[ChipD] successfully installed two NAND flash chips into his Wii. He can keep the stock firmware on one and then flip a switch if he wants to boot using the other chip with a modified firmware. This hack is fairly straight forward. All it took was someone with steady hands to try it out. The new NAND chip is identical to the original and was salvaged from a flash drive. The chips were soldered as a stack except for the chip enable pin. The chip enable from each chip is attached to a small switch to toggle between which is active. You could use a TSOP socket to swap the different chips, but it wouldn’t fit inside the Wii case. This little switch could be hidden easily next to the GameCube ports.
Month: June 2008
CRT Blinkenlights
[Julien] sent in his group’s twist on the now classic blinkenlights project. Oddly, the writeup is entirely in jpg form, so I can’t know if he’s finished it yet. One of them promised to send it in during our New uses for old CRT monitors HackIt, so it’s nice to hear something about it. While the classic blinkenlights uses building windows as pixels, this version divides CRT displays into four squares.
Bionic Senses
Various cybernetic limb and organ replacements were recently featured in IEEE’s flash demo called The Bionic Body Shop, but we were most interested by the bionic eye and the cochlear implant (we already discussed the featured powered exoskeleton). These are notable for the fact that they are not merely high-tech prosthetic replacements strapped to or worn on the body, but implants that are housed within the body and work with flesh-and-blood sense organs on a much closer level than any preceding technology.
Obsolete Technology Band
Radiohead held a contest for fans to remix the single Nude from their album In Rainbows. Frontman Thom Yorke mentioned on NPR that the contest was essentially a joke, since the Nude track is recorded at 6/8 timing and 63bpm, much slower than traditionally mixed music. The above video from [James Houston] is one of the most creative entries. Using old computer hardware he has recreated the track in a very unique way. He uses a Sinclair ZX Spectrum for the guitar track, a dot matrix printer for the drums, a scanner for bass, and a hard drive array for vocals.
Want to make your own band with obsolete technology? Click through for a few pointers to get you started.
HP Color LaserJet 2600n Teardown
In the ongoing quest to find parts for new projects by scavenging old devices, the curiously sane and benevolent team at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories took apart an HP Color LaserJet 2600n. They wanted to see what makes it tick and what parts can be culled from it for later use.
One Handed Controller Available For Pre-order
You are probably familiar with the work of [Ben Heckendorn]. His latest commercial project, the one handed Access Controller, is now available for pre-order. A well known modder, he has created several unique video game console adaptations including a scratch built one handed Xbox 360 controller.
A unique feature of this controller is that it allows you to change the location of the buttons/joysticks. This modular design can be swapped and customized depending on your needs. Ben is including a guide for creating your own modules, should you be so inclined. The device uses 2.4Ghz wireless to communicate and is available for $129.99.
Since we know you are more interested in hacks than gadgets, be sure to checkout Heckendorn’s nice collection of how-tos on Engadget.
[via Engadget]
Building A MIDIbox SID
We’ve discussed MIDIboxes before (and once before that), but we’ve never really told you what goes into them or how to build one. We’ll take you through the process after the break.
