RetroPie in a Dreamcast VMU!
-
@moosepr I can't seem to find the OLED display that was used on satri360's build, but the tfts I ordered from China were $4 each, so I think it's worth the experiment.
-
@obsidianspider if you have ordered the 1.44 inch tft screens, you can actually remove it from the pcb and wire it direct
want to get a tft into your project, look no further than here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7464/ili9341-tft-screen-guide
-
@obsidianspider His is the adafruit oled with the sd card
He seems to have trimmed the PCB down to save space
-
@moosepr You read my mind, good sir. I actually thought of you when I was contemplating the attempt! If for no other reason than to figure out how to pin it and if fbtft would work. Watching some Greek and Russian YouTube videos about the screen lead me to learn that it's got an ILI9163 driver, so it should work with the latest incarnation of fbtft. An interesting note about those screens is in the code comments
/*
- This display:
- http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replace-Nokia-5110-LCD-1-44-Red-Serial-128X128-SPI-
- Color-TFT-LCD-Display-Module-/271422122271
- This particular display has a design error! The controller has 3 pins to
- configure to constrain the memory and resolution to a fixed dimension (in
- that case 128x128) but they leaved those pins configured for 128x160 so
- there was several pixel memory addressing problems.
- I solved by setup several parameters that dinamically fix the resolution as
- needit so below the parameters for this display. If you have a strain or a
- correct display (can happen with chinese) you can copy those parameters and
- create setup for different displays.
*/
I really need to stay off the Internet at 2 AM when I can't sleep. At least I'm only into this project $20 so far. It'd only be $10 if I bought one of each, but I've learned my lesson on breaking stuff before…
-
@obsidianspider well I was already a few weeks into my latest project when this one popped up.
I couldn't find the ili9163 driver when I was testing the other night, but the screen seems OK with the st7735 driver (apart from it trying to do 128x160 resolution)
want to get a tft into your project, look no further than here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7464/ili9341-tft-screen-guide
-
@moosepr Since it looks like you've already got some experience with that particular ILI9163 display would you be willing to share how you attached directly to the ribbon cable? The PCB has a resistor, capacitor, and something else that I can't quite identify, so I'm not sure what they're doing.
-
@moosepr said in RetroPie in a Dreamcast VMU!:
already a few weeks into my latest project
I saw the teaser photos on Twitter. Now I'm curious what else you're up to. Your skill in making PCBs is something I would love to learn.
-
Sure! You will need a 10ohm resistor to tame the backlight, and other than that, wire it straight to the pi!
The boards have a 3v regulator. I can't find an exact data sheet for the screen I have, but most indicate that the screen is OK with 3.3v
Here is the schematic for the little red board
want to get a tft into your project, look no further than here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7464/ili9341-tft-screen-guide
-
@obsidianspider said in RetroPie in a Dreamcast VMU!:
@moosepr said in RetroPie in a Dreamcast VMU!:
already a few weeks into my latest project
I saw the teaser photos on Twitter. Now I'm curious what else you're up to. Your skill in making PCBs is something I would love to learn.
Making the boards isn't that difficult really, the hardest part is getting the schematic electrically correct
-
@moosepr A resistor I can handle. We'll see if I can solder on the ribbon cable without messing it up. I knew there was a reason I bought two. ;)
-
@obsidianspider just be gentle with the heat and you will be fine. Tin the wire, flux the ribbon, and it will soon stick
-
@moosepr do you have a link on how to wire it directly?
Edit: Nm. The page didnt load all the posts. I see it now
-
Hi. Checking in from the other vmu build thread on sudomod ;)
One of the pieces of my puzzle arrived which was a tiny charge/boost board. I'll be doing a bit more of mine soon,but will probably end up doing a custom pcb for it something like @moosepr's PiCB-tft board. -
just a dump of info for anyone venturing down this rabbithole. the screen will run as a st7735, but the driver is trying to do 128x160, so its not ideal!!
it will also run as an ili9163. the resolution is correct at 128x128, but the driver is behaving weird!! it technically runs upside down (chip at the top) and the rotation chops off some of the screen at 180 and 270
if your interested, if you follow my guide in my signature, but replace the contents of
/etc/modprobe.d/fbtft.confwith
options fbtft_device name=fb_ili9163 gpios=reset:25,dc:24 speed=40000000 bgr=1 rotate=0 custom=1 fps=60then you will have a working screen!!!!!1
want to get a tft into your project, look no further than here https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/7464/ili9341-tft-screen-guide
-
Imagine if the VMU itself could be configured to be fit inside a Dreamcast controller and it would be able to recognize the controller.
Wouldn't that be cool? -
@itsnitro since it doesnt have a select button on the controller you couldnt play super nintendo games. But you could play genesis games.
-
@moosepr I think for the VMU having the cable come out the top will work better (0 rotation) anyway since the buttons will bump right against the screen. Here's an image of the VMU from a teardown on iFixit.
-
I started a build thread to contain the discussion in one spot as I work on this.
-
@obsidianspider and your signature got another icon! :)
-
@ABrugsch Which charge/boost board did you end up getting?
I really need to learn how to make a PCB…
Contributions to the project are always appreciated, so if you would like to support us with a donation you can do so here.
Hosting provided by Mythic-Beasts. See the Hosting Information page for more information.