My Gameboy Pi

[JoshL]

I stumbled across wermy's build online and thought I have to make myself one of them!

I have never soldered anything in my life, so I am sure I will destroy a couple of components along the way.

I got a bit excited and ordered parts without doing a great deal of research, so there are a couple of problems already I think.

I have a Pi 2 that I am using. I have removed the USB ports and Ethernet port to slim it down a bit. I will also remove the GPIO pins when my soldering iron arrives.

I have ordered:
- Replacement DMG case
- New buttons (including X and Y)
- 3.5" LCD (which I think will not be 5V compatible. May get a 12V step up board or just a new LCD if it doesn't work)
- PowerBoost 500C (seems everyone is using the 1000C - the 500C will probably not allow me to charge while playing will it?)
- Small stereo amp
- Gameboy Zero Button PCB (kitsch-bent were sold out and didn't know of the AIO at the time)
- 2400mAh lipo

Nothing has arrived yet, but I am keen to get started. Sadly, I think the case is going to take a while to ship from China.
No doubt I will have lots of questions along the way, so thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer.

[dezent]

Hi
i highly recomment the 1000c charger.
I have used the 500C in my first GBz - charging while playing is not possible. This is no problem in daily playing BUT it was real pain when i have recompiled emulation station for USB audio support (adjust volume) ... this takes 6-8h ...the battery (2000mAh) lasts 2-3 hours.

finally i have added another microUSB port in the ex battery case which powers the pi directly.

Spend some extra Dollars - it's worth the money

[JoshL]

I thought that might be the case - thanks for the advice.

I think ill try assemble it with the 500C and see how i go. If i find i want to be charging while playing, ill order a 1000C to replace it.

[sotasystems]

How did you remove the USB and Ethernet port?

[JoshL]

I just used some wire cutters and hacked them up as I didn't need to keep them.

Still have the pins there, but I will desolder them properly.

Looks a bit messy at the moment, but it works fine.

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You can see now the tallest part are the GPIO pins, which I will remove along with the headphone socket.

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[JoshL]

Still waiting on all my parts to arrive.

While I am waiting, I bought some tools and things I will need:
- Soldering iron + stand (should be delivered today)
- Third hand PCB holder with magnifying glass and light
- Various pliers and cutters
- Solder, solder wick and a solder sucker
- Wire (18awg for power - all they had in the shop), and some thinner ribbon cable for the buttons/data
- 3.5mm switching headphone socket
- 40mm speaker (all they had)
- dpdt power switch

Can't wait to get started!

[JoshL]

Button PCB arrived and I thought I would try soldering for the first time ever.

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Also continued desoldering the Pi. Some pins seemed to be more difficult than others so I left them for now.

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[Mischief]

The difficult ones to desolder are the ground pads they will need more heat because the pads act like a heat sink, you have to keep the soldering iron on the pad longer but not too long so it doesn't destroy the pad itself, you will get their in the end

[JoshL]

I think I need a more powerful soldering iron for them. The one I have is 30w - 50w and I had it on the hottest temperature I could.

Will try again tomorrow and maybe buy a cheap more powerful iron.

[solder]

I think I need a more powerful soldering iron for them. The one I have is 30w - 50w and I had it on the hottest temperature I could.

Just add some solder to the ones you don't manage to get off and heat the blob. You should then be able to pull the pinleftovers out easily.
Desoldered a complete rPI3 with a cheap 15W iron.