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doccaz

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So, I had this metal Raspberry Pi 3 case kicking around for *years* (Geekworm X820):

1676152548164.png


It's supposed to be used with a SATA adapter for the Raspberry Pi 3. But it was waaay too slow, so I never used it. I decided to try and put a Pico PSU inside it, along with a Pi 3 for the Multi Selector, and power both the System 256 and the Pi.

I didn't have the lower board (the SATA one) to make the Pi match the holes on the side, so I designed one myself: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5849514

IMG_20230211_171008571.jpg



Ok, one part sorted. Now I needed to mount the PicoPSU on a way that wouldn't short out with the case. I printed this Sega Saturn PicoPSU bracket and cut the jack "appendage" off:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4793257

The cool-looking metal switch that came with the case is just a temporary contact one, so I couldn't use it short the required pins on the ATX connector, so I made an adapter for a small rocker switch I had lying around: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5849430

IMG_20230211_183456038_HDR.jpg


I then placed both inside the case:

IMG_20230211_171230497.jpg


All are affixed with 3M VHB tape. The rocker switch is soldered to the corresponding power-on pins on the board (pins 3 and 4).

The PicoPSU comes with a small pre-made cable with two SATA power connectors that already output 5 and 12V. It goes on the little white connector on the PicoPSU. I cut the SATA connectors off, added a 6-pin connector for the System 256, and tapped the 5V line. At the end I placed a microUSB male connector to power the Pi. I know it's not elegant, but it's the most secure way I found to do it (didn't want to deal with fragile tracks on the Pi itself...).

So, here's the final product:

IMG_20230211_181854358.jpg



I can power both the Pi and the System 256 with one switch to turn everything on and off. The PicoPSU is powered by an external 12V brick. My PicoPSU is the 300W one, by the way.

I don't have the ODE simulator board, but this could be added with the LCD in the future, as the Pi GPIO is still accessible (and I could plug a GPIO extender, I guess). So, for now it's a poor-man's dongle writer with a web interface :D
 
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