NeoPiGamer
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Very observant. You are correct. I had the backlight mod done shortly after I originally purchased the GBA many many moons ago.
Space is definitely the biggest challenge. The 2500mAh battery I'm using already last a very long time, so no complaints here. I'd be interested to hear more about your project and the larger battery.
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So im trying to go for it and make one of these.. could you explain how you wired the controls to the raspberry pi (which GPIO pins) and what software you use to emulate along with how to configure it to the GPIO pins? I think I found most of the hardware at this point. I may try to go without the additional buttons since the games I play only require four buttons. do you think its possible to use the start and select buttons that are on the original GBA?
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I can't part with my NeoPiGamer, but I'm more than happy to answer any questions you have as you build your own.
I'll quote one of my previous posts to answer your questions regarding the GPIO pins.
@gamester_47 - I used the diagram below to wire the pinouts from the GBA's PCB directly to the GPIO pins on the Pi Zero.
I cut out the middle/green portion of the PCB in order for the signals to work properly. The Gameboy Pocket and Nintendo DS have the same issue. I needed the space for the LCD screen anyway so it all worked out.
The square pinouts under the right shoulder button and between the start and select buttons are ground.
Then I used the Adafruit retrogame utility described here to remap the buttons to keyboard presses.
You simply connect one end of a wire to a PCB pinout and the other end of the wire to a GPIO pin that's not power, reserved, or ground. Repeat for the remaining poinouts. Then you connect the ground PCB pinouts to ground GPIO pins.
Configure the retrogame utility linked above and you're ready to go.There are PCB pinouts for the start and select buttons as well, so you can use them without any issues.
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Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it. If I can get this project to work ill make you a funky piece of clothing www.janaktull.com shows some of the stuff I make. The maps you sent me I forsee being extremely helpful, however im not sure i know what most of the abbreviations mean. will I be able to connect any TP point to any BCM pin? for example: TP0-> BCM2; TP1-> BCM3 and so on?
Also how did you cut the PCB board? i was planning on using a dremel but my friend told me i have to be careful of fusing layers of the board together and shorting the control circuit. And is there a specific place to cut the middle portion out? as in are there certain structures that I need to be sure to cut out?
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Cool clothes. I have a good friend who would love the first one.
The corresponding control for each PCB pinout (e.g.: A, B, Select, Start, etc.) is designated right next to the TP# and is color coded to match the arrows pointing to the PCB pinouts in the diagram.
You can connect the PCB pinouts to any GPIO pins as long as it's not used for power, reserved (for your display, comms, etc.), and ground. Then you connect the two ground PCB pinouts to any ground GPIO pins.
I cut the PCB using a dremel tool right along where the green meets the white. You don't have to worry about shorting or fusing. In fact, the main reason for cutting the board is to terminate the paths so the pinouts work the way we want them to as briefly mentioned in the quoted post.
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@janaktull said in NeoPiGamer:
Thanks for your help! I really appreciate it. If I can get this project to work ill make you a funky piece of clothing www.janaktull.com shows some of the stuff I make.
Funky indeed! The 80s have truly returned. Bravo!
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I love this. I personally think the GBA is the most one of the best Gameboys in terms of holdability (is that a word?), it was only missing the X and Y buttons to make it perfect for a SNES handheld and you solved that. Do you have any more photos or info about how you set up the X and Y buttons?
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@obsidianspider You should check out http://sudomod.com/ for inspiration. Reading his blogs and watching his video's gave me a lot of inspiration to solve the problems I am facing while I'm trying this mod as well.
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His SD card in a cartridge inspired me to make the cartridge slot functional in the Super Famicom build I'm working on. I haven't determined what I'll be putting in the cartridge yet, but darn it, it will do something. :)
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@obsidianspider said in NeoPiGamer:
I love this. I personally think the GBA is the most one of the best Gameboys in terms of holdability (is that a word?), it was only missing the X and Y buttons to make it perfect for a SNES handheld and you solved that. Do you have any more photos or info about how you set up the X and Y buttons?
I am also working on a similar project, and I'd love to know how you installed the X/Y buttons. We left that off of our initial build, but I know it's something we'll want to solve sometime soon.
If you'd like to see it, I plan to be adding more at http://gamepieadvance.com/
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I'm planning on doing the X/Y using 6mm microswitches glued to the top shell, I don't see how to add a rubbermat like in the sudomod example without damaging the A/B mat. Maybe too easy, but hey, it'll work ;)
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@mrvanes said in NeoPiGamer:
I'm planning on doing the X/Y using 6mm microswitches glued to the top shell, I don't see how to add a rubbermat like in the sudomod example without damaging the A/B mat. Maybe too easy, but hey, it'll work ;)
What do you plan to use for the actual buttons?
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Just the switches, the top will protrude one or two mm through the shell. X/Y are mostly 'options' or 'selections' in game where A/B are more action packed so I think I'll get away with it. They will look like the start/select buttons and a little like the shoulder buttons in the sudomod mod, but on the front instead of the back.
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@mrvanes said in NeoPiGamer:
Just the switches, the top will protrude one or two mm through the shell. X/Y are mostly 'options' or 'selections' in game where A/B are more action packed so I think I'll get away with it. It will look a little like the shoulder buttons in the sudomod mod, but on the front instead of the back.
I guess I play too much Mario. Y is to run and I do quite a bit of that. In other games it's often used to shoot.
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I'm not sure that I completely like it, but it should be fairly simple to add something like one of the following near the A/B buttons (and just run wires to them).
http://www.ebay.com/itm/5Pcs-SPST-2-Positions-Momentary-Action-Green-Push-Button-Switch-AC-250V-3A-/231269454219?hash=item35d8bbd18b:g:mu8AAOSwfZhXMp4V
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Red-2-Pin-SPST-Miniature-0-5A-125VAC-8mm-Mounting-Hole-Push-Button-Switch-/281102709018?hash=item417306f11a:g:Z2gAAOxyPepRkdgj
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-x-Green-2Pin-SPST-Miniature-0-5A-125VAC-8mm-Hole-OFF-ON-NO-PushButton-Switch-/261901046464?hash=item3cfa84d2c0:g:kfQAAOxyTMdTOl5~ -
@obsidianspider - Thanks. I couldn't agree more.
I'm away from home at the moment and can't take additional photos, so I'll do the best I can to describe what I did.
I used two 6mm tactile button switches, a perfboard, and modded buttons from a broken Nintendo DS Lite for the additional Y and X buttons.
First I soldered the two 6mm tactile buttons to the perfboard with one line of space between them. Then I soldered the switches along the middle so that they can share ground. Next, I cut the perfboard to the exact dimensions of the two switches side by side. I solder wires from the switches to the GPIO pins on the Pi Zero along with ground and we now have functional switches.
Now comes the tricky part. I lined up the switches to the exact locations of where I want my buttons to be and marked the location on the face of the GBA. Then I used a drill bit the exact same diameter as the switches and drilled the holes. The result are two holes big enough to house both switches with space between them similar to the original button holes .
Now comes the even trickier part. I needed some way to support the switches so that they are flush with the holes leaving enough space for the actual buttons, so I used a few layers of double sided mounting tape to support the perfboard against the PCB in the right position. I had to cut the two sides of the metal support of the right shoulder button switch to make room. It was a little tricky, but it worked out great.
Then I took the X and Y buttons from the broken DS Lite and cut away the extra pieces at the bottom of the buttons so that the buttons are completely flush with the drilled holes with minimal room for movement. I used Loctite Super Glue Ultragel Control to chemically bond the middle of the back of each button to the top of the switches. Let it set over night and boom ... the Y and X buttons are ready.
@mrvanes - I'm not sure how well buttons mounted on the outside are going to work especially for non-NES games like those for Neo Geo where all four buttons are used heavily.
@Flavor - Looks like you're using a custom PCB. Did you design it or source it from someone else?
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@Flavor - Looks like you're using a custom PCB. Did you design it or source it from someone else?
We produced it.
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is there a power and ground for the controls on each half of the control pad? also how did you connect the display to the pi zero
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Yes, each half of the remaining GBA PCB have their own ground pinouts located at the locations quoted in the previous post.
My previous post in this thread linked below explains how I modified, connected, and configured the display in great detail.
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The shoulder button supports are a massive ground I conveniently used here.
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