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RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:21 pm
by RRexy
Hello there, this is my very first project with electronics, so bear with me :) ! I will keep this updated and everything however school is starting up pretty soon for me :D , and that means I will probably not be updating because of that :( . Anyway, I placed my orders for the rest of my stuff, so when I have all of it, it should be around early September.

Here is the stuff I have as of right now:
(8/12/16) RPi0 from Adafruit. (Got it!)
(8/12/16) Speakers and amp from Adafruit. (Yes!)
(8/12/16) Ion battery and power supply from Adafruit. (Got that too...)
(5/20/16) 2.5 inch screen from Adafruit. (Mm-hm!)
(8/12/16) Micro USB breakout from Adafruit. (Yeah!)
(8/12/16) Powerboost 500c from Adafruit. (I think it works...)
(Probably last month) Prototype board from Radioshack. (I hope it works...)
(lol, I don't know) Controller board from Matt a.k.a. Kitsch (Yep)
(>^-^)> <(^-^<) ^(^-^)^ (^ 90% sure it's his name)
The obvious stuff, like Micro SD card, buttons, and stuff like that.
Tools. (I may need to get more attachments for my dad's dremel.)

And that's about it, also a quick question: Do I need to get step up regulators, where do I need to use them, and why? Thank you!

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:50 pm
by PotaTox
RRexy wrote:Hello there, this is my very first project with electronics
First project as in "First big project" or "I have never touched a soldering iron in my life" first project? I hope it's the former. Not that I am an expert, this is actually my second big project.
RRexy wrote:(8/12/16) Powerboost 500c from Adafruit. (I think it works...)
I think you need a 1000c, although I think somewhere in the forums there was a post about using the 500c.
RRexy wrote:(I may need to get more attachments for my dad's dremel.)
Well, I am also using my dad's dremel, but he already has quite a fair few bits.
RRexy wrote:a quick question: Do I need to get step up regulators, where do I need to use them, and why?
I think that some people used it because they weren't sure how to mod the screen to five volts, and didn't want to take the risk, so the upped it to 12v, which is what the screen is normally supplied.



Wait, are you putting this in a Gameboy Color?

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 10:07 pm
by RRexy
Um, yes...? Also, this is my very first big project, I had some experience with soldering and welding, but it was pretty mediocre however it did get the job done. About the CGZ, I need to (obviously) leave the cartridge reader, do some light mods to the case, I'm positive I could use a 500c (if it doesn't work, that's fine), use a 2.5 inch screen, and well, my Gameboy Color just came in today, so I'm finally going to attend to this, and hopefully finish it. Also, I might need to leave the USB hub for spacial reasons, and I'm following someone else (@Max) who is also doing this. Just to save even more space, I might not use a teensy because I could use the GPIO, use a custom cartridge to hide the board sticking out, not use extra buttons, might use a USB DAC because I'm lazy, and the reason why I'm using a Gameboy Color is, well, I just love the Gameboy Color more.

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 9:25 am
by PotaTox
Alright, I am interested in reading this one, because it seems that me and you are very alike. Please, TAKE MANY, MANY PICTURES!
RRexy wrote:I'm positive I could use a 500c (if it doesn't work, that's fine)
It has been asked twice before, but you should probably make another post under Gameboy Zero asking about using a 500c.

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 2:18 pm
by RRexy
Okay, a quick update, I'm going on vacation for a while, (procrastination!) so I'm basically postponing this until next week :( .

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 4:02 pm
by RRexy
Okay, so while I was removing the chip that was making the board 6-12 volts, I removed it. However I also removed 2 other chips (I think one is a resistor, and the other one I'm not too sure about). Will this cost me anything? Do I have to get a new board or what?
WIN_20160817_14_55_57_Pro.jpg
What do I do?!?
WIN_20160817_14_55_57_Pro.jpg (224.2 KiB) Viewed 11778 times
(P.S. I'm sorry for the blurry picture, I do not have a camera or phone, so I had to take the photo with my laptop's webcam.)

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:15 pm
by PotaTox
RRexy wrote:Okay, a quick update, I'm going on vacation for a while, (procrastination!) so I'm basically postponing this until next week :( .
WHAT. THE SIMILARITYS KEEP HAPPENING! I'm going on vacation the day after tommorow (It technically stars tomorrow, but we don't leave the house yet). Luckily, I just comepleted my ghetto Gameboy Zero, so I can use it during car rides :).



In regards to the screen, does it turn on?

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2016 11:41 pm
by PotaTox
Do. Update. Me. Want. More.

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:52 am
by Johnny2Dicks
This thread is a bit stale, but nevertheless.. I figured I would add. I've completed a bit of work on a gameboy color zero of my own recently. I have completed most of the case mod so far, and the rest of the parts necessary will be in by friday. It's worth mentioning, I am cramming a 3.5 inch LCD into one of them. "3.5 inch wont fit in a GBC!" they said. Well, I said "fuck you" and made it happen. I will post pictures and whatnot if anyone is interested. That one is a glow in the dark GBC, super cool. I also have a spare clear purple housing I got as an extra that I'll put a smaller screen into, with one of the custom PCB's, as I'm using a modified stock PCB for the glow in the dark one. Should be pretty sweet. I'll update in the next few days...

Re: RRexy's Gameboy Color Zero!

Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 7:39 am
by SumCanadianGuy
I'd be interested in seeing either build. I am currently working on a GBZ DMG but I have a few GBC housings kicking around from repairing old GBC so I might as well make another one. I am using a Helder AIO for my DMG but I would love to try to tackle it all myself with no custom parts. I'm sure both of you know but if you follow the traces from the buttons they all have throughput holes on the board near the cartridge slot. I've actually repaired a bad button by rerouting to one of those through holes so I'm sure if you had a good working GBC board you could use the through holes rather than surface mount soldering.