Ah, okay, I get you now.shesaysidontlisten wrote: ↑Mon Sep 18, 2017 12:19 amI had it in my head that people had the OS on the micro SD in the pi, then also had a second card reader (often in a gutted Gameboy cartridge) that contained the ROMs. They are only using one card total? How did I miss that? Are people unsoldering that micro reader?
A few things...
You can only* run one MicroSD card at a time. So those builds that have a MicroSD in a removable cartridge, it's functioning like a really complicated extension cord - basically one of these:
except it has the cartridge connection inserted in the middle. You can see this in wermy's 'GBZ with custom parts' build - he wires the Pi's MicroSD card reader pins to the cartridge socket from a Game Boy, which connects to the PRS cartridge, which has traces that lead to a card reader mounted on the cartridge.
But they're not adding a second MicroSD. They're just moving it to a different location.
So in that vein, no, you don't need to remove the on-board card reader. The reader is connected to test pads underneath, so you can connect an alternate card reader to those test pads and bypass the one on the Pi. More info here: https://othermod.com/raspberry-pi-zero- ... d-adapter/ Note that this does not give you TWO functioning card readers - the Pi can't handle that so you can only use one at a time.
Now, just to add to your confusion...
You *can* store ROMs on a USB storage device. It's not the standard method - most people load the ROMs onto the MicroSD card itself - but it can be done: https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Se ... -USB-drive Lastly, motor tools... My preference for cutting plastic is a crappy knockoff I bought for $10 at Radio Shack at least 15 years ago. I have an actual Dremel, but for cutting plastic it spins far too fast, with too much torque; it doesn't cut plastic, it melts it. The crappy knockoff spins way slower, so it will actually cut and sand plastic. Although frankly, for the cutting involved in a GBZ, I think hand tools would be a better option - pin vise, razor saw, scribing tool and some jeweller's files should be all you really need and will give much smoother edges.
