Pi Zero project

[Kustom Kid]

I was given a Raspberry Pi Zero a few weeks ago. Seeing as how I want to put emulators on all the things I gave Retropie a whirl. It's cool, but it'll never replace a PC. After trying to figure out what to do with this thing I decided to give it to my girlfriend's brother, whom I've commissioned to make custom artwork for my control panel. I figured I'd stuff it in a NES cartridge, and not two days later a story popped up in my news feed of a guy who did just that. He did most of the leg work as far as parts with handy links to Amazon and everything. I didn't veer too far from what he did, but did shorten the cable for the USB hub, and added a WiFi dongle. Below is the finished product.

[RIP-Felix]

Love it!

[stigzler]

Tidy. Is it difficult to shorten the usb cable? Does it effect its performance?

[Kustom Kid]

5 hours ago, stigzler said:

Tidy. Is it difficult to shorten the usb cable? Does it effect its performance?

It wasn't hard at all. I changed the end to a micro USB as well to eliminate an adapter. I just cut the wires, trimmed the outside cover a bit, soldered it back together, wrapped the individual wires with electrical tape, and covered the whole mess with shrink tubing. It only took about 10 minutes.

I haven't noticed a performance hit yet. I've been able to run a WiFi dongle, two  SNES style controllers, and a keyboard through the USB hub with no issue.

[Draco1962]

I won't tackle soldering in this lifetime... would probably end up like this.

I am thinking about asking Santa for a Pi 3 for Christmas. I have an X-Arcade Tankstick that I want to put into the project to build a bar-top similar to the build shown here. I probably should clean and rearrange the office first since it is a total shit pile right now and I have been promising Santa (aka my beautiful and patient wife) I would do so for over a year.

I don't have a 4:3 monitor but I have a Philips 170B2 17" LCD monitor with speakers integrated into the stand. The monitor's max resolution with 1280x1024 or 5:4 resolution, which is much closer to 4:3 and will have minimal distortion or side bars for most MAME games.

I will probably add a 500GB SSD external drive to store games, etc.

[stigzler]

< chants "build thread, build thread, build thread...."

Who sent you a pic of my soldering?

[Kustom Kid]

12 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

I won't tackle soldering in this lifetime... would probably end up like this.

My dad is a welder by trade. He'd call that pile of mess "duck shit."

Soldering wire is easy. You heat one end of wire with the iron, and apply solder to it. Then you heat the other wire with the iron and touch it to the first wire with the solder on it. Boom. Done. My old man taught me how to weld years ago. I taught myself how to solder. It's similar enough that I picked it up within an hour or so of messing around with different gauge wires, expendable PCB's, and the like.

[hansolo77]

I love RetroArch (and RetroPIE) for it's ease and capabilities.  But.. IT'S NOT GAMEEX.... I know the Pi's aren't very power hungry, would they be capable of running a Linux version of GameEx?  I wonder if somebody could go in and make a Pi, and include a USB powered 2.5 inch hard drive that is say 1tb, and include all the games, artwork, videos (from Emumovies) and fit it all inside an NES cart like that?  That would be friggin sweet.  Have to wait and hear what (if any) plans Tom and the gang have for porting over to Linux and LibreELEC..

[GeorgeT]

I actually just put together a Pi Zero rig tonight with the intention of stuffing it into an NES cartridge.  I might buy a second one and make a Bartop out of it instead of using a laptop

[Kustom Kid]

A little update. The Pi Zero struggles with anything past, and including, the Nintendo 64. I knew that going in. Sega 32x is hit or miss. Notably the Virtua series of games run slow. The recommended MAME core is based on a very old (.037b something something) romset. As such, the emulation is poor compared to what I'm used to. There's a lot of missing sounds and that's driving me bananas. Atari 2600, 7800, and Lynx work well. Sega Gamegear, Master System, and Genesis work well. Nintendo NES, SNES, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance all work well.

I put Kodi on it to see how that ran. I haven't messed with it too much, but I'm a bit underwhelmed. Live TV with the HD Homerun is unusable. The sound is fine, but the video is super blocky. I'm in the process of setting up a few more add-ons to see if it's even worth having on there.

I can link to a list of parts and software/help pages if anyone is interested. Here's the Original Article that set me on my way after I had decided on the project.

@GeorgeT I would recommend a Pi3. You'll get a better experience to be sure. You sacrifice a lot of performance to get the small size of the Pi Zero. If it's going in a Bartop there's no real reason to go that small, unless you want to save the $30. You'll also get better connectivity options out of the box with the Pi 3. That alone is worth it. The only reason I did what I did was because the Zero was given to me.

[stigzler]

It's not the Zero - it's Draco's dodgy soldering. Yer getting RF interference from the wassiknacker.

How's it cope with PSX?

I'm looking to convert a load of 70/80s broken pong consoles into 'retro-rigs' The higher end SBCs are just too pricey to make this feasible. So looking to see how the Pi3 handles PSX, N64 and PSP (@ native + then @ upscaled). Anyone any knowledge? 

[hansolo77]

My PI3 does excellent PSX emulation in RetroArch using the PCSX ReARMed core.  It's a modified version of PCSX that has been compiled to run especially well on ARM processors, which the PI line is.  I highly recommend it.  I had some difficulties getting it to run on a PI2, but PI3 runs perfectly.  N64 seems to run very well with Mupen64Plus core.  The only difficulty I've had with it is the controls, which is always hard to emulate if you're not using the original controller.  The RetroArch/LibRetro staff are actively working on making better PSX and N64 emulation, but having it cross-platform to include ARM/PI devices is few and far between unfortunately.  The same can be said for other systems as well.  I'm eager to get Atari computer systems (800 and ST) to work, since those were the machines in my house when I grew up.  Hatari and "Atari800" cores exist, but they don't run on Pi, or if they do I've not found out how to make it work.  There are other obscure options too.  Like, the ability to run Doom wads and Quake.  RetroPie also has Duke3D, Quake 2, Quake 3, and DosBox.  I've not been able to figure out DosBox on my installation yet.  If I can get DosBox to work, that would let me run other DOS games I'd like to play.

The cool thing about RetroArch is that it is an emulator system, not just a frontend.  GameEx doesn't run games/roms, it's just the frontend that launches external emulators.  RetroArch is different, in that it is an emulator with a frontend built in, and you add different cores for each console you want to run.  The beauty of that, is that everything is all internally contained.  And updating is easy if you have your system connected to the internet.  Just go into the "online updater" menu option in the main screen, and update various things you want, including newer versions of the cores.  It's a nice system, and I like having the ability to easily update without having to go out and find the webpage of an emulator to get the latest version.  Especially when you run the risk that the emulator isn't being updated anymore, or the website/host disappeared.  With RetroArch, everything is just THERE.

I was thinking about this whole NES cart thing, and while I like it, I really think I need something beefier than the Pi-Zero for my tastes.  I love the super small form factor and the fact that it runs so many systems out of the box, but I'd like to run more, and a Pi-Zero is too underpowered for that.  Unfortunately, I think a Pi3 or even a Pi2 might be too tall to fit in a cartridge, so that's out of the question.  Going and gutting a CONSOLE though, that's more feasible.  But who wants to gut a perfectly working console?  I'll have to look on eBay and see if I can find something NOT WORKING, and mod it.  Maybe get an actual NES console.  Though that's going to require some serious tinkering to make it work.  It would be awesome though to some how get a way for the console's power button to actually boot up the PI (shouldn't be to hard to solder a switch to the incoming power, it would require some research).  And then I'd have to find some way to run an HDMI cable out the back.  It would require a lot of research.  But sounds like fun.  I'll have to spend a few hours at night reading up about it.

[Draco1962]

I was thinking about modding this as my Pi 3 case if I don't go through with the bartop...

[stigzler]

@hansolo77 - thanks hans - that's really helpful. How does it manage with the upscaled RetroArch PSX setting? Also, same for N64?

@Draco1962 - is that a Masterchief Pez dispenser?

[Draco1962]

It is a Halo 3 Legendary Deluxe helmet. The base on the left can hold 3 game disk cases. The helmet rests on top of the base.

[hansolo77]

@stigzler I don't know anything about the upscale.  All I know is that it looks great and seems to be running full speed at pretty much console FPS.  It's not AWESOME.. I mean, I run it at the native resolution.  I suppose you can probably increase that if you wanted.  I've also seen some stuff with shaders to improve things like antialiasing, but that's getting into technical stuff I'm not good with.

@Draco1962 Now THAT's a great idea!!  I don't have that one, though I wish I did.  When I was standing in line at GameStop waiting for the midnight release of Halo 4, I got randomly picked for a free prize:

It's similar in design, meant to house the Collector's Edition of Killzone 3 for PS3.  Apparently it was left over or something.  All it's doing now is sitting on top of my bookcase in my bedroom collecting dust lol.  I never even owned a PS3, let alone this game.  But it looks pretty cool.  I wouldn't mind figuring out a cool way to install a Pi in there and have it running all my emulators.   I was actually just looking on eBay a little bit ago to see if anybody was selling any "gently used" and "non-functioning" NES consoles.  Sure, they exist, but they're EXPENSIVE.  Especially considering they're not working.  I can understand paying that for a working console.  If somebody is crazy enough, I can see buying the "brand new never opened factory sealed still in plastic wrap", but I'm not going to spend $70+ for a non-working console just to get the case.  So I started looking at other consoles.  The Sega Genesis sells pretty cheap, but I don't know if I like the mechanical switch vs a push button.  The Sega Genesis v2 is a push button but I didn't like the looks of the cases themselves (scratched, etc).  There was a guy selling some Atari 2600's which might be cool, but again they're toggle switches.  Maybe a toggle switch would be better?  I dunno.  I like the idea you're going with Draco, because this ugly thing is just sitting there doing nothing.  Would be nice to put it to some good use.  Tricky thing is going to be finding a place to put it next to the TV, since the TV stand is already full heh.

[Adultery]

I'm surprised no one here mentioned using it for Plex. Also great.

[RIP-Felix]

55 minutes ago, hansolo77 said:

... I was actually just looking on eBay a little bit ago to see if anybody was selling any "gently used" and "non-functioning" NES consoles.  Sure, they exist, but they're EXPENSIVE.  Especially considering they're not working.  I can understand paying that for a working console.  If somebody is crazy enough, I can see buying the "brand new never opened factory sealed still in plastic wrap", but I'm not going to spend $70+ for a non-working console just to get the case.  So I started looking at other consoles.  The Sega Genesis sells pretty cheap, but I don't know if I like the mechanical switch vs a push button.  The Sega Genesis v2 is a push button but I didn't like the looks of the cases themselves (scratched, etc).  There was a guy selling some Atari 2600's which might be cool, but again they're toggle switches.  Maybe a toggle switch would be better?  I dunno.  I like the idea you're going with Draco, because this ugly thing is just sitting there doing nothing.  Would be nice to put it to some good use.  Tricky thing is going to be finding a place to put it next to the TV, since the TV stand is already full heh.

I was actually planning to gut my NES to house a Mini ITX (NESPC), but it still works and that desire has cooled (good thing I didn't pull the trigger!). I do have a broken Atari 2600 that I've thought might be fun to use as a retropie ot retroarch build with something like the PI3, but again I keep convincing myself that I may be able to fix the PCB (80's tech still had large solder contacts and with a little interweb sleuthing It should be doable). If you do want to do a 2600 your right about the power switch, but the reset switch is a momentary switch (springs back). So you can swap it for the power switch.

[Draco1962]

@hansolo77 - That would be cool to have LEDs placed behind the goggles to make the eyes glow when the Pi is turned on. I saw a mod for doing similar for the two lights on either side of Master Chief's helmet.

[hansolo77]

I saw some pictures when I googled that image with the eyes glowing.  Maybe it was a limited edition feature?  The eyes on MY helmet aren't thin enough to allow light to pass through.  I'm still spitballing ideas.  Trying to research the best method for powering the system.  You don't want to keep the power on all the time, and you don't want to just completely pull the plug when you're done playing either.  You need to have an option to do a proper safe shutdown, otherwise you'll run the risk of SD card corruption.

http://mausberry-circuits.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/shutdown-circuit-use-your-own-switch

This looks like the best option.  The circuit will detect if a switch is toggled (works on a momentary or full toggle) and sends a signal to the Pi via the GPIO pins to run a shutdown script.  Once the circuit detects it's fully shutdown, it disconnects the power to the USB.  Toggle the switch again, and it connects the USB power, then sends another signal through the GPIO pins to turn the PI on.  Looks like the perfect option.

The hard part is going to be deciding if I really want to do it.  The Pi3 gets very hot incase you guys didn't know.  So having it buried inside this helmet is not necessarily ideal.  Then there's the problem with actualy mounting the switches.  It'd be an interesting project for sure.  But don't forget, this is a PI-ZERO project thread, so I don't want to hijack it too much lol.

[Kustom Kid]

1 hour ago, RIP-Felix said:

I was actually planning to gut my NES to house a Mini ITX (NESPC)

I did that last year with a SNES. I decased a Xbox 360 wireless controller adapter and hooked it up to an internal USB header. I used the front LED for a power indicator, and controller ports soldered a USB adapter also hooked up to a USB header. The power and reset switches on the SNES case were functional as well. The pictures kind of suck, but here it is (it wasn't screwed together in the second photo). I ended up tearing it apart, putting it in a normal ITX case and giving it to my girlfriend. It was a quite bit underpowered for VPX and PS2 emulation, but it works great for her web browsing, light gaming, and for work stuff.

[Kustom Kid]

@hansolo77 I bought a USB cable with a switch built in. After you shut the Pi down inside the program you can flip the switch to cut power. When you want to fire it up you just hit the switch again. No need to mess with unplugging anything, and you don't have to worry about file corruption. You could go that route too, and it might be a bit easier, and cheaper.

[hansolo77]

That's true, and I thought about that.  The problem is, remembering to to shutdown from within the program. 

[Draco1962]

Here is a kit I found on Amazon - looks pretty good with heatsinks, fan, case, and the USB with on/off switch as was mentioned.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CN74HII/ref=nosim?tag=fribblacom-20

[Kustom Kid]

Final update before I give it away to my girlfriend's brother. Everything mentioned before stands. MAME emulation for games up to about 1994 work great (it's a really old rom set to be fair). All other emulators up to the 16-bit era work great. Kodi is a bit sluggish, but usable. Streaming works fine, but live tv with the HD Homerun doesn't work well. It might work better with the HDHR that encodes at the box itself, and if I had a better WiFi dongle. Oh, and if it was a Pi2 or 083. He doesn't have a HDHR anyway, but I wanted to check it out for myself. Thanks for checking this thread out. I'll be sure to post any new projects for your perusal.