Going to attempt a gba pi zero build

anthonyp555

Going to attempt to do a handheld retropie system build, I have a few gba's but don't want to tear one apart if I don't have to, I was wondering if anyone has ordered a lot like in the link below and if it is the same quality of the original gba housing
Gba replacement parts

meleu

I'm curious about that too. @obsidianspider do you know if it's possible?

anthonyp555

And I'd also like to know what type of usb controller board I would use to connect the buttons too, maybe tearing down a cheap usb snes controller?

meleu

@anthonyp555 maybe you can find some interesting info at the @obsidianspider 's thread: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/4844/pi-in-a-gameboy-advance-build-wip

obsidianspider

I bought a broken GBA from eBay for my build. I'm using the PCB for the buttons on the left side and shoulder buttons. I would have used the action buttons as well, but I decided to go for an ABXY layout, so I am grafting in part of a PCB from a DS Lite. I'm still working out the power situation, but I may use the original power switch as well.

obsidianspider

@anthonyp555 You can go straight to GPIO and use Retrogame to simulate keyboard presses. No need for a USB interpreter for so few buttons.

obsidianspider

@meleu It's funny how motivation comes and goes. I was so eager for that ABS cement to dry so I could keep going on with the project, and that was two months ago. I should probably get back to work on these projects. ;)

moosepr

@obsidianspider it sure will be dry by now!! :P

just to chip in something meaningful with my response, you can have up to 22 gpio pins available, even if you are using a gpio based tft (such as the ili9341). so with up, down, left, right, a, b, x, y, L1, L2, thats just 10 gpio needed :)

obsidianspider

@moosepr Start and Select help too :-P

moosepr

@obsidianspider oh yeah! Well then you can have 6 of each, there are enough spare gpio

radiofreero

use a Raspberry Pi Zero board with gpio or buy this and use the case you were going to use.

radiofreero

or this or this

radiofreero

or you could try something like this

meleu

Hey guys, I misread the OP question. He is asking if the hardware fit on that housing.

I would like to make another question: Is raspi zero able to run GBA games?

Actually I don't have a raspi zero, but I tried Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow on my raspi1 and the performance isn't good (used mGBA core).

radiofreero

@meleu Yes because it runs perfectly on the Raspberry Pi 2 which has almost the exact same specifications. The difference is a quad core (like the one the Raspberry Pi 3 uses, but slower). Maybe you should wait till the Raspberry Pi Zero W comes out (the W stands for wifi, and Bluetooth controller.) Much like the Raspberry Pi 3... the Raspberry Pi Zero W will come with almost everything you need. Well except for the fact you have to solder everything. I was answering @anthonyp555 's question about using a USB controller, and offered an idea as a better solution. Since the GBA case only has very limited space that is.

meleu

@radiofreero Thanks bro. I'm interested in both answers! :-)

radiofreero

@meleu the RPi2 uses a dual core.

meleu

@radiofreero I think it's a quad core processor. Look here: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/raspberry-pi-2-model-b/

radiofreero

@meleu

radiofreero

@meleu found that on YouTube amongst many others.