My first time.....eeek!

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mplewlow
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My first time.....eeek!

Post by mplewlow » Sun May 19, 2019 9:16 am

Hi everyone.

I've decided I want to try my hand at building a Gameboy zero and after spending some time reading through the posts on this forum and watching a few tutorials on Youtube I'm not entirely sure which way I should go.

I'm thinking the Tinkerboy v3.0.1 and the DPI adapter but thought it may be a good idea to get some pointers from those that have done it already.

Based in the UK and have already ordered my choice of shell and buttons but nothing else.....at least yet.

Thanks in advance.

mplewlow

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infinitLoop
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Re: My first time.....eeek!

Post by infinitLoop » Sun May 19, 2019 2:01 pm

how confident/experienced are you with electronics?

tinkerboy's v3 board is very easy to hook up - only a handful of wires needed for the power, usb, and volume wheel, if you aren't doing analog sticks - but the dpi adapter is a lot more soldering. the easiest approach, if you want to cut down on the hookups and soldering, is to go with the gearbest composite screen instead, but that doesn't have as good an image as the dpi.

you'll also still need power and a battery. helder has great options for both at his site: heldergametech.com

if you want a power supply that also does "safe" shutdown, then i like the pocketadventures.com power assist stuff, but i don't know how much uk exchange and shipping is with that, but they work well.

mplewlow
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Joined: Tue May 14, 2019 12:11 pm

Re: My first time.....eeek!

Post by mplewlow » Mon May 20, 2019 8:48 am

Hi infinitLoop,

Firstly thanks for taking the time to help me out.

I’m not experienced but confident enough re the soldering. Tinkerboy board and DPI board makes sense then i think as i have no plan of going with the analog stick (a future build maybe).

I’m cool with the volume wheel and USB port one side but don’t like the way the micro USB port (which I guess would be on the power pcb from helder?) tends to look after a bigger hole is dremeled to make it fit where the old power socket would have been with original gameboy. Are there alternatives you know of or even a bracket that the micro usb could fit into and then that fits into the gap? Anything you know of?

Then i guess the safe shutdown can be connected to too switch? Or could it connect to a button fitted in a small hole somewhere else on the case?

Lastly what about L and R buttons? Are there mounts freely available for these?

Sorry for all the questions? Maybe it’s best I order the tinkerboy boards and screen and see for myself and then buy the other bits as I go?

Thanks again. Sorry to be so annoying.

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infinitLoop
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Re: My first time.....eeek!

Post by infinitLoop » Mon May 20, 2019 3:04 pm

no problem. it always helps to ask questions, even "annoying" ones :)

you don't have to use the micro usb that is on the psu (or at all). that makes it convenient when you are building, to power it there, but there are also inputs to allow you to put a connector somewhere else, which i almost always do. you can use a "barrel plug" type connector and use the original hole, so you don't have to open it up. or, you can do something like mounting the psu in the cartridge, with the charging port there, and stick a button in the original hole.

for "safe" shutdown, you need some kind of gate, or something to handle telling the pi to initiate the shutdown, keeping it powered, and then telling the psu to cut the power. the pocketadventures.com power assists have a way to do it built-in, but i don't know how well the pro board (that has the volume and usb as well) would fit with the tinkerboy dpi adapter. it might be ok, but i've never done that, so you might run into space issues. the basic one is great, and fits in a printed cartridge.

helder's psu doesn't have a "safe" shutdown option, but you could put a tactile switch somewhere to initiate it too, and then just cut the power when it's done. his "one-for-all" scripts can handle for that I think, and his has a battery monitor option built-in too, which is nice (and the power assists don't have).

camble also has an option, that is technically made for the adafruit powerboost, but can work with just about anything, if you don't care about its low battery monitoring option.

for the shoulder buttons, some people do a six-button face layout, which the v3 board does, so you don't have to mount anything anywhere else, or you can put them in the rear. there are a number of brackets available in the 3d printing forum here, and on thingiverse, if you just look for "gameboy zero". there are lots of options there, with "clicky" tactiles, mounted button boards/pads, "soft" tactiles, etc. my personal favorite is to mount them where the middle screws normally go (like in wermy's original build), but to use my 3d button or insert design to have a full-size button there, and use soft tactiles mounted on the screen bracket (usually using sixteenbit's design from thingiverse, or a derivation of it). the builds i link in my signature have some examples. the most popular (just above the battery) has lots of options, but it's not my favorite, since it means you can't lay the gameboy down without pressing the buttons. tinkerboy has a bracket for sale on his site too, for mounting tactiles off to the sides, and pocketadventures has one for the above-battery option.

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