First Build - Game Boy Pi3B+ HDMI

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kaning
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First Build - Game Boy Pi3B+ HDMI

Post by kaning » Sat Jul 18, 2020 3:30 pm

Hi all,

Only recently i implemented all the features i wanted for this build so now I've decided to share it with you guys. :D
It will not be a in depth guide as i don't have enough material to provide a useful guide. Also a big thanks for the support i got and for the huge knowledge base i found here.

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Parts & features:

Raspberry Pi 3B+
HDMI Screen - Waveshare 3.5inch HDMI LCD (A beast of a screen!ETAPrime Review)
NotesShow
Decided to go for the HDMI ribbon approach which worked fine. Very sensitive with interferences. Shown later below.
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Because of interfirence from main power cables i ended up shielding the main cables and the HDMI with a metal plate. I was surprised it worked so well.
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Speaker + Headphones - Adafruit MAX98357 I2S Class-D Mono Amp
NotesShow
Spent some time figuring out the headphone jack pinout. I was following a picture with wrong diagram. Below is correct for the original gameboy headphone jack.
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Safe Shutdown - tinkerBOY PowerSwitch – 5V Boost and Charge Module with Safe Shutdown
NotesShow
Installation instructions
GPIO pins can be edit at /boot/config.txt
Battery monitor - 16bit I2C ADC ADS1015
NotesShow
Used Mintybatterymonitor by HoolyHoo along ADS1015.
It should work out of the box but it didn't. i had to update and use python3 as python2 is no longer supported. Check Raccoon's reply
Also edited the battery icon using WinSCP, was light colors and was hard to read.
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Full controller (14B+2A) - Generic PCB + Back Button PCB with Switches + buttons and conductive silicone pads + PSP 1000 Analog Controller + Arduino Pro Micro Active cooling - Heatsink set for Raspberry pi3 + Display Heatsink (in the box) + Charge module heatsink + 2x 3.3v fans
Battery - 5000mAh capacity
Config.txt
SpoilerShow

disable_splash=1

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
overscan_left=20
overscan_right=6
overscan_top=2
overscan_bottom=6

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
framebuffer_width=800
framebuffer_height=480

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
# Waveshare 3.5 HDMI Screen settings
max_usb_current=1
hdmi_cvt 1280 768 60 6 0 0 0
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=87

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
dtparam=i2c_arm=on
dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable the lirc-rpi module
#dtoverlay=lirc-rpi

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
#dtparam=audio=on
dtparam=audio=off

#gpu_mem_256=128
#gpu_mem_512=256
#gpu_mem_1024=256
overscan_scale=1
gpu_mem=512

# TinkerBoy Safe Shutdown
dtoverlay=gpio-poweroff,gpiopin=5,active_low=1
dtoverlay=gpio-shutdown,gpio_pin=6,active_low=1

#I2s Audio
dtoverlay=hifiberry-dac
dtoverlay=i2s-mmap

# Disable Bluetooth
dtoverlay=pi3-disable-bt
SteamLink <3

Before closing up picture. :b This was before i had speaker sound, don't have more recent pics.
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Very pleased with the display, color and definition is very good. The pics are not bad but is looks way better in person.
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EDIT 1: Added config.txt

Ziploc99
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Re: First Build - Game Boy Pi3B+ HDMI

Post by Ziploc99 » Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:28 pm

Really like this build. Well done. Feels good when it finally works the way you intended. How do you like those shoulder buttons?

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Troff
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Re: First Build - Game Boy Pi3B+ HDMI

Post by Troff » Wed Sep 16, 2020 6:10 pm

Very nice, reminds me of my first build. I used a cut down RP 3B+ and a waveshare 3.5in HDMI screen.
It all worked, which was great. I found that the Waveshare HDMi has some Screen-Tearing, its not completely bad, but annoying, have use noticed this?

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kaning
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Re: First Build - Game Boy Pi3B+ HDMI

Post by kaning » Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:44 am

Ziploc99 wrote:
Mon Aug 24, 2020 1:28 pm
Really like this build. Well done. Feels good when it finally works the way you intended. How do you like those shoulder buttons?
Hi,

Thanks!
They are quite nice and fit nice in the case too. The smaller buttons are in the most comfortable position but the space is limited. :b

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kaning
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Re: First Build - Game Boy Pi3B+ HDMI

Post by kaning » Sun Oct 04, 2020 10:47 am

Troff wrote:
Wed Sep 16, 2020 6:10 pm
Very nice, reminds me of my first build. I used a cut down RP 3B+ and a waveshare 3.5in HDMI screen.
It all worked, which was great. I found that the Waveshare HDMi has some Screen-Tearing, its not completely bad, but annoying, have use noticed this?
Hi,

Indeed i can confirm that is the only bad thing I found with this display. It "only" happens in main menu when switching between consoles or on the emulation station options menu (start button). A bit annoying indeed.

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