PiSP Pocket
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@NeoTrace - Yes I used the original GBP power switch. It's wired to the Powerboost 1000c's "EN" pin which is perfect for switches like that.
@senkun - Thanks! On paper I tested the dimensions of various screens, but decided on a 2.2" since it fit inside the existing GBP window (outlined by the grey border of the display lens). But now I'm considering building another and think I could fit a 2.8" tft. But the trick will be cleanly modifying the lens to accommodate...3.2" measures a little too wide to fit at 80mm (3.14") when the GBP is 3" wide.
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great, didn't know that
had only soldered a mausberry circuits till now, which doesn't really fit here :Djust got 2 broken Gameboy Classics, hope they will be here on Friday so i can dissemble them and plan further steps
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Updated the original post with a video :)
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If your looking for a soft shutdown switch for RetroPie you can follow this link to a tutorial from elemit14. "https://www.element14.com/community/docs/DOC-78055/l/adding-a-shutdown-button-to-the-raspberry-pi-b". I have used this on my RetroPie RPi3 and it works great. You can change what GPIO is used in the program. I also used the Powerboost 1000c and put a switch per the Adafruit tutorial that will completely turn off the power drain when turned off.
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@glennlake Thanks for the tips! So the "Shutdown System" option in Retropie isn't a good shutdown procedure?
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@TheLuthier Ether way is safe. The mausberry circuit was mentioned and I thought this software shutdown would be more pocket gameboy friendly as all you would need is a switch to shutdown the Pi. I have used the mausberry circuit to power off a Pi and it is great for portable setups as it will completely cut power to the Pi but on the down side it draws some power from the battery wile in use. I haven't measured how much but it may be an issue. By the way I love your project. I am working on a build with a Pi3 and a 5 in screen. Will share when finished.
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@glennlake Oh I see what you mean - Yeah, my setup goes: Software shutdown --> slide switch to off. Guess I've been doing it so much that I forgot how unintuitive it is. Thanks for the suggestion! I'm certainly going to look into it. And I look forward to seeing you rpi3 project!
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I love what you have done to the raspberry pi 3, do you think that you will add a tutorial somewhere?
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@Velocireed - Thanks! I wasn't planning on a tutorial since someone else essentially already did: http://www.xodustech.com/projects/raspberry-pi-gameboy-pocket. There's just small-ish differences in specific components, but it's mostly the same.
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@TheLuthier
Oh, okay. Thanks for the response! I was just hoping for a tutorial on how you got both of the circle pads working. -
@Velocireed - Yeah, so those were easy to connect to the Teensy 2.0 - It's straight-forward to identify the analog inputs. The trickiest part was figuring out that I needed to re- map the input range of my joysticks. Basically the holes I drilled weren't perfect so they slightly limited the range of movement. For example, let's say the hole only allowed the stick to move to a value of 850 out of an expected 1000, in a particular axis. I had to script in my teensyduino sketch to remap 850 --> 1000 and on the low end, lets say it was -910, which had to be mapped to -1000. And do that individually for each axis. Other wise it wouldn't behave fully during gameplay.
I know that's more of a tip instead of a tutorial, but it's the only real hurdle I ran into.
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@TheLuthier
Thanks! I was hoping someone would help me with that! -
@TheLuthier - This is the inspiration for my next project (After the portable I'm currently working on)!
I stumbled across your video on YouTube about a week ago and it reminded me of another great project I once saw on the Raspberry Pi forums by a user who went under the name of Djinny. She had made a portable with one analog stick and a Pi2 in a DMG and for a long time I was thinking that would be my goal for a future build. When I saw that you somehow crammed a Pi3, two analog sticks and all the shoulder buttons into a gameboy pocket my mind was successfully blown.
The only thing I would want to see different with this is a slightly larger screen, as other people have already mentioned. I suppose that's easy to say as I'm not the one with a gameboy pocket shell sat in front of me trying to work out how to make it all fit.
Keep up the good work and don't bother fighting those modding urges. I look forward to seeing what you come up with next.
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@Pifan - Haha I'm thrilled that you're calling this project an inspiration to you! Thanks for the comment :)
The only thing I would want to see different with this is a slightly larger screen, as other people have already mentioned. I suppose that's easy to say as I'm not the one with a gameboy pocket shell sat in front of me trying to work out how to make it all fit.
I'm already drawing up plans and buying parts for a new and improved version - One part being a 2.8" display! It's sooo close to fitting in the stock screen hole - my hopes are high for making it fit without cutting a sliver out of the sides. Also I'm keen to try some epoxy putty magic to swap the stock buttons for 3DS buttons and analog sticks. I played around with one recently and the analog stick is leagues better than the PSP one. Anyhoo, here's a screenshot of the design so far:
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Nice design! It looks like something nintendo would make!
Do you think the pi 3 would work in a gameboy advance?
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Nice design! It looks like something nintendo would make!
Hey thanks! Quite a compliment :)
Do you think the pi 3 would work in a gameboy advance?
Based on the dimensions of the GBA and rpi3, yes I think it would work.
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@TheLuthier - The design is convincing, should make for another great portable. Assuming you will, how are you going to implement shoulder buttons on this one, on the back or sides?
Also I'm keen to try some epoxy putty magic to swap the stock buttons for 3DS buttons and analog sticks.
Do you mean like the kind of 'Frankencasing' technique that is quite popular over on the ModRetro forums?
I played around with one recently and the analog stick is leagues better than the PSP one.
That's interesting, I haven't owned or played a PSP before, nor do I own a DS. I did spend a while playing on a DS in a shop one time, before realising there was a small queue of disappointed children forming behind me. I have to say that the DS sliders seemed very good, quite durable too, although I have heard that Smash Bros DS is a good analog stick wrecker.
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Assuming you will, how are you going to implement shoulder buttons on this one, on the back or sides?
I purchased a busted Wii remote for the buttons and pads that I'll use for the shoulder buttons - The small buttons like the home and power buttons. So same basic concept as this first black version, as in they'll be on the sides, but I'd like to try and move them higher. I think it'd be difficult to push buttons on the backside since it requires opposite pressure from my thumbs on the front side.
Do you mean like the kind of 'Frankencasing' technique that is quite popular over on the ModRetro forums?
Yes indeed, that's what I mean. I keep reading how much work and patience it takes, but I can't help but want to try it. I feel that's the "next step" in my modding journey ;P
before realising there was a small queue of disappointed children forming behind me...
XD
I have to say that the DS sliders seemed very good, quite durable too, although I have heard that Smash Bros DS is a good analog stick wrecker.
Yikes, that's good to know. Ironically I'm not much of a gamer, so hopefully I wouldn't have to worry about playing to the point of wrecking. But if I do, I suppose fixing it would be easy enough since I'm building the thing.
@Pifan - What portable are you currently working on?
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@TheLuthier - Well I'm looking forwards to seeing how this one turns out, especially with the new analog sticks, they seem ideal.
Do you mean like the kind of 'Frankencasing' technique that is quite popular over on the ModRetro forums?
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Yes indeed, that's what I mean. I keep reading how much work and patience it takes, but I can't help but want to try it. I feel that's the "next step" in my modding journey ;PAgreed, to make it look good you need to spend quite a bit of time sanding I think. And then if you wanted it completely seamless you may want to paint it too which also adds an extra step.
Ironically I'm not much of a gamer, so hopefully I wouldn't have to worry about playing to the point of wrecking.
As it happens, I hadn't played games for about 10 years. I decided that I wanted to get into electronics after watching Ben Heck in my lunch breaks. Since playing around with portable building I found Retropie so much fun that I have been getting increasingly back into gaming.
What portable are you currently working on?
I'm currently working on a fairly standard DMG Original Gameboy type build. It's going to have a GBA button configuration - A,B,L,R,Start,Select. Since there will be lots of space in the case I think I will mount the shoulder buttons at the back in the battery compartment as that's where my fingers tend to fall when holding it. Seeing as I only have a replica shell and no internal workings I intend to etch my own circuit board to go inside. I don't know how well this will turn out in practice as I have never done one before. Currently, I don't have any pictures of anything I have worked on online, I hope to get some uploaded soon.
EDIT - I finally got some pictures up from my first project, you can take a look here if you did feel like checking it out. How is your new project coming along, have you done any frankencasing yet?
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Edit: I'm a dummy and didn't notice adafruit sells the kits so that answered most of my questions except for one...was that 2.8in screen from adafruit? If so, did you ever get it to fit on the pocket? If not, I might be tempted to go with a regular gameboy.
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