- The Gear
- Removing the cover
- Removing the LCD
- The Wi-Fi Antenna
- Getting to the Wi-Fi Card
- Summary
The Wi-Fi Antenna
Earlier I had noticed what I thought was an antenna on the right side of the PSP under the PlayStation controller circuit board. To verify this, I slowly pried the circuit board over the upper catch and lifted it up off the PSP. This piece could be fully removed if you wanted to take out the Right trigger button, but I just wanted it out of the way. To achieve this, I simply lifted the circuit strip connector and flipped the controller circuit board over the top of the PSP. This gave me a clear shot of the antenna and its connecting wire, as detailed below (Figure 4). With this now laid bare, it would be fairly easy to add my own external antenna. However, if the WNIC had a connector on it that I could plug into, the embedded antenna could be complete stripped! Hmm...
Figure 4: Wi-Fi antenna and connecting wire.
The Main Circuit Board
Next I targeted the main circuit board from the PSP. This proved to be difficult. First I had to remove one screw previously hidden by the LCD tray. Then I had to remove the left side PSP controller, which was snuggly inserted between the circuit board and the case of the PSP. Removing this once again involved lifting a circuit strip connector, but by now you should be familiar with how this process works. Next I had to disconnect a circuit strip located near the bottom of the PSP that connects the UMD drive to the main board. Once this piece was disconnected, I slowly worked the circuit board up off the PSP. As I learned, the board was connected to the rest of the PSP via a male/female connector. This connector is located almost directly under the LCD connectors on the circuit board. As a result, you can leverage the circuit board up by using the upper left of the PSP to push the board out of the male/female plug. Figure 5 shows you what the PSP should look like at this point. You can optionally remove the small connectors at the bottom of the PSP that connect up to the speakers. However, for my purposes, I left these connected and simply flipped the main board over once it was removed.
Figure 5: PSP with Circuit board off