So Many Tiny Wires
I've just finished the wiring to add an S3 ViRGE video chip to PikaPC, my PowerPC homebrew computer project. It required hundreds of 30 gauge wires wrapped around hundreds of tiny square posts.
It looks like an absolute mess. I didn't spend as much time as I normally do with making sure each wire is carefully routed in straight lines that follow along rows of pins. Instead, I put more effort into making sure certain bus wires were approximately the same length. Others signals I wanted to make sure were as short as possible and took a direct path that cuts across the board. Wires on top of wires on top of wires.
I'm back at that point I mentioned before: I have sunk so much time into all this wiring with no idea if it will even work. It's intimidating. There is very little chance that this will all just work the first time I throw the switch. I'm going to have to take the time to comb through my schematics, my wiring diagrams, my actual wiring, etc. to figure out what mistakes I've made before this thing will run. It's a lot of hard work.
Preparing the mind for the disappointment of it not just working, for the effort of tracing down problems, for all the thinking and problem solving … it's a tough hurdle. This is the stage where so many of my projects have ended — done with all the manual labor, but too scared and intimidated to even see if it works.
But, I've come all this way and I really want to see this thing run. There's only one path forward — I have to actually throw the switch and see what happens.
… but perhaps not today.
