Sega Gamepie 3

[forrestfire]

Hello all,

Ive been thinking about a portable retropie for a while now and I just happened to stumble across the perfect opportunity when I found a beat up gamegear at my local goodwill. The screen was said to not be working and but in my mind I was already looking ahead at a new screen to go with the upgraded pi3 internals.

So this project has been underway for a while now, its been a slow process so far, and likely will continue to be slow. This thread will serve as my WIP thread and will help me keep my project orderly, as I can be a bit ADD and scatter brained sometimes especially mid-project.
I'll try to keep the thread orderly and update as I go.

From the start; here is the orginal gear:

IMG_8692.JPG (41.23 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

Testing my Pi, running retropie:

IMG_8741.JPG (39.33 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

PS2 USB Controller and BW 3.5 Inch TFT LCD Monitor for Car Disassemble and Testing:

PS2 controller taken apart.

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Using two small flat head screwdrivers to pry open the screen case.

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Screen case opened up. I dont have a plan for the 3 buttons, should I / can I make use of them?

IMG_8781.JPG (48.33 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

I spliced the yellow composite wire and temp soldered it to the test point on the bottom of the pi. The ground wire spliced and temp. attached to the housing of the HDMI.

IMG_8785.JPG (51 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

Jumping the 5v from the IC on the screen circuit board, other end is connected to the 5v on the pi.

IMG_8788.JPG (44.12 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

Here the PS2 controller is plugged into the USB on the pi. Pi 5v is running the screen and everything is working so far.

IMG_8792.JPG (273.76 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

Once, I made sure everything was working I started to mod the game gear case:

Dremel'd out the dpad to fit an analog stick from the PS2 controller. I dremel'd out the housing form the controller as well.

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Fit like a charm.

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Dremel'd two more botton holes and a select button hole opposite of the original start button.

IMG_8967.JPG (46.64 KiB) Viewed 8511 times

I still have some more mods to come to the case, I want to include an L1R1 & L2R2 buttons as well but I dont know exactly how I want to implement them yet. I would like them to look stock and "original" to the case. Ideas are welcome here


The hardware will be discussed as a follow up. I can't seem to attach any more pictures so I will include those in the next.

[forrestfire]

Back at it.

As for the hardware, I probably didn't need to but for the sake of learning, and working on my soldering skills, I desoldered the USB's, Ethernet, composite and header pins. This was the first time doing this, and you can actually see how I progressed. The first USB I butchered and was worried I might have bricked the Pi, after testing and realizing I didn't I proceeded with the other USB, Ethernet, composite out and header pins. I did the header pins last and I was on a roll at that point and they don't look half bad.

This is the first USB hub I desoldered.

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Other side.

IMG_8943.JPG (52.01 KiB) Viewed 8505 times

You can see its not the prettiest thing. I then came back and desoldered the other USB, the Ethernet, the composite out and header pins. These turned out much better.

Rest of the Pi desoldered.

IMG_8950.JPG (51.31 KiB) Viewed 8505 times

I went ahead and did a quick check with the controller to see if the USB was still all good before I proceeded.

Controller wired up to the USB.

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Next was to start mod'ing the controller to suit. Here I dremeled the analog off and soldered the one stick directly back to the controller board. This wasnt so bad.

Heres the analog detached and resoldered directly to the board

IMG_8960.JPG (56.53 KiB) Viewed 8505 times

The next part is to solder wires directly to the pads on the controller board to bridge the connection to the future perf board that will have my tactile switches. This part is difficult because of how small the pads area are. You can see in the first picture the Dpad pads are large spacious pads, however, the buttons ( X, O square and triangle) pads are these weird interlocking lines. I havent finished this yet and am actually working on this now, if you have any suggestions for the best way to solder these I am listening.

Dpad Pads.

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Some of the pads have soldering points that I can use, but some do not. This is the difficult part. the start/select and L1R1 L2R2 buttons are all like this.

IMG_8971.JPG (53.31 KiB) Viewed 8505 times

Anyway, I used the solder points on one button to try another quick test. Proof of concept just for my own sanity.

Proof of concept running with retropie on a monitor

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The end game is the controller buttons wired to the perf board. I'll have similar setups for the select button and L1R1 L2R2

Buttons located.

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Tactile switches soldered to perf board. X, O, Triangle, Square and Start

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This controller part is a slow process but I think I just need to solder the wires up best I can and then hotglue them. As I mentioned before I still need to figure out how I am going to do the L1R1 and L2R2 buttons on the case. But besides that I really have the controller under control. I think hah

The next post is where I have some real questions where I could use some advice.

[forrestfire]

So, in the beginning I said this project has been underway for a while already. I've used the last two posts to catch up to about where I am currently at with the project.

My next problem to tackle is the sound circuit. I've read and followed similar guides i've found and will provide those links if necessary but ill try and explain my questions.

Here I have the original Sega sound card.

IMG_8714.JPG (58.94 KiB) Viewed 8504 times

I was hoping to use this but when I tried to replace the capacitors on it I had a hell of a time with the surface mount caps and didn't trust my soldering.

My next thought was to cannibalize it. So I desoldered the port and the wheel.

My Sound Card.JPG (165.29 KiB) Viewed 8504 times

So this is where I am stuck. I would like to have two speakers, the original only had one. And I imagine the port and the wheel soldered to perf board similar to the controller buttons. But I dont know which pins are what on the wheel or the port. I tried to follow the traces on the board but they run to the filter and then I cant follow them. And then that got me thinking, maybe these caps and filters are important and I need them.
Anyway here is a picture of the block diagram from the sega manual.

sega sounds card block diagram 2.jpg (178.49 KiB) Viewed 8504 times

My question therefore is;
Can I, or is it worth it to, fix the original sound card. Understanding that I think the capacitors are all crap.

And if I cant use it, can I use pieces of it to make my own, understanding I dont fully follow the pinouts of the piece parts.

OR, should I just buy a sound card?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and I really look forward to continuing this project.
Thanks

[DieselDummy]

check out the audio diagram in VeteranGamers build log, he does an excellent job of documenting. i think thats what you need.https://sudomod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=4858

[forrestfire]

check out the audio diagram in VeteranGamers build log, he does an excellent job of documenting. i think thats what you need.

That is a great resource, you're right in that it will work for me. I was hoping to be able to use what I already had, but this may be the route I have to take. Appreciate the link

[VeteranGamer]

check out the audio diagram in VeteranGamers build log, he does an excellent job of documenting. i think thats what you need.

That is a great resource, you're right in that it will work for me. I was hoping to be able to use what I already had, but this may be the route I have to take. Appreciate the link

i dont know if you've come across this....




heres how he uses the power board as well




if you cant get the game gear boards to work....
if you use the method i used....
with a sound card and amp, the sound is clear and loud (you wont be disappointed)


.

[forrestfire]

I had seen that build video, and is what I originally had in mind for my build. However, like I said I didn't trust my soldering on the surface mount caps. I might look into getting non-surface mount caps similar to those used in the video. Could be a cheaper solution than your method.
Thanks for the input, i'll keep you posted

[VeteranGamer]

However, like I said I didn't trust my soldering on the surface mount caps. I might look into getting non-surface mount caps similar to those used in the video.

Could be a cheaper solution than your method.

it might not be a bad idea to have an attempt (whats the worst that can happen)....
it doesnt look that bad/difficult to change the capacitors (just make sure you use a decent soldering iron).....

heres a guide (that might help).....




you can always try buying a board thats had the capacitors already replaced

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEGA-GAME-GE ... SwMmBV2zw3



but the method i used, is actually a very cheap option....
the only reason if i wasn't to use it would be to keep the original board and not because of any costs....

Class D PAM8403 Amp $0.27
USB Sound Card $0.76

you could use the existing volume wheel and headphones thats on the Game Gear board, if not buying new one are also really cheap

B103 Potentiometer Volume wheel $1.48
Headphone Socket $0.76

thats everything excluding the speakers, and it well under $5 (and the headphone and volume wheel are packs of 10)

besides it looks like you have most of what you need anyway, just need a USB Sound Card





good luck with which every route you take.....
i'm looking forward to seeing your progress......


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[coldfire]

any updates to this game pie VeteranGamer