Issue with New build

[Jakeup]

I have wired it back up this way and now and the controls don’t work, I tried to plug a keyboard into the USB port and then it turned off and the Powerboost light turned red. Any clues there?
Iv tripple checked the USB port is wired right but maybe you could confirm for me.

Iv also reached out to tinkerBOY for support, so hopefully he will pop into this thread..

[infinitLoop]

I have wired it back up this way and now and the controls don’t work, I tried to plug a keyboard into the USB port and then it turned off and the Powerboost light turned red. Any clues there?
Iv tripple checked the USB port is wired right but maybe you could confirm for me.

Iv also reached out to tinkerBOY for support, so hopefully he will pop into this thread..

the usb wires look correct. that usb-plug-in, power down can happen with power issues (when you plug in a peripheral, the current will flow there, and basically away from the other stuff, then if your battery/power-supply isn't supplying enough current anymore, nothing would be able to turn on. the red light on the adafruit indicates too low current - ie, low battery).

sounds to me like something is wired backward (or maybe got bridged or something) on the tinkerboy. or the battery or its wiring is bad.

some things i could recommend:

check connectivity (with power off, just make sure the connections register solid on the multimeter, and you should be able to get connectivity at basically all of the 5v and G inputs, everywhere)

make sure your current is correct, and not negative/backwards in the 5v inputs.

just hook up the tinkerboy to the psu and check power on it.

make sure you have good connectivity at the battery, and that wires aren't too small gauge or too long.

or, try a different battery. maybe the battery is defective and not able to suport what's being pulled from it (your multimeter can help with measure voltage and amperage on the battery lines)

[Jakeup]

I went ahead and removed that USB port and also reflashed my sd card and now I seem to have the controls working.
I’m going to try a brand new usb connector and see if that makes a difference, maybe I got solder inside the port or something?


I went ahead and tested what you recommended

some things i could recommend:

check connectivity (with power off, just make sure the connections register solid on the multimeter, and you should be able to get connectivity at basically all of the 5v and G inputs, everywhere)

That all seemed fine when I checked on the tinkerBOY board

make sure your current is correct, and not negative/backwards in the 5v inputs.

Yup I got 5v everywhere, the only weird thing is that the L1 and R1 registered 0.19 ... not sure if that’s intended or an issue.

just hook up the tinkerboy to the psu and check power on it.

make sure you have good connectivity at the battery, and that wires aren't too small gauge or too long.

What would you say is too long for the battery wires? The battery is connected to the Powerboost through a jst extender cable that is about 8 inches long. All of my power wires are a larger gauge and should be good.

or, try a different battery. maybe the battery is defective and not able to suport what's being pulled from it (your multimeter can help with measure voltage and amperage on the battery lines)

When measuring the battery before the Powerboost I get 4v

Thanks again for all of your help.

[infinitLoop]

Yup I got 5v everywhere, the only weird thing is that the L1 and R1 registered 0.19 ... not sure if that’s intended or an issue.

just hook up the tinkerboy to the psu and check power on it.

make sure you have good connectivity at the battery, and that wires aren't too small gauge or too long.

What would you say is too long for the battery wires? The battery is connected to the Powerboost through a jst extender cable that is about 8 inches long. All of my power wires are a larger gauge and should be good.

or, try a different battery. maybe the battery is defective and not able to suport what's being pulled from it (your multimeter can help with measure voltage and amperage on the battery lines)

When measuring the battery before the Powerboost I get 4v

you should only get 5v on the "power" lines - the ones that are marked "5v". any other voltage is (and should be) lower. buttons/switches typically just need some voltage (usually in the range of ~ 1v-3v) to register the "press" (ie, connecting ground to voltage to make a connection, or the reverse, to break it).

if you get 5v in other spots that aren't the 5v pins/pads (or places you expect power), then you should check for bridged connections around those. (sending 5v to any of the gpio pins on the pi that aren't the 5v ones, for instance, would likely fry it, and other components can also get damaged that way.)

a fully charged battery should register around 4v (a "3.7v" battery gives a range of voltage output during its charge cycle, so you get ~4.2v for a full charge and then when you get down to around 3.1v, that is a too-low charge, and going lower could damage the battery - most batteries should have a little circuit board that helps protect against over/under charging).

"too long" is a little subjective, but "short as possible" is a good rule. and jst connectors can cause issues sometimes, if the connection isn't good in there, or isn't tight and bounces a bit.

[Jakeup]

Sorry I meant I got 5v from all of the 5v pads, not actually everywhere.
I think we’re up and running aside from the usbport... half tempted to just leave it out at this point.

Pretty stoked iv managed to get the controller to work and even added a few roms.

Thankyou for your help, patience, and time I really appreciate it.

[infinitLoop]

nice color choice, btw. the build i'm doing at the moment is almost the same setup, with the nes and gameboy combo (but i reversed mine - i like the gameboy ones on the x/y and eh nes on the a/b). my shell is the light blue instead of the teal too, but i like that as well

[Jakeup]

nice color choice, btw. the build i'm doing at the moment is almost the same setup, with the nes and gameboy combo (but i reversed mine - i like the gameboy ones on the x/y and eh nes on the a/b). my shell is the light blue instead of the teal too, but i like that as well

Thanks man I really like your build, I hope I can get my future builds looking as clean as yours someday.


Sorry to disappear I ran into a few issues and got a little discouraged.

As I was closing up the case I tried to remove a little hot glue with a razor blade and slipped and cut through my screens ribbon cable. Frustrated and excited to just use the device I ordered the bw variant #13 off amazon and had it the next day. It works but is not as nice as the gear best screen in my opinion. It has a lot of light leak and makes the case glow...

In case anyone else is trying to use this screen
I tried to follow the guide on the wiki (says to leave the chip) but ultimately was only able to get the 5v mod to work by removing the chip.

Now I have it all together and have been having a blast playing some games. Starting to think about doing a few upgrades.

I’d like to add
- cambles safe shutdown switch
- copy your hotkey button (have one installed to do a safe shutdown via GPIO currently, would rather have the hotkey)
- switch back to the gearbest screen
- polish the ui and overall feel of the device
- figure out usb without the tinkerBOY board involved.

Do you know if I can just wire the USB port directly to the pi data pin?

Iv tried to get help from tinkerBOY but his only recommendation is to disassemble my entire build and mail the board back for testing... there’s got to be something I can try myself...

[infinitLoop]

In case anyone else is trying to use this screen
I tried to follow the guide on the wiki (says to leave the chip) but ultimately was only able to get the 5v mod to work by removing the chip.

I've heard that a lot too, but have also seen it working with the chip still on, so it might just be luck on if you get one that can (or maybe the model changed over time). Those bw screens are definitely a step-down from the gearbest, even the best ones i've gotten. they do come quick though.

Do you know if I can just wire the USB port directly to the pi data pin?

i have not tried it myself, but apparently you can leverage the pi's serial/uart pins to do usb as well:

https://www.thepolyglotdeveloper.com/20 ... ial-cable/


i'd guess that it'd be easier to try and figure out why the usb on the board isn't working though.

[infinitLoop]

btw, if your controls and sound are working, then the usb hub on the tinkerboy board should be ok. those are both usb-based too. if you are just having issues getting the external port working, it's probably just bad connections at the wires. make sure you twist the data wires as much as you can too, which'll help strengthen it.

[Jakeup]

btw, if your controls and sound are working, then the usb hub on the tinkerboy board should be ok. those are both usb-based too. if you are just having issues getting the external port working, it's probably just bad connections at the wires. make sure you twist the data wires as much as you can too, which'll help strengthen it.

I’m really at a loss with the USB port, iv tried 3 different ones and they all cause the same issue. Seems really weird to me.

I guess I don’t know enough about circuit boards but to me It seems possible that the data could get in and go to the hub (making controls and sound work) but maybe the issue lies between the hub and data out pins...

I’ll take a look at that link you posted and see if I can get that to work for me. Thanks again for all of your help, I appreciate it.