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    Pi Zero W GBA [BUILD]

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    pi zero wgbascreenbuildwip
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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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                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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                                  • T
                                    TechieAndroid
                                    last edited by

                                    Dang it. Why isn't it working?! The screen is black when the pi gets power. Maybe if I knew what D/C was on the other screen I could connect that on mine. Not sure if that is why it's not turning on though...

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                                    • T
                                      TechieAndroid
                                      last edited by

                                      alt text

                                      mooseprM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • mooseprM
                                        moosepr @TechieAndroid
                                        last edited by

                                        @techieandroid at a guess i would say your d/c is the rs on the botton of the connector. There may be some investigation needed on the board to see if the MISO and MOSI pins are there for the touch controller, or for the screen, or both. You may need to lift the screen from the pcb and follow some trances to fully see what is going on

                                        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
                                          Thanksv I'll do that. I saw that the GND and GND pins we're already connected with a trace on the board, same goes for VDD. So I guess I only needed to connect to one point, but it doesn't matter.

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                                          • T
                                            TechieAndroid
                                            last edited by TechieAndroid

                                            I ripped the dang ribbon cable connection under the LCD (it was literally impossible to see where it was under there, I had a light and it still didn't help). I admit my strong suit isn't finding out which LCD wires are for what (they aren't marked if you assumed they were, hence why I'm having problems), I have no previous experience in this specific field. I need help. I don't know what I can really do atm. My multimeter bit the dust a while back and I haven't been able to get another. I wish I had an oscilloscope. But I don't. :/ Guess I'll just give up on this screen. Dang it. I hate myself for listening to someone online telling me I could use a ili9341 screen when this screen has no previous history with Pis on the internet.

                                            mooseprM 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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