Noob Tries to Make a Pii U (Wii U Retropie Gamepad)

[BlueWeaselBreath]

Please see my first draft of the wiring diagram below. Before I finalize it and add it to the instructions, I wanted to let the community take a peek and see if everything looked okay. Let me know if anything’s out of place — thanks!



UPDATE: The ground wire to the Pi was missing, as was the "3" on the potentiometer. Corrected diagram attached.

[Darksyder510]

holy crap that diagram by far makes everything look so simple. Granted I'm also looking at it from my cell phone. But seriously great job blue! What exactly is a choke filter that you are using? .

[BlueWeaselBreath]

A great question! I have added the following info to the main parts list. I’m afraid I need a lot of help describing the general specs people should be looking for. Anyone who is good with this, please help me explain it better! EDIT: My sense is that anywhere between 4 and 10 mH is good for the choke filter, but I’m still not sure if it’s a problem to use too high a current rating.

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To avoid noise in your audio signal, it is recommended that you incorporate a component known as a choke. A choke is an inductor (inductors store energy in a magnetic field when electrical current is passed through them) that blocks high-frequency AC current while allowing low-frequency current to pass through. It might make sense to use a common mode choke, a type of choke that suppresses noise on both lines by having two separate windings. Unfortunately, while I’ve had many components recommended to me by user Banjokazooie, to whom I am grateful, the specs involved are so complex to a noob like me that it is currently hard for me to tell you what to look for. I’ve been told that the interference spike you could get without using this component is around 700 kHz, but when shopping for these components, the specs always describe the impedance (in microhenries) but often don’t describe the frequency range or amperage. I’ll welcome any help in this regard, and please explain it to me as if I’m a ten year old, so I know what to recommend to people. If you get brave and try building this without the choke filter, let me know what happens — I expect there would be some bad noise.

[kopskey1]

Hey How far along are you with the buttons, I'm working on the planning phase of mine, and I was wondering if you found a way to connect the Home Panel to the Teensey (I can't find an 18 pin FPC-DIP connector). I also hate myself so I'm going to try to put the Raspberry Pi 4 inside... Without modifications ( I have many features in mind)

[BlueWeaselBreath]

Hey, Kopskey, I haven’t gotten to that point yet, but I wasn’t planning to retain the home panel, because I figured the connector was proprietary or something. I wish I could! But I was just going to try to hook up one or two of the buttons independently with switches and make do with that. If you look at some of the other threads on this type of project, you’ll see some users distributing a custom board solution for this purpose (I think Helder is one?), but I specifically made it a point to not use anything custom-made, because I want the project to stand on its own, without the need to rely on specific individuals or the ability to make one’s own circuit board.

[Darksyder510]

Hey Blue, Just wanted to see if you have progressed any further with the WiiU? cant wait to see how far you've gotten.

[BlueWeaselBreath]

Darksyder, you’re so kind to check in — I really appreciate it! I haven’t touched the project in awhile I’m afraid, because we bought a house and moved a couple months ago, and everything has been nuts since then trying to fix the house. But again you’ve spurred me to get back into it again. I would definitely love to know if anybody has any issues with my diagram before I start wiring!

[LabreaReloc]

I can’t be the only one still following this thread and hoping for a Coronavirus-inspired update. Any news to share?

[BlueWeaselBreath]

LabreaReloc, thank you for checking in. I’ve been thinking about this project nonstop. You’d think that this would be the perfect time, right? And yet due to a number of logistical factors involving being furloughed from my main job and having to pick up a freelance gig, and having to constantly attend to my two young children, it’s even worse than before in terms of being conducive to the project. Your nudge was very helpful, though, to help motivate me, because I’ve gotten a lot of other work out of the way and maybe I can start some soldering and see what happens! In the meantime, I’ve posted a corrected version of the diagram this week, so check that out!

On another thread, someone questioned the wiring of the Teensy to the protection board. I don’t know any better way of doing it—I’d love to hear people’s thoughts!

[AntFJ]

Teensy can't handle that high of voltage. It should get connected to +5v after the step down. Ground doesn't matter.