Gameboy Advance SPi

monstermadeofman · 12 Sept 2016, 12:30

So after completing my first little Retropie build. I'm now looking at putting a Pi Zero into one of these little beauties...

This is kinda of a little bit of my child hood as I had one of these and I was extremely upset when it died.

Part of my idea for this is to use a Gameboy Advance game cartridge to be the micro SD card dock.

Looking at the pins this should not be hard at all

So part of this build would involve using the back lit screen which came in some later models which are surprisingly easy to get hold of on ebay.

Anyone got any idea how easy this might be to wire into a Pi Zero if at all? I love these screens and I'm only looking at emulating up to Gameboy Advance is possible.

The Button layout will have to be ever so slightly altered, or the other option might be to use the shoulder buttons as the X and Y in SNES emulation and such.

Now here's the BIGGEST question. Does anyone else this is even possible? This is my only my second project and I've not long got into this sort of thing and I'm really enjoying it. Is there a chance that I'm trying to run before I can walk?

I'm hunting for some broken GBA SP's on Ebay along with new casing just so that I have the guts I can possibly use for parts.

XVO · 12 Sept 2016, 13:22

I have a near complete SP101 board withcasing. I used it for the ags001 screenmod, so if you're still looking for the parts let me know ;)

monstermadeofman · 12 Sept 2016, 13:55

@XVO

That would be most awesome dude! Would make trawling through Ebay a lot less strenuous.

I of course would not expect you to part with such items with out some recompense :)

XVO · 12 Sept 2016, 14:00

If you pay for the shipping and keep me informed about the project then it's fine with me. But remember it doesn't have a screen, not that a gba screen can be used with the rpi ;)

monstermadeofman · 12 Sept 2016, 14:08

@XVO

That's Cool with me dude :) Let me just get Fridays pay day here and we can sort it out :D.

I was really hoping I could get one of the back lit SP screens working with a Pi, but I'm finding more and more stuff that says otherwise. But I'll hold hope!

XVO · 9 Dec 2016, 15:41

@monstermadeofman

I first have to find the parts though ;) they must be somewhere in the house :p

Edit:
I did find the shell, but not the mainboard and parts :(

monstermadeofman · 13 Sept 2016, 11:25

@XVO

That's fine dude :) Might I ask what sort of condition the case is in? I've managed to find a board that some one is selling on Ebay.

XVO · 13 Sept 2016, 11:34

@monstermadeofman

It's pink and has a scratch on the frontplate.
![0_1473766358578_14737663281061217268177.jpg](Uploading 100%)

It also lacks the backplate, so there have to be a second box with parts somewhere in my house

obsidianspider · 13 Sept 2016, 12:24

I think the problem you'll run into with using a real Gameboy screen would be to find a driver for it. AGS-101 screens are also highly sought after by people who want to use them for an AGB-101 mod.

monstermadeofman · 13 Sept 2016, 12:39

@obsidianspider

Finding them hasn't bin remotely hard, it's as you said finding the drivers.

I've since started looking at the adafruit 2.8 inch LCD Touch Screen as an option.

The biggest hurdle will be fitting everything nice and neatly into the housing whilst still retaining the GBA SP look. Something I want to avoid is too much cutting and drilling of the case.

I hope to use the original charging dock and and volume and power switches. I've ordered from Ebay and old motherboard that has been put up for spares and repairs for £5. So if it's not good I've not lost alot of money on it :)

obsidianspider · 13 Sept 2016, 12:55

@monstermadeofman

Look into "ILI9341 2.8" screens on eBay. After seeing moosepr's Pi Zero Portable project I got a 2.2" one for $8.99 including shipping. 2.8" ones seem to be around $10 from what I've seen (including shipping). I don't know about the board sticking out too far on either end to fit the SP case, but the Adafruit touch screens have a pretty big border too.

monstermadeofman · 13 Sept 2016, 12:59

@obsidianspider said in Gameboy Advance SPi:

ILI9341 2.8

I'll have a gander at thanks :)

I know the adafruit one is about 85mm, and the spacing internally on the SP housing is 84mm. But I'm sure I can get creative! haha

XVO · 13 Sept 2016, 17:36

@monstermadeofman
New Replacement for nintendo Gameboy Advance SP GBA SP Games Console Shell Housing with button battery cover with opening tool
http://s.aliexpress.com/MFN7ryE3
(from AliExpress Android)

Cheap casings ;)

monstermadeofman · 13 Sept 2016, 20:30

@XVO
Thanks dude :) Already found a quite a few on Ebay coming from the UK (where I live). So i'll order off of them for cheap delivery and quick delivery :)

I did find though adafruit do a cool little thing that I can adapt

https://www.adafruit.com/products/3160

It's not in stock at the moment, but I will be keeping my eye out :D

monstermadeofman · 14 Sept 2016, 10:05

Does anyone think that using the orgignal battery for SP would be viable?

its a 3.7V 850 mAh Lithium Ion. Do You think this would be enough to run the TFT screen and Pi?

suprjami · 14 Sept 2016, 10:29

@monstermadeofman The original was 600mAh wasn't it? Either way, you'll probably get an hour or less out of that. A mobile phone battery is typically 4x that capacity or more and lasts 3-5 hours.

monstermadeofman · 14 Sept 2016, 10:50

@suprjami
They upgraded to a 850 mAh for the back lit version I beleive. Considering that the SP playable battery life was 8 hours with the 600 mAh.

What phone batter would you suggest? As I'd ideally like to have something that fits in the battery compartment of the SP

suprjami · 15 Sept 2016, 04:10

@monstermadeofman I don't know of a phone battery that small sorry. I guess you'd need to find dimensions of batteries and measure up the compartment. You might have to modify the battery compartment to fit something good in. I guess you'd want at least 2000mAh.