NeoPiGamer
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I'm not sure that I completely like it, but it should be fairly simple to add something like one of the following near the A/B buttons (and just run wires to them).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5Pcs-SPST-2-Positions-Momentary-Action-Green-Push-Button-Switch-AC-250V-3A-/231269454219?hash=item35d8bbd18b:g:mu8AAOSwfZhXMp4V
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Red-2-Pin-SPST-Miniature-0-5A-125VAC-8mm-Mounting-Hole-Push-Button-Switch-/281102709018?hash=item417306f11a:g:Z2gAAOxyPepRkdgj
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Green-2Pin-SPST-Miniature-0-5A-125VAC-8mm-Hole-OFF-ON-NO-PushButton-Switch-/261901046464?hash=item3cfa84d2c0:g:kfQAAOxyTMdTOl5~ -
@obsidianspider - Thanks. I couldn't agree more.
I'm away from home at the moment and can't take additional photos, so I'll do the best I can to describe what I did.
I used two 6mm tactile button switches, a perfboard, and modded buttons from a broken Nintendo DS Lite for the additional Y and X buttons.
First I soldered the two 6mm tactile buttons to the perfboard with one line of space between them. Then I soldered the switches along the middle so that they can share ground. Next, I cut the perfboard to the exact dimensions of the two switches side by side. I solder wires from the switches to the GPIO pins on the Pi Zero along with ground and we now have functional switches.
Now comes the tricky part. I lined up the switches to the exact locations of where I want my buttons to be and marked the location on the face of the GBA. Then I used a drill bit the exact same diameter as the switches and drilled the holes. The result are two holes big enough to house both switches with space between them similar to the original button holes .
Now comes the even trickier part. I needed some way to support the switches so that they are flush with the holes leaving enough space for the actual buttons, so I used a few layers of double sided mounting tape to support the perfboard against the PCB in the right position. I had to cut the two sides of the metal support of the right shoulder button switch to make room. It was a little tricky, but it worked out great.
Then I took the X and Y buttons from the broken DS Lite and cut away the extra pieces at the bottom of the buttons so that the buttons are completely flush with the drilled holes with minimal room for movement. I used Loctite Super Glue Ultragel Control to chemically bond the middle of the back of each button to the top of the switches. Let it set over night and boom ... the Y and X buttons are ready.
@mrvanes - I'm not sure how well buttons mounted on the outside are going to work especially for non-NES games like those for Neo Geo where all four buttons are used heavily.
@Flavor - Looks like you're using a custom PCB. Did you design it or source it from someone else?
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@Flavor - Looks like you're using a custom PCB. Did you design it or source it from someone else?
We produced it.
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is there a power and ground for the controls on each half of the control pad? also how did you connect the display to the pi zero
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Yes, each half of the remaining GBA PCB have their own ground pinouts located at the locations quoted in the previous post.
My previous post in this thread linked below explains how I modified, connected, and configured the display in great detail.
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The shoulder button supports are a massive ground I conveniently used here.
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Hi Tekkaman_Slade.
First. This is the most awesome gba transformation.
Second. I would like to ask few things since I am thinking of similar build. I am thinking of few possibilities how to suite my purpose and would like to know what you think about it.
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cutting more of the original PCB.
Purpose is to make up more room. Do you see any possible problems except the need to replace the connection for common ground and the "mounting of more peaces of PCB". -
would be possible to show a but more pictures ? for example with the whole assembly together (battery...lcd on its place.. etc).
Thanks a lot for the reply.
Ondrej
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I'm documenting my effort on my personal wiki, you can take a look here http://wiki.mrvanes.com/wiki/mrvanes/view/Raspberry+Pi/Advance+Zero/ for detailed pictures of my WIP.
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@mrvanes
Thanks. Nice progress. Now it is back to the board to figure out how to add a joystick and perhaps a hubpiwi . Good luck with the finish of the build. Ill keep you guys up to date with the progress. thanks again.Ondrej
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In addition to cutting out the middle/green portion of the original PCB, I also removed all of the capacitors to reduce the depth of the PCB as well. After that, there's isn't much else left to cut without ruining the board.
It's hard to take more pictures of the internals of the NeoPiGamer without completely taking it apart since the pi zero is connected to components in the front and the back of the unit. I'll see what I can do as I might be opening it up for some minor tweaks soon.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about your addition of a joystick. I'm considering doing the same on my next GBA build.
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@agentKrowka I wouldn't go for a hubpiwi (had to google to see what it was) as you can dismantle a multiport usb port quite easily and have wifi optional if you create an external USB connector. Saves space and battery since I don't need wifi while gaming. Cascading USB hubs are no problem, so you can attach keyboard and wifi dongle to the hub'ed output.
I needed the hub because I prefer audio via (dismantled) usb audio plug as you can see. Has enough power to drive the speaker or headphones so no need for the tiny amp. -
@mrvanes Yeah I was thinking about the bat. life /space / cost. For now I want to try to use it if possible since I have one already laying around. But so far it proves to be a bit too big anyway. So now I am looking for the usb hub option. Something cheap and tiny to compare the size/bat. efficiency etc.
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So, last week the mini micro JST 2.0 PH 2-Pin connectors arrived and I had the time to complete my GBA-Zero project. Nice touch is that I kept the battery compartment intact and now contains a home-made 2AA-cell Li-ion pack.
http://wiki.mrvanes.com/wiki/mrvanes/view/Raspberry+Pi/Advance+Zero/
Hope the pics may be of any help to anyone. Happy hacking! -
@mrvanes Nice visual build log! In the spirit of build logs, here's another a guy sent to me. https://pitendo.wordpress.com/2016/10/03/gamepie-advance-build/
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@mrvanes By the way, could you post some more details (text and/or photos) of your X/Y button setup?
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I don't have more pictures than what you see, only higher resolution. I had to build an elevated structure using perfboard to lift the microswithes above the GBA PCB, because I used the test pin connection for the A/B buttons situated there. Then I glued the 3DS X/Y buttons using 2 component glue to the microswitches. I had to drill out some support structure and remove the well gliders from the X/Y buttons.
Sometime, I will write some comments around the pics to clarify what I did, just don't hold your breath.
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@mrvanes Hi. Great job man :) Interesting choice for the battery. Are those 2x 2500mah ? Did you had any chance to check how long they last in "real play" conditions ?
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They're ordered as 2900 (per AA!), but I don't believe they have that much juice, or I destroyed them while soldering the pack. I get about 1-2 hr pure playtime on a full charge. I'll time it someday. I did tweak config.txt back to 30fps refresh for the piTFT overlay instead of 60 yesterday, so that may add some stamina? I also made a GBZero and that one lasted way longer on a single 2600 Adafruit LiPo.
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@mrvanes Well if you went for 14500 Li-ions - I know what you mean. I am yet to meat a good quality bat. of that sort (they usually have around 900 mah :/ ) Maybe you could try to squeeze in some 16650 bat. But they are a bit too long as far as I can see.
I am trying to go with a 3.7v 3000mah flat lipo (64x48x8 mm) ... I think I cna fit it in if I rly try hard this weekend :D -
Yes, they're 14500's. I made the mistake of ordering 18650's (pack) before I knew the difference (I allways call them AA's when I buy alkalines). Was a bitter surprise when they arrived after 3 weeks transport. But why would they print/sell/advertise 2900 when it's actually 900 (apart from blatantly lying for profit)?
And yes, you will never fit 18650's in the GBA.
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