Pi in a Sega Genesis USB Hub Build
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@meyemind. my buddy ordered the switches so i have to get the info from him tonight when he gets home. it is a 2 position switch. for an on off switch you only solder a wire to the middle and the on side.
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@hansolo77 i am not using a mausberry so i am just going to wire the 5v wire from the hub directly onto the power switch. I did that with my nes cart.
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@meyemind @obsidianspider here is a link to the switches i bought if it helps you any. It is a 10 pack for cheap
switches link -
@edmaul69 Thanks you kindly, these look like they will work out well!
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@cyperghost Thank you for the insight regarding the audio jack w/ a switch, that sounds like a great plan and a bummer that the PS4 slider won't work out (even though the lineup of the volume slider and the jack pretty much worked for this usb case!! :) I'm going to look at picking up a pot and 3.5 w/ switch online today, thank you again.
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Even though my power switch seems to be floating around in the mail system, I decided to get everything else done on the build this morning.
I removed the "In" and "Out" pins as well as the spring header from from the Mausberry. I then soldered the power out to the lines on the Pi's micro USB test pads and soldered some 28 AWG wires to the GPIO pins for the Mausberry's soft shutdown to function. I used 22 AWG wire for the switch lines. That's most certainly overkill as I'm pretty sure that's just a trigger wire, but once everything was connected I put some hot glue on the solder points for strain relief.
I filed the existing power hole to allow the micro USB power port to fit. The round hole is a bit too tall, but you can't exactly put plastic back that was never there to begin with. It's not perfect, but it works.
Since the Mausberry's mounting holes are on the side where there is a ridge inside the case I decided to just use the pressure of the case to keep the outside in place and to glue a riser with a stud in the back so when you insert the micro USB cable the Mausberry has a something to back into so it won't move.
I rerouted the USB connection to the top of the board, securing those solder points with some hot glue for strain relief and then screwed everything in place.
There's a slight bulge in the middle of the case, but I think that's from the power wire on the bottom, not the heatsink (I guess I'll find out if something melts) but it's not too bad, and it's in the back.
Until my real power switch shows up I'm just using a spare light switch to control the Mausberry. It's utilitarian, but it works.
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Why did you remove the spring headers and the in/out pins on the Mausberry? Was it because of case clearance, or did it just make the permanent attachment of the wires easier that way? Other than that, looks good. Can't wait to see how you work the power switch.
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@hansolo77 I removed the pins for in/out because they were really close to the USB and Ethernet housing, and to be honest, I didn't want a bunch of wires flopping all over. I chose to solder the power wires because I know Pi3 can be finicky with power, so I wanted a solid connection, plus it looks cleaner.
Clearance wa not an issue in either case, but I did put some electrical tape over the Ethernet port because of soldering the switch wires and the connection being a little close for comfort.
I just hope my switch actually shows up! ;)
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My switch arrived Tuesday and I was able to get my build complete on my lunch break today.
The switch I ordered was a very good fit size-wise for the Genesis USB hub's slider.
In order for the switch to fit the case I had to remove half of the nubs that the lock the slider in place. I did this with an xacto knife.
I used hot glue to secure the switch to the slider first, then I soldered the power wires to the switch, then I glued the switch to the case. I had to trim a bit of the glue as it caused some binding with the slider, but overall it seemed to turn out pretty well. I chose to use a JST connector to make taking the case apart manageable in case I want to swap out the SD card or if something breaks. I'm not sure how durable the hot glue will be, but with quite a few on-off cycles, it seems to work pretty well.
It's about time that I actually finished at least one build that I started this year.
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@obsidianspider awesome job. Awaiting my switches. Quick question. It seems you don't have the mausberry USB plugged in. Did you just solder the pads directly due to it wouldn't fit other wise? I have the zero, would this same setup work with the zero as well? Mausberry just got restock and I'm going to make a purchase but want to make sure I'm getting what I need
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Looking good. I think I'll order my switches from them too. @obsidianspider - Did you happen to test all 4 USB hubs to see if they are identified left to right or not? I haven't taken mine out of the box yet, and actually don't have 2 USB controllers to test with. I'm curious to know if the left port is recognized in RetroPie as Player 1 and the next one as Player 2, or if some finagling is required.
Who's Scruffy Looking?
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@hansolo77 I haven't tried multiple controllers to see how RetroPie tries to number them, but I did plug in a controller, keyboard, and two USB drives concurrently and the Pi didn't flinch.
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@hansolo77 if you order the switch i posted you dont have to cut the tabs to make it fit. plus you can solder and desolder wires easier.
@obsidianspider awesome job finishing the genesis.
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Forgive me, I read all the posts in the thread, but at the end I didn't understand why you went with the mausberry switch instead of just A switch like you used in conjunction with the mausberry?
Looking great! -
@doobdoob the mausberry does a safe shutdown to avoid sd card corruption. I do a shutdown in the emulationstation menu before i turn mine off so i dont care too much about the mausberry. Plus the way my apple iie pi is designed i cant even use one if i wanted to.
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@edmaul69 I wondered if something like this was possible. Is there a possibility to make a sort of hot key to power off? Maybe something like d pad left+select for safe shutdown?
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@antricluc i know you can by adding a button to the gpio and adding the python script for it. But i dont think there is any way with a controller
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@edmaul69 I thought so, just wanted to check.
Thanks! -
@obsidianspider Well done!
I hope if i get time I can start (and finish) the project, too.Do you habe any issue with the cooling? I think a small fan in this closure would be usefull if it is in heavy duty.
I wish you all a happy New year....
May the farce be with you¡ -
@cyperghost I have zero cooling issues, but I'm not sure what you consider heavy duty usage. I don't do any N64 stuff on it, and it's not overclocked.
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