I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. IT'S FINISHED!

Anything to do with games at all.
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:53 am

I already have a two player solution, you'll see it at the end
;)

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Green Gecko
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Green Gecko » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:39 am

I think it's possible with Bluetooth and dualshock yeah, but in my experience getting those things to work is a pain in the arse. For different reasons it might be difficult or easier on Linux. It usually comes down to buying an exact usb dongle listed on a wiki somewhere and then trying a driver someone wrote or bundled with the distro.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
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Cheeky Devlin
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Cheeky Devlin » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:45 am

Ad7 wrote:I already have a two player solution, you'll see it at the end
;)

In before "I actually made two and a link cable solution!" :lol:

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That's not a growth
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by That's not a growth » Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:58 am

This is looking brilliant.

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Rex Kramer
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Rex Kramer » Thu Aug 25, 2016 1:27 pm

Ad7 wrote:Update time :datass:

New bits:
Image

Drilling and attaching the standoffs:

Standoffs, they look useful. Where did you get those from?

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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:07 pm

http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d01496/ ... EML007-005

I ordered a load of screws to go with them and then realised they screw into themselves, so just did that in the end.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Hypes
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Hypes » Thu Aug 25, 2016 3:44 pm

Cheeky Devlin wrote:
Ad7 wrote:I already have a two player solution, you'll see it at the end
;)

In before "I actually made two and a link cable solution!" :lol:

It's the only possible option. That or player 2 just guessing what's happening on screen.

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mic
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by mic » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:32 pm

That looks amazing. Well done to you both. Are the, um, sticks as solid as they appear, or do they rattle a bit in their housings?

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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Thu Aug 25, 2016 8:36 pm

They're actual arcade machine parts, solid as a rock.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:20 am

Small update - I trotted running to power for the Pi from the USB port on the hdmi board rather that from its own power supply... it worked :D Means I only need on power supply for the whole thing rather than 2 or 3 (speakers should rib of the board to). Only thing is, for the Pi to pick up the screen, it needs to turn on a few seconds after the screen gets power, so in going to get a usb power switch so it'll be turn on the master power > everything is on standby > flick usb power and then the Pi picks up the screen and turns that on too.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Poser
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Poser » Fri Aug 26, 2016 7:37 am

I've read some more challenging games can under perform if you don't have the correct amount of power running to the Pi... Is it worth checking that it will get enough from the usb instead of from mains? Ie it might work to load up, but not when it's being really tested.

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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Fri Aug 26, 2016 8:20 am

That board gives enough power, I made sure when I got it. 12v 5amp supply in and it can power the monitor, Pi, speakers at once.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Green Gecko
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Green Gecko » Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:55 pm

Can it do all that via USB though? There are some "hi power / super charge" usb ports on recent motherboards but any more than 500mAh is beyond USB 2 spec. They would have to make a point of including the higher current. You need 1mAh (1 amp) to power the Pi fully. It might switch on but weird stuff happens if it needs to draw more power, which or course it doesn't if it doesn't need to, just like a mobile phone.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
_________________________________________

❤ btw GRcade costs money and depends on donations - please support one of the UK's oldest video gaming forums → HOW TO DONATE
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:16 pm

Stop trying to piss on my chips :x

I'll find out if guess, worse case is I plug the adapter back in.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Green Gecko
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Green Gecko » Fri Aug 26, 2016 4:20 pm

Just hurry up and buy my stuff. I want it to look good in my portfolio and for the experiences so I can get into games and then buy all the games.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
_________________________________________

❤ btw GRcade costs money and depends on donations - please support one of the UK's oldest video gaming forums → HOW TO DONATE
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Wed Aug 31, 2016 6:46 am

New parts coming:

Adafruit Switched usb lead specifically for the Pi which provides the correct power.

Adafruit Stereo Enclosed Speaker Set - 3W 4 Ohm. I don't actually know if this will work at all, I just know the vga board I have has a 4 pin audio amp on it with that connector so I'm taking a punt and it's only £8. If it works the if saves a load of wiring hassle as these are plug and play (I hope).

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Green Gecko
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Green Gecko » Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:21 am

With passive speakers into an amp it's quite difficult to break them. The main thing that matters is the impedance output of the amp, that needs to match the speaker so try to find a datasheet for the board. The impedance of the speaker can't be higher than the amp can deliver or they will draw too many current and fry amp.

Most likely worse case scenario is you need to crosswire some of the connections with bits of bell wire until the speakers work. Actually, that may not even matter much as all that happens if the + and - are switched is the speakers are out of phase. Obviously - and - to a speaker and vice versa won't work. For example pins 1 through 4 go - + - + and the speaker connection is wired something different.

4ohm is quite typical for smaller things. And sometimes speakers can operate at 4ohm and 8ohm to use less power, sometimes amps can be switched to use both. But forcing a speaker to draw too little current than it needs can stress the speaker and eventually kill it.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
_________________________________________

❤ btw GRcade costs money and depends on donations - please support one of the UK's oldest video gaming forums → HOW TO DONATE
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:33 am

I looked this morning, the data sheet says 3w 4ohm so I might have fluked the perfect thing. I'll just need to check the wiring isnt crossed first.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.
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Green Gecko
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Green Gecko » Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:39 am

Sweet.

"It should be common sense to just accept the message Nintendo are sending out through their actions."
_________________________________________

❤ btw GRcade costs money and depends on donations - please support one of the UK's oldest video gaming forums → HOW TO DONATE
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Victor Mildew
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PostRe: I convert my old Ion iCade into a Bartop Raspberry Pi Powered Arcade Machine! 'How to' guide inside. UPDATED 24/8/16
by Victor Mildew » Wed Aug 31, 2016 11:44 am

Good point on the polarity, need to check that first.

Starting to make the artwork on my lunch break today.

Hexx wrote:Ad7 is older and balder than I thought.

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