Yet Another Pi Zero Portable!!
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@moosepr Hi again, as I said I would I have started a similar project, my idea to rewire a cheap usb snes controller worked, I've replaced the regular usb male with a micro usb male, I've tested it with my battery and the LIPO charger module, retropie showed up on my monitor and I configured my controller without issue. I have a couple of questions though....
Do I need the df robot microcontroller? What purpose does this serve exactly?
Also I order a 2.8" tft but it must be slighlty different to the 2.2" screen you used. The pins are different to the ones in the link you sent me, also it's a touch screen, is this an issue? -
@gazredtyke sounds like you are making progress, you should start a thread and add some pictures!
I'm basically using the microcontroller as a fancy switch! The plan was to add some kind of battery monitor and safe shutdown mechanism, but i never got that far really. I got carried away with new projects.
The 2.8 inch version of the screen should work the same as long as it is a ili9341 screen. It should mention the driver as being ili9341 in the listing you bought from. The touch screen will mean that there are more pins than I have. You can ignore the touch screen part and just use it like a normal screen.
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I think I figured it out, I just wasn't looking properly, is VIN same as VCC?
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I don't know how to add pictures using my phone 😂
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It is ili9341 as well
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@gazredtyke yeah vin and vcc on the screen should be the same. Different makers will call them different things. The only time to watch is if you use something like an arduino, the vin and vcc may actually be different then.
can you upload your pictures to google drive, dropbox, or imgur? that way you will be able to share the image address on the forum.
the screen should work the same as mine :)
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Yeah I will be able to, bit worried about the next stage installing the drivers for the screen
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@moosepr Hi mate, I've had a look at the link you posted for connecting the screen, I've done all the soldering but I'm a bit lost with what I need to do next. What do I need to input to get the driver for the screen and where does this need to be put?
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@moosepr said in Yet Another Pi Zero Portable!!:
If i remember right, you need to go into the raspiconfig, and enable spi, disable overscan, and enable device tree, then you should be able to run the command "sudo modprobe fbtft_device pitft22" to actually get the screen active (the backlight should light). You can test it with the command "con2fbmap 1 1" which should pop your terminal session onto the tft screen (run "con2fbmap 1 0" to get it back)
There is then an app you need to download and build which basically copies the output of the normal screen onto the tft. There is an adafruit guide here, https://learn.adafruit.com/running-opengl-based-games-and-emulators-on-adafruit-pitft-displays/pitft-setup basically replace the adafruit-28 with adafruit-22 and you should get somewhere near
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@moosepr Top man, believe me, I've done well to get this far, I like to say I'm an enthusiastic novice!
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Would I be able to ssh and terminal? Would I use the command 'sudo nano raspiconfig.txt'? Or could I just put my sd card into my linux laptop and edit the config file that way?
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Oh and one last question (I think!), I have a switch like the ones you used for the controller, where would I put that in the circuit so it powers both the pi and the screen on? I don't mind if it doesn't power it off as I can just select the shutdown option in emulation station
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@gazredtyke you need to type
sudo raspi-config
On the pi, this will let you change the "system settings" on the pi
The switches I used on the controller part are momentary switches, they only stay "on" for as long as it is pressed. You will need something more like a latching switch or a side switch
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@moosepr Thanks, and where in the circuit would that go?
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@gazredtyke you would need it between the power and the pi. The screen gets its power from the pi, so once that is off, the screen is off too
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@moosepr I haven't got a switch at the moment so for the time being I'll just twist the wire together, I've done the raspi-configuration step but couldn't find where to enable device tree, any ideas?
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@gazredtyke I think there was one item i couldnt find myself, If you try the next step anyway, see how you get on
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@moosepr I tried the next step but got an error message
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@gazredtyke whats the error? it could be that i have done a typo :P
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@moosepr can't remember, I'll have to try again when I get in from work
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