PiGRRL 2 Created by Ruiz Brothers Last updated on 2018-08-22 03:51:53 PM UTC
Guide Contents Guide Contents Overview 2 5 Raspberry Pi Retro Game Console Easier to build! Project Expectations Adafruit Parts Tools and Supplies 5 5 6 6 7 Circuit Diagram 8 Wired Connections 8 3D Printing 9 Material Options Parts Dimensions Tap Screw Holes Test Fit Openings Finishing Parts 9 9 10 10 12 12 Software Download & Burn RetroPie Setup RetroPie Install PiTFT (fbcp) Support Installing Keypress (retrogame) support Uploading ROMs Exiting ROMs Remapping Controls 13 13 13 14 15 16 16 16
Mash Top Piece to Connector Shortened Pi Ribbon Cable 36 36 Amp & Speaker 38 Prep PAM8302 Amp Measure Wires for Amp and Speaker Strip and Tin Wires Connect Wires to Speaker Connect Wires to Amp 38 39 40 41 42 Power Circuit 43 Prep PowerBoost 1000C Measure Wires for PowerBoost and Amp Connect Amp to PowerBoost 1000C Connected Amp, Speaker and PowerBoost 1000C Test fit Power Switch Prep Slide Switch Connect Wires to Switch Connect Switch to PowerBoost 1000C Wired Power Circuit Pi Audio 50 Prep Wire
Almost Done! 74 Close It Up! 75 Join Parts Screw Bottom Portion Insert microSD Card Completed Build! Share Your Creation With Us! 75 76 77 77 77 Trouble Shooting 78 Buttons don't work, things are very weird Audio Issues No Audio Pressing Button Turns Off Screen Button on pin #18 doesn't work PiTFT Shows Only White Screen Custom Mute Function Better Sound quality Issues, Problems, Need Help? 78 78 79 79 79 79 79 80 80 Extras 81 Safely Shutdown via Tactile Switch 81 Troubleshooting RetroPie and
Overview Raspberry Pi Retro Game Console This project takes the original concept of the PiGRRL (https://adafru.it/kTD) and makes it more powerful, using a Raspberry Pi 2. It's about the same size but features more buttons (D-Pad, A,B,X,Y, L, R, pause and start.) and four extra buttons on the PiTFT. It's sporting a small audio amplifier and speaker, so you can enjoy the crispy sounds of 8-bit goodness. Easier to build! With this update, we really wanted to make it easier to build.
Project Expectations This project is geared towards beginners, but is still a big project to take on. This guide will walk you through all the necessary steps to wire, assemble and build your very first Raspberry Pi game console. It does require a good amount of soldering, wire tinning and good ol' elbow grease, but don't be discouraged! If your dedicated to take on this project, it'll only take a weekend to make. Adafruit Parts Raspberry Pi 2 (http://adafru.it/2358)or Raspbery PI 3 (http://adafru.
2.8" PiTFT Plus (http://adafru.it/2298) PiGRRL Gamepad PCB (http://adafru.it/3015) PowerBoost 1000c (http://adafru.it/2465) 2500mAh battery (http://adafru.it/328) PAM8302 2.5W Audio Amp (http://adafru.it/2130) Mini Metal Speaker (http://adafru.it/1890) 40pin GPIO ribbon cable (http://adafru.it/1988) Slide Switch (http://adafru.it/805) 10x 6mm (http://adafru.it/367) + 2x 12mm tactile buttons (http://adafru.it/1119) 1x 2by20 pin IDC box header (http://adafru.
Circuit Diagram Wired Connections The diagram above depicts the connections for the power, audio and gamepad. Use this as a reference for wiring the components. Note, the length of wires and position of components are not exactly how the circuit will be - it’s just a diagram to show connections. The 2.8" PiTFT connects to the Raspberry Pi's GPIO header. A GPIO ribbon cable plugs into the GPIO breakout of the PiTFT and connects to the PiGRRL gamepad PCB.
3D Printing Material Options The top case, bottom case and shoulder mount should be printed in hard plastic like PLA, ABS or other. We recommend using PLA to minimize warping. ABS and other filaments requires a heated bed. Parts © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Parts Download the parts and print them out accordingly - referencing the table below for material suggestions. If you don't have access to a 3D printer, use a service like 3DHubs.com (https://adafru.it/efH) to send them to you. https://adafru.it/kTF https://adafru.it/kTF https://adafru.it/kUa https://adafru.it/kUa Dimensions Top Part – 141mm x 91mm x 18mm (5.55in x 3.85in x 0.71in) Bottom Part – 141mm x 91mm 16mm (5.55in x 3.85in x 0.63in) pigrrl2-top.stl Top part of case PLA/ABS pigrrl2-bot.
© Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Be careful tapping the standoffs from the top -To prevent puncturing the surface, DO NOT tap all the way through the standoff. Be careful not to tap too fast or forcefully to avoid damaging the standoffs. Test Fit Openings Use a hobby knife to remove any excess bits from printing. Lay the components over the standoffs to see if mounting holes line up. See if the port cutouts are in the right place. If they don't, use a filing tool to open them up.
Software Download & Burn RetroPie Game emulation is handled by a package called RetroPie. It’s a complete Linux distribution designed specifically for running classic games on Raspberry Pi. Download the current version from the RetroPie web site (https://adafru.it/rA3), then write this to an SD card (https://adafru.it/dDL) using Etcher or similar software. We’ll then make some modifications to tune this for the PiGRRL’s buttons and small display.
Here you can select your WiFi network name and enter a password. It’s not beautiful, but gets the job done. Select “Exit” when done to return to the EmulationStation UI… With networking enabled, we can now access the remaining software needed for the PiGRRL 2 experience. There are a couple ways to do this… BEST: Use an ssh terminal client to log into the Raspberry Pi at retropie.local This is recommended, as you can just copy-and-paste the commands that follow.
Answer “NO” to the reboot question… Installing Keypress (retrogame) support let’s take care of this second script, which enables the PiGRRL buttons: cd curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/Raspberry-Pi-Installer-Scripts/master/retrogame.sh >retrogame.sh sudo bash retrogame.sh Again, select the “PiGRRL 2” option. When finished, now you can reboot when prompted. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
After rebooting, the HDMI monitor may display a “no signal” message. This is normal. Not all monitors can handle the resolution setting we’re using. Once the PiTFT is wired up, that will be the primary display. Also, after the system is assembled with the PiTFT and controls, you’ll need to re-do the controller setup. This might wait ’til all the parts are assembled in the case. From the main EmulationStation screen, press whatever key was assigned to the “Start” button to access the main menu.
Make sure each keypress works and matches the table below! Default Controls Below is a table of the controls set to the GPIO. Use this as a reference if you ever need to revert when changing something. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
LEFT Pin 7 GPIO 4 UP Pin 36 GPIO 16 RIGHT Pin 35 GPIO 19 DOWN Pin 37 GPIO 26 SELECT Pin 29 GPIO 5 START Pin 31 GPIO 6 A Pin 8 GPIO 14 B Pin 10 GPIO 15 X Pin 38 GPIO 20 Y Pin 12 GPIO 18 L Pin 32 GPIO 12 R Pin 33 GPIO 13 © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Gamepad PiGRRL Gamepad Design The gamepad was designed in EagleCAD and available to download and modify. It's also a shared project on Oshpark. http://adafru.it/3015 http://adafru.it/3015 https://adafru.it/l1A https://adafru.it/l1A https://adafru.it/kTE https://adafru.it/kTE © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
PiGRRL Gamepad PCB Let's start assembly by putting the gamepad together. Gather up 10x 6mm tactile buttons and a 40pin IC box header. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Install IC Box Header Insert the box header into the header labeled pin on the back of the gamepad PCB. Make sure the "notch" opening is pointing towards the "header" label. Secure it in place by adding mounting tack to the sides. Now we can secure the PCB to a Panavise to assist while soldering. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Solder IC Box Header Flip the gamepad PCB over so the header pins are facing up. Now heat up the soldering iron and apply solder to each of the 40 pins on the header. Ensure the solder joints are clean with no cold solder joints or blobs. They should look like Hershey's Kisses. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Prep 6mm Tactile Buttons To make it easier to insert the buttons to the PCB, use a pair of flat plier to straighten out the four leads of each button. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Install 6mm Tactile Buttons Insert each button into the through-hole spots on the gamepad PCB. Once installed, place your hand over the buttons and bend each of the leads inward so they "bite" onto the PCB - This will help hold them in place. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
If you are using the elastomer buttons, they're still possible to use, but they wont sit perfectly flat. That's OK just make them as flat as you can! Solder Buttons to Gamepad PCB Secure the gamepad PCB to a Panavise and solder up the buttons. Make sure solder joints are clean like you did on the pins of the IC box header. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Soldered Gamepad PCB Here's what the soldered gamepad will look like. Clean and Shiny! Tap Gamepad PCB Mounting Holes Now is a good time to tap the mounting holes of the gamepad PCB. We need to create threads on each hole so that it's easier to mount to the case. You can use a #4-40 sized tap tool, or a #4-40 machine screw to do this, just make sure to fasten as straight as you can. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
PiTFT Display GPIO #18 - LED Backlighting Flip the 2.8" PiTFT display over and locate the pad with label #18. We need to cut this trace in order to properly use GPIO 18 (The Y Button is wired to this GPIO). By default, when GPIO 18 is triggered to ground, it will disable the LED backlighting on the display - Cutting the trace here will disable that feature. Cut Trace #18 © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Use a hobby knife to mark in between the two pads and make sure it is deep enough to fullly break the trace. That's pretty much all we need to do to the PiTFT display! © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
PiCable PiCable Resizing In this section, we'll resize the PiCable so it's more manageable once installed inside the case. Its some what optional you can skip it but if you find space too tight when closing the case, you may want to resize the PiCable. The stock ribbon cable is 152.4mm(6") in length, but I've found shortening it down to 108mm is just the right fit for the length we need. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Measure, Mark and Cut Ribbon Cable Use a pair of calipers or measuring tape to get the desired length and mark the ribbon cable - Tape, marker or otherwise. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Cut Cable With the cable split in two, set aside the longer end and keep the short end handy - we need to remove the connector from the end of it. Removing Connector Take a close look at the bottom of the connector. You'll see two tiny holes near each side. Now take a look at the side. You'll see the connector has a clip that is held in place with a notch. The goal here is to push that clip away from the notch so we can fit the top from the connector.
DO THIS SLOWLY - Be very careful not to break the clips off! © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Peel Cable from Connector With the top removed from the connector, carefully peel the ribbon cable from the connector. You should be left with the top part and the female connector. You can discard the ribbon cable. Slowly peel the ribbon cable off - If any metal bits come out, carefully push them back into the connector.
© Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Mash Top Piece to Connector Unless you're incredibly strong, you won't be able to press the top piece back onto the connector because it's hard to puncture the wire with the pointy teeth. The easiest way to do this is to use a rubber mallet to smash the pieces together. I recommend doing this on a hard surface (like on the floor) while holding the connector in place. Tap the top piece in sessions as straight as you can and be careful not to mash your fingers in the process.
And there you have it! A shortened Raspberry Pi Ribbon Cable. Bit of a hack, I know - But it really does make closing the case much easier in when we're all done. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Amp & Speaker Prep PAM8302 Amp Secure the amp to a pair of helping third hands. Use the tip of the soldering iron to heat up solder and apply to the VIN, GND, A+, A–, + and – pins. This will make it easier to solder wires to the pins. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Measure Wires for Amp and Speaker We'll need two pieces of 30AWG wires to connect the speaker to the amp. We recommend using silicone-coated stranded wire. Measure about 9cm in length for each wire. You don't have to use different colored wires, but we recommend it to help tell them apart. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Strip and Tin Wires Use a pair of wire strippers to remove about 4mm of insulation from the tips of each wire. To keep the tips of wires from fraying, use the tip of the soldering iron to apply solder. You can bundle the tips of wires together and use a pair of helping third hands to tin the tips at the same time. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Wires to Speaker Remove the wires connected to the speaker, they're too short. We'll need to connect the new pieces of wire we just prepped onto the solder pads of the speaker. Secure the speaker to the helping third hands - Since there's a magnet on it, we can stick it to one of the grabber arms. Reference the photo to see which is positive (right pad) and negative (left pad). Next, slip on a piece of heat shrink tubing to group the two wires. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Wires to Amp Secure the amp back onto the helping third hands. Solder the positive wire from the speaker to the positive output pin on the amp, then, solder the negative wire to the negative output pin. Now we can proceed to work on the power circuit. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Power Circuit Prep PowerBoost 1000C Secure the PowerBoost to the pair of helping third hands. Apply solder to the following pins: Positive(+) out, Negative(–) out, EN, GND, G and 5V. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Measure Wires for PowerBoost and Amp We'll need about 3cm in length of 30AWG wire to connect the Amp to the PowerBoost 1000C. Use wire strippers to remove about 4mm of insulation from each tip and apply solder to tin them. Now secure the amp to the helping third hands and solder the wires to the Vin and Gnd pins. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Amp to PowerBoost 1000C Slip on a piece of heat shrink tubing to the wires connected to the Vin and Gnd pins. Next, secure the PowerBoost 1000C to the helping third hands. Solder the VIN wire from the amp to the 5V pin on the PowerBoost. Then, solder the Gnd wire from the amp to the G pin on the PowerBoost 1000C. Connected Amp, Speaker and PowerBoost 1000C Now our amplifier and speaker are wired up the PowerBoost 1000C.
© Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Prep Slide Switch Remove one of the legs from the slide switch. Secure the switch to the helping third hands and apply solder to the two remaining legs. Now we'll need two new 30AWG wires that measure abot 7cm in length. Strip and tin the tips of each wire. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Wires to Switch Solder the two wires to the two leads of the slide switch. Add pieces of heat shrink tubing to each terminal to insulate them. Connect Switch to PowerBoost 1000C Now we need to solder the two wires to the EN and GND pins of the PowerBoost. The polarity doesn't matter that much here. The switch can be installed in your prefered position later (ie. Up position is ON, Down position if OFF, it's up too you!). © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Wired Power Circuit Now we have our amp, speaker, PowerBoost and slide switch all wired up and connected. Now's a good time to take a break or continue! © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Pi Audio Prep Wires for Rasp Pi Audio To connect the amp to the Raspberry Pi 2, we'll need two wires. Cut two pieces of 30AWG wires to about 10cm in length. Strip and tin the tips of each wire. Prep Raspberry Pi Audio Pins On the bottom of the Raspberry Pi 2 PCB, locate the audio jack and inspect the three pin connected to the component. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Take note of the two circles highlighting the pins. The left pin (blue) will connect to the negative pin on the amp, while the right pin (red) connects to the positive pin. The middle pin does not need to be tinned (disregard the tinning in the photo). Place the tip of the soldering iron over the pin and apply a small amount of solder. This will make connecting wires to the audio amp much easier. Connect Wires to Raspberry Pi Solder the new wires to the pins on the bottom of the Raspberry Pi.
Connect Wires to Amp Solder the negative (blue) wire to the A– pin on the amp, and the positive (red) wire to the A+ pin on the amp. Audio Connection Confusion? You may notice the audio connections in the photo above are reserved. This photo is intended for the Pi 1 Model B+ (not the 2 or 3). Be sure to follow the first set of photos if you're using the Pi 2 or 3. If your using the Pi 1 Model B+, then reference the photo above. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Shoulder Buttons Prep 12mm Tactile Buttons Next up we need to prepare two 12mm buttons for our shoulder L and R buttons. Start by clipping two of the four legs from each button. Use a pair of flat pliers to flatten out the legs so they point out like in the photo. Secure the button to a pair of helping third hands and apply solder to each leg to tin them. Prep Wires for Shoulder Buttons © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
We'll need two sets of wires (four total) to measure about 14cm in length. Strip and tin the tips from each wire and thread them through one big piece of heat shrink tubing. This will keep the wires together in a neat bundle. Connect Wires to Buttons Solder wires to the legs of each button - Like before, use a pair of helping third hands to assist you. Polarity doesn't matter too much on these buttons, but you can reference the photo. Shoulder Buttons © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
OK, now we have our shoulder buttons prepped and ready to wire into our gamepad PCB. The next page will go through the final connections for our build. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Final Connections Prep Wires for Gamepad PCB Now we need to connect our gamepad PCB to the PowerBoost 1000C. We'll need two 26AWG (which is thicker than the 30AWG we've been using so far) that's about 14cm in length. Like before, strip and tin the ends of each wire. Then, let's slip on a long piece of heat shrink tubing to keep the two wires together. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Prep Power Pins on Gamepad PCB Locate the power label on the gamepad PCB and take note of the 5V and GND pins. Flip the gamepad PCB over and secure it to a Panavise to hold it in place. Apply solder to the two pins and solder in our two 26AWG wires. Use the photo to reference which wires goes were (red right, white left). © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Shoulder Buttons to Gamepad PCB Locate the bumper labeled pins on the opposite side of the gamepad PCB. Referencing the photo, from the bottom up, the order of pins are: L button, R button, Ground, Ground. Once you're familiar with the pin order, solder in the wires from the 12mm tactile buttons. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Gamepad PCB to PowerBoost 1000C Now we can solder in the two wires connected to the power pins of the gamepad PCB to the power output pin on the PowerBoost. The 5V wire from the gamepad connects to the positive pin on the PowerBoost, and the Ground wire from the gamepad connects to the negative pin on the PowerBoost. Final Wired Components OK, now all of our wires are connected, yay! Our components are connected and we're ready to mount them to the case.
Test Components Its good practice to test all of our components before we start mounting things to the enclosure. Just as a sanity check, this ensures our components and wiring is all good and working. Go ahead and insert your microSD card into the Raspberry Pi - make sure the software is already installed and loaded. Once thats sorted, plug in the JST connector from our battery into the PowerBoost 1000C.
Mount Components Install 2.8" PiTFT The first component we need mount to the case is the display screen. Before we do that, we'll need to insert the PiTFT rubber buttons into the case. Place them over the cutouts from the inside of the top case and press them into place. Now that the PiTFT button actuators are in place, lay the PiTFT screen over the case. Line up the mounting holes with the standoffs. Then, insert #4-40 3/8 sized machine screws into each mounting hole and fasten them into place.
DO NOT insert screws all the way through standoffs! Reference the photo to see required depth. Install Gamepad PCB Next up, let's fasten #4-40 3/8 sized machine screws into the mounting holes on the corners of the gamepad PCB. Insert them from the top of the PCB so that they're just barely protruding from the back side. This makes it easier to mount it to the standoffs in the case. Now, insert the rubber D-Pad, Action Buttons and Pause/Start actuators into the cutouts of the top case part.
© Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connect Pi Cable Next, we can install the Pi Cable to conenct the Gamepad PCB to the PiTFT display. The orientation of the Pi cable is important, so reference the photo and follow the markings. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Connected PiTFT and Gamepad Now our PiTFT display and Gamepad PCB are mounted to the case. Press the buttons on the PiTFT and Gamepad to test them and see they feel good. If the buttons get stuck, the gamepad isn't flush with the standoffs. Install Speaker Let's go ahead and pop the speaker into the case. Lay the speaker over the cavity with the grill and press it down to snap it into place. The wire should be oriented in a position so it's not in the way of the corner standoff.
Shoulder Button Mount Next up we need to mount our two shoulder buttons to the shoulder mounting piece. To do that, we can use adhesives such as E600 or hotglue - But I've found using mounting tack works just fine (plus, it makes it adjustable if we don't position it correctly the first time around). Add the tack to the back of the 12mm button and position them over the two recessed square spots on the mounting part. Press them down to stick them into place. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Shoulder Button (cont.) Fasten four #2-56 3/8 into the standoffs of the shoulder mount. Screw them in until the barely protrude the standoff - this is going to make it easier to mount it to the case. Next, insert the rubber shoulder button actuator into the cutout of the bottom case part. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Install Shoulder Button Mount Place the shoulder mount over the standoffs on the bottom case. Make sure the screws line up with the standoffs - they're position / orientation specific. Once they're lined up, carefully fasten the screws down. Here, you can fasten them all the way. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Install Switch Now if a good time to insert the slide switch into the bottom case. Take note of the OFF position of the slide and install it to your liking (I prefer down is OFF, up is ON). Install Raspberry Pi 2 Next up, lets mount the Pi to the bottom case. First, let's fasten #4-40 3/8 sized machine screws to the two mount holes on the back of the bottom case part. Like the previous mounting standoffs, fasten the screws so they're just barely protuding through the top of the standoffs.
© Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Mount PowerBoost 1000C We'll need two #4-40 3/8 machine screws to install the PowerBoost to the case. Fasten the screws to the two mounting holes of the PowerBoost - This will create threads. Once they're made, lay the PowerBoost over the standoffs (close to the center bottom). Hold the PCB in place while fastening the screws to the standoffs. Don't fasten these screws all the way through, just deep enough they go past the heigh of the case - similar to the other components.
Mount Amp Insert and fasten a single #4-40 3/8 machine screw into the mounting hole of the amp PCB (should be the hole closest to the Adafruit logo) - This will help create the screw threads. Then, place the PCB over the standoffs and hole it down to fasten the screw into the standoff. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Test PowerBoost Circuit Grab the lipo battery and plug in the JST connector to the JST port on the PowerBoost 1000C. Flip the slide switch on, and see if the circuit works! The blue LED indicates the battery is charged and the circuit is powered on. If the LED doesn't light up, you either have a defective PowerBoost, or a short. You'll have to double check your wiring for short using a a multi-meter. If you have any issues or questions, please post it on support forums at http://forums.adafruit.
Install Lipo Battery Now we can install the 2000mAh lipo battery. A good spot for it is right behind the PiTFT display. To keep it in place, we can use a piece of gaffers tape. Try to keep it up closely against PiCable. Position it like in the photo, closer to the right side to avoid intersecting with some of the components from the Pi. Almost Done! In the next page, we'll close up the case and finish the build! © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Close It Up! Join Parts Now its time to close it all up. Before that, make sure all of the wires are inside the case. Wires should be neaty tucked and away of kinking from any of the components. Bring the top and bottom parts together and press the bottom part together. They should snap together. Then, inspect the edges and see if everything is in place - no wires hanging out. If it looks good, start pressing the top area close together - Slowly.
Screw Bottom Portion There's two spots on the bottom that feature counter bore standoffs - insert a #2-56 3/8 machine screw and fasten them all the way. This will keep the bottom from coming part. © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
Insert microSD Card Lastly, insert the microSD card if you haven't already. You should have already burnt the PiGRRL image to the SD card. If not, go ahead and do that now! Completed Build! Hazzah! The PiGRRL 2 game console is finally finished and ready to play! Turn it on and RetroPie / Emulationstation should automatically boot. The buttons are premapped to the expected controls. Reference the Software page for uploading ROMs and remapping controls.
Trouble Shooting Buttons don't work, things are very weird Make sure you didn't plug the Pi cable in backwards, you can use a multimeter to check that these voltages are correct when the Pi is powered: Audio Issues Are you hearing a strange sound when powering up the Pi? The battery might be in a bad spot where it's causing interference noise with the audio jack. If you remove the mounting screws from the Pi on the back of the bottom case, you can separate the two parts while it's still powered.
Once they're separated, reposition the battery and listen carefully to the noise. Position the battery in a spot where the noise is less prominent and mount it in place with tape or mounting tack. Another option you can try is to adjust the pot on the sound amp. Lowering the gain may fix the sound interference when repositioning the battery doesn't work. The best location for the battery I've found is directly tucked inbetween the Raspberry Pi and the PiTFT display.
If you're interested in making one of the PiTFT buttons mute the audio, Martin O'Hanlon made a function. https://adafru.it/kUb https://adafru.it/kUb Better Sound quality A suggestion from the forums (https://adafru.it/ikE)! 1)Wrap the battery in copper tape and then electrical tape. Then you solder a wire from the ground of the audio circuit to the copper. It helps to solder to a random piece and then stick it to the battery so you're not soldering on the battery itself as it's dangerous.
Extras Safely Shutdown via Tactile Switch Its a good idea to safely turn off your Pi with a good sudo shutdown -h now but that often means pulling out a keyboard or connecting to the console. With our kernel we added a cool module that will let you turn any GPIO into a power button. Since there's a couple of tactile switches right there on the front, lets turn one into a power button. Press once to properly turn off the pi, press again to start it up. Isn't that nice? https://adafru.it/ird https://adafru.
Troubleshooting RetroPie and retrogame This page documents the most common pitfalls encountered when making retro gaming projects, offering some solutions and where to turn for further help. There are some things we can fix and some we can’t…we’re not involved in RetroPie’s development, for example…but we’ll try to point you in the right direction. Most of the following troubleshooting steps will require a USB keyboard attached. Some require a network connection.
“Six buttons + joystick” option in the retrogame installer. That particular configuration is set up for our Arcade Pack and newer (40 pin) Raspberry Pi boards. Some of the pin numbers referenced don’t exist on the older 26-pin header and lead to trouble. If this happens to you, not to worry. Power off the Pi and insert the SD card in a reader on a PC or Mac. Look for a file called retrogame.cfg…edit this file and change the pin numbers to match your specific controller wiring.
“lr-”. This means they’re built using libretro and the control inputs should already work with what you have! Other packages may require their own manual controller setup, which can be a real nuisance. When asked, select “Install from binary.” The source option takes much longer and won’t provide any benefit for the average user…only attempt that if you know you need absolutely bleeding-edge code. It’s totally valid to install multiple emulator packages that handle the same type of system.
Accessing Alternate Emulators © Adafruit Industries https://learn.adafruit.
When you launch a game, you’ll briefly see this nondescript launching message. You have a couple of seconds to hit a button or key… The first option in this configuration menu lets you select a different emulator package for a given system type…or even on an individual ROM-by-ROM basis, if different games benefit from different emulation software. Test it out with. If you don’t like the results, next time you launch that game you can access the configuration menu again and restore the original selection.
