Building a kit I bought years ago.

[Movie002]

Hello everyone.

I bought a GBZ kit from a user on this form several years ago. Life happened so the kit just sat untouched for a few years. Id like to finally start this project but id like to make sure I have everything I need.

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[rodocop]

Well then, post what you have in the kit and someone can likely help you out and see if you have enough to build a GBZ. I would assume if you bought a kit from someone it would have included all the necessary bits...But who knows.

[Movie002]

My bad forgot to attach the images, actually I believe I bought the kit from you Rodocop.

[rodocop]

My bad forgot to attach the images, actually I believe I bought the kit from you Rodocop.

haha, too funny! it looks like you have all you need then, although I don't see a battery. that's about it. (oh and the Pi zero...)

[Movie002]

Having trouble identifying the purpose of this component.
Could you lend a hand?

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[Movie002]

Nevermind I figured out what it does, My question now though is do I need a powerboost?

[rodocop]

Nevermind I figured out what it does, My question now though is do I need a powerboost?

That picture above is the power boost.

[rodocop]

The AliExpress link shows some wiring diagrams.

C$ 2.54 29%OFF | 5V/2.1A Charge Discharge Boost Protection 3.7V 4.2V Battery DC-DC UPS DIY Module Integrated Circuits Dropship
https://a.aliexpress.com/_m03uB2j

[Movie002]

Thats really helpful, thank you.

Just a couple more questions.

Those battery indicator LEDs; do they light up only when the battery is charging? Im hoping to use them as a battery level indicator. Or is there a battery level indicator implemented through software in retropi?

The output voltage form that boost protection chip should be powering all of the other components, correct? Im struggling to understand how I am supposed to power the screen as it appears to expect 12 volt.

Last but not least, is a "safe shut down" only achieved through software? If I wire the positive from the battery directly to the main power switch at the top left of the case and cut power to all components when its switched to the off position will that corrupt my SD card?

https://www.tinkerboy.xyz/product/gearb ... -boy-zero/

[rodocop]

Those battery indicator LEDs; do they light up only when the battery is charging? Im hoping to use them as a battery level indicator. Or is there a battery level indicator implemented through software in retropi?

I can't recall exactly if they light up only when charging or not. You'd have to connect the battery to confirm that. (I would assume it's only when it's on and/or charging.

As for software battery levels. Yes, that kit includes an ads1015 (little purple board), you can use that in conjunction with a script to get a battery indicator on screen. Check out HoolyHoos MintyBatteryMonitor script. It's originally used with the older minty pi's but works fine for this type of build too.
https://github.com/HoolyHoo/Mintybatterymonitor

EDIT : actually it looks like the kit didn't include an ads1015, so you'd have to buy one, oops haha. The purple board i thought was the ads was just the power strip

here is an ads 1015: https://www.adafruit.com/product/1083
you can get them much cheaper on aliexpress or ebay though.

The output voltage form that boost protection chip should be powering all of the other components, correct? Im struggling to understand how I am supposed to power the screen as it appears to expect 12 volt.

Yes you will use the output to power all components. As for the screen, yes it is 12V, but it is also one of the confirmed screens from the wiki that also operates on 5V without any modifications. So you're good to go with only 5V. (Check the screen wiki, this is the "newer gearbest" variant.). You can do that mod as seen on tinkerboys website, but i've never found it to be necessary.

Last but not least, is a "safe shut down" only achieved through software? If I wire the positive from the battery directly to the main power switch at the top left of the case and cut power to all components when its switched to the off position will that corrupt my SD card?

You always run the risk of corrupt SD cards if you just cut the power. It is a good idea to shutoff the system inside emulationstation first of course. Then slide the switch off.

The good thing, is that the minty script I mentioned above also has some hotkeys that can be used to shutdown, or turn off the battery icon on screen. They are set by default to:

shutdown_btn = Button(7, hold_time=1)
monitor_btn = Button(19, hold_time=2)

This is from the MintyShutdown.py you can edit the hold time (seconds) and the gpio number to another one. I often would use L or R. and change the hold time to 5. That way if you hold down L for example (whatever GPIO you have it wired to) for 5 seconds it would safely shut down, and R would do that same to turn the battery icon on or off.

If you don't want to use those at all simply edit the .py to some unused GPIO's that way they will never get hit.