Famicom (not Mini) build (WIP)

klachow · 19 Apr 2017, 21:19

I've been really digging this build log, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished console . I've been really tempted to do a build like this. I keep watching junk Famicoms on ebay, etc... I think my favorite thing about a Famicom Retropie build is that it keeps track of the controllers. However my least favorite thing is that it only keeps track of two controllers. So I started imagining a 4 controller Famicom. 3D printing is the obvious method to realize something like this. I found this 3D file for a Famicom on Thingiverse, which the creator was generous enough to make GNU GPL CC. I then "remixed" it a bit to come up with this:

I'm not sure if I made enough space for the inner controllers. I'll probably print just a section to try it out first. It is likely going to be a while before I get around to 3D printing it. Otherwise I would have started a build log of my own. I hope you don't mind me posting this here on your thread for now.

Srfrboybob · 28 Apr 2017, 03:43

@FlyingTomahawk Sorry it took a bit but here are my pics. I used a control block because I had it but I used the power block setup. Using bluetooth controllers has been an issue in the past with the controller assigning with the control block. I ran into issues when I decided to go wireless on my Pitendo build.

FlyingTomahawk · 1 Jul 2017, 03:31

@obsidianspider

Its been a while but today I decided to move my ass and get this Famicom build done.
So before putting everything in place I wired up the Mausberry and ran the Mausberry script.
I connect all the cables and adapters and move the switch to ON. Pi Zero powers up nicelly and I can play games and do the usual.
Now I power down the Pi by moving the switch to its OFF position and here is were my trouble starts. When the switch is in OFF mode the Pi keeps rebooting and rebooting in a loop all the time until I move the power switch back to ON and then it shuts down.

So what the hell did I do wrong?
Soldered the original Famicom switch to SW + and - and connected the IN and OUT wires to GPIO 23 and 24.
Is there anything else?

spruce_m00se · 1 Jul 2017, 03:53

if you instaled a switch script that is meant for a momentary switch and you have latching switch then that is your problem,
a momentary switch will only connect the gpio to ground whilst being pushed, then when you push it again it powers the pi, then shuts down etc,

if you used the original power switch then the script wil see it it as though you have the switch pressed all the time.

FlyingTomahawk · 1 Jul 2017, 04:01

@spruce_m00se

Thanks for your reply and help.
I am not so savvy with all this switch stuff. I just installed the setup script that Mausberry offers in their install manual so not sure for what kind of switch that script is. A momentary switch is a switch that has 3 pins (only 2 connected) and a non-momentary switch is a switch like an Arcade stick button from Sanwa?

edmaul69 · 7 Jan 2017, 05:21

@FlyingTomahawk an arcade button is a momentary switch. Both mementary and non momentary can have 2-3 pins. On an arcade momentary button you have n.o. and n.c. Normally open and normally closed. If you wire to the normally open then when you press down it activates. Whe it is depressed (pushed up) it activates the normally closed. Some things require a button being detected pressed when you arent pushing it down. Not very common in an arcade to use the nc.

FlyingTomahawk · 1 Jul 2017, 04:32

@edmaul69

Thx for explaining.
So what kind of switch is inside a Famicom? Or SNES?

edmaul69 · 1 Jul 2017, 05:14

@FlyingTomahawk the power switch is non momentary. The reset is a momentary. Momentary meaning it only stays activated for a moment. So anything even like keyboard keys or your controller buttons that are only pressed for a moment and not permanent is a momentary switch.

FlyingTomahawk · 1 Jul 2017, 05:22

@edmaul69

So non-momentary switch it is.
So this script is useless?

'#!/bin/bash

#this is the GPIO pin connected to the lead on switch labeled OUT
GPIOpin1=23

#this is the GPIO pin connected to the lead on switch labeled IN
GPIOpin2=24

echo "$GPIOpin1" > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo "in" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin1/direction
echo "$GPIOpin2" > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin2/direction
echo "1" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin2/value
while [ 1 = 1 ]; do
power=$(cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin1/value)
if [ $power = 0 ]; then
sleep 1
else
sudo poweroff
fi
done

edmaul69 · 1 Jul 2017, 05:33

@FlyingTomahawk i am assuming that it wont work for you. Im not familiar with the mausberry though.

FlyingTomahawk · 7 Jan 2017, 08:12

Yeah, script seems to be not working with my current setup.
Here pics of the current switch and setup.

I also have a PowerBoost 500 which I think can also be used to switch ON/OFF a RPi right?
At least it is used here in this Pi Zero in a SNES controller build.

FlyingTomahawk · 1 Jul 2017, 08:13

UPDATE

I tried the Mausberry switch on my RPi 3 this time and who would have thought it does work. So it looks like that the Mausberry or/and Mausberry script won't work with my Pi Zero.
Guess I'll have to figure out a different way then.

obsidianspider · 1 Jul 2017, 10:57

@FlyingTomahawk

Good to see you're back on the project! I thought maybe a mountain of Gameboys crushed you during a recent trip to Hard-On! ;)

You said you have a PowerBoost 500C in the mix. Where is that in the circuit? I don't see it in your photos? I'm pretty sure the Zero in a controller build you linked to is just using the switch to cut power to the Pi. It's not triggering a soft shutdown like the Mausberry is.

The switch you have is not a momentary switch. It's a "latching switch" in that you flip it to one position and it stays there. That said, the Mausberry will automatically detect if the switch is a momentary one or a latching one. That's all taken care of in hardware, so the script is not the issue.

The script is really just detecting the state of the GPIO pins and when one drops in voltage due to the Mausberry not sending current anymore, it triggers a shutdown command.

You said that it works with a Pi 3, so we assume that the Mausberry itself is "good", and while I've not tried one with a Zero, I don't see why it wouldn't work, unless the GPIO pins are either configured differently in your build (I don't think so) or that something is not being detected properly.

I'm thinking that the best way to troubleshoot this would be to tweak the script to do something else instead of sudo poweroff or to somehow monitor the state of the GPIO pins. I'm not a programming or hardware wizard, so I'll have to think on it a bit, and it's not quite 7 AM yet.

To confirm that your script isn't wonky, this is the working script that I just copied from my Genesis USB hub Pi. Granted, that's with a Pi 3, but still.

#!/bin/bash

#this is the GPIO pin connected to the lead on switch labeled OUT
GPIOpin1=23

#this is the GPIO pin connected to the lead on switch labeled IN
GPIOpin2=24

echo "$GPIOpin1" > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo "in" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin1/direction
echo "$GPIOpin2" > /sys/class/gpio/export
echo "out" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin2/direction
echo "1" > /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin2/value
while [ 1 = 1 ]; do
power=$(cat /sys/class/gpio/gpio$GPIOpin1/value)
if [ $power = 0 ]; then
sleep 1
else
sudo poweroff
fi
done

I really think it's a matter of the GPIO not being detected properly, not that the Mausberry is being weird.

spruce_m00se · 1 Jul 2017, 11:05

Well if the mausberry can detect the difference between momentary and non momentary then we should assume thats not the problem, then if the pi3 works fine witht he same switch, it would seem likely that the zero isnt maintaining the same logic on the gpio when its off as the pi3.

as most of these things work by shorting a pin to ground, you may want to take a digital multi meter and make sure that the pin on the pi zero stays shorted to ground when its powered off.

CodeDrawer · 1 Jul 2017, 12:32

I think that it seems fun!

FlyingTomahawk · 1 Jul 2017, 13:07

@obsidianspider

Hey! It is so good to see that you are still around.
Yeah, I totally neglected this build. I guess waiting over 2 months for the Mausberry killed it. I kept working on my Futura theme and also got into other things like eGPU stuff.
Got me a GTX660 and connected it to my Laptop and now I started to replay all the games I could never play on Ultra settings. Skyrim, Sniper Elite V2, Mass Effect 1-3 I tell you gaming can be sooooo time consuming.

Anyways, back on topic.
I am not sure what exactly went wrong. As you guys say the Mausberry works with the RPi 3. I will try to solder the GPIO pins tomorrow so that I can just plug in the two cables that came with the Mausberry. Maybe my soldering work was not good?
Still I didn't wanna stop there and leave the stuff otherwise I might not continue to work on it again. So I took all my parts and start to put them into the Famicom and here is the result. She ain't a beauty but it does work and besides I still got a few more Famicoms here to improve. The controllers can only be charged if the Pi is running. Wish there was a sleep mode like the PS4 has where you can keep charging the controllers. Here pics....