Building the NanoConsole

The NanoConsole is designed to be simple to build. Once you have a PCB and the components (see the hardware directory on the repository), you can solder it in about an hour.

This is not a soldering tutorial: there are good ones on the internet or YouTube! There are several ways to solder SMD components: with solder paste and a heat gun, a stencil and a reflow oven/board, or a simple soldering iron. We'll use the soldering iron here as it's the method with the most common tools.

The tools used here are standard:

Optionally, it could be simpler if you have access to:

Be careful: a soldering iron is VERY hot (around 300°C), so take care not to burn yourself, the building or the cat. Also work in a ventilated room and don't inhale fumes. (You didn't quit smoking to start on flux). Use leaded or lead-free solder appropriately and with care and wash you hands after touching all of those chemicals like your mom taught you.

Soldering and testing the USB-C connector

The USB-C connector is the most complex component to solder. You can watch the soldering video, but in general we try to provide boards with the USB-C connector already soldered - with the help of a heat gun, flux and tears. Just remove the flux after you solder with a swab and isopropyl alcohol

We use a USB-C adapter and a multimeter to check the contacts against test pads on the board itself. Note that you must test all the pins, since the connector can be inserted either way.

Soldering the SMD components

After the USB-C plug, you will need to solder the SMD components. Since they are smaller, it's more practical to solder them first (you can see what you're soldering and have room for your iron), and then the bulkier through-hole components.

Passives: resistors and capacitors

The resistors and capacitors are the smallest components, with only 2 pins. They seem small but are quite easy to solder! Resistors and capacitors don't have a polarity, so you can solder them either way round (well, not standing up).

To read the value of a resistor: 1) read the sticker on the bag it's packaged in, 2) use a multimeter, or 3) with good eyes, read the tiny numbers on the component itself. For example, 512 means digits 5 and 1 followed by two zeros: 5100 Ω (this is pronounced ohm), i.e. 5.1 kΩ. Likewise, 104 means 1, 0, then four zeros: 100,000 Ω, i.e. 100 kΩ. Capacitors have no markings but here we're only using one kind.

First take a resistor with your tweezers, place it, solder one pin, check that it's correctly placed (if not, reheat and reposition it), then solder the other pin.

You're using too much solder: people generally use too much solder and too little flux.

SMD ICs & components

They can seem scary to solder but are actually quite simple. You can have a look at the video, or at the many tutorials online. First, solder a single pin. Check the placement: all the other pins should be nicely aligned with their solder pads. For the big IC, also check the orientation dot (pin 1). This is important because you cannot reheat more than one pin at a time with a soldering iron, so you won't be able to move the component once two or more pins are soldered. Placing it correctly matters! If it's not right, reheat the pin and move the component a little with your tweezers, then check again. Be careful not to bend a pin while doing this!

After the first pin has been soldered, add some flux to the pins, then drag your soldering iron along them with a little solder on it. All pins should solder easily.

If you made a mistake, don't panic! If it's a solder bridge (a blob of solder joining several pins), you probably used too much solder and too little flux: remove it with solder wick, or add more flux and drag the excess away if there isn't much. There's a good guide to solder bridges here, and many video tutorials online. If it's a badly placed multi-pin component (upside down, angled or not on the pads), use a heat gun, then move it - it might even fall into place by itself.

You also need to solder your first through-hole component now: the small 3-pin connector used to flash the bootloader onto the CH32V003 chip.

Testing the board

At this point, you already have something you can test. On your own or with someone's help, you can check:

Note that the bootloader is only active for 5 seconds! After that it starts the game, so to flash a new one you'll have to unplug and re-plug the USB cable and run minichlink within those 5 seconds. It helps if you wrote the commandline before. The bootloader should enumerate as an HID device with VID:1209 and PID:B003 by default. Use lsusb on Linux/macOS, or wmic path Win32_PnPEntity where "DeviceID like 'USB%'" get Caption, DeviceID on Windows, to list USB devices.

If you succeeded, you have soldered everything correctly so far! Congratulations! Now proceed to soldering the last components.

Soldering the through-hole components

Through-hole components are easier to solder, if a bit bulkier, and they shouldn't be a problem at this point. For each part, solder one pin, check that it sits flat against the board, then solder the rest. Solder, in order:

Final Testing

Now test everything: when plugged in, the board should play a few notes; if you plug it into a screen, a moving picture should be displayed; and if you press the buttons, a pixel should move with some noise. If everything works, CONGRATULATIONS!

Need help tracking down an issue? Give feedback? Head to the Discord server! 2026/10/2 - makapuf