Super Nintemu: A Raspberry Pi Emulation Console

Darksavior

@jamesbeat
I gutted a perfectly working sfc and a few carts so I could put usb sticks in them to load roms from. I expect flowers at the funeral.

PetroRie

You did a great job! I like it how you installed the USB ports in the front.

jamesbeat

@Morph-X said in Super Nintemu: A Raspberry Pi Emulation Console:

@jamesbeat
Thank you for your comment and thoughts. I understand your concern and i respect it, but honestly i do not agree. You should know, i tried finding a defective SNES, but nothing to be found in my country, really.

Also, with 50 million SNES' sold worldwide we're not exactly talking rare heritage here. So i wouldn't worry too much about a couple of hundred SNES' worldwide being modded. In years from now i'm sure there will be plenty SNES' to be found. They don't break down easily so no reason for people to throw them away.
The Pi turning obsolete may be true. But as long as it's alive, this console is actually being used unlike my real SNES because i have a couple of more games of different consoles i can play on it as well. My real SNES is doing nothing more then collect dust in the basement. So in terms of play value, it's actually okay.

The NES i'm currently working on actually was defective. It had some hardware issues and simply wouldn't do anything. So maybe you're happier with that mod. ;-)

I wasn't critcizing you, sorry if it came across that way.
What I was talking about is the dilemma of modding a perfectly good system, as I intend to do a similar thing with a PSX.

I actually collect consoles but never play them. I love owning them and having them on display, but I only use emulators because, well, I'm lazy.

When I buy a console to add to the collection, I always buy one that is in good cosmetic shape, but is non-working.
I figure that if I'm not going to actually use it, it doesn't need to work.
I leave the working ones to the people who will actually use them.
(Plus, broken ones are cheaper lol)

Morph-X

@PetroRie
Thank you! The USB ports are quite practical as well! Yesterday for example, after playing a SNES game for a while, i switched from my USB SNES to my USB NES controller to play some NES Tetris. It's awesome to be able to switch controllers on the fly.

@jamesbeat
Don't worry, i didn't think you were criticizing. ;-) I'm glad you share your thoughts and i respect them. Just gave you my thoughts on the topic in return. Again, i do not take the consoles for granted. I put lots of hours into modding them, so it doesn't just "die" for functional reasons. And seeing as i game almost 10 hours a week on my raspi console, it's not in vain.

msxer

Very nice! Yesterday I picked up a defective SNES console for €10 and I'm going to do something similar.

Step one is cleaning up the discoloration to make it look a bit newer :-)

Morph-X

@msxer
Thank you!
Are you planning to post your project here? I'm really curious to see how you "de-yellow" your SNES. I have one at home with which i'd wanna do it if it works properly. Furthermore, i'm interested to see how your project will come along. Good luck!

msxer

@Morph-X said in Super Nintemu: A Raspberry Pi Emulation Console:

Are you planning to post your project here? I'm really curious to see how you "de-yellow" your SNES. I have one at home with which i'd wanna do it if it works properly. Furthermore, i'm interested to see how your project will come along. Good luck!

Yes, I will post the end result here at least. And maybe some intermediary results :-)

For the de-yellowing I have seen people online getting great results using hydrogen peroxide gel (like the stuff that is used to bleach hair) and sunlight or UV-light. So I have bought a large bottle of this stuff and I'll be applying it to my SNES during the weekend (hopefully, if there's enough sun).

Darksavior

@msxer took me around a week. Did both sides because it was getting too brittle. Should notice a different after a day or two.

msxer

@Darksavior said in Super Nintemu: A Raspberry Pi Emulation Console:

@msxer took me around a week. Did both sides because it was getting too brittle. Should notice a different after a day or two.

Did you submerge your case in the peroxide gel (and keep it submerged) or did you apply the gel onto the case and leave it in the sun?

Darksavior

@msxer submerged in a mix of peroxide gel/cream and water. I've watched too many people screw up with the paste mix and plasric wrap. Ugly blotches. I even saw one that removed a bit of the nintendo logo. Dipping it is the safest way. Nintendo logo intact.

Ekstreme

I have an original gameboy I've been meaning to do this too. I was planning on rubbing the cream all over, then putting it in a blown-up zip lock back outside in the sun,

msxer

@Darksavior said in Super Nintemu: A Raspberry Pi Emulation Console:

@msxer submerged in a mix of peroxide gel/cream and water. I've watched too many people screw up with the paste mix and plasric wrap. Ugly blotches. I even saw one that removed a bit of the nintendo logo. Dipping it is the safest way. Nintendo logo intact.

What mix-ratio did you use for the peroxide gel and water? And did you make a fresh mix daily or did you just leave the plastic in the same bath for a few days?

@Morph-X: sorry for kind of hijacking your thread. I'll create a new thread to post my de-yellowing results in when I have the time to post my progress.

BTW: since I haven't received the security screwdriver yet to open up my SNES, I took it to a local repair shop to open it using their tool. The guys there were really friendly and offered to check if the SNES I bought as being defective (for just 10 Euro) really was defective using their power supply, TV cable and game. It turned out my SNES works fine. So I have some second thoughts about breaking it to build in a Raspberry Pi.

Darksavior

@msxer said in Super Nintemu: A Raspberry Pi Emulation Console:

What mix-ratio did you use for the peroxide gel and water? And did you make a fresh mix daily or did you just leave the plastic in the same bath for a few days?

I'm sure the information would benefit anyone working on an snes...
I made a fresh mix daily. I never measured, I just poured some sally branded vol40 cream. In the beginning I used to mix it with a bit of oxyclean but I got similar results without using it. My results weren't perfect since I did each part seperately, but it used to be as yellow as yours.

msxer

@Darksavior Thanks for your help. I have created a de-yellowing topic here: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/3794/de-yellowing-a-1992-super-nintendo-console-progress-report

tlangford

I am planning a similar project. Where did you get the grey backplate?

Morph-X

If you look at the video on YouTube, from about 9 minutes in, you can see it up close. It's just a regular piece of painted plastic (styrene) glued in place. Although i had to use a dremel to cut a bit of plastic away so the "plate" would have a well enough surface to be glued upon.
In the meantime, here on the RetroPie forum someone with a similar build has designed a nice 3D-print model for a very nice and elegant backplate. I believe the 3D model is available for download. I think that would be a better solution.

denisuu

I already have 12% hydrogen peroxide but I'm waiting for a sunny day. That could be another 3 months here in Belgium :p I'm thinking about getting UV lamp but I'm not sure which one to get. Ideal would be to put them inside of a tanning bench lol :D