8 thoughts on “Project Photos”

  1. Very nice project and well done, the black console looks sick!

    I’ve got a few questions the pictures can’t answer:
    – What module did you use for the reset switch?
    – It seems the power switch turn off only the RPi and not the USB hub (and therefore the connected devices). Why did you do it this way?

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    • 1. I used a Teensy (http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/) as the reset switch. I programmed it to act as a USB keyboard, and when I press the button, it presses the ‘esc’ key. As of recent updates in the RetroPie installation, this has actually stopped working. Since then, I used the multi-button-press on the controller to exit the emulator. I should really stop slacking and figure out how to do it with the rPi GPIO, but I’ve been busy with other projects.

      2. The reason that it is powered this way is due to ease of transport, and coordination of placement (so the extra 2 USB ports are still available in the back), with a sprinkling of my own laziness. The USB hub that I bought has a nice round A/C adapter plugin, and the extra 2 usb plugs that weren’t being used internally, lined up to the small gap I had in the back perfectly. I could have put the on/off switch between that primary power line, and had a wire permanently attached to the system, but I wanted a plug that could easily come in and out. Yes, I could have wired the power switch to the INSIDE of the power USB hub to give/cut power, but it was much easier just using the power line to the Raspberry Pi (lazyness). Also, I keep my Super Nintendo Pi in my TV console, and more often than I would have though, I have plugged USB devices into it (phone, ipod, ipad, etc) to charge. It’s neat being able to plug my chanrgeable devices into a super nintendo for some power.

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  2. Hmm, it seems my first comment didn’t go through so I’ll try again.

    First, WOW! The result looks awesome. You did a really neat job modding that old console! I’ll start building my own as soon as I receive my new RPi and I’ve got a few questions that couldn’t be answered by looking at the pictures.

    – What module did you use for the Reset switch?
    – Why did you install the on/off switch so that it only turns off current to the RPi instead of the whole USB hub?
    – What product did you use to fix the connectors (Looks like clay)?

    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. Great setup, my computer science class is doing some programming and hardware work as well to learn about computers (I so love the RPi). Simple question (I hope) that seems silly, but I cannot get the save state to work well for SNES. Currently have keyboard hooked up while students are doing some soldering work, so should be simple. I created my own reset switch that is simply for a power interrupt, but need something that will actually save the state. Also, how do I load that state?

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    • I forget the exact controls, but I know by keyboard default, one of the “F” keys is save state and another “F” key is load state. Look through the retroarch/all .cfg file for the corresponding buttons. They may have been commented out (any line with a # in front of it) – in that case, look for the save/load state defaults and remove the “#” and then save the .cfg file.

      Report back with your findings. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when somebody asks for a solution, then finds it, and then doesn’t post it

      Relevant xkdc: http://xkcd.com/979/

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    • MAME uses a different emulator, so the controls might not do the same thing. My guide is primarily focused on RetroArch which handles SNES and NES (and I think maybe some other systems?) nicely.

      MAME is a different beast. If I get into it, I’ll make sure to upload updates with everything I’ve figured out

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  5. Would there be any modifications to your steps in order to get this to work using the RCA video connection as opposed to the HDMI?

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