Famicom (not Mini) build (WIP)

FlyingTomahawk · 2 Jul 2017, 12:24

Ok, scratch that. It wasn't the cable. :-/
I have a new theory now. It could be that the Famicom switch touched the Pi Zero which is just underneath it. I taped the switch and now it works.
So yesterday it was sloppy soldering and today it was sloppy packing into the Famicom.
I am glad it finally worked, at least for now.

But there is one last issue left to though.
The SNES emulator runs like shit on a Pi Zero. I overclocked it and added a heat sink according to ETA Primes youtube tutorial but still no luck.
If I use the PiSNES emulator it does run smooth but it won't recognize my second 8 bitdo controller. So in short I can either have a laggy SNES with 2 players or smooth running SNES with 1 player only.

NES, MegaDrive and Gameboy Advance run good as they should. No issues there.

obsidianspider · 2 Jul 2017, 12:36

The SNES emulator runs like shit on a Pi Zero.

Good thing you have a Pi 3…

Any way you can fit that in the case?

FlyingTomahawk · 7 Feb 2017, 13:45

@obsidianspider

Yeah I have one but I need that for NeoGeo and Capcom stuff, speaking of which wonder when ruckage is releasing that awesome theme of his.

I will buy a new RPi 3 as soon as possible. I am sure it'll fit in there somehow.
Is there any new Pi coming out anytime soon? Not that I buy a Pi 3 only to be surprised by a new release few days later.

Oh and btw. there was only a slight voltage drop with or without adapter cable.

5.03 vs 5.21

obsidianspider · 2 Jul 2017, 13:10

@FlyingTomahawk They usually announce new models in February for the Pi anniversary, but I remember reading that they weren't planning on an upgrade to the Pi 3 for a while and they were focusing on software for a bit to make it more robust. I'd say you're safe with a 3 for now. If I were making a home console today that's what I would use.

FlyingTomahawk · 7 Mar 2017, 00:56

Yesterday after I thought that finally everything is working it started again to reboot.
I am out of ideas here. Everytime I thought I found the culprit it turns out not to be.
I will give this Mausberry another thourough test today after work on my RPi 3 and see if it behaves the same way.
If it does give me the same trouble I'll smash that thing and I'm gonna build a switch like ETA Prime is showing in his tutorial on youtube by shorting GPIO 5 and 6.

obsidianspider · 3 Jul 2017, 10:55

Was it rebooting when fully assembled? You were saying the switch was making contact before. How does it work if you have the case out? I'm wondering if something is "kinked" inside the case and is causing an issue.

FlyingTomahawk · 3 Jul 2017, 11:24

@obsidianspider

That is what I thought too but the last few tests were out in the open not closed inside.
I am currently testing it with my RPi 3 as we speak and it seems to work just fine.
Maybe there is an issue with the Mausberry and the Zero4U board? I don't know and to be honest I don't care anymore. It does work with the RPi 3 so I'll just get one in the near future and replace the Zero with it.

And it looks like my RPi 3 just froze up during the ES update...just great.
I think I'm gonna go watch DS9 and keep this Pi stuff running see if it moves.

obsidianspider · 3 Jul 2017, 11:27

@FlyingTomahawk Sorry to hear that you're running into frustrations with the build, but I'm sure it's going to be really cool when you're done with it. Take the night off and you can tinker with it tomorrow. Just don't take weeks and weeks and months off like I've been doing with my handheld builds. ;)

FlyingTomahawk · 3 Jul 2017, 11:36

@obsidianspider

Yeah, you're probably right. A short break might do good. That and a cold beer.
Thanks.

obsidianspider · 3 Jul 2017, 11:40

You'll get it sorted out and we're here to help you. I'd come over and take a look, but you're a little far away. :)

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Jul 2017, 02:54

Finally got all build together.
Removed the Pi Zero since it was a disappointment performance-wise. Put in my RPi 3 even though I tried to avoid that but no choice I guess. The RPi3 is encased in a case with a fan build in running at 3.3V to keep the temps low and noise down.

I needed to remove the microUSB adapter since it was giving my the lightning bolt constantly. With it removed and the USB cable plugged in directly to the Mausberry I still get the lightning bolt occasionally (mostly in the ES menu when videos are running) but not during game play.

Here some pics of me trying to test fit all.

If you wonder what the other PCB board is, that is a RF module from an old RRoD (red ring of death) Xbox360. That way I can use my wireless Dreamcast Arcade stick.

Now what is left to do is fine tune the looks of it all. (Boot screen, loading screen etc....) Theme will be mainly Famicom-mini by ruckage and as soon he releases the NeoGeo/Capcom theme I will create 2 system profiles and separate Arcade stuff from the rest.

obsidianspider · 9 Jul 2017, 03:19

@FlyingTomahawk Looking good! I get lightning bolts from time to time as well. I'm convinced a recent software update made Raspbian more delicate with its power indicator. I just went into the config.txt and disabled warnings after determining that things are stable.

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Jul 2017, 06:40

I was just setting up some stuff in ES when suddenly my FC30 Player 1 controller start to shine red and right after turned OFF. So I thought it is time to recharge it, the first time btw., and....it is just dead. It won't recharge, no lights shinning. Just great. Now that I finally got my Pi there where I wanted the controller start to cause trouble.
The 2nd player FC30 works just fine though and recharges if necessary, green recharge light shinning.
So I wrote the 8bitdo guys an e-mail but I don't put my hopes too high. That's what you get when you buy China stuff. 7 out of 10 are faulty or crap. For that they charge a high price for those controllers.

I am jumping from one shit to the other with this whole project. I am close to take that thing and smash it to a wall and then drive over it with my car a couple of times.

obsidianspider · 9 Jul 2017, 11:16

@FlyingTomahawk That sucks. 8bitdo have a really good reputation so hopefully they will stand by their stuff. Is there a warranty at all?

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Jul 2017, 11:20

@obsidianspider

Warranty? Well I bought that stuff in March 2017 through their eBay store and as far I know the usual warranty time is 1 year. So I hope they do something about it. If not, I'll just use the necessary steps through PayPal or eBay to get a solution to my satisfactory.

I mean that controller was not even really used yet. Never got through one single full charge cicle.
Some say it is firmware related but I doubt that since my 2nd player works just fine with the same, latest firmware.

obsidianspider · 9 Jul 2017, 11:33

@FlyingTomahawk at least they seem to make more of the "Player 1" variant so they should be able to send another easily. Reading online seems to say that a red LED means low battery. Have you taken the battery out and tested the voltage? Or tried using the battery from the other controller? I don't own an 8bitdo controller so I'm not sure how feasible that is.

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Jul 2017, 11:38

@obsidianspider

No I havent yet.
I am waiting for their reply first before I open up the controller and loose my warranty.
If all fails I sure do that.

obsidianspider · 9 Jul 2017, 11:53

@FlyingTomahawk Ah, so it's not a user-replaceable battery. That makes sense.

FlyingTomahawk · 9 Jul 2017, 12:06

Yeah, it doesn't seem to be a such a battery.
There are 6 tiny screws on the back but I never opened one up so can't say for sure.
Maybe there is a simple 480mAh Lipo battery inside? Not even sure it is a battery issue.

Curious, in your SNES build you used a regular L angled micro USB extension cable (M/F).
Never had a lightning bolt issue?

obsidianspider · 9 Jul 2017, 12:10

@FlyingTomahawk I had quite a few lightning bolts, typically when using the wifi. I tried different power cables, with and without the Mausberry, all sorts of things. I even got them from time to time with my Genesis Pi, and that doesn't have an extra TFT hooked up to it that would be drawing more current. I really think that Raspbian is being overly cautious, because I've not had stability issues with either of my "home console" builds.

Adding avoid_warnings=1 to /boot/config.txt made the lightning bolt go away. It didn't solve the "problem", but I'm not convinced there was one to begin with.