These are my EverDrives, one for N64 and one for SNES. If you don't know, the EverDrive is a cart that allows you to play roms on original hardware. They are hand made by a talented fellow named krikzz and can also be had for Genesis (MegaDrive), Master System, Game Gear, and soon TG-16 (PC Engine). Krikzz goes above and beyond by continuing to offer support and updates for his products and I highly recommend purchasing one (or several) of these if you enjoy retro gaming.
What is especially great about the EverDrive is that is uses SD and not compact flash. I am not knocking compact flash but SD is much cheaper and readily available in higher capacities than CF and therefor make it easier on the user. Normally the SD card sticks out of the top of the EverDrive making it very convenient to add and remove roms as you please. I don't really like the way this looks and wanted a cleaner looking cart. There are a couple of ways to do this.
1) Buy a special SD card...I believe called Mini SD. That will only take up half the space inside the SD slot in the EverDrive making it possible to use a cart without a hole in it. These aren't so abundant as micro sd.
2)Go the cheaper route and solder in a micro sd adapter directly to the SD slot inside the Everdrive.
The latter is the method I will be showing you today because it is DIY and probably won't require any additional purchases. If you already own a couple of micro SD cards, you most likely own a couple of adapters. If you don't then I am sure you know 5 people that do and will gladly give you one or two. Remember to have ATLEAST 2 adapters. One for soldering into the Everdrive and another if you need to write to the micro SD.
1) Buy a special SD card...I believe called Mini SD. That will only take up half the space inside the SD slot in the EverDrive making it possible to use a cart without a hole in it. These aren't so abundant as micro sd.
2)Go the cheaper route and solder in a micro sd adapter directly to the SD slot inside the Everdrive.
The latter is the method I will be showing you today because it is DIY and probably won't require any additional purchases. If you already own a couple of micro SD cards, you most likely own a couple of adapters. If you don't then I am sure you know 5 people that do and will gladly give you one or two. Remember to have ATLEAST 2 adapters. One for soldering into the Everdrive and another if you need to write to the micro SD.
Let's get started. This is and extremely simple mod and you should not have much trouble. Just be sure to not bridge any spots on the SD adapter or the SD slot on the EverDrive.
Looking at the picture, you can see that the SD adapter is aligned with the SD slot on the EverDrive. Aligning this was will make it easier for soldering in the adapter as with will be completely straightforward. Each connector will line up with the spot on the SD slot on the EverDrive. With that in mind, all you have to do is carefully solder a wire from the connector on the adapter to the corresponding point. If you look carefully at the pic, you will see that the last connector on the SD adapter was not connected to the EverDrive. If your adapter is like mine, and most are, it will have a lock toggle on the top left. The last connector is reserved for this lock and works by bridging the last two connections to lock the card. There really isn't any reason to connect this but fee free doing to extra work if that suits you.
Looking at the picture, you can see that the SD adapter is aligned with the SD slot on the EverDrive. Aligning this was will make it easier for soldering in the adapter as with will be completely straightforward. Each connector will line up with the spot on the SD slot on the EverDrive. With that in mind, all you have to do is carefully solder a wire from the connector on the adapter to the corresponding point. If you look carefully at the pic, you will see that the last connector on the SD adapter was not connected to the EverDrive. If your adapter is like mine, and most are, it will have a lock toggle on the top left. The last connector is reserved for this lock and works by bridging the last two connections to lock the card. There really isn't any reason to connect this but fee free doing to extra work if that suits you.
That is pretty much it. You could leave the SD adapter loose but let's finish things up with a little double sided electrical tape. This will keep the adapter from rattling loose inside the cart.
One last thing, the Everdrive64 has two small LEDs inside of it. Now that there is no slot cut into the top of the cart, you don't see the light coming from them. It is not a big deal but I liked seeing the LEDs light up when the N64 is turned on or when a game loads up. The remedy for the this is even easier than the previous mod. I simply drilled a small hole, just big enough to fit a small LED, in the front of the Everdrive64. I don't actually connect the LED, rather I cut of the leads to the LED (NOT ON THE EVERDRIVE!!!) that I insert in to the cart and use a little super glue to keep it in place. Close it up and now when you turn on the EverDrive, the LED glued into the cart acts as a window and shows the light from the Everdrive64. It works surprisingly well.
One last thing, the Everdrive64 has two small LEDs inside of it. Now that there is no slot cut into the top of the cart, you don't see the light coming from them. It is not a big deal but I liked seeing the LEDs light up when the N64 is turned on or when a game loads up. The remedy for the this is even easier than the previous mod. I simply drilled a small hole, just big enough to fit a small LED, in the front of the Everdrive64. I don't actually connect the LED, rather I cut of the leads to the LED (NOT ON THE EVERDRIVE!!!) that I insert in to the cart and use a little super glue to keep it in place. Close it up and now when you turn on the EverDrive, the LED glued into the cart acts as a window and shows the light from the Everdrive64. It works surprisingly well.
