shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

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shesaysidontlisten
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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:34 am

YaYa wrote:
Sun Oct 01, 2017 9:55 am
I suggest you to put the speaker right in the screen hole and you'll make a good subwoofer with the shell :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
I guess if you were a chiptune fanatic you could turn the entire back into a speaker and crank that baby!

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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:04 am

The updated list:
SpoilerShow
Exterior
Case - Arrived
Buttons and Pads - Arrived

On/Off Switch - Traded with forum member (thanks!)
Screen glass
Game case

Interior
Pi - Arrived
Wiring - Have 22AWG for power stuff, 30AWG for all else and some ribbon cable if it is necessary (30AWG?)
Powerboost - Arrived
Board - Arrived (will need to manually do L/R)

Speaker - Re-ordered after original hilarious oops
Battery - Ordered
Safe-shutdown for Powerboost - Ordered

Amplifier - Arrived
Low-pass filter - Parts Arrived
Headphone Jack - Arrived
Micro port - Arrived
Screen - Arrived, dissected and not giant board (yay!)
SD card - Arrived
Volume wheel - Arrived
Power strip - Arrived
Button wells and screw post bracket from Wermy - Arrived
Well, I did all my test soldering. The first was awful, but I took to it pretty quickly. I don't see any problems in that respect.

Dissecting the screen was scary. It all went well, but I was very worried about snapping or scratching something.

I think I will make my low pass filter next for some more soldering practice, then it's time to actually put some stuff together for testing!

And also, my wife is a genius. I needed a hot glue gun and Dremel and had actually bought a glue gun for 15 bucks. Before I opened it we went to a local mass garage sale flea market thing. Got a perfectly functioning glue gun for 4 bucks! Then found a jammed Dremel type tool for 2 bucks. Got it home, PB Blaster, a file and 15 minutes later and works like a dream! All for less than just a new glue gun.

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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by YaYa » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:42 am

You got lucky :D

Do not hesitate to shoot pictures of your screen (now maybe too late to show the tearing down)
Pictures will help people with the same config as yours !
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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:01 am

YaYa wrote:
Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:42 am
You got lucky :D

Do not hesitate to shoot pictures of your screen (now maybe too late to show the tearing down)
Pictures will help people with the same config as yours !
Darn, I will do a step by step for my second build. ;)

First I pried the silver outside until it cracked. I then snipped the very end of the cables so I could slip the back off after unscrewing the adjustment buttons. I then Xacto cut the beads of hot glue and from the perimeter. Next, I slowly pushed on the double sided tape I could see in the slits between the screen and remaining case until it was separated enough to get a screwdriver into the slot from the outside. I then carefully worked my way around, prying it until it came loose.

I still have tons of tape residue on the metal bezel. Am I going to harm the screen if I use GooGone to remove that residue?

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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by YaYa » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:06 am

You can go with acetone also... express mode :mrgreen:
But be careful, acetone is really toxic so you should do this either outside, either inside under a strong ventilation :geek:
Also wear protective glasses :ugeek:
And do not use it on plastic !! Depending on the pastic, it can melt it :mrgreen:
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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:33 am

Finally got some time in on the build. Grinding out the screen was painful. So much hot, plastic shrapnel.
SpoilerShow
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I also had to grind down the button wells I bought from wermy. The BW screen has a large bezel on the bottom that didn't allow me to put it down as far as I would have liked.

I also salvaged some button wells from the USB SNES controllers for the L/R buttons. I had planned to use the silicone wells from the controllers but they suck! Way too flimsy. I ordered some pads, so things are on hold now. I soldered up the PCB to the wiring for the Teensy, but I'm afraid the wiring is too short and I'm not looking forward to unsoldering it.

While I'm waiting I think I'll make my whole audio setup.

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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Thu Oct 26, 2017 9:19 am

Have had very little time to work on this, even though I spend way too much time thinking about it. A couple developments though.

I had a nice ribbon cable attached to the board to go to the Teensy but it was too short so I had to unsolder the whole thing. Then I could not get the damn solder out of the tiny holes. I tried solder braid, I tried pushing a paperclip thru after it was heated... No luck! I decided to look into drilling the solder out. The issue is that the holes are ridiculously small. Lucky for me I have an AMAZING local hardware store with pretty much every tool ever conceived of by man. They pointed me to wire gauge drill bits. They are crazy tiny. I also had to pick up something called a pin vise which is a little chuck to hold them. I was stupid and didn't bring the board with me the first time, but after I went back I got a few #66 bits. They worked beautifully. All holes ready for rewiring.

I also needed to figure out what to do for a game cartridge. I have buttons below the slot because I didn't want to use the tactile screwhole buttons. This seems to mean a cartridge reader is out. This is no biggie since I'm not using a second SD card slot anywhere. I went to the local used game shop and asked for the cheapest black case game they had. I knew I wouldn't sacrifice anything potentially neat since it will never be played again. Luckily, I got a game completely deserving of never being played again. I'm gonna work on it with GooGone today to get the gunk and label off it, but it should work perfectly.
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I'm hoping I can maybe get a GBA reader thing people use and just cut it super narrow between my shoulder buttons so the game will still go in and out in a satisfying way. I just want it to grip the game correctly. Otherwise I will have to hot glue it in place and this first one is likely going to be a gift for a gamer brother-in-law and he has kids that might try to remove the (purely cosmetic) game cartridge. Not ideal.

I'll post a second pic after I clean up the cart. This also means I get to pick what new label I want to use. :)

Edit:

GooGone is no joke. The thing looks beautiful! Also ordered some stickers from YaYa that will be perfect. Ordered extras for the next one. And the next one. Etc...
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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Sun Nov 19, 2017 2:05 am

Testing audio now. Wired everything together and it's crackly, even after the low pass filter was added. Trying to figure out if this would be solved by going the USB hub to sound card route...

And let me also say I hate soldering the pins on the volume wheel so frickin much. It is the worst part of this whole build and makes me hate soldering. Argh!!!!

If someone has a trick to not make this horrible I would love to learn it.

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Re: shesaysidontlisten GBZ First Build Log [WIP]

Post by shesaysidontlisten » Sun Nov 19, 2017 12:03 pm

Ordered a sound card and USB hub even though I really didn't want to. The sound was so bad and I was frankly frustrated working on it. Life's too short!

Spent some time working on the L and R buttons. The wells are shallower due to the back of the case being so much thicker. This makes the throw shorter, but it's comfortable since these aren't buttons you mash and mash. I'm happy with the feel.

The other thing I worked on was the card reader. The L/R placement meant I could not just have the normal reader slot, but I still wanted the cartridge to be removable (even if completely superfluous). I decided to cut a section of reader off and glue it in place and I'm actually very happy with it. It's not the satisfying kachunk you get with a full width reader, but it's far superior to just gluing the cartridge permanently into place.
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