Do we need the Teensy?

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Enix
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Do we need the Teensy?

Post by Enix » Mon Jun 13, 2016 6:45 am

I have seen some builds in here, which connect the buttons directly tot the Pi. Why do we need the Teensy?
I am a newbie, hope my question didn't offend anyone.

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Kilren
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Re: Do we need the Teensy?

Post by Kilren » Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:03 am

Enix wrote:I have seen some builds in here, which connect the buttons directly tot the Pi. Why do we need the Teensy?
I am a newbie, hope my question didn't offend anyone.
Nope. Don't need the teensy. It just makes the build more user friendly.

GPIO

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FreddySalted
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Re: Do we need the Teensy?

Post by FreddySalted » Sat Jun 18, 2016 2:55 pm

I've also been wondering this and was considering finding a USB gamepad chip (no luck) then thought why not rebuild the SNES pad circuitry (I built a SNES arcade stick including the circuit a few years ago) It's a very simple, 2x chips and a few resistors. I managed to buy enough 4021 SMD shift registers and networked resistors to build 25 SNES pads for under £10 (Price of 1 Teensy) and the SMD parts are small enough to sit on the button side of the DMG controller board taking up no space, then it's just 5 wires to the GPIO and support for SNES pads is built into RetroPie

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Re: Do we need the Teensy?

Post by PeteB » Sat Jun 25, 2016 7:50 pm

FreddySalted wrote:I've also been wondering this and was considering finding a USB gamepad chip (no luck) then thought why not rebuild the SNES pad circuitry (I built a SNES arcade stick including the circuit a few years ago) It's a very simple, 2x chips and a few resistors. I managed to buy enough 4021 SMD shift registers and networked resistors to build 25 SNES pads for under £10 (Price of 1 Teensy) and the SMD parts are small enough to sit on the button side of the DMG controller board taking up no space, then it's just 5 wires to the GPIO and support for SNES pads is built into RetroPie
I have seen the version where each button goes to a GPIO pin and then software (from adafruit I think) converts it to key presses but I haven't seen the SNES controller version.

Do you have any links of additional information. This would be a nice halfway between the above and teensie especially if it is supported directly by retropie.

Pete B.

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FreddySalted
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Re: Do we need the Teensy?

Post by FreddySalted » Sun Jun 26, 2016 4:31 am

One of the early blog posts on the retropie blog showed the SNES pad interface.
http://blog.petrockblock.com/2012/07/19 ... bly-guide/
its supported by the GameCon_GPIO_RPi Module
https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Se ... n_gpio_rpi

you can connect a SNES pad directly to the gpio headers with only 5 pins rather than a pin per button +GND

I have included two SNES Circuit schematics below, the top one (Black BG) is easier to work from but the bottom one has the SNES port included

I will make a full wiring diagram for this soon. I haven't even started assembling my GBz yet even though I have been planning and buying parts for it since October
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NES SNES Famicom Controllers.gif
NES SNES Famicom Controllers.gif (18.64 KiB) Viewed 5887 times
stephan_snes_cc.gif
stephan_snes_cc.gif (17.67 KiB) Viewed 5887 times

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FreddySalted
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Re: Do we need the Teensy?

Post by FreddySalted » Sun Jun 26, 2016 3:02 pm

Here we go, I've thrown together a quick breadboard design in Fritzing. it looks a little messy but it's cheaper than a £10 Teensy at under £2 for a pair of 4021 Shift Registers on eBay (much cheaper if you buy in bulk) and a handful of resistors
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