,19106#msg-19106 musicinstinct OfftopicWed, 03 Jun 2009 08:43:52 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,18249#msg-18249 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,18249#msg-18249

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DrLucky
wow,their shipping service sucks! that took a while!

Totally, I'd be pissed!]]> scanff OfftopicThu, 28 May 2009 19:13:08 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,18240#msg-18240 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,18240#msg-18240 DrLucky OfftopicThu, 28 May 2009 17:51:43 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,18223#msg-18223 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,18223#msg-18223
The motherboard is now on it's way so I can hopefully get started on putting this thing together soon. I've had the case on the shelf for too long now awaiting it's internal organs.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicThu, 28 May 2009 13:27:25 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,16619#msg-16619 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,16619#msg-16619
I am planning on installing this with a customised version of Ubuntu. I am going to add the bluetooth drivers to enable wiimote support.

Eventually I plan on creating a custom startup app for launching Boxee, Firefox, games, emulators etc, but for now I think I will use the desktop app from Ubuntu Netbook Remix. I am using this on my Eee and it works well. I think the large icons will help with "point-at-ability" using the wiimotes. [www.canonical.com]]]> musicinstinct OfftopicThu, 14 May 2009 14:58:10 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,16527#msg-16527 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,16527#msg-16527 scanff OfftopicThu, 14 May 2009 01:25:38 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15948#msg-15948 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15948#msg-15948
What kind of configuration do you have in mind?]]> DanielHueho OfftopicTue, 05 May 2009 18:17:57 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15927#msg-15927 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15927#msg-15927
I'm quite happy with it. The flap that covers the SD card slot doesn't seem to fit perfectly, and takes a bit of wiggling to get it to click into place when closing, but other than that it all fits together very well. I'll post up some photos later. I will probably end up gluing the battery holder in place as I wont be using it. I guess I'll not be using the gamecube ports either, so they may get glued down as they keep flapping open.

I'm going to go ahead and start ordering the internal components now - the motherboard and power supply boards first. The motherboard comes with a separate IO daughterboard, which I'm going to order anyway but might not end up using. I'm going to order a slimline DVD drive too.

I will need to fabricate a couple of parts. I will need some kind of internal structure to hold everything together. I think a sheet of perspex cut to the right size with mounting brackets glued on will work for this. I also need something to screw onto the front panel to hold the power switches in place. Ideally this would be a small circuit board that was also home to the switches and SD card reader. I already have a small USB SDHC card reader that fell apart so I was planning on mounting this as the front SD card reader.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicTue, 05 May 2009 10:25:11 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15272#msg-15272 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15272#msg-15272
If it works, I'll make the second version in white.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicFri, 24 Apr 2009 08:55:07 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15258#msg-15258 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15258#msg-15258

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DrLucky
why a black case? would a white one look more original wii-ish?

Well, wasn't the "revolution" going to be black?]]> bg4545 OfftopicFri, 24 Apr 2009 05:01:45 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15250#msg-15250 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15250#msg-15250 DrLucky OfftopicFri, 24 Apr 2009 04:04:41 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15232#msg-15232 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15232#msg-15232
[i525.photobucket.com]

A black Wii case, and the Pico-ITX motherboard.

The operating system will be Ubuntu based. I've got my Wiimotes working under Linux, and I'm working on a desktop skin that looks more "wii-like". I'm considering using the Netbook Remix, as that might be more suitable for pointing at icons with the wiimote, or I may code up a simple channel style app launcher.]]> musicinstinct OfftopicFri, 24 Apr 2009 00:37:36 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15229#msg-15229 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15229#msg-15229 DrLucky OfftopicFri, 24 Apr 2009 00:24:08 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15097#msg-15097 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15097#msg-15097 ChuckBartowski OfftopicWed, 22 Apr 2009 04:00:16 +0200 http://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15078#msg-15078 Re: A Wii PChttp://forum.wiibrew.org/read.php?14,15029,15078#msg-15078 musicinstinct OfftopicTue, 21 Apr 2009 22:13:29 +0200