minimal pi
- moosepr
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minimal pi
Hi guys
I have been on the retropie forum for a while now, just found the sudomod forum and thought i would share my last masterpiece
I had been wanting to make a little Pi based handheld ever since the Zero came out, but couldn't get my hands on one. When i finally got one I was stuck for ideas as to what kind of case i wanted, so i kinda made it without the case!!
I started off with a li-po battery I had lying around. I have measured it to be 2500mah, really thin, came out of an old power bank.
On the front, we have a cheepo 2.2" spi screen (ebay special £6 ish), flanked by 2 stripboard button arrays.
on the back is the Pi Zero, a cheepo li-po charge/protect board, and a small arduino acting as a power switch (dfRobot uHex if anyone is intersted)
The spi screen isnt as bad as people make them out to be. Sure the process that copies the screen to the spi bus adds some overhead, and the gpio button bit probably adds some too, but i have not had any issues.
It plays gameboy/gameboy colour/NES/SNES/gamegear/mastersystem with ease.
N64 games run (slowly!!) but the buttons dont seem to work, so i used it as a battery life test, and just broke 10 hours!!!!
The only problem, its a bit on the fragile side!! 5 mins in the same pocket as anything metal and there will be fire!!!
Pete
I have been on the retropie forum for a while now, just found the sudomod forum and thought i would share my last masterpiece
I had been wanting to make a little Pi based handheld ever since the Zero came out, but couldn't get my hands on one. When i finally got one I was stuck for ideas as to what kind of case i wanted, so i kinda made it without the case!!
I started off with a li-po battery I had lying around. I have measured it to be 2500mah, really thin, came out of an old power bank.
On the front, we have a cheepo 2.2" spi screen (ebay special £6 ish), flanked by 2 stripboard button arrays.
on the back is the Pi Zero, a cheepo li-po charge/protect board, and a small arduino acting as a power switch (dfRobot uHex if anyone is intersted)
The spi screen isnt as bad as people make them out to be. Sure the process that copies the screen to the spi bus adds some overhead, and the gpio button bit probably adds some too, but i have not had any issues.
It plays gameboy/gameboy colour/NES/SNES/gamegear/mastersystem with ease.
N64 games run (slowly!!) but the buttons dont seem to work, so i used it as a battery life test, and just broke 10 hours!!!!
The only problem, its a bit on the fragile side!! 5 mins in the same pocket as anything metal and there will be fire!!!
Pete
Get a small cheep LCD in your project https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2312
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
- wermy
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Re: minimal pi
Nice! I actually just got the exact same screen up and running for another project. What settings are you using on it and what's your performance like (on the screen specifically)?
- moosepr
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Re: minimal pi
i have actually just been reinstalling it all, so i have all the settings to hand.
Currently running
sudo modprobe fbtft_device custom name=fb_ili9341 gpios=reset:25,dc:24,led:18 speed=16000000 bgr=1
i have had the speed up to 46000000 and added fps=60 and it still copes (although i doubt it is actually running at 60fps)
i have actually been experimenting with the ili9341 screens, you can actually ditch the pcb, there is nothing on there that is of major use (other than the 0.8mm pitch FPC)
Currently running
sudo modprobe fbtft_device custom name=fb_ili9341 gpios=reset:25,dc:24,led:18 speed=16000000 bgr=1
i have had the speed up to 46000000 and added fps=60 and it still copes (although i doubt it is actually running at 60fps)
i have actually been experimenting with the ili9341 screens, you can actually ditch the pcb, there is nothing on there that is of major use (other than the 0.8mm pitch FPC)
Get a small cheep LCD in your project https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2312
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
- thedudester80
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- wermy
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Re: minimal pi
Cool. Are you running that in conjunction with fbcp? I've got mine runing fbtft_device=adafruit22a since it uses the ili9341 as well. I've got speed set to 80000000 (as adafruit does) and fps set to 60. It's not 60fps (and there is a bit of screen tearing) but it looks/works pretty well! Good enough that I'd play games on it, anyway.
- moosepr
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Re: minimal pi
Thanks man, fancy seeing you here!thedudester80 wrote:Still one of my favorite builds. Great work!!!
Yeah fbcp for the screen, it's the only way really. I think there are versions of MAME that can output straight to the frame buffer, but just for simplicity is easier to just pipe everythingwermy wrote:Cool. Are you running that in conjunction with fbcp?
I think the tearing is just the nature of the screen really. Only noticeable when large chunks of the screen change quickly. Can't complain with how cheap the screens are though. Found some for less than $2 each in bulk (minus the PCB)
Get a small cheep LCD in your project https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2312
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
- moosepr
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:18 am
- Has thanked: 69 times
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Re: minimal pi
Ha ha ha ha, I like to life dangerously!yogurtcup wrote:putting a bare Raspberry Pi on the sofa makes me feel anxious
Get a small cheep LCD in your project https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2312
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
- moosepr
- Posts: 524
- Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2017 6:18 am
- Has thanked: 69 times
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Re: minimal pi
You can just use a slide switch in place of the little hexagonal Arduino board. That is basically trying to be a clever switch
Get a small cheep LCD in your project https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2312
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
Wrap it all round a battery https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2292
Or use a custom PCB to make it really small https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2512
or make it really really really really tiny!! https://www.sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2919
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