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+--- Thread: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions (/showthread.php?tid=4453)
GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - Ezr131 - 04-05-2017
Hey guys, I finished my game pie advance 2.1 last night and so far I'm loving it! It was definitely one of the easiest and quickest gameboy builds I have done yet.
I followed the build video on YouTube and everything was very straightforward from there. The only thing that wasn't mentioned (At least I think) was that you might have to widen the slot for the volume wheel. The wheel had a lot of friction with the case and would get caught up in the notches. Just something to consider when you build it so you won't have to take it apart again
also the speaker sounds nice and loud with a great range of sound.The right trigger needed some shaving down to press the button correctly and the left needed no modifications. Go figure lol. I ended up shaving both of them down to get them to feel similar. Not a big deal just another thing to consider when building.
Also not a big fan of the X and Y buttons being tactile (clicky), but I understand how things work from a designing and engineering standpoint and it really is the simplest solution for adding the extra buttons. And they do work very well and are in comfortable and ergonomic positions so it's still very enjoyable to use.
All in all it was a very clean and quick build that requires minimal soldering and configuring. I'm running it with a pi Zero W and was very grateful to find the SD image for the W model in the downloads section.
This product was well worth the money and I would definitely consider buying another one.
Now for the questions.
What are the hotkeys? The only hotkey I found so far is the toggle speed by quickly hitting the power switch. I can't seem to figure out exit game and the save and load states.
Does this device have a low voltage shutdown or any kind of battery discharge protection or indicators lights?
And lastly, in one of the videos I saw two lipos being run in parallel. Does anyone have a link to those specific batteries or higher capacity batteries that will fit. I have a bunch of different size single cell lipos from my drone collection, but the best I could fit was a single 750 mAh lipo and I know I can go a lot higher. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Also I'll add some pics as soon as I can. Right now it doesn't seem to want to add them.
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - Ezr131 - 04-05-2017
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - Flavor - 04-05-2017
There's a readme with the SD image. It talks about the hotkey stuff.
HOTKEYS
Quote:The system now uses a “hotkey” to enter a state where each button has an alternate function. Usually, in most RetroPie builds, this hotkey is pressed at the same time as the button. A might do one thing, and HOTKEY+A might do another. With the GPA, we are now using the power button as a hotkey. It can be difficult to hold the power button and another button at the same time (especially since the power button can also shut down the GPA).
In the GPA, the power button acts as a hotkey TOGGLE. Pressing it once (and quickly releasing it) puts the system into hotkey mode. Pressing any other button then does the hotkey function for that button. To exit hotkey mode, press the power button (and quickly releasing it) once again, returns the system to normal button mode.
In Hotkey mode, here are the button mappings.
X - Emulator menu (this is likely the most useful, as it gives access to other functions while pausing emulation)
B - Reset (exits some emulators)
R shoulder - Save current state to current slot
L shoulder - Load state from current slot
R dpad - Increment current slot
L dpad - Decrement current slot
SELECT+START - Exit emulator (some emulators only require HOTKEY+SELECT)
See https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/RetroArch-Configuration#default-joypad-hotkeys and /opt/retropie/configs/all/retroarch-joypads/GPIOController1.cfg
One issue is that, sometimes (usually the first time you use the hotkey toggle), you may need to tap it twice. At bootup, it can get in an odd state.
Another thing is that the hotkey stuff only works in emulators that support it. Usually the LibRetro emulators will. They will be named with the "lr-" prefix.
BATTERY
Where the green power light is, you should see a red light when the battery is low.
Please see http://forum.freeplaytech.com/thread-4418.html for more info about specific batteries.
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - Ezr131 - 04-05-2017
Thank you very much for the fast response!
That makes sense! I was doing all my hotkey testing in SNES, and that's probably why no combinations worked.
And wow that's a lot of great information about the batteries! I can't believe I overlooked it.
Sorry about all of the obvious questions, but thank you for helping me work out all of the kinks.
You're doing a great job! I'm excited to see how the Game Pie Advance project will advance!
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - Flavor - 04-06-2017
By the way, in your photos, it appears that you MAY still have a protective film on your LCD protector. Most come with a thin plastic film to protect them during manufacturing and shipping. It's very hard to tell, but the photos seem like there may be one there still.
It can be kept there as something of a scratch protector, too.
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - RogerX - 04-07-2017
(04-05-2017, 01:40 AM)Ezr131 Wrote: And lastly, in one of the videos I saw two lipos being run in parallel. Does anyone have a link to those specific batteries or higher capacity batteries that will fit. I have a bunch of different size single cell lipos from my drone collection, but the best I could fit was a single 750 mAh lipo and I know I can go a lot higher. Any information would be greatly appreciated.
I'd been struggling with this as well - just found this today: http://forum.freeplaytech.com/thread-4454-post-5843.html
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - gr33n357 - 05-23-2017
so when you expect it to become available as a kit or even only a pcb would be awesome
RE: GPA 2.1 finished build with review and some general questions - Flavor - 05-23-2017
I really hope we can launch our crowdfunding campaign this week. If you haven't already, please sign up at http://freeplaytech.com/