[Done] HoarseHorace's first GBZ

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HoarseHorace
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[Done] HoarseHorace's first GBZ

Post by HoarseHorace » Sun Dec 11, 2016 10:54 am

So I started a GBZ build in the fall and was hoping to have it done by Christmas, but it's going to be late because I screwed around and didn't check to see if my battery pack would charge and discharge at the same time. Anyhow, I'd like document what I've put together.

Update 3/5/17 - Project completed sometime in January, but have procrastinated finishing this post.

Build List (Note, prices are what I paid, not what they cost today):
Case: GB DMG-01 (Broken) - FX Game Exchange (local retro VG store) $10
Screen: BW 3.5 Inch TFT LCD Monitor (Variant 7) $16.50
Battery: Techstick Ultra-Slim Portable 2500mAh Wallet Sized Power Card Power Bank... $10.75 (Doesn't charge and discharge at the same time :( )
Power Converter: 3.7V Li-ion Battery Mini USB To USB A Power Supply Module $3.35
All-in-One: Helder's AIO 2.0 (pre-sale) $45 shipped
Silicone Pads: Game Boy DMG Silicone Button Pads $1.99
Speaker: Game Boy Speaker $1.99
Buttons: Game Boy DMG 2-Part Buttons (Grey) $2.39
Tools: Game Boy Screwdriver $2.49
Shipping: Hand-Held Legend $3.49
Molex Connectors: Tanner Electronics, $1.09 per 2 pack of each gender, $6.54
Brackets: 3D-PRINTED GBZ PARTS - FULL SET $16
Turrok 2 Cartridge: FX Game Exchange ~$2.50
Volume Knob: 16x2mm 10K Ohm Double Dial Taper Volume Wheel 5pcs $3.55
Total: ~$126

I believe that I bought the broken Game Boy DMG-01 first, however I started working with the screen first. I got the BW screen that I've seen a lot of people use and hoped for the best.
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When I pulled it out, I was worried weather or not it was the good one (Variant 7), or the one with the huge board.
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Luckily enough for me, I have access to a X-ray machine at work so I was able to confirm that it was a good screen before opening. If I had to return it I wouldn't have to void the warranty
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It was of course a Variant 7
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The GB DMG-01 I got is nicely used. It has some good patina, which I like as I want it to, from a glance not stand out too terribly.
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As the unit didn't function, I took an X-ray of it for posterity and to see if I could see what was broken. I didn't see anything wrong.
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There were no issues with disassembly and came apart quite readily.
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The battery pack arrived, and it was time to figure out how to get this bad-boy apart.
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My inital idea was to cut open the case with an ultrasonic knife. I took an X-ray to see how much clearance that I had to see if that was safe. I found that it had clips and wasn't closed up by adhesive, so carefully prying it open from the charger side would work out better.
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Once open, the pack was secured on one side with some double sided tape. This made me quite nervous as I know better than to bend a Li-ion battery. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have fully charged the cell before dissecting. Also in hindsight, I should have shot some isopropyl alcohol down the backside to loosen up the glue. the cell came out without issue.
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Next up is Helder's AIO 2.0 board
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As some of these got chewed up in the mail, I took an X-ray to see if it was okay. It appears as though mine won't need jumpers.
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Next, I cleaned up the case in a ultrasonic cleaner using a ~50% IPA/Water mixture, followed up by a cleaning with Alconox/water solution. I then drilled the X/Y button holes and cut out the internals using an ultrasonic knife. I can comment that an ultrasonic knife was fast and fairly easy, although it has a hard time making flush cuts inside the case, but it does leave quite a bit of a burr. This leads to a lot of extra trimming and quite a bit of sanding. It was however a lot cleaner and quieter than using a dremel. I have since cleaned up the cuts a bit, but haven't yet photographed that as I have a little more cleanup to do. Also, it seems that I don't have any images of the back side... WTF. Will add later.
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Now for some real work. I got some 20-pin rainbow cable and started following Helder's wiring diagram. I've placed molex style polarizing friction fit connectors on all of the wires, except the speaker. I've even gendered the Pi power out and Battery power in (not that it matters electrically) so I don't mix them up. I've combined the video signal wire in a 3-pin connector with power for the video display car, which passes through a 5 pin connector that has the rest of the board-to-pi communications.
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Here is the display card. I've put the yellow wire onto the 3rd pin (org white) as when I had it on the 4th (originally yellow) pin it only gave me a white screen.
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Pi zero with power/data connectors.
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AIO, Pi, and Display connected.
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Here's the first time powering it up, with the dreaded white-screen. I switched the yellow output pin after this.
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Ends up, moving the pin didn't fix it. If you look at the above image of the display, you can see that the ribbon cable lock has come loose. Pushed back in and locked, everything boots up fine.
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Installed button wells and cut out the back side of the battery compartment.
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Soldered on BangGood power booster. This gave me a bunch of trouble as I couldn't get 5V out of it for awhile. Once I plugged it into a charger, it started working.
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Installed R and L buttons, which were quite a bit to shoehorn into this case. I really like the buttons and think they're easier to use than a lot of micro-switches that are used but they do take up a lot of real estate inside.
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I harvested the power switch off of the DMG and glued it in place. Also had clipped the terminals off of the R/L buttons to keep them short.
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Mounted some proto-board for the volume knob to lock onto and mount.
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Notched out some proto-board and glued it just under the contrast knob opening. This gave the micro USB port's nubs on the bottom something to press against to hopefully keep the port from coming loose.
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Screw Bracket installed and ribbon cable routed over the top.
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Final assembly begins, placing all the pieces in the case, last soldering done and starting to shoe-horn everything in there.
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Fully assembled.
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There are a few steps that I've done that aren't pictured, but I gave the build to my buddy before getting the pictures.
I blacked out the trim around the screen with a shrapy and tried to clean up the glass on a polishing wheel and glued in place.
I cut off the battery retention tab and glue in place.
Trying to diagnose audio issues, changed the PWM to AIO cable to shielded. Really made it a tight fit. Helped, speaker still quiet.

Lessons learned:
Don't use braided wire. Had a few of the surface mount solder points pull off. Hot glue helped, but it's a PITA if you need to take it off later.
Don't use connectors. Sure, they're convenient but they take up WAY too much room.
Figure out how you're going to get the SD card in/out or get USB data hooked up to the pi. Getting the software installed was a huge pain as I had to pull the SD card using tweezers and using another pi hooked up to my laptop to get software on it or install retropi image.
Don't use a battery that's super wide. Getting those screws in/out are a major pain as the battery has to be tilted and I have to use a thin shank screwdriver as to not press on the battery.
Use enough wire on either the L or R side so the unit can be opened up like a book.

Also, here is a link to the full imgur album, if anyone is interested. Lots more boring pictures there.
http://imgur.com/a/XT6BP
Last edited by HoarseHorace on Sun Mar 05, 2017 2:00 pm, edited 6 times in total.

BenOfTheNorth
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Re: [WIP] HoarseHorace's first GBZ

Post by BenOfTheNorth » Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:20 am

Haha, if I had access to an X-Ray machine, literally everything I own would have been X-Ray'd at some point :D

HoarseHorace
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Re: [WIP] HoarseHorace's first GBZ

Post by HoarseHorace » Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:32 am

BenOfTheNorth wrote:Haha, if I had access to an X-Ray machine, literally everything I own would have been X-Ray'd at some point :D
Most things aren't very interesting under X-ray. I have used it to find something that was lost in my backpack before though.

HoarseHorace
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Re: [Done] HoarseHorace's first GBZ

Post by HoarseHorace » Sun Mar 05, 2017 2:01 pm

Build completed and updated.

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gilbertotron
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Re: [Done] HoarseHorace's first GBZ

Post by gilbertotron » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:12 am

An X-Ray machine at work!?
Amazing!
Nice build, lovely clean clear photos.
Thanks for sharing.

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