instructables

PiSwitch

by cfoote7

Welcome to the PiSwitch seem familiar that's because the charging circuit and
-----WARNING PLEASE READ!!!-----
audio amplifier are the same circuits used in the
This Projects software is no longer compatible it worked
with old versions of raspbian and retropie. The power PiGrrl 2. Third Thanks to the wonderful developers
supply for this has also been unstable without very careful over at the pi foundation, RetroPie, and last but not
grounding and clean low resistance solder joints. I've least Kodi. My scripts are built around the incredible
reworked this project using a power supply by helder game
work you've done developing software to run on the
tech https://heldergametech.com/shop/gameboy-
zero/retro... raspberry pi. Finally, thanks to Nintendo for making
and a larger battery me want to reverse engineer, poorly might I ad, their
https://heldergametech.com/shop/batteries/megabat... Switch Console.
, I spent a lot of time working on this and then spent about 6
months very sick. I hope to some day soon build an OS
image for this that can be easily and cleanly deployed.
Before building this project please be very aware that parts
of this are no longer functioning and it will require some
fussing. If I build an updated version I will post a link to it //www.youtube.com/embed/xaHUC43qbV0
here.
---------------End Warning----------------
Hello to the wonderful world of instructables.
Sometimes this website feels like a second home to
me I spend so much time drooling over the projects I //www.youtube.com/embed/M-SBfnr90OQ
wish I had the time and money to make. Alas, It's
finally time for me to drop on you amazing people, my
//www.youtube.com/embed/169-HBx2hbw
second instructable I call it The Pi-Switch. It's a
conglomeration of the work of many people but this
particular build is, certainly and uniquely my own. I do
however want to give credit where credit is due. First
off much thanks to Drew Wallace with the Switch //www.youtube.com/embed/N10l_T9IxMc
Berry I couldn't make his software work but he helped
get me started. Thanks to Adafruit they built the
PiGrrl2 a while back and if the internals to my pi case

https://youtu.be/xaHUC43qbV0

PiSwitch: Page 1
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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiDA6RoLeo0

Step 1: Procuring Provisions

You will need: Mini Metal Speaker

Tools:
Soldering iron + solder + soldering flux
tiny power switch

Hot Glue Gun

6600 mah battery of plentiful life

A 3D Printer or $20-$40 and 3dhubs.com

Joy-Con Controllers (reccomend the addition of a
charger)
A decent micro screwdriver kit
Raspberry Pi 3 (Bluetooth and WiFi built in)
A Dremel Tool with a fine bit or a drill with a 3/16th bit
PAM8302 2.5W Audio Amp
Patience
PowerBoost 1000C
Parts:
Pi Foundation 7" Raspberry Pi screen

3d Printed Case (Files Are Attached to this step the

Kingwin 80 Piece Assorted Notebook Replacement
instructable assumes you've printed the part.)
Screw Kit or (various screws of fortunate sizes lying
about)
Optional:
PiCamera V2
26 awg wire

1/8 inch stereo jack with switch

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 https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FT7/O53C/JDF26PWX/FT7O53CJDF26PWX.stl
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https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FEB/WE0G/JDF26PWY/FEBWE0GJDF26PWY.stl
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Step 2: Soldering Headphone Jack to the Pi

I have pictures from the various steps above. jack. I chose it because the clear top means you can
see and understand exactly how it works.
Start with the Pi and solder some 26 awg wire to it:
I used red for the left audio to pp26 near the audio Soldering The Audio Jack (The pinout is in pics above):
jack (thank you pi foundation for labeling the solder Take the red wire from the pi and solder it to pin 2 on
pads) the 1/8 in jack.

solder black for ground to pp24 Take the yellow wire from the pi and solder it to pin 5
on the 1/8 in jack.
right audio is a yellow wire and you solder it to the
upper left pin on the audio jack. take the black wire and twist another 3-4" length of
black wire to it then solder to pin 1 on the 1/8 in jack.
UPDATE: 3-26:
solder a 3-4" red wire to pin 3 on the 1/8 in jack.
Some more testing showed to me that PP24 directly
to the metal pad is ground PP25 is right audio and You should now have an audio jack connected to the
PP26 is left audio. Picture of updated solder pad pi, if you were to play sound with headphones
usage attached. plugged in you would have music playing clearly on
this jack. I reccomend hot gluing the wires on the
I recommend leaving the wires long 3-4" you can trim bottom of the pi and the bottom of the jack in order to
them down or tuck them in later. I leave them long secure the thin wires and also to protect them from
because my projects often get pulled apart and damage and shorts.
rebuilt/re-purposed. I really like this particular 1/8 in

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Step 3: Soldering the Power Board & Switch

The PowerBoost 1000C for all your lithium charging You Guessed IT !! solder 3 10" black wires and 3 10"
needs. red wires to the corrosponding spots marked on the
PowerBoost.
Unfortunately this little deal though fantastic does not
output enough power to run the Pi-Switch. It does The Switch (The Power Switch (Not Nintendo)):
however do a great job charging the battery which Cut a single right or left leg off your switch and solder
has plenty of amperage to power the pi, screen, and on a 2" wire to the remaining center and alternate
audio simultaneously for about 2-3 hours. I left the legs of your amputee power switch.
power on the pi open so that running out of battery
just means you need to plug directly to the pi. I'm solder one of the wires from you switch to en on the
working on a better solution still. I may build a powerboost and the remaining wire to gnd on your
switching circuit. I will update this if I find a better way powerboost board.
to power this device but 2-3 hours isn't bad.
Hot Glue is cheap, quick, and easy. I reccomend now
Power Leads: putting some hot glue over each of the wires
Lets start by looking at Picture 1 above you'll notice 3 connected to the PowerBoost Board
black circles and 3 red circles.

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Step 4: Speaker and Audio Board and HeadPhone Jack (A.K.A. Tying It All Together)

This is the step in which we combine our various Take the red wire from your headphone jack and
assets solder it to A+ on your PAM8302

Solder the Speaker: Take the black wire from your headphone jack and
Look at the picture above and solder one wire to each solder it to A- on your PAM8302
of the pads on the speaker as shown above. I'm too
cheap for heat shrink so if you're like me HOT GLUE! Solder the Pi:
There's a picture of the pi above. Take one black wire
Solder the audio board: from your power boost solder it to the black dot on the
grab your PAM8302 look at the writing. On the side picture of the pi.
where the board says 4-8 ohms solder your speaker
wires to the two center pads as pictured above. Take one red wire from your power boost solder it to
the red dot on the picture of the pi.
Solder the power to the audio:
Take one of you red power leads and one of your Testing:
grounds from you PowerBoost board and solder the carefully be sure the remaining black wire from the
red wire to vin on the PAM8302 and the black wire to power boost and red wire from the powerboost aren't
gnd on your PAM8302. touching anything. then attach the battery and flip the
switch. if everything is hooked up correctly an led
Solder headphone to the PAM8302:

should light on the pi, on the charge board and you you solder joints.
may hear a light buzz from the speaker if it's noisy
enough to bother you you likely have an issue with

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Step 5: Assembly

We should now have everything attached with Drill a 3/16th inch hole between the pi and the
exception of the LCD and the optional pi camera. in powerboost you can also dremel a hole. This should
the first few pictures you'll see how to screw in the pi be on the side of the case where the pi's usb ports
itself. it's quite simple, so pull out your kit of 80 are located. Slide the headphone jack into the hole
various laptop screws find some screws just a mm or and hot glue it in place.
two longer than the thickness of the pi and thread
them into the soft printed plastic. PLA is Finally, glue the speaker battery and audio boards in
recommended. there should be two lovely pegs to set place as pictured above. I put the speaker facing the
the pi on, and on the opposite corners there's holes to plastic under the battery which i tucked directly
thread. the same goes for the power board. there's behind the powerboost board. Then I glued the
pictures above that shows the assembly of the power battery up against the sides of the 3d printed case.
boards. Ffinally I glued the speaker amplifier the top of the
battery.
now push the switch through the tiny hole above the
power board. grab the switch from the outside with So if you've done everything right this far you should
with some tweezers or finger nails. While pulling have the pi, powerboost, the PAM8302, the speaker,
gently on the switch to keep it from falling back into the power switch, and the battery all installed and
the case put some hot glue on the backside of the secured in the back of the pi case. There should also
switch as pictured above. once the glue has cooled be one 10" black wire and one 10" red wire left.
double check that the switch is in a good position for
use. If it's not good peal off the glue and try again.

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Step 6: Adding the Screen and Finshing Assembly

Pat yourself on the back you're almost done with a

rather complex assembly. now take some 6mm long
screws and thread the side bars. They should thread Attaching The Camera (Optional):
into the screw holes on the screen as shown in the plug the camera cable into the camera board
pics above. If the screen doesn't line up and fit you
probably have it upside down. Look at the pictures plug the cable in the pi as shown above
and you may notice I have prototyping wires attached
to my screen. I actually put pin headers on my flip the camera over the ethernet jack.
powerboost instead of soldering direct. if you followed
through step by step without looking ahead then bend the cable flat and glue in place.
you're soldering the wires on. if not it's your choice. I
prefer pin headers for quick easy modification Attaching the screen ribbon:
because my creations are always in a state of flux
and improvement. Plug the Ribbon cable in to the pi as shown

Use the remaining Wires: if you look at picture 5 it shows how I flip the back
Solder the remaining red wire from the powerboost to panel down into place after attaching the ribbon
the vin pin on the screen
Finally screw the four screws from the back panel into
Solder the remaining black wire from the powerboost the brackets on the back of the screen and you're
to the gnd pin on the screen fully assembled.

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PiSwitch: Page 13
Step 7: Building the Pi Software Image

Step 1)
plug a keyboard into your pi, and make sure the pi is plugged into a charger.

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Go to this website and follow the install: (only setup your keyboard as a temporary controller)

https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/wiki/Fi...

Step 2)
You may have an annoying buzz sound (It's ok ignore for now, we'll fix it soon)

go through the ReroPie Menu as follows to setup wifi:

retropie / settings > raspi-config > interfacing options > SSH > Yes > Ok > Finish > Retropie Setup > Configuration
Tools > wifi > (configure your wifi) > exit >

step 3)
Install Pixel:

raspbiantools > Install Pixel Desktop Environment > yes > (wait a while) > ok (to flash player) > (wait a while
longer) > ok > cancel > back >

step 4)
Install Kodi:

Manage Packages > Manage Optional Packages > Kodi > Install from binary > (wait a while) > back > back >
back>

step 5)
register and connect your JoyCons:

Configuration /Tools > bluetooth > Register and Connect (while pressing the tiny button between L and R on the
right joy-con) > choose Joy-Con (R) > NoInputNoOutput > (wait) > ok > ok

step 6)
repeat step 5 with Joy-Con (L)

step 8)
cancel > back > exit > (start button) > quit > quit emulation station> yes

step 9)
type the following:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade && sudo rpi-update

sudo reboot

step 10)
type the following:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cfoote7/PiSwitc...

sudo chmod 777 setup.sh && sudo chmod a+x setup.sh

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 ./setup.sh

Update:

I've added a controller connection menu, where the screen will tell you if both joy-cons are connected. also added
a one player two player mode selection menu. on first competed boot you will now connect your controllers with
the + and - buttons, click next, click retropie, and choose 1 player mode.

Old:

when the device gets to the touchscreen boot menu tap + and - to activate the two controllers and tap retropie.

Choose retropie hit start > configure controllers > configure your joycons

Tada this is your first boot to the completed device. Now you just need to set it up with your own media and roms.

Check back for updates with automatic controller connecting and parsec for computer to pi game streaming.

Notes:

pywx.py is my touchscreen boot selection menu, it's not actually a boot selection being that all these options exist
under one raspbian jessie build. I plan on adding a simpler way of pairing the controllers at boot to this menu.
check back for updates, and please let me know if you build this especially if you make any improvements I'd love
any co-op on this that's offered. Please check back on my repository I'll be updating it
https://github.com/cfoote7/PiSwitch

Thanks for looking if you have any questions about my custom built hardware or software feel free to ask I like to
answer questions and find ways to make my instructables clearer :)

Hello, I’m having trouble with step 10, do I type the info in that link in?

This is where my raspberry crashes, do put it in just like that “piswitc...”?

I would gladly pay someone to build me one of these (I have no technical skills, this is infinitely
beyond my level ---- epic and brilliant project though -- infinite props !!
I could assist you with this build

all i'm getting is a black screen with a blinking line :(

I want to start off by saying this is a great and fun project and you have put a ton of work into it,
thank you. As I was building my own version I ran into a few roadblocks that I thought I might bring
up. For the box that holds the pi, battery, etc. I think it would be convenient to have a cut out for the
USB port, just in case the battery is dead, but you have access to an outlet. I personally found the
power switch hard to mount as you put it and ended up wiring it outside of the slot, pulling it in,
then using a metric buck-ton of hot glue to hold it in place (that could have been user error on my
part, but i just want to try and make the project better if I can). The last thing is that I would have
personally appreciated a wiring diagram, even a simple, pictograph one made in Word. I ended up

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wiring the screen incorrectly and had to Jerry-rig something after everything was set. My last
observation came when installing the software. I think it might be beneficial to move step 7 before
step 1 as I have been having issues with the pi and a difficult time accessing components (so
installing software before any of the soldering). I do admit, this is very well my own error and lack
of pi knowledge, but I wanted to bring it up. I think your PiSwitch is a really cool and fun project,
thank you for putting this guide up for us to use!
What a nice project :)

That's very cool project!

I want to ask, how do you make that launcher menu (where you can select retropie, kodi, desktop,
and cli)? I have zero basic for programming, but I would love to learn how to make one for my
project.
Impressive and very smart work. Do appreciate the share!

First off, This is brilliant! Thank you for posting!

I've gathered all the components, and I'm ready to start assembling this. I'm very excited to try it,
but right off the bat, I'm confused. My Pi 3 B already has a headphone jack. Your enclosure file
includes a round hole perfectly located for that Jack. So, why do you want to add one? Am I
missing something?

Again, thanks for posting!

Great question. I left the built in headphone jack intact for testing but the purpose of using a
different headphone jack was that the headphone jack I used has a built in bypass. so if there's no
headphones plugged in then it will forward the sound signal to the amplifier board and your
speaker. that way you have sound with or without headphones plugged in. if you plug in the
headphones to my headphone jack it will cut out the speaker and output the sound through your
headphones.
Ah, that makes perfect sense. I've almost got this thing finished, I'm just waiting on the Joy-Cons to
show up. I've been gaming with a keyboard and its Ok, but I can tell the joy-cons will help. I've also
been trying to set up Kodi, and I think I almost understand whats going on, but i've never used it
before, so learning tons. So thanks for responding and keep up the great work.
is this a hack for the switch or an addon?

Neither, it's a completely seperate home-made retro gaming machine that happens to use joy-con
controllers. It's also a ciomputer and a media center.
oh i got you i might try to make one as soon as i have the materials

I've ordered the 3D printed model for this one and most of the parts. Looking forward to building it.
Thanks for the tutorial :)
Excellent, letm e know how it turns out. If you have any troubles I'd be happy to offer support.

Cool. I may have to make one myself. Luckily a friend I know in Canada has a 3D printer.

Nice!!! =D

Amazing work! This is the first project that I have seen that has made me want to go get my own
3D printer... LOL..
This is a great idea. Well done!

Holy cow!!

Gonna try this out, thanks cfoote7!

PiSwitch: Page 17
Thanks I hope it works out good, if you have any troubles with the build I'm happy to answer any
questions you have
Awesome project. I couldn't find the info on the screen that you used. It's not in your parts list.

Thanks so much for pointing that out. It's the standard pi foundation screen

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2718
Amazing build. Knocked it outta the park on this one!

Thanks, I plan on continuing to update this and make a public repo for the software so keep your
eyes open for updates :)

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