The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Raspberry Pi & Dev Board => Topic started by: Grasshopper on October 29, 2017, 02:10:15 pm
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As some of you will be aware, the RetroFlag NesPi case is fitted with working power and reset buttons.
Unfortunately, all the reset button actually does is momentarily cut the power. As this can already be done using the power button, the reset button effectively serves no useful purpose in its default configuration.
Because of this, a number of people have devised mods that enable the reset button to trigger a safe shutdown script by shorting one of the Pi's GPIO pins. This is preferable to simply cutting the power, as cutting the power can theoretically lead to SD card corruption if it's done at the same time as the card is being written to.
I therefore decided to apply one of these mods to my case. After considering a number of approaches that seemed overly complicated, I decided to base my mod on the following YouTube video created by Glen Planamento:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-xUC7_A_U (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-xUC7_A_U)
Glen's approach seemed far simpler and safer than the alternatives. Basically, all he did was to isolate the reset switch from the rest of the circuitry by cutting some traces on the PCB. He then soldered on some wires to bypass the reset switch. And finally, he connected one side of the switch to ground, and the other to GPIO pin 5.
I did however deviate from Glen's mod in the following ways:
- In his video, Glen cuts four traces on the PCB to bypass the switch. However, before carrying out the mod, I did a continuity check across all of the pins on the PCB, and noticed that two of the traces are actually a single continuous trace that already bypasses the reset switch. Therefore, you only need to cut two of the four traces, and solder on a single bypass wire.
- I chose to solder the bypass wire to the underside of the PCB, as I thought this would be neater, and slightly easier to solder.
- I also decided to connect one side of the switch to a ground connection on the PCB itself, instead of using one of the Pi's ground GPIO pins.
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Heads up for Amazon Prime members -- the case is on sale for the next 6 hours for $15.99. :o
https://www.amazon.com/Controller-YIKESHU-8Bitdo-Nintendo-Carring/dp/B073ZC4TZY/ (https://www.amazon.com/Controller-YIKESHU-8Bitdo-Nintendo-Carring/dp/B073ZC4TZY/)
Get 'em while you can.
Scott
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Its showing full price for me idk.
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Same here. Good job, Scott.
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The "Lightning Deal" sold out already. :embarassed:
There's still a few $23.99 case/fan combos left. (same link)
Scott
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$15.99 "Lightning deal" on the case is available again. :dizzy:
"Deal is 62% Claimed"
Scott
EDIT: . . . and it's gone again. :(
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I bet the boys in school called you a tease...
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171121/2926a3733c1352c7a90dce929eee5bfa.jpg)
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Aliexpress has started carrying them now also -- they have a kit with heatsinks - fan - and the Nespi case for $22
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-high-quality-Mini-NES-NESPI-CASE-Retroflag-Case-with-Cooling-Fan-Designed-for-Raspberry-Pi/32839745711.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10345_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10341_10548_10545_10541_10562_10084_10083_10307_10178_10060_10155_10154_10539_10312_10059_10313_10314_10534_10533_100031_10103_10073_10594_10557_10558_10596_10595_10142_10107,searchweb201603_2,ppcSwitch_3&btsid=32ee02c2-eec8-4c23-aeaa-b63d47aa022d&algo_expid=84b5198a-de9f-4328-8d46-c5baaa342022-8&algo_pvid=84b5198a-de9f-4328-8d46-c5baaa342022&rmStoreLevelAB=0 (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1set-high-quality-Mini-NES-NESPI-CASE-Retroflag-Case-with-Cooling-Fan-Designed-for-Raspberry-Pi/32839745711.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_3_10152_10065_10151_10344_10068_10130_10345_10324_10342_10547_10325_10343_10546_10340_10341_10548_10545_10541_10562_10084_10083_10307_10178_10060_10155_10154_10539_10312_10059_10313_10314_10534_10533_100031_10103_10073_10594_10557_10558_10596_10595_10142_10107,searchweb201603_2,ppcSwitch_3&btsid=32ee02c2-eec8-4c23-aeaa-b63d47aa022d&algo_expid=84b5198a-de9f-4328-8d46-c5baaa342022-8&algo_pvid=84b5198a-de9f-4328-8d46-c5baaa342022&rmStoreLevelAB=0)
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Good work on your project.
That is a good case for sure.
I've noticed on the FB groups that this case really put a dent in the 3d case sellers.
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Another heads up for Amazon Prime members, this time with 8 hours of lead time. :lol
Cyber Monday Deals -- Electronics, Office and Business -- Computers & Accessories -- Computer Components shows that the Retroflag case (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073ZC4TZY/) goes on sale again at 5:40am.
Scott
EDIT: Sale supposedly went active, but prices are still normal and the sale listing was pulled from Computer Components. :banghead:
(Screencap is from an un-refreshed browser page. 30 minutes later and it still shows "0% claimed". :angry:)
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If anyone's getting impatient waiting for RetroFlag to create a SNES version of this case, I've noticed that those cheeky Chinese clone makers have now started selling their NES on a chip boards rehoused in rather nice looking Super Famicom style cases:
It shouldn't be too hard to hack a Pi into one of these cases.
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My Nespi arrive today. $19 shipped.
Can't wait to put my rpi in it.
I threw a NES and SNES mini image on one of my rpi 3's
It's pretty slick.
took longer to download and write the 3gb image than it did to slide in the card and configure the controller.
I was playing games 15 minutes after first boot.
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This Nespi case is nice.
so nice i've given away my 3d printed case to a fellow nerd.
I'm def. doing the shutdown mod.
just need different controllers. The NES replica ones are not very comfortable to hold.
they make my hands cramp. lol
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Well it looks like Retroflag have now introduced a new version of this case with shutdown and reset buttons that trigger scripts. So this mod is hopefully now redundant.
http://retroflag.com/ (http://retroflag.com/)
Interestingly, they're also claiming that someone is producing 'fake' Nespi cases, and it's the fake ones that are causing the low vortage warnings that some people have reported.
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Well it looks like Retroflag have now introduced a new version of this case with shutdown and reset buttons that trigger scripts. So this mod is hopefully now redundant.
http://retroflag.com/ (http://retroflag.com/)
Interestingly, they're also claiming that someone is producing 'fake' Nespi cases, and it's the fake ones that are causing the low vortage warnings that some people have reported.
Yeah got an E-mail the other day from the supplier I had bought the 10 from last year saying they had the new model in stock now for $13.50 (didn't mention how much shipping would be) - seems they added a switch to either use a script for safe shutdown or the normal immediate shut down/reset. Haven't heard from anyone that has purchased the new model yet so not sure if it works well or not but nice to see them add that in.
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This is the best and easy design on the Internet.
Working with my RPI 3B, and Recalbox
https://github.com/recalbox/recalbox-os/wiki/Add-a-start-stop-button-to-your-recalbox-(EN)
Thank you very much, my button is working.
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Thank you very much, my button is working.
You’re welcome.
If anyone's interested, there's a very promising looking European SNES / Super Famicon styled Pi case coming out in the next month or so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9ZAgcxb9Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9ZAgcxb9Y)
If it's as good as it looks in the video, I think it could give the NesPi case a run for its money. Apparently, it has working power and reset buttons, and the possibility of routing two of the USB connectors to the front of the case with a bit of hacking.
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Thank you very much, my button is working.
You’re welcome.
If anyone's interested, there's a very promising looking European SNES / Super Famicon styled Pi case coming out in the next month or so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9ZAgcxb9Y (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz9ZAgcxb9Y)
If it's as good as it looks in the video, I think it could give the NesPi case a run for its money. Apparently, it has working power and reset buttons, and the possibility of routing two of the USB connectors to the front of the case with a bit of hacking.
Damn, that looks like a nice case, May finally find a use for that Pi we have sitting around at work, may have to get some 8bitdo controllers as well :)
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I did however deviate from Glen's mod in the following ways:
- In his video, Glen cuts four traces on the PCB to bypass the switch. However, before carrying out the mod, I did a continuity check across all of the pins on the PCB, and noticed that two of the traces are actually a single continuous trace that already bypasses the reset switch. Therefore, you only need to cut two of the four traces, and solder on a single bypass wire.
- I chose to solder the bypass wire to the underside of the PCB, as I thought this would be neater, and slightly easier to solder.
- I also decided to connect one side of the switch to a ground connection on the PCB itself, instead of using one of the Pi's ground GPIO pins.
Lol - Without reading this forum article first or realizing anyone else had checked already, I did the same thing as you regarding the continuity test. When viewing about a half dozen mods with the same procedure as Glen's (probably everybody was using the same original reference video), I couldn't figure out why NesPi makers would run that lower trace *through* the reset switch ... it made no sense. My continuity test turned up the same thing yours did: the second set of cuts to the lower trace were utterly unnecessary and just cluttered up the modification. Eliminating them also eliminated the second jumper to reconnect both ends of the trace.
Anyway, I'll add my attachments to yours although they are slightly different regarding the grounding mod. Same result in the end with my NesPi case: the Power switch just connects and disconnects power between the wall wart and the RPi; the Reset switch momentarily grounds pin 5 on the RPi, which alternatively wakes the sleeping RPi and shuts it down gracefully.
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[ Sorry, didn't realize the forum software would reorder my submitted images. ]
While testing, I determined that the switch manufacturer, or the NesPi maker, connected the two poles (sides) of each switch, so there was no need to solder them into the "U" shape, as some videos suggested. At least the case I have they were already joined - I guess its possible there are multiple versions of the case out there.
The pictures are numbered 1 to 5, and the sketches are numbered 1 to 10. Pictures show what I actually did to the board and the bottom clearance left available by adding the jumpers on the top of the board. The sketches show continuity before and after mods, with buttons in the In and Out positions, and the Pin5 wire added. Attached are the last 7 sketches #4-#10.
Sketch 1 - power continuity with switches Off-Off (both out)
Sketch 2 - power continuity with switches On-Off (Power In, Reset Out)
Sketch 3 - power continuity with switches On-On (both pushed in)
Sketch 4 - illustrate two cuts to isolate Reset switch
Sketch 5 - just show cuts completed around Reset switch
Sketch 6 - illustrate power jumper (red), ground jumper (black), Pin5 wire (blue) connections
Sketch 7 - just a cleaned up sketch after cuts and adding jumpers/wire
Sketch 8 - after mod - power continuity with switches Off-Off
Sketch 9 - after mod - power continuity with switches On-Off
Sketch 10 - after mod - ground continuity to Pin5 wire with switches On-On
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Just a quick head up for anyone still considering buying one of the original NesPi cases. Retroflag have just introduced a couple of new cases which look awesome, and which fix pretty much all of the issues that the original NesPi case had. One of them is styled like the US SNES, and the other is styled like the Euro SNES / Super Famicom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HURRXhXfcv8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HURRXhXfcv8)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5KlGVB1VFY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5KlGVB1VFY)
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I bought the sfc case and the included controller is amazing. Also, I couldn't escape the undervoltage problems with my nespi, so I'm happy to upgrade, although I had to modify the retroflag shutdown script to say attract instead of emulationstation, so that it would shut down the system in Attract mode.