Build Log (of a total and complete newb with 0 electronics expierence)
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:52 am
Let's watch a monkey try to build a GMZ
So I am a model builder with only slightly more than 0 knowledge when it comes to electronics. I know enough to wire an LED to a battery and, more often than not, have it work for more than 5 seconds. But I was checking out various videos when I ran across Wemy's GameBoy Zero build videos. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I re-watched his videos several times, watched other soldering tutorials, watched various basic electronic videos and looked up the different parts he mentioned. And I felt like I was about as ready to start as I was going to get. So I bought a couple of GameBoy after-market cases off ebay, the screen from Amazon, and assorted other parts from various other providers.
How am I doing?
Well, I started working on modifying the case:
I think it turned out... alright. Could do better, but for a first try... okay yeah I'm just joking. That's just the scraps from said modification.
This is the modified front of the case.
I also modified the battery compartment to be about 1/2 as deep as it was originally designed to be.
The battery pack fits in the compartment well enough but there was a lot of extra space. Originally I was planning on gluing some foam in there to keep the battery from rattling around, but that meant I was just wasting space. So instead I took the back of the battery compartment from one body, removed the back of the battery compartment, cut down about half of the height and mounted the cut out back. In hind sight, I would use a sheet of styrene instead of transplanting the back of one case. But experience and all that.
The screen
So I used the backup camera screen that Wermy mentioned in his Custom Parts video. As he warned, the screen I got had a different board confirguation to it then the one he demonstrated with. I spent some time looking through the forums on here to see if I could find the informaiton I needed... but as I hinted at before, I have basically 0 electronics knowledge and was really just kind of hoping that I would know what I was looking for if I found it. Which... yeah. An hour or so of searching with that mind-set... not a great expecation of results.
so I hijacked a thread where someone else asked for help but didn't actually post any information or pictures of their board or anything. VeternGamer was good enough to point me at the exact information I needed in regards to the screen mods.
Aaaaand I think this is where the monkey screwed up.
I made the mods the article laid out,
and used Wermy's guide to connect the wires to the Pi Zero W...
and I get nothing from the Pi. I plug it in with a noobs card in the slot.
As far as I can tell, I tried the Raspberry pi Zero W somewhere along the line. I'm hoping that's not the case... but yeah. Not looking good in this regard.
So I am a model builder with only slightly more than 0 knowledge when it comes to electronics. I know enough to wire an LED to a battery and, more often than not, have it work for more than 5 seconds. But I was checking out various videos when I ran across Wemy's GameBoy Zero build videos. So I thought I'd give it a shot. I re-watched his videos several times, watched other soldering tutorials, watched various basic electronic videos and looked up the different parts he mentioned. And I felt like I was about as ready to start as I was going to get. So I bought a couple of GameBoy after-market cases off ebay, the screen from Amazon, and assorted other parts from various other providers.
How am I doing?
Well, I started working on modifying the case:
I think it turned out... alright. Could do better, but for a first try... okay yeah I'm just joking. That's just the scraps from said modification.
This is the modified front of the case.
I also modified the battery compartment to be about 1/2 as deep as it was originally designed to be.
The battery pack fits in the compartment well enough but there was a lot of extra space. Originally I was planning on gluing some foam in there to keep the battery from rattling around, but that meant I was just wasting space. So instead I took the back of the battery compartment from one body, removed the back of the battery compartment, cut down about half of the height and mounted the cut out back. In hind sight, I would use a sheet of styrene instead of transplanting the back of one case. But experience and all that.
The screen
So I used the backup camera screen that Wermy mentioned in his Custom Parts video. As he warned, the screen I got had a different board confirguation to it then the one he demonstrated with. I spent some time looking through the forums on here to see if I could find the informaiton I needed... but as I hinted at before, I have basically 0 electronics knowledge and was really just kind of hoping that I would know what I was looking for if I found it. Which... yeah. An hour or so of searching with that mind-set... not a great expecation of results.
so I hijacked a thread where someone else asked for help but didn't actually post any information or pictures of their board or anything. VeternGamer was good enough to point me at the exact information I needed in regards to the screen mods.
Aaaaand I think this is where the monkey screwed up.
I made the mods the article laid out,
and used Wermy's guide to connect the wires to the Pi Zero W...
and I get nothing from the Pi. I plug it in with a noobs card in the slot.
As far as I can tell, I tried the Raspberry pi Zero W somewhere along the line. I'm hoping that's not the case... but yeah. Not looking good in this regard.