Build Instructions

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• 1

  PCB Assembly

  Tools

  Hot Plate
  JBC CD1-BB Soldering Station
  JBC C245-030 Conical Soldering Tip
  JBC C245-768 Chisel Soldering Tip
  ChipQuik SMD4300TF Tack Flux
  ChipQuik SMD4300SNL10 Solder Paste
  Senju ESC-M705-0.3 Solder Wire
  Fluke VT04 Thermal IR Camera
  Nikon SMZ Stereomicroscope
  

  Parts

  BOM File is available on GitHub
  All of the parts but LT3469 Piezo Driver are available from DigiKey at the time of this writing. You can buy samples of LT3469 directly from Linear Technology.
  

  Reflow

  Apply a bit of solder paste on the pads of U1, L1, L2, D3 and D4. Optionally for D1, D2, U2, U4 and CN2.
  

  Grab components with a tweezer and place them onto the PCB. Make sure to orient the U1 properly.

  Position the PCB on the hot plate over the thick tinfoil as a heat spreader.

  Cooking time! Turn on the hot plate and try to follow the recommended temperature profile of your solder paste.

  I heated it up to 180C in 3 minutes then 220C for the next 60s and hold for seconds. Thermal camera helped a lot to control the temperature. You should see solder paste turn shining silver when it starts melting. Do not heat too rapidly or parts would bounce up.

  Cool it down. Be careful, PCB is extremely hot.

  Assemble

  Install the rest of the SMT parts. Start with the U3 FPC connector then solder other parts on the top in order of increasing size.

  Finally install the CN2 battery connector on the bottom side. We will solder the piezo speaker from the VMU to CN1 later.

• 2

  Software

  Install RetroPie

  Download RetroPie.
  

  curl -O -L https://github.com/RetroPie/RetroPie-Setup/releases/download/4.3/retropie-4.3-rpi1_zero.img.gz

  Unzip image.

  gunzip retropie-4.3-rpi1_zero.img.gz

  Insert an SD card and find the disk number. /dev/disk2 is assigned to my SD card but result would vary on the environment.
  

  diskutil list
  :
  /dev/disk2 (internal, physical): 

  Burn the SD card. Hit Ctrl-T to see the progress
  

  diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk2
  sudo dd bs=1m if=./retropie-4.3-rpi1_zero.img of=/dev/rdisk2

  Create WiFi configuration file. Change the SSID and Password to match with your network
  

  tee /Volumes/boot/wpa_supplicant.conf << EOF
  network={
      ssid="SSID"
      psk="password"
      key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
  }
  EOF

  Enable SSH.
  

  touch /Volumes/boot/ssh
  

   Boot the Pi Zero with the SD card then log on to it. The default password is raspberry.

  ssh pi@retropie.local

  Configure Pi

  The rest of the instructions would be performed on the Pi.

  Enable SPI.
  

  sudo raspi-config nonint do_spi 0

   Disable Overscan.

  sudo raspi-config nonint do_overscan 1

   Install FBCP.

  sudo apt-get install cmake
  git clone https://github.com/tasanakorn/rpi-fbcp
  cd rpi-fbcp/
  mkdir build
  cd build/
  cmake ..
  make
  sudo install fbcp /usr/local/bin/fbcp
  

   Register FBCP as a service. # DO THIS STEP ONLY ONCE #

  sudo sed -i "s/^exit 0/\/usr\/local\/bin\/fbcp \&\\nexit 0/g" /etc/rc.local

   Install FBTFT.

  sudo tee /etc/modules-load.d/fbtft.conf << EOF
  spi-bcm2835
  fbtft_device
  EOF

   Install SEPS525 driver.

  curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/satri360/vmuzero_seps525/master/fb_seps525.ko
  sudo cp fb_seps525.ko /lib/modules/$(uname -r)/kernel/drivers/staging/fbtft/

  Configure FBTFT.

  sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/fbtft.conf << EOF
  options fbtft_device custom name=fb_seps525 gpios=reset:24,dc:25 speed=8000000 rotate=180
  EOF

   Update module dependency.

  sudo depmod
  

  Install Retrogame. 

  curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/adafruit/Raspberry-Pi-Installer-Scripts/master/retrogame.sh
  sudo bash retrogame.sh

   Select 3. PiGRRL Zero and reboot.

  SELECT 1-8: 3
  Downloading, installing retrogame...OK
  Downloading, installing retrogame.cfg...OK
  Performing other system configuration...OK
  
  REBOOT NOW? [y/N]y
  

   Configure Retrogame.

  sudo tee /boot/retrogame.cfg << EOF
  LEFT      17
  RIGHT     22
  DOWN      27
  UP        23
  Z          4  # 'A' button
  X         12  # 'B' button
  LEFTCTRL  16  # 'Select' button
  ENTER     26  # 'Start' button
  EOF

  Enable PWM Audio.
  

  sudo tee -a /boot/config.txt << EOF
  dtoverlay=pwm,pin=18,func=2
  EOF

   Set Maximum Volume.

  amixer cset numid=1 -- 100% 

• 3

  Modifying VMU Case

  Tools

  Screw Driver
  Side Plier
  7mm Flat File
  XACT Knife
  Air Duster

  Disassemble VMU

  Strip down the VMU and keep everything but the PCB, coin cell and display.
  Try not to touch the piezo speaker to prevent fingerprints on the disc.
  

  Modify Case

  Use plier and flat file to make some changes to the case.

  Case Top

  Case Top Left

  Case Top Right

  Case Top Upper
  

  Case Bottom

  Case Lid

  Complete

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