02-04-2020, 06:18 AM
(This post was last modified: 02-05-2020, 02:37 AM by GameBro Advance.)
Yeah, I’m looking into going the DIY route for this, at least initially. I might just use some perfboard and a Raspberry Pi Zero W, and hand-solder the switches from an original GBA SP board, drill holes for X / Y buttons, run a ribbon cable for the LCD, and try for stereo audio.
I feel like one of the advantages of the SP layout is that you could put an analog pad beneath the D-pad, as well as stereo speakers, but those features are obviously secondary.
Edit: Here are a couple of examples of this sort of project. The quality of these builds are...yikes...but they have the basic concept down.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KSBGk25Vamk
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jSZsaGMI15U
Obviously, the later GBA SP version had the center button to adjust screen brightness, which could be repurposed as a “Home” button to exit emulation or open the Retroarch GUI, and the first video shows a micro thumbstick added. It could be feasible to add one on each side, which would be helpful for PSX emulation.
Edit 2:
Wow, this guy seems to be way ahead of me: https://granthaack.com/piboy-sp/amp/
This project appears to be dormant, but he’s got a GitHub page with Eagle files and everything. I have zero experience in PCB fabbing or populating SMD components, but I might want to cheat off of this guy’s homework.
I feel like one of the advantages of the SP layout is that you could put an analog pad beneath the D-pad, as well as stereo speakers, but those features are obviously secondary.
Edit: Here are a couple of examples of this sort of project. The quality of these builds are...yikes...but they have the basic concept down.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KSBGk25Vamk
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jSZsaGMI15U
Obviously, the later GBA SP version had the center button to adjust screen brightness, which could be repurposed as a “Home” button to exit emulation or open the Retroarch GUI, and the first video shows a micro thumbstick added. It could be feasible to add one on each side, which would be helpful for PSX emulation.
Edit 2:
Wow, this guy seems to be way ahead of me: https://granthaack.com/piboy-sp/amp/
This project appears to be dormant, but he’s got a GitHub page with Eagle files and everything. I have zero experience in PCB fabbing or populating SMD components, but I might want to cheat off of this guy’s homework.