GamePi20

GamePi20 A mini game console based on Raspberry Pi

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Primary Attribute Category: Game Machines, Raspberry Pi, Expansions {{{userDefinedInfo}}}: {{{userdefinedvalue}}} Brand: Waveshare

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Onboard Interfaces RPi

Related Products Game HAT GamePi43 GamePi20 GamePi15 GPM2803P0 GPM2803P1 GPM2804

Overview

Features

• Support Raspberry Pi Zero/Zero W/Zero WH
• 2inch IPS screen, 320 × 240 resolution
• 60-frame experience, smooth display, no more frame loss
• Support RetroPie game system and Recalbox game system, supporting thousands of classic games, as long as the TF card is big enough, you can add your favorite games arbitrarily
• With a charging circuit, a built-in 14500 lithium battery power supply, easy to carry and play at any time
• Battery capacity indicator
• Onboard speaker and earphone jack, listen to the familiar BGM from the old days

How to use it

Assembly

• GamePi20 Assembly

Hardware connection

• Attach Raspberry Pi Zero/Zero W to GamePi20 extension board. Note that you need to first set up SD card according to the instruction below, before you assemble it.
• Mount the extension board to the metal box.
• Place conductive rubber mats and buttons on it, finally assemble the front panel.

To use the GamePi20, you can use the pre-configured image or install driver to a fresh image yourself.

Method 1: Pre-configured Images

• Here we provide a pre-configured image, you can download and test.

OS	Version	Raspberry Pi	Default user/password	Download link
Recalbox	6.0-DragonBlaze	Raspberry Pi 1/Zero/Zero W	root/recalboxroot	Google Drive
Recalbox	v7.1.1	Raspberry Pi 1/Zero/ZeroW	root/recalboxroot	Google drive
Retropie	v4.4	Raspberry Pi 1/Zero/Zero W	pi/raspberry	Google Drive
Retropie	v4.7.1	Raspberry Pi 1/Zero/Zero W	pi/raspberry	Google Drive
Retropie	v4.8	Raspberry Pi Zero 2W	pi/raspberry	Google Drive

• Download the image file, unzip and write it to the SD card.
• Insert the SD card to Raspberry Pi, assemble GamePi20 as #Hardware connection.
• turn the switch to ON. Generally, LCD is light on and Raspberry Pi is booting. It may cause about 2 minutes for Raspberry Pi 1/zero/zero W to start.
  • Raspberry Pi is failed to start if the battery is low. In this case, you can connect 5V/2A power adapter to the Power interface for charging. Capacity indicators.
  • If the buttons cannot work normally, please add a line to the /boot/config.txt file, then reboot and try again.

dtparam=spi=on

Basic operations

• Retropie
  1. After booting, you can select emulators by direction buttons on the left, then press "A" to confirm. For example, choose "A" and then "Start".
  2. Choose the games and press "A" to play.
  3. Press "Start"+"Select" buttons to exit games.
  4. You can adjust the potentiometer to adjust the volume. Or Press "Start" and choose "SOUND SETTINGS" to adjust the volume.
• Recalbox
  1. After booting, you can select emulators by direction buttons on the left, then press "B" to confirm.
  2. Choose the games and press "A" to play, press "A" or "Start" to start the games.
  3. Press "Start"+"Select" buttons to exit games.
  4. you can adjust the potentiometer to adjust the volume. Or Press "Start" and choose "SOUND SETTINGS", press "B" confirm, then adjust "SYSTEM VOLUME" by the direction buttons.

Method 2: Install driver

Install driver on Retropie

Download the Retropie image from Retropie website.

1) Download the image file to the computer and unzip it to get the .img file.

2) Connect the TF card to the computer, open the Win32DiskImager.exe software, select the .img file prepared in step 1, and click write to burn the image.

3) Connect the SD card, keyboard, and HDMI display to Raspberry Pi, Turn the switch on the ON side to power on Raspberry Pi. Press F4 (Keyboard) after booting. You may require an ETH/USB HUB HAT in this steps.

4) Configure as below to enable fbtft module for displaying.

• Download the driver from GitHub.

sudo apt-get install cmake
cd ~
git clone https://github.com/juj/fbcp-ili9341.git

• Modify the source file to make the program support the current screen resolution.

cd fbcp-ili9341
nano st7735r.h

• Find the following code and change the value of DISPLAY_NATIVE_HEIGHT from 240 to 320.

#if defined(ST7789) || defined(ST7789VW)
#define DISPLAY_NATIVE_WIDTH 240
#define DISPLAY_NATIVE_HEIGHT 320   //The original value was 240, changed to 320
#elif defined(ST7735R)

• Compile the program and run it.

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DSPI_BUS_CLOCK_DIVISOR=20 -DWAVESHARE_ST7789VW_HAT=ON -DDMA_TX_CHANNEL=5 -DDMA_RX_CHANNEL=1 -DBACKLIGHT_CONTROL=ON -DSTATISTICS=0 ..
make -j
sudo ./fbcp-ili9341

After running the program, the screen will display an image, but the resolution may not be set, and the displayed image may not be completely accurate.

【Note】If a similar prompt appears as below, it means that the DMA channel has been occupied, and you need to modify the DMA channel and recompile.

bcm_host_get_peripheral_address: 0xfe000000, bcm_host_get_peripheral_size: 25165824, bcm_host_get_sdram_address: 0xc0000000
BCM core speed: current: 300000000hz, max turbo: 500000000hz. SPI CDIV: 10, SPI max frequency: 50000000hz
Allocated DMA channel 7
Allocated DMA channel 1
Enabling DMA channels Tx:7 and Rx:1
DMA hardware register file is at ptr: 0xb52ff000, using DMA TX channel: 7 and DMA RX channel: 1
DMA hardware TX channel register file is at ptr: 0xb52ff700, DMA RX channel register file is at ptr: 0xb52ff100
DMA RX channel 1 was assigned another peripheral map 1!
DMA channel 0 has peripheral map 0 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 1 has peripheral map 1 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 1, current control block: 0xff0ea5a0)
DMA channel 2 has peripheral map 11 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 1, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 3 has peripheral map 10 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 1, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 4 has peripheral map 0 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 5 has peripheral map 6 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 6 has peripheral map 7 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 7 has peripheral map 0 (is lite channel: 1, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 8 has peripheral map 0 (is lite channel: 1, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 9 has peripheral map 0 (is lite channel: 1, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 10 has peripheral map 0 (is lite channel: 1, currently active: 1, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 11 has peripheral map 13 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 1, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 12 has peripheral map 13 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 13 has peripheral map 13 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA channel 14 has peripheral map 13 (is lite channel: 0, currently active: 0, current control block: (nil))
DMA RX channel was assigned another peripheral map!

• Set auto-start when powered on.

sudo cp ~/fbcp-ili9341/build/fbcp-ili9341 /usr/local/bin/fbcp
sudo nano /etc/rc.local

Add sentence fbcp& in the front of exit 0

Configure /boot/config.txt file.

sudo nano /boot/config.txt
#add lines below to the config.txt file
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_cvt=640 480 60 1 0 0 0
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=1
hdmi_mode=87
display_rotate=2
dtoverlay=pwm

5）Install driver for josytic.

git clone https://github.com/waveshare/mk_arcade_joystick_rpi.git
cd mk_arcade_joystick_rpi
sudo ./install.sh 3

Finally, reboot it.

sudo reboot

6) Long-press the "A" button (GamePi20) to enter the configuration page, configure it by pressing related buttons (GamePi20), you can also long-press to skip any button.

After configuring, you can press "A" (GamePi20) to save configured and exit, or press "B" or "Start" (GamePi20) to exit without saving.

【Note】If you find that there is no sound output, you need to modify the system's default sound card.

Open the configuration file and change the default sound card to sound card 1.

sudo vi /usr/share/alsa/alsa.conf  

Find the following two lines and modify them to correspond to the sound card.

defaults.ctl.card 1
defaults.pcm.card 1

Install driver on Recalbox

Download the latest image from Recalbox website.

• Unzip the files download to get the .img file.
• Write the .img file to the SD card.
• Copy the driver to the root directory of the SD card.
• Connect the SD card, keyboard, and HDMI display to Raspberry Pi, Turn the switch on the ON side to power on Raspberry Pi. Press F4 then Alt+F2(Keyboard) after booting. (user: root; password: recalboxroot).
• Setup display with commands below:

mount -o remount, rw /boot
mount -o remount, rw /

Configure modules file:

sudo nano /etc/modules.conf

Append lines to the file:

flexfb
fbtft_device

• Enable SPI by adding a statement to config.txt.

sudo nano /boot/config.txt

add line below to the file.

dtparam=spi=on

• Create a fbtft.conf

nano /etc/modprobe.d/fbtft.conf

Add two lines to the fbtft.conf file

options fbtft_device name=flexfb gpios=reset:27,dc:25,cs:8,led:24 speed=96000000 bgr=1 fps=60 custom=1 height=240 width=320
options flexfb setaddrwin=0 width=320 height=240, init=-1,0x11,-2,120,-1,0x36,0xA0,-1,0x3A,0x05,-1,0x21,-1,0x2A,0x00,0x01,0x00,0x3F,-1,0x2B,0x00,0x00,0x00,0xEF,-1,0xB2,0x0C,0x0C,0x00,0x33,0x33,-1,0xB7,0x35,-1,0xBB,0x1F,-1,0xC0,0x2C,-1,0xC2,0x01,-1,0xC3,0x12,-1,0xC4,0x20,-1,0xC6,0x0F,-1,0xD0,0xA4,0xA1,-1,0xE0,0xD0,0x08,0x11,0x08,0x0C,0x15,0x39,0x33,0x50,0x36,0x13,0x14,0x29,0x2D,-1,0xE1,0xD0,0x08,0x10,0x08,0x06,0x06,0x39,0x44,0x51,0x0B,0x16,0x14,0x2F,0x31,-1,0x29,-3

• Reboot Raspberry Pi and check if fb1 is recognized under /dev.

reboot

• Configure the rcS file.

nano /etc/init.d/rcS

Add a line to the rcS file.

fbcp &

• Modify recalbox.conf. Please check it again after saving.

#global.videomode=CEA 4 HDMI
global.videomode=default
 
#global.ratio=auto
global.ratio=4/3

• Modify /boot/config.txt file, add lines to it.

sudo nano /boot/config.txt
#Add
hdmi_force_hotplug=1
hdmi_cvt=640 480 60 1 0 0 0
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=1
hdmi_mode=87
dtoverlay=pwm

• Finally, configure GPIO by modifying recalbox.conf file

# ------------ D2 - GPIO Controllers ------------ #
## GPIO Controllers
## enable controllers on GPIO with mk_arcarde_joystick_rpi (0,1)
controllers.gpio.enabled=1
## mk_gpio arguments, map=1 for one controller, map=1,2 for 2 (map=1,map=1,2)
controllers.gpio.args=map=5 gpio=12,20,21,13,26,16,23,4,6,17,22,5,-1

• Reboot Raspberry Pi

Add New Games (Retropie)

Maybe the default games in the test image are not those you want, you can also add games as you like.

• Size of most games is always large, so we need to expand the filesystem first. Choose RASPI-CONFIG on configure page and press enter.

• Choose 7 Advanced Options -> A1 Expand Filesystem, Enter -> Finish, (physical keyboard is required).

• Choose OK, and reboot.

2) Prepare the corresponding game ROMs.
Recommended website: http://coolrom.com/
You can download various game ROMs through the PC. For example, if we want to play Sony Playstation games, we can choose:

Find the game you want to play in it and download it. For example: http://coolrom.com/roms/psx/39719/Tekken_3.php
Click here to download.

Unzip the downloaded file to get the following ROMs:

3) Upgrade ROMs
Connect the network cable to the Raspberry Pi (the Raspberry Pi needs to be in the same LAN as your PC). Find SHOW IP under the RetroPie list and press "A" to find the current Raspberry Pi IP. As shown below:

Open the corresponding IP in your PC, as shown below:

Copy ROMs to the corresponding directory, as shown below:

Then, on the emulator selection interface, press "Start"->QUIT->RESTART EMULATIONSTATION, and press "A" to confirm. After restarting the emulator, you can see the newly added game.
Then start your journey of retro gamepad!

WiFi Networking

Retropie and raspberry pi OS set WIFI networking

• Download the following files, and extract the wpa_supplicant.conf file, open the wpa_supplicant.conf file, modify the SSID and password of WIFI and save the file. File:Wpa supplicant.zip
• Put the modified wpa_supplicant.conf file in the boot directory and restart the Raspberry Pi. (Connect the TF card to the PC through the card reader, and the opened root directory is the boot directory.)

recalbox Set WiFi Networking

• Press START to enter the main menu
• Select network settings
• Change "Enable WIFI" to "On"
• Select "WIFI SSID" and enter your network name
• Select "WIFI Password" and enter your network password

• After connecting to WiFi, RecalBox should check the system update:

Pinout Definition

The pins marked as "NC" below indicate that the LCD does not occupy this pin, and the user can use it for other applications.

Pin #	Identification	Description
1	3.3V	Power input (3.3V power input)
2	5V	Power input (5V power input)
3	NC	NC
4	5V	Power input (5V power input)
5	NC	NC
6	GND	Power Ground
7	B	BCM=4, WPI=7
8	NC	NC
9	GND	Power Ground
10	NC	NC
11	Y	BCM=17, WPI=0
12	Earphone jack	BCM=18, WPI=1
13	LCD_RESET	BCM=27, WPI=2
14	GND	Power ground
15	X	BCM=22, WPI=3
16	A	BCM=23, WPI=4
17	3.3V	Power input (3.3V power input)
18	LCD_LED	BCM=24, WPI=5
19	LCD_MOSI	BCM=10, WPI=12
20	GND	Power ground
21	NC	NC
22	LCD_D/C	BCM=25, WPI=6
23	LCD_SCK	BCM=11, WPI=14
24	LCD_CS	BCM=8, WPI=10
25	GND	Power Ground
26	NC	NC
27	NC	NC
28	NC	NC
29	TL	BCM=5，WPI=21
30	GND	GND
31	TR	BCM=6，WPI=22
32	UP	BCM=12, WPI=26
33	RIGHT	BCM=13, WPI=23
34	GND	GND
35	NC	NC
36	SELECT	BCM=16, WPI=27
37	START	BCM=26, WPI=25
38	DOWN	BCM=20, WPI=28
39	GND	GND
40	LEFT	BCM=21, WPI=29

Resources

• Panasonic_SDFormatter
• Win32DiskImager
• putty
• wiringPi & bcm2835 C LIB

FAQ

Question:The screen does not light up after booting, what is the reason?

 Answer:

1. Check whether the image provided by us has been programmed.
2. Make sure that the Raspberry Pi is properly connected to the game console.
3. Make sure the battery is sufficient.
4. If you are using a Raspberry Pi Zero, please wait for about 1 minute after booting, because the performance of the Zero is relatively poor and the booting time is long.

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Question:I made the system myself, but the NEO-GEO game cannot be played, what should I do?

 Answer:

Put Neogeo.zip below the system bios/ and roms/neogeo/(Do not unzip it), and then reboot the system.

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Question:What is the default password of recalbox?

 Answer:

Username: root; Password: recalboxroot

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