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    Famicom (not Mini) build (WIP)

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Projects and Themes
    famicomfamicom minines
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    • spruce_m00seS
      spruce_m00se
      last edited by

      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.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • CodeDrawerC
        CodeDrawer
        last edited by

        I think that it seems fun!

        N64 emulation is the next step :)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • FlyingTomahawkF
          FlyingTomahawk @obsidianspider
          last edited by

          @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....
          alt text
          alt text
          alt text
          alt text
          alt text

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • spruce_m00seS
            spruce_m00se
            last edited by

            that retropie logo is sweet, where did you get it ?

            FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • FlyingTomahawkF
              FlyingTomahawk @spruce_m00se
              last edited by FlyingTomahawk

              @spruce_m00se

              I got it from the Splashscreens section in the RetroPie Settings menu. Just download the extra splashscreens.

              rookervik-nintendo.png

              https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Splashscreen

              https://github.com/HerbFargus/retropie-splashscreens-extra

              lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • lilbudL
                lilbud @FlyingTomahawk
                last edited by

                @FlyingTomahawk How did you get the clock to show up in the bottom corner?

                Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • FlyingTomahawkF
                  FlyingTomahawk @lilbud
                  last edited by

                  @lilbud said in Famicom (not Mini) build (WIP):

                  @FlyingTomahawk How did you get the clock to show up in the bottom corner?

                  lol. that's a TV feature not RPi feature. ;-)

                  lilbudL 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • lilbudL
                    lilbud @FlyingTomahawk
                    last edited by

                    @FlyingTomahawk What kind of tv does that? My TV struggles with overscan, no friggin way mine has a clock.

                    Creator of the Radiocade: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6077/radiocade

                    Backlog: http://backloggery.com/lilbud

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • FlyingTomahawkF
                      FlyingTomahawk
                      last edited by

                      It's a Sharp TV. We have 2 Sharp TVs and both can display that clock on the bottom-right.

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • FlyingTomahawkF
                        FlyingTomahawk
                        last edited by FlyingTomahawk

                        Back at it again...
                        Today I soldered the 40 pin thing into the Pi Zero just to make sure that it was not my soldering work that causes the issue.

                        alt text

                        Test 1 -> Success!
                        At first it looked like my solder work was sloppy after all.... BUT...
                        After I assembled everything back together I gave it another try and the issue appeared again. Back to square one.
                        So we know the Mausberry is working.
                        We know it did work with the setup in the image above.
                        So what could it be... I start to remove cables and keep testing till I found it.

                        The adapter cable male to female micro USB (yellow arrow) that I use to is the culprit.
                        alt text

                        If I plug the power cable directly into the Pi all works like it suppose to but if I use that adapter cable it won't work.
                        I am technically not versed and don't know why that adapter cable can cause such an issue.
                        For now I will keep the silver power cable connected directly so that I can use the Mausberry. I will have to find a different adapter cable but even then no guarantees that it works.

                        If someone has a link to such a cable please share, thanks.

                        obsidianspiderO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • obsidianspiderO
                          obsidianspider @FlyingTomahawk
                          last edited by

                          @FlyingTomahawk woo hoo! I'm glad your troubleshooting helped you identify the problem component.

                          With extensions and adapters sometimes there can be a problem with voltage drop, or just crappy materials.

                          If you connect a multimeter up to your 5V GPIO pin and ground, are voltages different with the black cable vs the silver? I'm wondering if the black one is fluctuating or something bizarre like that.

                          📷 @obsidianspider

                          FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • FlyingTomahawkF
                            FlyingTomahawk @obsidianspider
                            last edited by

                            @obsidianspider

                            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.

                            obsidianspiderO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                            • obsidianspiderO
                              obsidianspider @FlyingTomahawk
                              last edited by

                              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?

                              📷 @obsidianspider

                              FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • FlyingTomahawkF
                                FlyingTomahawk @obsidianspider
                                last edited by FlyingTomahawk

                                @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

                                obsidianspiderO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • obsidianspiderO
                                  obsidianspider @FlyingTomahawk
                                  last edited by

                                  @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.

                                  📷 @obsidianspider

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                  • FlyingTomahawkF
                                    FlyingTomahawk
                                    last edited by FlyingTomahawk

                                    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.

                                    obsidianspiderO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                    • obsidianspiderO
                                      obsidianspider @FlyingTomahawk
                                      last edited by

                                      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.

                                      📷 @obsidianspider

                                      FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • FlyingTomahawkF
                                        FlyingTomahawk @obsidianspider
                                        last edited by

                                        @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.

                                        obsidianspiderO 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • obsidianspiderO
                                          obsidianspider @FlyingTomahawk
                                          last edited by

                                          @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. ;)

                                          📷 @obsidianspider

                                          FlyingTomahawkF 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • FlyingTomahawkF
                                            FlyingTomahawk @obsidianspider
                                            last edited by

                                            @obsidianspider

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

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
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