Pi in a Sega Genesis USB Hub Build
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Hey everyone, this thread has inspired me to order a Sega Genesis Usb hub and give it a good. I ordered it off shirtpunch for $20 usd the next day I see it on sale for $7.99 :/
As a noob I'm finding it quite difficult to see where each wire needs to go and which parts I need. Can someone please make a guide on which parts exactly are needed and where each wire needs to be soldered on the boards with pictures?
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@steetsofrage dope ass game by the way. First you wanna be careful prying the hub open. Of the 3 hubs I have they all separated fine with a lil steady pressure. You'll want to pry near the front of the hub where it's being secured by a couple stubs and glue.SOME MAY BREAK, but it should be fine being you will be screwing the two halves together. What pi do you plan on using?What game emulators do you plan to run? Do you plan on the switch powering the unit? Not necessary but deff dope if done correctly.
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@steetsofrage yeah me and my roommate got lucky and saw the sale so we got 5 extra hubs.
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@edmaul69 seems every other week they go on sale. Limit 20 per customer
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It says they're $19.99 for me. :( I want to get a new one now that I have this one working, so I can make one for my brother that hopefully won't get all scuffed.
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got my hub in and finished today. working reset button too! easy project too!!!!
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I plan on using a pi 3 and running retro pie, I would also like to use a mausberry to make the switch on the case functional.
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Good news is shirt punch refunded me $12 USD, keep checking they seem to go on sale often.
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One thing I ran across when looking at the Mausberry switch page was that it says you can power it via GPIO. Is there a specific reason you chose to use the test pads on the micro USB port instead of running off a 2nd set of 5v/ground pins (pins 2 and 9 or 14) on the GPIO? Just looking at how everything sets up, it looks like it might be a cleaner solution (wire management wise) than the MicroUSB pads. I very well may be missing something that makes it a bad idea :)
@cyperghost might be able to answer that as well?
Huge thank you for documenting your project!
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@Stig not sure what side of the polyfuse that the solder pads are on but if the are on the usb port side then the pi is protected for overvoltage and stuff. However i have used the gpio many times with no issues at all. For the pi zero if you are using a usb hub some hubs would benefit better if power game from the gpio pins. I split my power between my hubs and my pies. Havent had an issue yet
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@Stig I never soldered directly to the pads in the build I made. I just used some sockets to restore needed GPIO Pins and therefore I rather would use the GPIO for powering than soldering to the power pads for stability reasons and to exchange/remove power source.
But on the other hand it doesn't matter because you have to solder to the OTG-USB pads to get devices via hub connected.
@edmaul69 There is NO polyfuse in the Raspberry Zero build in!
About power over GPIO
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@Stig Mainly because I wasn't sure about where the fuse is located and I know that Pi 3s are finicky about power requirements, so going to the test pads seemed "safer"
I'm not sure if it was a better option or not, but it seems to work well in the few weeks I've had the unit together.
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@cyperghost I guess i never looked and just assumed the pi zero had one. I guess for $5 it wasnt cost effective, plus if it blows up who cares?
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@edmaul69 @cyperghost @obsidianspider Thank you all!
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@edmaul69 Yes 5$ are not so expensive but I think if you use a stabilized power switch device there is no problem in blowing the Pie. Therefore I would never use an old power device (with coils inside). These transform an output voltage in depence to the input. I would suggest up to 5.5V the Pie is running fine (no guarentee!! ;).
So the Pi0 is a special device .... with an overvoltage you kill it... independent from the way you power it.
For the polyfused Raspberries you can kill them only via GPIO powering because the GPIOs aren't fused. -
@obsidianspider Hi, long time not seen. I hope you are fine....
Did you remember as we talked about the volume change thing? I think I'm on a breakthrough.I was able to find a sliding switch with an integrated push button inside. So I'm able to set the switch in volume up or volume down position and by pushin the button I can give a signal to the wired GPIO to raise or lower volume.
My first attempts were lazy work by polling the status of the GPIOs but that doesn't fit my imagination of a good implementation ... Interrupts are better.
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@cyperghost can you post a link to the switch? I would love to see a two way slide switch that returns to center
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@cyperghost yeah i have to agree with you. I was a little sarcastic about it blowing up. :) Low volt power supplies these days are pretty safe. Unless you plug them into your phone and your battery blows up. Lol
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@edmaul69 said in Pi in a Sega Genesis USB Hub Build:
Unless you plug them into your phone and your battery blows up. Lol
I do not know what you are talking about. Big companies do excellent quality control and test new devices for every situation in daily duty. You ca not imagine what that means if a new developed device does blow up in a critical situation .... Maybe on an aeroplane ;) Does this ever happenend?
SARCISTICBack to normal. The switch is called SLP-23-492T .... I just saw this in only one shop so I think it is not very common. But it is really made for the SEGA build.
Edit:
No it does not return to center. It is a combination if a sliding switch with 3 fixed positions in together with a push button function.
So you connect ground of push button and slider together and can so use it.I found a small joystick button that works as you descriped but thats SMD tech and awful for soldering and mounting. Other switches are mich to big to fit.
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Hey all,
Two things - Shirtpunch guarantees all their orders, you get it, or you get a complete refund.
Second thing: they have a bundle on sale today for the USB hub, a NES USB controller, megaman bluetooth speaker, and a genesis tshirt for $19.99. https://www.shirtpunch.com/the-ultimate-retro-bundle
check it!
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