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    Pi Zero W GBA [BUILD]

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    pi zero wgbascreenbuildwip
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    • mooseprM
      moosepr @TechieAndroid
      last edited by

      @techieandroid I'm a firm advocate of the ili9341. It does suffer slightly with tearing but you only really notice on fast changes of full screen colours. There is a guide in my signature if you want to grab a screen to play with. A 2.8 screen should be ok, but they do go up to 3.2 inches

      want to get a tft into your project, look no further than here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7464/ili9341-tft-screen-guide

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      • T
        TechieAndroid @moosepr
        last edited by

        @moosepr
        Looks good enough to me. Thanks for the video, I really couldn't see it tearing, if it does I doubt it's that bad and I doubt my games will be fast enough to make it tear.

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        • T
          TechieAndroid
          last edited by

          I a PowerBoost 1000 and a Li-Po 3.7V 2500 mAh battery because it's small, will last long and it went well with the PowerBoost.
          I also got this screen: 3.2" TFT LCD SSD1289 ILI9341 and this MicroSD which is OP: SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB MicroSDHC UHS-1.
          So... I believe I have everything ordered now, I just have to wait for everything to arrive and the assemble.

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          • HexH
            Hex
            last edited by

            Dont but adafruit displays. you can get a 3.5 inch lcd on ebay for ~15$. These are easily converted to 5v displays. I currently have 2 that work well

            Sent from 20,000 leagues under the sea.

            Powersaver Emulation station : https://github.com/hex007/EmulationStation
            ES dev script : https://github.com/hex007/es-dev/blob/master/es-tests.sh

            T spruce_m00seS 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • T
              TechieAndroid @Hex
              last edited by

              @hex
              3.5" is too big for my build.

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              • T
                TechieAndroid
                last edited by

                //Cost & Parts

                These are my totals which includes tax and shipping (I rounded up).

                $0 GBA (I've had this for some time)

                $12 Raspberry Pi Zero W

                $16 Lithium Ion Polymer Battery - 3.7v 2500mAh

                $17 SanDisk Extreme Pro 16GB MicroSDHC UHS-1

                $20 PowerBoost 1000 Charger - Rechargeable 5V Lipo USB Boost @ 1A - 1000C

                $25 3.2" TFT LCD SSD1289 ILI9341

                Total = $90

                Cost of Freeplay Zero ≃ $125 give or take

                Saved ~ $35

                I think my build will be better quality than a Freeplay Zero because of the battery and some other factors.

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                • HexH
                  Hex
                  last edited by

                  @techieandroid Here is my build. The total cost turned out to be 65$

                  http://imgur.com/a/aQD0M

                  Sent from 20,000 leagues under the sea.

                  Powersaver Emulation station : https://github.com/hex007/EmulationStation
                  ES dev script : https://github.com/hex007/es-dev/blob/master/es-tests.sh

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                  • T
                    TechieAndroid @Hex
                    last edited by TechieAndroid

                    @hex
                    Well... I'm making a GBA (or at least using it as my case to fix the parts into) not a GB/GBC. I would be careful with electronic components that heat up inside that cardboard if I were you. Why did you use cardboard? Just curious.

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                    • HexH
                      Hex
                      last edited by

                      Cardboard allowed a lot of flexibility while making the case and it was zero cost too.

                      That makes my case unique among all other GBZ. I get questions every time I travel.

                      Sent from 20,000 leagues under the sea.

                      Powersaver Emulation station : https://github.com/hex007/EmulationStation
                      ES dev script : https://github.com/hex007/es-dev/blob/master/es-tests.sh

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                      • A
                        AluLagoa @TechieAndroid
                        last edited by

                        @techieandroid $25 for the ili9341? I got mine for less than $10 from AliExpress.

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                        • T
                          TechieAndroid @AluLagoa
                          last edited by TechieAndroid

                          @alulagoa
                          Meh. I don't really care. I don't buy from there. I'm saving over $35 already on my project.

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                          • T
                            TechieAndroid
                            last edited by

                            Got my Pi Zero W and the PowerBoost 1000. Time to build it! :)

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                            • T
                              TechieAndroid
                              last edited by

                              @moosepr
                              I have the ili9341 3.2" version and it has been confusing trying to find the video signal pin on it. I have looked at the documentation and searched online but nobody has posted the connection they used on theirs to the Pi. I probably can figure it out on my own but quicker help would be appreciated greatly.

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                              • T
                                TechieAndroid
                                last edited by

                                This is the most info I've found on it. Doc
                                LCD Pin Description

                                PIN NO. SYMBOL DESCRIPTION FUNCTION
                                1 5V 5V power supply When powered from 5V supply,
                                Pin 1 & Pin 2 as power input,
                                Pin 33 & Pin 34 provide 3.3V output.
                                2 GND Ground GND
                                3 D0 Data pin
                                D0-D15
                                4 D1
                                5 D2
                                6 D3
                                7 D4
                                8 D5
                                9 D6
                                10 D7
                                11 D8
                                12 D9
                                13 D10
                                14 D11
                                15 D12
                                16 D13
                                17 D14
                                18 D15
                                19 CS LCD chip select Low active
                                20 RS Instruction/Data
                                register selection
                                RS = 1 : Data Register
                                RS = 0 : Instruction Register
                                21 WR Write WR = 0,RD = 1
                                22 RD Read WR = 1,RD = 0
                                23 RESET Reset the
                                controller chip
                                Low active
                                24 NC Not connect Not connect
                                25 BLVCC 5V or 3.3V Backlight VCC
                                26 BLGND Ground Backlight GND
                                27 BLCNT Backlight
                                brightness
                                adjustment
                                Control the backlight brightness via PWM
                                28 TP_IRQ Touch screen
                                interrupt Low level while the touch screen detects pressing
                                29 TP_CS Touch screen
                                chip select
                                Low active
                                30 TP_SCK Touch screen SPI
                                clock
                                connects to SPI SCK
                                31 TP_SI Touch screen
                                data input
                                connects to SPI MOSI
                                32 TP_SO Touch screen
                                data output
                                connects to SPI MISO
                                33 3.3V 3.3V power
                                supply
                                When powered from 3.3V supply,
                                Pin 33 & Pin 34 as power input,
                                Pin 1 & Pin 2 keep NC.
                                34 GND Ground

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                                • T
                                  TechieAndroid
                                  last edited by

                                  @moosepr
                                  This is the exact pinout of my model img

                                  mooseprM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • A
                                    AluLagoa
                                    last edited by

                                    http://www.instructables.com/id/Breadboard-RetroPie/

                                    Here you can find the connections needed and driver for the screen to work.

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                                    • mooseprM
                                      moosepr @TechieAndroid
                                      last edited by

                                      @techieandroid that is not a pinout I have come across. It does look like that screen is geared more towards the parallel data connection, but it may still work. If you use the guide in my signature, there may just be the odd pin that has a different name. Are you sure it's ili9341?

                                      want to get a tft into your project, look no further than here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7464/ili9341-tft-screen-guide

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                                      • T
                                        TechieAndroid @AluLagoa
                                        last edited by

                                        @alulagoa
                                        That is not my screen and that link doesn't have the information I needed. I figured it out on my own though.

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                                        • T
                                          TechieAndroid @moosepr
                                          last edited by TechieAndroid

                                          @moosepr

                                          Thanks I looked at that and noticed a few pins I've overlooked, I'll make sure to connect everything up to the appropriate pins.

                                          I'm going to connect the 2 VDD 3.3v on the screen to my PowerBoost 1000 since I didn't want to draw that from the GPIO itself, plus I've already been powering the Pi from the GPIO. I'll GND to the PowerBoost too. I'm going to just connect both 3.3v VDD wires from the screen to the 3.3v on the PowerBoost same goes for connecting both GND wires to the GND on the PowerBoost.

                                          In the end the Pi and display are separated drawing different voltages from the PowerBoost. And the other wires from the display (the data connections) will be connected to the GPIO on the Pi.

                                          It should work. Let me know what you think.

                                          Oh and yes it is a ili9341 screen.

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                                          • T
                                            TechieAndroid
                                            last edited by

                                            @moosepr
                                            Some quick clarification. I took another look at your post and was curious what D/C stood for because I don't have that on mine. The other I was able to match up.
                                            BL is BL on mine
                                            SCK is CLK on mine
                                            MISO is MISO on mine
                                            MOSI is MOSI on mine
                                            CS is CS on mine
                                            RST is RST on mine
                                            D/C is ? on mine (it's going to a GPIO pin I see)
                                            VIN is VDD on mine (I have two of these, both 3.3v)
                                            GND is GND on mine (I have two of these too)

                                            Also I thought about the inconveniences of connecting part of the display to the PowerBoost and decided not to. I see you have your power and ground going to the GPIO pins.

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