Bacteria's GP2x mod - rotating screen, larger speakers, bigger buttons, D-pad

[bacteria]

After quite a lot of work, I have finished my GP2x mod.

I initially wanted to incorporate batteries into this system (see my BenHeck thread for project details), however I should have used Li-ions and not NiMH cells, and for some reason the GP2x was power draining powerful C cell 5500NiMH cells in an hour (perhaps it has a faulty capacitor?), which is awful. Hence, I am running the system off mains power. I have since got some camcorder Li-ions which I will use in my next project.

Components:

GP2x mobo
GP2x TV-out cable
PSone screen (5" - I find the GP2x screen a bit small), modded to take S-video
2 x 55mm speakers
12mm tact switches for buttons
Casing made of 2mm perspex
NES D-pad

Tools needed:

30w soldering iron, solder, desoldering braid, lots of wiring.
TI step-down regulator (using one PSone power supply of 7.5v, the TI card converts to 3v for GP2x)
12mm tact switches and 6mm tact switches
Dual polarity switch (on/off)
2 x 55m speakers
3 sheets of A4 sized 2mm perspex
UHU glue; hot glue, electrical tape
Mounting board and textured thick paper
Scissors, craft knives, pencils, paper, felt pens, black paint, paint brushes
Excellent TV-out program from boot
SD card
220uf capacitor (for S-video mod)
Thin and thick pliers
Dremel and various bits
NES controller


Some project pics:

Buttons - flat, recessed, initially I wondered how good they would be, turns out they work great!



One thing I did which was rather clever (as well as the screen rotation itself), was to make the GP2x controls different depending on whether the screen was landscape or portrait; for example, in portrait mode Left on D-pad is Left but in landscape mode is down; and the A and B buttons change with the volume + and - buttons. I achieve this switch automatically by using rotating cotton buds, making contact with tin foil:




Finished system:







...playing a game (Galaga90 on TurboGraphics) (old emulator, not tried the new one yet!)



Screen rotation:

Reason? MAME old games like PacMan, Galaga, Pengo, Gorf, and others! (best played vertical and not horizontally).








The system is comfortable to hold, buttons laid out so that A and B (used most often) are in the place my thumb rests; the shoulder buttons work well and located in logical places, the case is thick enough for adult hands to hold comfortably, unit is fairly light.

The only restriction is games in TV-out mode, most work excellently, especially as the PSone screen is 320 x 240 resolution (640 x 480i), emulators like Pictodrive (Megadrive), TurboGraphics, MAME and a host of other games look very nice.

I just need to put a couple of coats of clear varnish on the casing to protect it.

[Aricado]

That's awesome!!
I'm a bacteria fan!!!

[MattZani]

I like it, even though it is massive, (or atleast looks it)

Im really tempted to try a MegaDrive Portable...

[MARIOPARTY53]

woah, at first when it was in its clear case, I thought that was terrible and never ever think to do that

now that you have that case, IM AMAZED!! its really nice
good job

[bacteria]

This project has got onto the main http://www.gp32x.com/ web page 

Aricado - 

edhel - Thanks! Sure - the cotton buds rotate as the screen rotates, so the six contacts they had made before break and contact with the other set of six contacts. One set of contacts make the controls respond one way when the screen is portrait and the other set for when the screen is landscape. The arc of mounting board ensures the cotton buds move as they should and don't lose their way, using cotton buds meant I had a nice rippled ball of tin foil to ensure reliable contact, and as some of the buds would connect to the top of the arc assembly I made contacts here, otherwise they have to contact the bottom, so would make their contacts there. Works great!!

MattZani - No, isn't massive; 245 x 215 x 35mm. You get a feel for its size from the pic with my hand in it. Anyway, using a PSone screen means projects end up about this size due to the size of the mobo and the fact you need to keep things symetrical and also have a joystick / D-pad in there with other controls for a system.

The system feels confortable to use; unlike a PSP for example (gives hand cramp after a short time, unless you have small hands). 

MARIOPARTY53 - Yes it looked terrible in the perspex before, I agree entirely; however this was only the skeleton on the project, so I had to reason to make it look nice. Most people paint their projects, I use paper as it is far more tolerant to any imperfections, and looks really nice when done. It is also quicker to implement!

[decy90]

that is simple awesome man lol... i thought it was gonna be good when i saw it in its shell.. but this is well above expectations hehe

[MARIOPARTY53]

again I really like it

but If I did that tho, I would miss of how small it used to be

[zbblanton]

dude thats amazing' ive seen u on another website i just can't remember which one

but freakin awesome job dude

[bacteria]

zbblanton - Thanks mate. Yes, it is posted also on BenHeck and on the GP2x site  http://www.gp32x.com/  in fact, it made it to the front News page on the web site.

[ryan0]

instead of tin foil and earbuds you could use etched pcb's that are mirror images that slide along each other that'd be cooooooooooool, but its brilliant as is seriously dude this mod is SICK!i can't even call this a mod i'd call it a total red-design!its looks so professional like it was manufactured like that,nice case btw

[bacteria]

instead of tin foil and earbuds you could use etched pcb's that are mirror images that slide along each other that'd be cooooooooooool, but its brilliant as is seriously dude this mod is SICK!i can't even call this a mod i'd call it a total red-design!its looks so professional like it was manufactured like that,nice case btw

Thanks for the kind comments, very appreciated.

Your thoughts on the PCB would not work, they wouldn't make reliable contact.

[Luke]

just asking is that made out of cardboard?

[bacteria]

just asking is that made out of cardboard?

The case is made from 2mm perspex (also known as acrylic and polycarbonate). It is covered with a layer of 160gsm textured paper for looks, glued down with UHU general purpose glue; as opposed to hot glue as used for gluing the perspex to itself.

[Luke]

The case is made from 2mm perspex (also known as acrylic and polycarbonate). It is covered with a layer of 160gsm textured paper for looks, glued down with UHU general purpose glue; as opposed to hot glue as used for gluing the perspex to itself.

lol say that in noob term

[bacteria]

lol say that in noob term

Ok

For the casing, I used clear perspex (also known as polycarbonate or acrylic), which is tough and rigid plastic. To cover the mess you always get when doing such hacking and modding work (ie lots of wiring, hot glue, bits of controllers, etc) you can paint it; instead I used a covering of thick paper which is varnished to make it strong and tough.

[Bracketology]

Wow, that's amazing. Looks awsome, overall how much did the project cost?

[VoX]

Awesome again, you never cease to amaze me

[bacteria]

Thanks guys, appreciated.

I must confess, I haven't played on it since finishing the project, been too busy on my newest project!

Bracketology - overall cost, roughly (prices below approximate):

PSone screen £28
GP2x £5 (only paid postage, normally a s/hand one about £65).
hot glue, wires, solder, desolder briad, tact switches, ear buds, foil, glue, wear on soldering iron  £5
perspex £8
(ignoring the NiMH cells I bought, but had problems with them)
paper £1
TI step-down regulator, capacitor, resistor £6

Roughly £53 ($106); although with a normally GP2x it would cost more like about £116.

Vox - Thanks! Please keep updated with my latest project - multi-project. This blows the GP2x project in the sand...

I will post more details when done (I did a post in the Retro section here).