PRE-TENDO

This is my version of the PiStation. I did not enjoy all of the soldering nor did I think that the PS2 USB adapter worked very well in the above mentioned Instructable. Figured there has to be an easier way. Please advise this is my first instructables, also note I am only covering the hardware as for the PI software you can find how to do that via Google.

Materials:

1x Raspberry PI any will do but I do suggest the Pi2 model B for the Quad core if you wish to add N64 and PS1

1x PS1 not slim might be better to find a non working one as long as the power still works

2x PS2 controller to USB these are the only ones I found that worked Adapter

1x Package of wires Wires

1x Soldering Iron

1x Solder Sucker

1x Package of 5v Regulator

solder

hot glue gun/glue (not necessary but kind of is)

Electrical tape and or heat shrink tubing

Also note this is my 3rd version and on each version only the PlayStation 2 rumble controllers work

IF ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS PLEASE LET ME KNOW

THANKS!!!!

Step 1: Strip It Down

You want to start by flipping the PlayStation over and unscrewing the 6 screws that hold the case together and remove the top exposing the insides of the PlayStation.

You will be removing everything but the power so remove every screw/wire you can find until you are left with only the power supply and the controller board.

Step 2: Desolder

This step is a bit tricky but not hard. You want to unscrew the controller board off the PlayStation then pry of the flimsy metal from the controller board. Next flip the board over and desolder all solder points, some you have to lift the metal ends up to fully desolder it. Once all the solder is removed you can pull the board off exposing some pointy metal connectors. Please note if any connectors come out when you pull the board out you have ruined it. No just kidding just push them back into the slot.

Step 3: Pry Open the USB Adapter

Title says it all get in there with something small and pop off that top exposing the wires and connectors. Once the top is off pull out the metal connectors and be careful as to not pull off the wire. Most of them came out easily but others I needed something to help grip and pull.

Now that your wires are out you can clean them up a bit, I made sure they were all connected and then put some shrink tubing on them again not needed.

Step 4: Making the Connection

Here is the real tricky part, taking the wires from the adapter and getting them onto the control board.

I am color blind so please don't yell at me if the colors are wrong. Looking down at the board starting from left to right

Green

Skip

Blue

Yellow

Red

Black

White

Orange

Brown

(see Picture)

I would not glue anything down until you are 100% sure that the connections are good

Step 5: Wriring the Power

The output of the PlayStation power supply is 7V roughly the Pi uses 5V so using a Regulator we can drop the 7v to 5v and use the PlayStation power supply.

You will need the regulator and 6 wires also some electrical tape or heat shrink tubing.

First thing is take your regulator and slightly bend both ends outward leaving the middle straight. Your ends are your + and the middle is the shared -

Next take your wires and remove the male end only leaving the female ends. Strip the male end and combine the 6 into 3 wires each with 2 female ends. You can twist the wires together and solder them twist them together and tape them twist them together and shrink tube them or all 3 like I did except for the negative that one leave the wires just twisted and exposed.

Next plug one end of the positive into the left most pin on the PlayStation power supply(red cable in picture). Then take the other end of that positive wire and push it into the far left end of the regulator.

Now plug one end of the Negative cable into the pin next to the positive on the PlayStation board(Black cable in picture). Next solder the twisted wire to the middle pin of the regulator. It helps to clip something to the back of the pin to dissipate the heat to the regulator chip

Take the other cable that is not plugged into anything and plug that into the far right pin of the regulator.

At this point I tested the voltage coming from the power supply and it was registering at 5V perfect for the PI

I found that the only good place for the PI to fit was in the upper right corner there is one screw hole that lines up with the PI just enough that it doesn't move much

Lastly take the Negative female end and the positive female end and
plug that into the PI. It needs to go on the bottom set of pins 2nd to the end towards the right is positive then to the left of that is negative looking at the layout numbers 4 is positive and 6 is negative(see pictures)

Once everything is connected you can tape it up or shrink tube it to keep it safe

Step 6: Test Trim and Done

Once everything is put together and you verified the voltage output(if you want)plug the USB adapters to the PI and fire it up. If everything is working I would glue the connectors down on the controller board and the power supply so the do not pop off. I also hot glued the fat part of the connector to the base of the PlayStation. Screw the controller board back onto the base of the PlayStation then flip over the cover of the PI.

You need to cut off some plastic from the top so you can close the case(see pictures).

Once that is done and the cover fits flip the PlayStation over and screw in the 3 screws closest to the controller and the 1 in the upper right corner by the power supply(see photo).

That's it you are done, I added a USB port to the back for a keyboard or mouse and an Ethernet cable in case I needed to add ROMS.

Comments

[Dirty DeedI]

I'm doing similar sort of build as well,
using the original power unit of PS1. However, I noticed, that since I
have 1A regulator on it, it's not enough. Was the 1.5A regulator enough,
so it didn't flash the undervoltage icon ? I did some calculations,
that PS1's psu should be enough for about 5V/2A output max with voltage
regulation and Raspi itself consumes around 1-1.5A, if you keep it light
without having tons of devices hooked up to it.

[Magnitudeten]

About a year ago I made a playstation that's more or less a copy of your project here. Love it, works fantastic as my dedicated ps1.

However I would like to integrate the actual ps1's reset switch into the pi as well, I noticed the 5th pin on the psu is specifically a reset pin. I'm guessing I have to connect that pin and the second ground to the gpio pins... and then issue a shutdown command in linux for when the button is pushed... But I have no clue how to do any of this. Was wondering if you had any suggestions?

I may also decide to use the reset switch as a 'switch disc' button if possible.

[MartinK3]

This is really cool, it's good to see someone using the inbuilt power supply to power the PI. Although, I'm not sure I follow what you did to connect up the power with the regulator.

Where do the two cables (black and white) go from the middle pin of the voltage regulator? I'm guessing you changed to different coloured wires as I can't see them in step 6.

I've got a similar project I'm about to start but am also hoping to shoehorn in a USB hub to hook up bluetooth and wifi too. If/when I can get round to working on it, I'll add some pictures too.

[troutpouch]

Yes the cable wires change colors in the picture. Best way I can describe it is outside pins are positive one being input one being output, middle pin is the shared negative. Shared meaning its both the input and output negative.

So from the PlayStation power supply the positive(white)goes to the 1st outer pin. then the ground(black)goes to the middle pin. Then another ground(black)goes from the middle pin to the raspberry pi. Finally from the 3 outer pin positive(white) goes to the positive of the pi

hope that clarifies a bit

[MartinK3]

Yeah, it was just that idea of the shared negative that I wasn't quite getting my head around. My electronics classes were a long time ago! Thanks a lot!

[Malski80]

That is the coolest thing ever!!! Great job!!

[scott!]

Great instructable, I'm glad my guide could help someone, and it's cool to see others' iterations!

[Stelu]

Nice Instructable, but take advise of the regulator heat, the pi is drawing some i guess around 1 Amp curent and we all now that the regulator heats very much, a heatsink can solve the problem or maybe a step down convertor. Good luck mate!

[seamster]

Very nice!

Hey, if you add an "I made it" comment to the instructable linked in your intro, this qualifies for the Remix Contest! You should enter it :)

[troutpouch]

not sure if I did the I made it comment correct or not

[seamster]

Yep, that's it! Now you just have to go to the contest page and hit the Enter button.