Gamecube Frontpiece Repair

[Aleu]

My Gamecube has no cover, and as such, the frontpiece has no support to keep it in place. Today someone tripped over the controller lines, though, and the frontpiece (where the controllers plug in) came clean off. The only break in the serial line was where it connected to the frontpiece, not to the actual hub of the game itself. As a result, the controllers bascially don't work.

If we put it back in place and apply pressure, it works fine, but that means someone has to sit up there and hold it down while everyone else plays (not fun :<). A friend suggested soldering it back on, which I'm reluctant to do owing to the fact that I would have to get someone else to do it for me. Another suggestion he had, but wasn't as keen on, was to get some insulation tape and tape it back on. I'm leaning towards this idea more because it'll be convenient and sounds like it'll get the job done.

Those are the only things he could come up with. Does anyone have any suggestions or other solutions? They'd be muchly appreciated ^^ Thanks!

 

[Sharkfood]

Hmm.. it's hard to predict what exactly you broke or where the short is as I have no idea where the damage occurred during the accident and can't see the unit from here hehe.

That being said, a new replacement controller port is like $19 US, much less if you scour Ebay looking for people selling GC parts.

The controller port is the long circuit board with the 4 controller input ports and a ribbon cable that connects it to the motherboard. It just screws on to the chassis and uses the cable. If the problem is simply this controller port is damaged, replacing it is easy. It's just important to identify where the damage is- be it the motherboard (where the ribbon cable connects or the memory slots below which are also part of the motherboard) or just simply the controller port.

Do a search on Ebay for "gamecube controller port" or hit google for many online sources that sell gamecube repair parts.

Also, as your GC has no case, you may want to look into a new case. A big craze for GC owners is to "custom skin" their console. You can buy replacement outer "skins" for cheap too in a variety of wild or conservative color/pattern schemes.

 

[Aleu]

Ah, thank you. The part where the ribbon connects to the controller hub (the green bit behind the grayish cover) is what's broken. The ribbon's disconnected completely from the hub.