The post Why some Jaguar homebrew games work well with the Jag BT while others don’t appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Prior to releasing the Jag BT I documented a few retail games that polled the controller differently from the majority of the other retail games. I included a list of these games in the adapter’s user manual. I worked with the creator of the BlueRetro (Jacques Gagnon) and he came up with a few mapping work arounds for almost all of the issues. You can view this info on the GitHub. With these few games and work arounds documented, I felt good about the adapter. The Jag BT went on sale early 2022 and sold out a few days later. It was my first venture into the world of BlueRetro and a commercial success.
No other issues were reported to me or Jacques’ BlueRetro GitHub.
In October of 2022, I wrote a tweet about my JagAIOA Plus adapters I was assembling, completely unrelated to the Jag BT. I received an out of context reply from a person named Lawrence Staveley. I didn’t recognize the name from any of my prior customers but a quick Google search revealed he was a game developer mostly focused on Jaguar homebrew games under the name of “reBoot”. This marks the first time I heard of any polling issues with homebrew games.
Regardless of Lawrence’s poor attitude, I continued trying to help document and track down the issue. Unfortunately, some of the info Lawrence was providing was false and slowed me down. He claimed that games from one developer didn’t work when actually they did. Another issue I faced was the lack of availability of some homebrew games because they were either retail homebrew games or just not available. I tried getting help from Lawrence since they were his games but he just replied with, “get a GameDrive”. It was obvious he wasn’t interested in helping…
A user who goes by “Zerosquare” replied with the following smoking gun as to why some homebrew games work but others don’t:
Zerosquare is making reference to two chips on the Jaguar, the Motorola 68000 and the DSP (part of the “Jerry” chip). Almost all retail games used the 68K for reading button inputs, while many homebrew games use the DSP which is what causes the issue. These homebrew games use an entirely different method of handling controllers than almost all retail games or even RetroHQ’s GameDrive. At the heart of the Jag BT is an ESP32, a big SoC with GPIOs that aren’t as instantaneous as smaller and slower MCUs.
Jacques has tried to fix this on the ESP32 side but due to the slower GPIOs bus of the ESP32-WROOM, he doesn’t think it’s possible.
As Zerosquare mentions in his post, a homebrew developer named ZeroPlayer also noticed similar issues in his game when using Atari’s own TeamTap hardware and rotary or mouse controls. He then added a small delay in his code to ensure the reliability of controls in the game. This is the same conclusion Jacques came to and suggested other homebrew developers do the same for their games moving forward to support the Jag BT. This was explained to Lawrence from reBoot but unfortunately he was not interested.
I’m still holding out hope that other Jaguar homebrew developers will take ZeroPlayer’s approach and consider adding a small delay in reading the controller for future games. In addition, I’d love to see developers utilize the”6D” analog support in the Jag BT.
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]]>The post Game Boy Macro F Assembly appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>The post Game Boy Macro F Assembly appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>The post GBA GEM SP Build Guide appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>The post How To Install Our N64 Cartridge Doors And Region Free Bracket appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This guide was written for informational purposes only. We assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this guide. If you damage a 3D printed part during the install, please reach out and we can do a direct sale for a new part. However, no free replacements will be given for damage caused by your installation.
In this section, you’ll need a 4.5mm Security Bit (Gamebit), #2 Philips screwdriver, and an Expansion Pak removal tool.
In this section you will need the OEM Cartridge Doors, OEM Cartridge Door Springs, and 3D printed Cartridge Doors.
In this section you will need a #2 Philips screwdriver, the Region Free Bracket, and prepped 3D Printed Cartridge Doors.
In this section you will need the bottom of the N64, Top Shell of the N64, Expansion Pak (or regular Pak), 4.5mm security “Gamebit”, and a #2 Philips screwdriver.
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]]>The post How to Build A Game Boy Macro With Our Faceplates appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This guide was written for informational purposes only. We assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this guide. If you damage a 3D printed part during the install, please reach out and we can do a direct sale for a new part. However, no free replacements will be given for damage caused by your installation.
In this section, you’ll need the following 3D printed parts: Game Boy Macro front faceplate, Game Boy Macro back faceplate, logo panel of your choice, and the LED Light Pipe. You will also need the Super Glue, optional masking tape, and clamps.
In this section you will need a disassembled Nintendo DS Lite and a tool to remove the FFC/FPC connector (hot-air rework station, soldering iron, or flush cutters).
In this section, you will need the Nintendo DS Lite motherboard (with FFC/FPC connector removed), 330 ohm 0805 resistor, and Nintendo Switch Speaker, tweezers, solder, and soldering iron.
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]]>The post BlueRetro Adapter Instructions appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Further information can be found on the BlueRetro GitHub page.
See guide for more specific instruction: Pairing Guide
Up to 16 connection keys for classic BT and also up to 16 keys for BLE devices can be stored for persistent pairing.
Note: If not labelled, “R” is always the first button from the left, and “P” is the second closest to the status LED.
Web Config is only available if no controller is connected. Supported only in Desktop or Android Chrome.
Accessing the Web Config:
Power on system and connect via Web Bluetooth at https://blueretro.io to configure adapter.
Button remapping and preset instructions can be found here.
Updating Firmware (OTA FW update)
Some 3rd party controllers have multiple modes. The best method is to set these 3rd party controllers in “X-Input” mode.
8BitDo M30 keymapping and mode switching:
For X-Input mode, hold Start + X when powering on the M30.
The M30 also ships with the D-Pad in “left joystick” mode. To get the D-Pad to work without remapping, press Select + D-Pad Up.
Note: hitting the M30’s “home” (heart) button causes the controller to be unresponsive. You will need to re-pair the M30 if this happens.
3DO BT Mapping for the 8BitDo M30
Retro-Bit Genesis “8 Button Arcade Pad”
For initial pairing, hold Home + X to put the controller into the correct pairing mode. You can then use Home to pair normally until you pair the controller to a different device.
Console Specific:
General:
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]]>The post How to build our Remixed GBA Slab SP appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This guide was written for informational purposes only. We assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this guide. If you damage a 3D printed part during the install, please reach out and we can do a direct sale for a new part. However, no free replacements will be given for damage caused by your installation.
This is a Remixed version of Xipher’s Gameboy SP Slab (V1). We also contributed to his V2 Slab with our bottom accessory port, battery nut area, and helped him troubleshoot issues like with his top back panel when used with the Game Boy camera. For posterity, here’s Xipher giving us permission to sell his Slab beyond the original “non-commercial” license.
In this section, you will need the original GBA SP battery door nut and screw (these are mandatory), metal cartridge shield, power switch, and the following 3D printed parts: back shell, battery bay, and cartridge brace.
In this section, you will need a hobby knife, the back shell, L and R buttons.
For this section, you will need the resin printed light pipping and front shell.
In this section, you will need the 2 soft tactile buttons, thin wire, and back shell you prepared in the previous step.
For this section you will need the hard tactile button, Button PCB, D-Pad, face buttons, button membranes, speaker, thin wire, and the following 3D printed parts: font shell, speaker brace, and brightness button.
In this section, you will need some thin wire and the populated front and back shell from the previous steps.
In this section, you’ll need the FunnyPlaying IPS screen, flex driver cable, thin wire, and front shell.
For this section, you will need both front and back populated shells, 100mm 34-pin flex cable, 40-pin extender board, thin wire, and the top back 3D printed shell.
You’re in the home stretch. You will need the almost finished GBA Slab SP, 4 screws (original GBA SP or M2 x 6mm), battery (I highly suggest Helder’s “MegaBat800“), battery door screw, and 3D printed battery door.
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]]>The post How to Install Our TurboExpress / PC Engine GT LCDDRV Screen Bracket appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This guide was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this guide.
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]]>The post How To Install Our Game Boy Zero Brackets appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This guide was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this guide.
General
For Brackets with Joy-Con Analog Sticks
For the Speaker bracket
This guide assumes you’ve already modified the DMG shell to accommodate a new 3.5″ screen, so this won’t be covered. Just make sure the screen bevel is nice and flat. The only modifications that are specific to these brackets are not to remove two middle shell posts (highlighted in blue) that hold the two halves together and the center most post (highlighted in red) which will nee to be removed for the center Joy-Con bracket.
In order to keep the screen bracket “glueless” we actually need to glue down the screen bracket mounting brace. The idea is, you want to permanently glue this brace into place so the screen bracket can “hook” underneath it and be held down.
Now with the Screen bracket flush against the front shell, it’s time to drill those pilot holes.
With your pilot holes drilled, grab your step drill bit. The best solution here would be to use a drill press but not everyone has one of those. It’s my suggestion to use your step bit by hand or with a hand tool. This will minimize the chance of going over the 11mm target diameter for the buttons.
Before moving forward with this step, make sure the speaker you are using works with this bracket. Do a dry fit first.
A note on the BitBuilt Joy-Con breakout boards. Unfortunately, these boards don’t have both sides labeled and to save space, they are mounted upside down in our brackets. Please take note of what pin is what before installing it or better yet have your wires already installed.
In order to mount the center Joy-Con’s breakout board as intended, you will need to also purchase the speaker bracket.
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]]>The post How To Install The 3DO FZ-1 Door Brackets appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This post was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this guide.
These simple brackets hold your FZ1 3DO’s CD-ROM drive door to the top shell.
There are two openings on the door brackets. Each opening is meant to slide over the 3DO’s top shell and CD-Rom door. The easiest way to tell which is which is to look straight down on the bracket. The larger opening is meant for the 3DO’s top shel and the small opening is meant for the CD-ROM door.
The 3DO FZ-1 top shell door opening is curved upwards at a slight angle. This means there’s a bracket meant for the left side and a bracket meant for the right side. This can be hard to tell since these brackets are so small but I ship all my brackets with markings letting people know which is which. If that fails and you accidentally mix them up, that’s ok. The picture shows an angled wall highlighted in red. The Top Shell start at the base narrower and then becomes wider. The correct bracket will be the opposite at its base.
Brackets should be labeled “L” for the left side bracket and “R” for the right side bracket. Obviously, this is reversed when installing them since you’re most likely look at the top of the 3DO shell upside down. Use the picture as a reference.
Your 3DO FZ-1’s CD-Rom door is now held into place without the CD-Rom drive or glue. Reassemble your 3DO and enjoy!
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]]>The post How To Install Our Gameboy Zero Z2 Rear Button Housing appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>In this guide, I will show you how to install our “Gameboy Z2” rear button housing in a Nintendo Gameboy DMG case. Before you get started please be careful with the housings. They are printed in resin to give them sharp details over an FDM 3D printer but they can shatter if dropped or if you apply too much force to them.
I’ve updated this build to include special instructions for Kite’s Circuit Sword builds, so please pay attention to those instructions if you’re using Kite’s Circuit Sword.
Disclaimer: This post was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this project.
Version 1
Version 2
Kite Circuit Sword Specific Builds:
Before you start cutting, it’s a good idea to look at a finished example first. Here you can see how the back should look once you finished modifying the Gameboy DMG shell.
Like the back of the DMG shell, before you start cutting anything make sure to reference this image.
Before starting, make sure you’ve installed your power and ground wires on the USB port as well as installed the 5v fan if applicable.
There are two spacer options which I will refer to as Type A and Type B. Please refer to the images.
Do a test fit before screwing anything down. Sanding of either the DMG shell or spacers may be needed due to the variability of after market DMG shells.
Warning: Resin does not like heat, especially from a soldering iron. Be careful while following the rest of the guide because you could ruin the housing!
If you’re using version 2 of the rear button housing, wiring up the buttons is as simple as connecting each button wire to the corresponding pad on the rear button housing PCB.
Hopefully you already have an understanding of how 4 leg tactile switches work. If not, read up here for further info.
You’ve finished the install! If this is the last portion of you GBZ build congratulations! Otherwise, keep on working!
I would love to see your installs so please @doomydoomer me on Instagram!
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]]>The post How To Use My Raspberry Pi Safe Shutdown Board appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This post was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this project. LiPo batteries can go boom. Be careful and always check polarities before plugging them in.
A simple safe shutdown solution for your portable Raspberry Pi project
This step is subjective to your own project. For the sake of this write up, I will use one of my recent projects as an example where I am using GPIO 27 for Shutdown and GPIO 11 for Power Off.
Connect the PowerBoost 1000c in the following way:
Now connection the PO and SD pads to your Raspberry Pi’s GPIOs:
Connect the RetroPSU in the following way:
Now connection the PO and SD pads to your Raspberry Pi’s GPIOs:
Connect the RetroPSU in the following way:
Now connection the PO and SD pads to your Raspberry Pi’s GPIOs:
Important Note: If you are using Helder’s RetroPSU v2, jumper J2 must be unbridged for this circuit to work.
In order for this safe shutdown board to work properly, we need to tell the Raspberry Pi which GPIOs you’ve decided to use. You can do this by adding these two lines to your /boot/config.txt file:
dtoverlay=gpio-poweroff,gpiopin=11,active_low=1
dtoverlay=gpio-shutdown,gpio_pin=27,active_low=1
Make sure to change your GPIO pins to match your project.
With everything powered down and connected according to the steps above, it’s time to flip the switch to the on position. The Raspberry Pi should start to power on. Once it’s fully up to whatever OS you’re running, typically RetroPie, flip the switch to the off position. If everything was done correctly you should now see the Pi running its power down routine and ultimate power off completely.
One of the coolest parts of this circuit is it not only powers off the Raspberry Pi completely but also the PSU you’re using. No more worry about waking up to find a dead project because the PSU trickled your battery dead!
Please note that we can’t offer support for this circuit if you haven’t purchased it from us directly.
The Raspberry Pi powers on for a few seconds then powers off
Check to make sure you “PO” and “SD” GPIO wires aren’t reverse
The Raspberry Pi won’t shut off once powered on via the switch
Check to make sure you’ve connected your GPIOs correctly but also make sure you’re calling the correct GPIOs in your config.txt.
I get a thunderbolt icon when running my Pi
You might not being using thick enough gauge wires on your power lines. This isn’t synonymous with my safe shutdown board but all the same double check your gauges.
I get a Kernel Panic on shutdown and the Pi doesn’t power off when using Helder’s RetroPSU
If you are using Helder’s newer v2 RetroPSU, jumper J2 must be unbridged. This is because there are 2 EN pins on Helder’s newer board and each has it’s own 10k resistor (20K total) and our Safe Shutdown board was designed for only 10k resistance.
I have to thank Helder for walking me through his RetroPSU, while I struggled to get this circuit to work with the various resistors values to match. Check out Helder’s projects over at his website: https://www.heldergametech.com/
Finally, the person who really made this project possible is Gerrit Gazic. If it wasn’t for Gerrit taking time out of his busy day almost 4,000 miles away, I doubt it would have been completed. Thanks to the power GitHub and Discord, Gerrit helped me through breadboarding and trying a ton of different resistors, diodes, and even MOSFETS to nail down what was needed. More than anything though, he encouraged me to keep pushing forward. Please check out his incredible work over at GitHub: https://github.com/geaz
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]]>The post How to Install Borti’s NESRGB-IGR On A Front Loader NES appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This post was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this project.
This guide assumes you’ve already disassembled the NES and installed Tim’s NESRGB or will do so alongside Borti’s NESRGB-IGR.
It’s always a good idea to check your install before powering on the NES.
Check the following:
With everything checked out reassemble the NES part way, since it’s a good idea to test everything before completely reassembling the NES just in case something doesn’t work as expected. That being said, reattach the 72-pin cartridge connector to the motherboard, slide the cart tray around the connector, reconnect the controller ports, reconnect the blue power/reset connector, reattach your RGB AV connection, and finally put the motherboard back in the bottom case. Make sure to insert a game cartridge, power, and controller for testing then power on your NES.
The NES powers on but the palettes keep switching
You most likely have your “RO” and “RI” wires mixed up.
The NES no longer powers on
– Check to make sure the Jumper is set properly.
– Check pin 4 is wired correctly and separated from one another.
In game reset doesn’t work
This can also be a mismatch of “RI” and “RO” wires but you’d see see the palette cycling too. Check the controller “CK, “LT”, “DT” wiring and ensure they’re going to the correct NESRGB-IGR board pads.
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]]>The post Atari Jaguar to SNES Multiout AV – JAG2SNES appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>I passed the idea of this adapter to Helder and within a few hours he had a prototype PCB setup in Eagle. Once the board layout was finalize, I started working on the shell design. I fired up AutoDesk’s Fusion 360 and got to work on my part. I’m a bit of a perfectionist with anything I’m designing, especially for public use, so I went through a few prototype shells before I was happy with it.
One of the harder parts about designing something that mimics the official Multiout connector are the little tabs inside the connector that “latch” onto the actual male end of the cable. I’m by no means the first, second, or 100th person to make a Multiout socket in AutoCAD but many of the existing sockets out there get this part wrong or omit it entirely from their design. This small detail is really important though if you want your cable locked tightly in the socket. Two things I kept in mind while working: I’m printing using an FDM (Fused filament fabrication) 3D Printer from the bottom up and this shell needs to be two parts. Knowing that, I decided to engineer my own tab design that come up from the bottom of the socket instead of the back like the original Multiout. This provided a lot more strength for two tiny 3mm pieces of plastic that would need to stand up to hundreds of cable inserts.
Once the Multiout end was engineered and several test prints later, I had a design that felt as solid.
After some time, Helder’s PCBs came in from the fabricator then off to me for testing. I had several use cases I felt were common and mandatory for vetting out the JAG2SNES adapter. First and foremost, it needed to work straight through to a CRT as well as, or better, than the original AV cables that came with my Jag. Secondly, the JAG2SNES needed to be able to work with RGB Scart cables and HD Retrovision cables through a upscaler like the OSSC. After hours of testing on various 1080P, 2k, and 4K TVs and monitors I was satisfied that this adapter worked as intended.
It’s truly amazing how sharp the Jaguar games look through the OSSC when the settings are dialed in. This is my preferred method of playing the Jaguar now! The JAG2SNES Atari Jaguar to SNES AV adapter can be purchased directly from Helder’s website for $25 + shipping:
The below images were all captured using the JAG2SNES to HD Retrovision Cables to OSSC and finally to a Cheap Capture device.
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]]>The post Dreamcast Mods That Will Modernize And Extend It’s Life appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>One of the best upgrades you can do for older disc based consoles is an Optical Drive Emulator (ODE) install. This allows you to replace an optical drive with an SD card or even USB hard drive. This is a great way to store your complete game library in one digital format. It also allows you to preserve your cases and discs from wear and tear. The Dreamcast has a few ODEs on the market. I chose a cloned GDEMU for the sole reason of availability. I would rather have purchased the original GDEMU but the creator only randomly opens pre-orders and they sell out fairly quickly. There’s also a USB-GDROM from another developer who goes by “Mnemo”. It’s worth noting that he also has ODEs for the FZ-1, FZ-10, and GoldStar 3DOs.
Another relatively simple upgrade for the Dreamcast is the Noctua NF-A4x10 5V fan mod. This little 40mm fan moves a good amount of air while staying almost silent, especially compared to the original OEM fan. I don’t really remember how loud the Dreamcast’s fan was when it first came but over the years mine has gotten loud enough to be a constant annoyance. Here’s a quick comparison video demonstrating the very audible difference between the OEM and Noctua fan:
Because the Noctua is a bit bigger than the OEM fan, you’ll need to find a way to mount the fan to the case and adjust the case lid catch. I used custom 3D printed parts from RetroRGB to solve this.
How many times have you booted up your Dreamcast only to hear an annoying beep followed by the date / time screen? That’s because the onboard rechargeable battery has died. Unlike the Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast uses a soldered in rechargeable style battery. This was actually great back when the battery was among the living because it meant we didn’t have to constantly replace the CR2032 battery. Like all components, this battery was not meant to last forever. In fact, if left in place it could eventually leak all over the controller board causing corrosive damage, so it’s gotta go. The next best solution is to replace the rechargeable battery with a non-rechargeable CR2032 coin battery. They’re inexpensive and widely used and yes it’s the same battery used in the Sega Saturn’s SRAM / Real Time Clock.
This next mod was purely for future proofing my Dreamcast to ensure no controller problems in the years to come. The original fuse on the controller board would occasionally blow when a user repeatably plugs a controller into the ports, causing the fuse to trip. Unfortunately, this fuse was a one and done type of fuse, leaving your Dreamcast broken until you replace the component. The solution to this problem is simple: upgrade the fuse with a reset fuse, which can literally be “reset” with a power cycle. It’s a simple mod and if you’re already replacing the battery on the board, you might as well do this too!
I’ve saved the best for last, the DCDigital or DC HDMI mod. This modification gives you digital to digital video signal for pixel perfect HDMI out from your Dreamcast in sweet 1080p. This mod a magical thing to see in person. The pictures I’ve posted below are cell phone photos and don’t do this mod justice. The DCDigital also allows you to enable scanlines as well as update the firmware via Wifi for future features and bug fixes. This is literally the best thing to happen to the Dreamcast since it’s release, I can’t stress enough how amazing it is. It is definitely an higher level install so if you’re not savvy with a soldering iron, it would be wise to hire someone who is.
There is one major disadvantage to note about upgrading any retro console to HDMI and that’s the lack of light-gun game support. So no House of the Dead 2 or Confidential Mission support. Luckily, you can still use Composite and S-Video cables if you own an old CRT TV.
You can purchase the DCDigital here
And that’s it! I am completely satisfied with these modifications and how they turned out. If you’re a Sega Dreamcast fan, I highly suggest these Dreamcast mods to modernize and extend it’s life for years to come.
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]]>The post How to use a GDEMU to Replace Your Dreamcast’s Broken GD-ROM appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>As I mention, the GDEMU is an Optical Drive Emulator, which replaces the Dreamcast’s GD-ROM with a custom board. The GDEMU has an SD slot, which holds all the game files. The GDEMU tricks the console into thinking its loading up original content directly from an optical drive when really its loading disc images from the SD card. It’s brilliant especially if your Dreamcast has a broken GD-ROM.
Installation of the GDEMU is very simple and requires no soldering or cutting up of your Dreamcast. That said, there are other modifications you might want to do while you’re console’s apart, specifically removing the 12v rail on the power supply (PSU) but more on that later.
One of the side effects of removing the GD-ROM is increased heat from the 12v rail on the PSU. This is because there is no GD-ROM pulling 12v and lowering the load of that side of the PSU as it was originally designed. An increase of voltage creates a pocket of heat around the 12v regulator. Now, you may not have this issue but my Dreamcast’s case was hot to the touch after only 30 minutes of playing it before I did this mod. That was enough reason for me to remove the 12v regulator.
As the years and decades pile on, it’s only a matter of time before the optical drives in these consoles break down. For that reason alone, you could make a strong argument for investing in the GDEMU. Another would be the preservation of your working optical drive and it’s media. You could backup your entire library, as I have, and put them safely on display without having to worry about scratchy them or other damage. Sold!
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]]>The post Custom 3D Printed Battery Pack For The Sega Nomad appeared first on Humble Bazooka.
]]>Disclaimer: This post was written for informational purposes only. I assume no liability or responsibility for damaged equipment or for any injury you may incur attempting to replicate this project. Be careful when working with LiPo batteries and electronics.
Doomy Doomer’s Sega Nomad Battery Case
Note: feel free to remix and use this design for your project but do not sell or take credit for this case design. If you remix I’d appreciate a credit line and link back to this page.
Filament: Orange Prusament PETG
Resolution: .20mm
Sliced with: PrusaSlicer
Once you’ve printed the case parts, grab the super glue and set it aside. You should have the following printed parts: bottom, lid, bracket, and three alignment posts.
Before assembly anything, it’s a good idea to check to see if the bracket slides onto the back of the Nomad. Each printer prints different, especially overhangs, so there could be slight slope on the feet. If you do have issues sliding the bracket freely onto Nomad, try trimming off the some plastic on the foot that is causing the issue with an X-Acto knife.
The bracket should slide easily onto the back of the Nomad and lock into place with the bottom screw hole.
Once you’re sure the bracket is sitting properly on the Nomad, remove it and grab the three alignment posts, bottom case, and super glue. Obviously be careful with the super glue. You can glue your fingers together or even to the printed parts.
Let’s assemble the bottom section of the case. Start by aligning the bottom bracket to the bottom case the best you can. Then push each alignment post into place. I printed these parts at .20mm so my tolerances were snug but by no means tight. If the alignment posts are loose and fall out, tape them down. We want them to be able to defy gravity when applying glue to the bracket.
Next, grab the super glue and apply a thin layer on the backside of the bracket. Make sure you apply glue to the side without legs! Now, line up the bracket to the alignment posts and apply pressure to the post with one hand as you push the bracket into place. Do this for each alignment post. If you’ve done this correctly, the bracket is aligned perfectly to the bottom of the case. Put the bottom case aside to dry.
While the glue dries on the bottom case, let’s solder up the switch, PowerBoost 1000c, and USB port. We’ll start by soldering the power (PWR/Vcc) and ground (GND) wires to the USB connector that comes with the PowerBoost 1000c. These wires should be no thinner than 26 gauge and I’d recommend 24 to be safe. It’s also a good idea to measure out the wire length before doing anything further. You don’t want the wires too short that they won’t reach or too long that they take up too much space in the case. It doesn’t matter what colors you use for these wires but it’s probably a good idea to use black for GND and red for PWR. Look straight at the USB connect. The PWR (Vcc) is on the left and GND is on the right. Make sure you keep this polarity in mind when wiring up the connector to the PowerBoost 1000c.
Once you’re done soldering the wires to the USB connector, add some shrink to each wire and push the shrink up against the connector. Now, fire up your hot air of choice to shrink the tubes to provide rigidity. It’s especially important to use heat shrink here because the leads coming off the USB connector are meant to sit in a through hole PCB. The wires could easily break while working in the case without the rigidity of the heat shrink. Enough about the importance of heat shrink, moving on!
Next, let’s solder up the switch using 28 or 30 gauge wire. These wires will only be carrying signal so they can be thinner gauge. When you connect the PowerBoost’s Enable (EN) pin to GND, the PowerBoost cuts the battery power. What that means is, when the switch is thrown in the direction of the pins you wired to, the Nomad will be off. Because the switch will be mounted upside down, take into account which pins you wire to if you care about the direction of On/Off.
With the switch and USB connector wired up, we can now solder them to the PowerBoost 1000c. Here’s a quick and dirty diagram to show you how these components will be wired together.
Now that we know what we’re wiring to, let’s solder up the USB connector’s PWR and GND wires as well as the two switch wires to the PowerBoost. Adafruit did an outstanding job with labeling the PowerBoost. You should be able to clearly see the positive and negative through hole positions for the USB connector, so solder those up. Next, we’ll be soldering the EN and GND for the switch. It doesn’t matter which wires from the switch run to the EN and GND pins. Once those are soldered up, it’s time to add the components to the 3D printed case.
Grab the two M2.5mm screws and a screw driver. Place the PowerBoost into the case and screw it down. The case is self tapping but too much force could strip the holes, so don’t be too aggressive.
Next, we’ll add the switch. I made this case with a pretty tight tolerance, which is great once everything’s together but can be a pain to get components in initially. To help out, slide the switch to the middle before pushing it into the case.
Once you have switch lined up and push down, use your screw driver to gently push on the corners of the switch to ensure it’s truly secured in place. If you’re noticing a little wobble and that bothers you, you could always put a dab of super glue in the middle brace where the switch rests in the case.
Now let’s add the USB connector. It should just slide right into place and be held in by friction. There was something weirdly satisfying about pushing the USB connector into place and having it perfectly fit with no wiggle.
Finally, let’s add the battery. Connect the battery wires to the JST connector on the PowerBoost. The battery is held into place by the lid so no need to glue anything. Everything should now be nice and snug in the case.
Flip the power switch to the on position and you should see the PowerBoost’s blue power LED lit up like Christmas. If it does not light up, the switch isn’t wired correctly.
It’s worth mentioning the Powerboost’s LED status colors and what they mean. Blue is on, Yellow is to indicate you’re charging using the MicroUSB port, Green means the battery is fully charged, and Red means the battery is under 3.2v and will be shutting off your Nomad soon.
Finally, let’s pop the lid on. As I said earlier, I designed this case with tight tolerances, so make sure you’ve got everything lined up before putting force on the lid.
As cool as I think my custom 3D case is the real magic to this project is the custom AV cable that takes USB power to a 9 pin mini DIN AV port on the Nomad. This next part may upset some people but I used one of my many Genesis model 2 RF adapters for this part but I completely understand if you wouldn’t want to destroy something that’s no longer in production. I’ve listed the equivalent connector in the materials section but I’ll be focusing on what I used.
So let’s get destructive. Grab your Genesis 2 RF adapter and cut the end off that goes into the AV port. Leave plenty of slack for mistakes because we can always cut more off later. Next, take your spare USB cable and cut the larger end off (the type A end). Put the USB aside for a moment and let’s focus on the Genesis adapter cable we just cut. Use your wire strippers to expose the Yellow (video), White (Mono Audio), Red (PWR), and copper strands (GND). We only need the Red and copper stranded wires. Twisted the copper strands together to make a thick braided wire.
Now grab your USB nub you cut off and do the same exposing four wires. Not all USB cables are the same so you’ll probably need to use a multimeter if it’s not obvious what’s POS and what’s NEG. I’m just going to assume two of the four wires are red and black, which is all we need for this cable. Add heat shrink tubes to one side of the two cables for later. Finally, splice and solder the two cable together to make a very proprietary, yet very awesome, power cable. Shrink the tubes with your choice of heat.
With everything soldered and heat shrunk (shrinked? shrunken?) together, you should have a new fancy power cable that looks something like the below image. Before you start plugging things in, test the wires with a multimeter and double check everything’s correctly married together. The most important thing here is polarity!
Now that the hard parts are out of the way, the only thing left to do is to slide the battery pack on the back of the Nomad, plug the USB end into the battery packs USB port, and attach the AV end into the Nomad’s AV port. Throw the switch! If everything was put together correctly, you should see a power light on the PowerBoost and your Nomad should be powered on. That’s it!
This is a very simple solution to an age old problem and I hope all the Nomad lovers out there take advantage of it.
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