9 Inch Porta Pi Arcade Cabinet Assembly Manual Rev1.6

8/17/2019 9 Inch Porta Pi Arcade Cabinet Assembly Manual Rev1.6

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Porta Pi Arcade Hardware Manual | 9 inch Copyright (c) 2014 Ryan Bates

Copyright (c) 2014 Retro Built Games, LLC

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ContentsI. Parts Overview and Prologue Notes. ......................................................................................................... 5

II. Bill of Materials. ........................................................................................................................................ 6

III. Pre-assembly notes, advice, do's and do not's. ....................................................................................... 9

IV. Hardware Descriptions .......................................................................................................................... 10

V. Tools needed for assembly. .................................................................................................................... 11

1. Cabinet Shell Assembly ........................................................................................................................... 12

2. Monitor Assembly ................................................................................................................................... 36

3. Marquee underside buttons ................................................................................................................... 58

4. Speaker, Amplifier, and Bracket Assembly ............................................................................................. 60

5. Side Arcade Buttons ................................................................................................................................ 75

6. Front Panel Arcade Button/Joystick Assembly. ...................................................................................... 78

7. Wire the Front Panel Buttons and Joystick ............................................................................................. 89

8. Mount the Raspberry Pi into the Cabinet ............................................................................................. 122

9. Connect Volume Buttons to Amp ......................................................................................................... 126

10. Audio, Video, and Power Connections. .............................................................................................. 130

11. Top Panel and Power-On .................................................................................................................... 143

12. Acrylic Section. .................................................................................................................................... 146

13. Trouble shooting (End of Hardware Section). ..................................................................................... 154

14. Mount the Porta Pi Arcade Image to an SD Card. .............................................................................. 156





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WARNING! ( and legal stuff.)

Under no circumstances will Retro Built Games, LLC or Ryan Bates be responsible for any loss or

damages, including personal injury or death, that may results from your engagement in the actively

demonstrated in this manual or any related documentation. You also assume all risk and liability that

may result in such activities. Retro Built Games, LLC disclaims all warranties.

Copyright (c) 2014 Ryan Bates. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2014 Retro Built Games, LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form

or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior

written permission of the publisher.

The software mentioned in this document holds copyrights by its respective authors. Said software is

"AS IS" and should be downloaded, installed, and used at your own risk. Ryan Bates and Retro Built

Games, LLC disclaims all warranties of any kind, either express or implied, as to the software, including,

but not limited to, losses, damages, claims or costs including and indirect, consequential, or incidental

damages, any lost profits or lost savings, personal injury even if Ryan Bates or Retro Built Games, LLC

has been advised of the possibility of such loss, damages, claims, or cost. Under no circumstances shall

Retro Built Games, LLC or Ryan Bates be liable to any user for direct, indirect, incidental, consequential,

special, or exemplary damages, arising from or relating to this agreement, the software, or user's use or

misuse of the software or hardware.

Neither this agreement nor any documentation furnished under it is intended to express or imply any

warranty that the operation of this compilation of software will be uninterrupted, functional, or

error‐free.





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The Porta Pi Arcade design and construction is copyrighted. You are welcome to enjoy the arcade in

your own home for personal use. You may not display or market the Porta Pi Arcade in a public/private

setting where creations are marketed, showcased, judged ( or similar) based on ingenuity, engineering,

design, or showmanship. The Porta Pi Arcade may not be displayed anywhere without proper

representation and written consent of the copyright holder Ryan Bates/ Retro Built Games, LLC. Neither

shall the Porta Pi Arcade be displayed or marketed via internet (forum or website) as your own work

without proper credit to the designer/ engineer [Ryan Bates] and seller [RetroBuiltGames.com].

Use of this manual or Purchasing a kit from Retro Built Games, LLC signifies your agreement to the terms

and conditions above.

In other words, please do not copy my manual, steal my work, or show off your awesome Porta Pi Arcade

without my consent and credit. Thanks:)

Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation.

--Revision History--

Version Date Description of Changes

0.5 July 05, 2014 Original release

0.6 July 15, 2014 Add option to hot glue and not use Dremmel

0.7 July 21, 2014 Correct many errors in BOM, K1 note, added B+

compatibility steps

0.8 July 24, 2014 Added screen size/ ratio help to troubleshooting; lowered

#8 nut from 10ct to 8ct

0.9 Aug 1, 2014 Fixed quantities BoM items 14 and 16. Removed strain

relief part from BoM. Corrected Player2,P3,P4 in xboxcontroller config files lines

1.0 Aug 4, 2014 Added short ribbon cable work-around for LCD screen

1.1 Aug 11, 2014 New Speakers- BoM P/N change

1.2 Aug 23, 2014 Added extra steps for mounting monitor PCB controls,

alternate cross braces to hold LCD, glue step between

pieces L and F1. Removed bulk of software section (is now

outdated, will move to website eventually)

1.3 Sept 14, 2014 Added additional copyright notice. Corrected BoM LCD

resolution

1.4 Oct 2, 2014 Updated pictures to reflect Parts "P" and "O"

1.5 Oct 6, 2014 Correct audio amp diagram pg 1301.6 Nov 24, 2014 Added K1, K2 details for amplifier





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All,

I worked very hard, for many thousands (yes, thousands) of hours to make the Porta-Pi Arcade andmanual. Please do not distribute/share/upload this manual without my permission.

Ryan Bates

I've done my absolute best to make this kit fun, rewarding, and enjoyable during and when you're

finished building it. If you run in any problems I want to help. Please email me for

questions/comments/issues at:

ryan(at)retrobuiltgames(dot)com

I'm a one man operation, so please excuse me if I don't get back to you right away. I will as soon as I can.

Let's get started...





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I. Parts Overview and Prologue Notes.

The Porta-Pi kit comes with the following cabinet parts. There are 26 pieces in all.





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Panel ID Panel Description

A Side Panels (x2)B Back/Rear

C Bottom

D Top

E Front

F1 Marquee Bottom

F2 Monitor Button Face plate

F3 Monitor Button mount

G1 Control Panel/ Button and Joystick Mount <bottom>

G2 Control Panel/ Button and Joystick Mount <top>

H1 Button support bracket

H2 Monitor support bracketI Monitor Bezel

J Speaker "J" bracket (x2)

K Speaker "U" bracket (x2)

L Marquee (Speaker Vent)

M Speaker/Amplifier Mount

N Monitor C-bracket (x2)

O LCD Driver board mount

P Monitor Cross brace (x2)

Q Raspberry Pi mounting plate (not pictured)

II. Bill of Materials.Here's everything you need to build the Porta-Pi Arcade. NOTE: Part numbers are listed for specific items

and where to find them. Having said this, vendors, retails, and merchants can change these as they

please. I've made this list as accurate as possible for the current revision. Note, some items may differ

slightly from what is pictured. Also, I reserve the right to change items without notice. This rarely

happens; but sometimes I will swap slightly different screws/bolts because I ran out of the size listed.

You can always source alternatives or up-cycle junk devices (old desktop speakers, an arcade style fight

stick for buttons) to build the Porta-Pi Arcade. Be creative and resourceful!





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Assembly Item Quantity Description Part No Vendor

Body

1 1

Oak Plywood (furniture-grade

plywood) 1/4" x 8' x 4' n/a

Ryan Bates/

Lowes

2 4

Acrylic Fluorescent Green 1/4" x

12" x 24" F041251224 estreetplastics

3 1

Black Plexiglass Acrylic Sheet

(#2025) 1/4" x 12" x 24" B012501224 estreetplastics

Control

Panel

4 1 Arcade button (red) COM-09336 SparkFun

5 1 Arcade button (blue) COM-09337 SparkFun

6 1 Arcade button (green) COM-09341 SparkFun

7 1 Arcade button (yellow) COM-09338 SparkFun

8 4 Arcade button (black) COM-09339 SparkFun

9 2 Arcade button (white) COM-09340 SparkFun

10 1

Joystick Short Shaft (w/

microswitches) 480 Adafruit

11 10 Microswitch contacts

supplied

with Items

4-9

12 1 Momentary 12 mm button (red) 060-640 Parts Express

13 1 Momentary 12 mm button (black) 060-642 Parts Express

14 25 Female/Female jumper wires x 12" 80207 DX

15 1

Hookup wire, ~6Ft (4' green, 1' blk,

1' red) 101-903 Parts Express

16 24

0.187" Quick Connect Crimp

Female (18-22 AWG) n/a Ebay

Audio17 1

2x2W Class D Audio Amp w/

Volume ctrl AA-AB32131 320-306 Parts Express

18 2

Speaker, Sealed Paper cone, 3inch

midrange 8 Ohm 292-436 Parts Express

19 1

3.5mm Male to Male Slim-plug

Audio cable, 3FT Item 17LCD 20 1 Slim HDMI Cable with ethernet, 3FT 180-687 Parts Express

21 1

9" LCD screen, 1024x600

HDMI+VGA+Composite driver PCB ebay

Power

22 1 5 VDC 2000mA AC adapter 276 Adafruit

23 1 Panel Mount 2.1mm DC barrel jack 122741

Deal Extreme

(DX.com)





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24 1 1:2 DC Power supply Splitter 112982

Deal Extreme

(DX.com)

25 1 DC Power Pigtail Male Plug 6880 Monoprice

26 6 # 8 x 1" Round Head (zinc plated) McMaster Carr

27 4

# 8 x 1.25" Round Head (zinc

plated)

Hardware:

Machine

Screws

28 2

# 8 x 3/8" Round Head (wide) (zinc

plated)

29 2 # 6 x 1" Round Head (zinc plated)

30 4 # 6 x 0.75" Flat Head (zinc plated)

31 6 # 6 x 0.5" Round Head (zinc plated)

32 2

# 6 x 0.75" Round Head (zinc

plated)

33 8 # 4 x 0.5" Round Head (zinc plated)34 3 # 4 x 1" Flat Head (zinc plated)

35 8 # 8 Nut

36 14 # 6 Nut

Nuts 37 11 # 4 Nut

38 2

# 8 x 1.25" Female/Female Hex

Standoff AL

39 8 # 8 Washer

Washers 40 14 # 6 Washer41 2 # 6 Nylon washer (black)

42 4 # 6 Lock washer (split washer)

43 8 # 4 Nylon Washer

44 3 # 4 x 0.25" Nylon Spacer perler bead





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* Pick one material type for cabinet panels.

III. Pre-assembly notes, advice, do's and do not's.If you have a chosen to paint your wood kit, follow this chart below:

"I'm going to use a paint/stain with aerosol spray." Paint after the cabinet is glued.

"I'm going to paint/stain with a brush." Paint now, before gluing/ assembling anything.

The cabinet paints easily in its individual pieces, but with aerosol it's much easier to paint with the

cabinet partially assembled and glued. Don't forget: if you stain/paint before you assemble the cabinet,

this can affect the fit and glue strength if you get paint/stain in the glue areas.

Play close attention to the "Glue" icon, shown here:

and the "Don't Glue" icon also shown here:

The cabinet is held together mainly by wood glue. There are recommend places to glue, and places you

should not glue. These reasons for gluing are for structural integrity. The reasons for not gluing are for

accessibility in the cabinet when assembling, or to allow certain pieces to fit perfectly without

interference. Ideally the cabinet will be strong and sturdy but not an impenetrable box that your

Raspberry Pi is sealed inside away from forever. But, you could build it that way.

HEY! LISTEN!

I highly suggest you read the assembly steps once through as a dry-run.

DO NOT GLUE UNTIL YOU'VE BUILT THE CABINET ONCE AND UNDERSTAND HOW

IT GOES TOGETHER!!!!!

I warned you.

Tips, Hints, and other suggestions to make your build easy.





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- Match the pictures. Don't just follow the picture; rotate, flip, and turn your parts and sub-assemblies

to match what is shown in the pictures. This will aid with critical steps that emphasize orientation of cut-

outs and holes so they are not assembled backwards.

-Some wood when laser cut may have a fine black soot at the cut. Wipe this off with a damp cloth

before gluing to ensure a strong glue-bond between the wood panels. Don't eat this stuff either.

-A utility knife or exact-o knife is a great tool to have. Due to shipping conditions (temperature and

humidity changes) the wood panels might not fit as perfectly as they did when I cut them. Using a sharp

utility knife to shave of some wood will make the difference between a rough, tight squeeze and a

perfect fit. Sandpaper will also work; however, a sharp blade is faster. It is possible some pieces may

have a slight warp to them- Don't worry! Once glued everything will even-out. Take your time when

gluing. Use bar clamps (light pressure) if you have them, masking tape, books-ends, or whatever you

need to ensure a square assembly until the glue dries. I recommend wood glue for the Wood Porta-Pi

Arcade. The acrylic [plastic] version must be assembled with acrylic cement (not surprisingly).

- There are some slight variances between the acrylic and wood versions of the Porta-Pi Arcade. Mainly

these are how it is glued. Any variances are identified throughout the manual as applicable.

- Check out the videos I've made on my YouTube channel / website for additional video instructions.

(Though, it is possible I might not have these video posted in time. I'm sorry in advance.)

IV. Hardware DescriptionsCommon hardware items are used to assemble the Porta-Pi Arcade. This includes common machine

screws. I will explain the differences between the various types seen in the kit. Pay attention to "flat"

versus "round" as they are referenced in this manual. Most of the hardware is in imperial units since

that's what is available here in the US; however, metric can be easily substituted if you are sourcing your

own parts.

Hardware you need to know the difference between:

Machine Screw: Flat Head Fits into counter-sunk holes.





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Machine Screw: Round Head. Standard bolt. Does not mount flush to surface.

The imperial machine screw sizes from smallest to largest diameter are:

#4, #6, and #8.

V. Tools needed for assembly.

You will definitely need:

Wire strippers and crimpers

Wire cutters

A screw driver

Wood Glue (or acrylic cement if building acrylic version)

Soldering Iron (and solder)

Drill with counter-sink bit

Dremmel w/ an end mill (flat tip) bit OR Hot glue gun

You don't need, but I really recommend having:

12inch bar clamp (two or three of these)

Electrical Tape

Utility knife

Drill with countersink bit

Alrighty.

You look like you're ready to build the Porta-Pi Arcade. Let's Begin!





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1. Cabinet Shell Assembly

First we are going to build [most of] the cabinet shell. This consists of about half of the cabinet panels.

You will need the following cabinet pieces:

Grab your drill and that counter sink bit. We need to counter sink the bottom panel screw holes.





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Orient the bottom peice shown in the picture above and below. The is the outter face (bottom side).





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New cabinets have four extra holes (arranged in a rectangle) that fit the Raspberry Pi B+. Counter sink

these two/four (or all six if you want) holes. Note the long notch for the SD card cutout. If it's on the





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right, then the face you're looking at is the outside; this is the side you countersink.

Before doing the next steps, READ the following steps first, test fit the design, double check with a dry

fit then lable your peices so you know which side to dremmel and mount in the propper orientation.

Over the past few months LCD vendors have been switching a part on me. It fits the design, but the

marquee underside peice (F1) may either need to me mouted on way, or flipped the other. See the

picture below. Check your kit, match it to the picture below, and lable the side that needs to be

dremmeled. MAKE SURE YOU GLUE IT IN THE CORRECT ORIENTATION.





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Does your Monitor PCB button need to be monted on the left or right side??

Grap the marquee underside peice (F1) and your Dremmel tool). Position the

piece as show and cut out the following no more than 2mm deep. This allows

the nuts to grab onto threads of these small buttons. The button shafts are not

long enough to be mounted into 1/4" panels. If you don't have a Dremmel,





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relax, there is no need to go out and buy one just for this project. If you have a hot glue gun, you can just

glue these buttons in place.

You better be wearing safety goggles when using a dremmel. I am serious. Put them on. Is there

someone watching you do this? They better have goggles on too.





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Time to build the cabinet! Begin by assembling and glueing the two small brackets (H1 & H2) together

like shown.





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You should glue these two pieces together where they meet. These two pieces make the joystick panel

support and monitor bezel. The fatter tab should be away from the monitor.

Next insert the monitor bezel into the two rectangular holes into the two-piece assebmly we just made.





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This picture shows the FRONT (outside) of the monitor bezel. Notice this surface has little remnants ofburn marks from the laser cutter.





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You can counter sink the monitor bezel holes, but you will need to provide flat-head screws for this

modification. Flat-head or round-head screws is a matter of aesthetics for the monitor bezel.

It's easier to counter sink the monitor bezel piece before it's glued. I warned you. Countersinking this

piece is optional.

Now add the top monitor piece (F1). Note the orientation; the opening is on the RIGHT with respect to

the front of the monitor bezel panel.





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Take this four piece assembly and stick into one of the cabinet side panels. It only fits one way. Use the

three rectangular openings. Put glue on the side of the monitor bezel, (don't use a lot or get sloppy).





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It will be a tight fit. A little bending is okay. The bottom part (has two rectangles on the bottom) of the

monitor assembly should be fully inserted into the joystick cross brace. The top part (has three

rectangles) should have a slight gap from fitting flat with the marquee bottom.

You may have to wiggle the marquee underside away from the monitor assembly to get it to insert into

the cabinet side panel. This is ok. You can glue this to the side panel of the cabinet. Don't get sloppy with

the glue otherwise you will be staring at your sloppy gluing when playing games.





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Add the other side panel.





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Now the bottom panel.





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Note the location of the holes on the bottom panel. Make sure this is correct! If these holes are





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countersunk, the countersunk-side will face down. The RPi is mounted via these holes.

Place the cabinet upright and ON TOP of a small thin book or piece of wood. The finger tabs on the

bottom of the Side panels are longer than the thickness of the bottom piece. A book or piece of wood will

make sure the bottom panel and pushed (and dries) all the way into the side panels.





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Turn the cabinet so the front is facing you. Glue on the Marquee piece (the one with all the holes in it).

Rotate the cabinet so the front is facing you. Glue the bottom front control panel on. You should glue

this on all three sides.





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(Wipe up excess glue with a damp rag).





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Place glue in the Green areas, but do not add glue to the Red area. Another piece needs to fit into this

corner and glue will obstruction the fit!





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Add a clamp (or two) if you have them. OR use some heavy books on each side or tape. Use something

while the glue dries.

Add some glue here. If you glue is too runny skip this; it will just drip everywhere. I use Tightbond woodglue, which is thick enough to fill this gap and not drip between the two peices.





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I recommend placing the back panel (do not glue it ) while the other pieces dry. This will ensureeverything dries square.

Wait until the glue has dried before continuing.

2. Monitor AssemblyYou will need the following cabinet panels:





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(2) Monitor C-brackets: N

(2) Monitor cross braces: P

LCD driver mounting board: O

You will also need the following hardware:

(2) #6 x 1" round head machines screws

(2) #6 nylon washers (black)

(2) #6 x 0.75" round head machine screws

(4) #6 nuts

(2) #6 washers

(4) #4 machine screws





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(4) #4 bolts

(4) #4 nylon washers (off white)

(4) #8 x 1.25" bolts

(4) #8 nuts

(4) #8 washers

9" LCD screen (keep the protective plastic on until the cabinet is finished)

LCD Driver PCB for 9" screen

If your monitor does not have the red /black wire, do not worry. Some LCDs have this backlight power

connector, some have the backlight power wires integrated into the ribbon cable.





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Turn the glued cabinet around so you are looking inside it, from the rear.







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Add the two C-brackets as shown.





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The notched piece must be in the lower right.





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Place the LCD screen face down in the outline of the brackets you just placed.





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Drap the longer ribbon cable down as shown.





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Place the two long cross bars as shown.





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OR use these pieces if you kit includes them.

Optional, but you can add some foam tape or the like to the underside of these cross braces. This will





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add some compression and keep the LCD screen firm against the monitor bezel. Folded paper works too.

Note the orientation of the holes and the male/female cut-outs on these cross braces. Match this

picture. The female part is adjacent to the LCD ribbon cable, the male part is towards the top of the

cabinet. The cross-brace gender cut-outs should be facing each other.

NOTE! If your LCD screen has an uncharacteristically short ribbon cable (~10cm), you might need to make

a small mod (newer kits have this fixed). You need to cut out the bottom portion of the driver mounting

panel as shown. The short ribbon cable and ribbon adapter PCB will now fit tucked and folded inside this

cavity. [Sorry. A supplier pulled a fast one on me.]





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Lay the LCD driver PCB mounting panel down as shown. Match the hole orientation to this picture. The

notch should be at the top-right.

Place four M2.5 bolts in the smaller holes as shown. The heads of the bolts will face your work surface.

Add four nylon washers.





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Place the LCD driver board on. Fasten with four #4 nuts. Tighten = snug.





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Add this assembly to the monitor bracket assembly. The HDMI plug should be opposite the fat side of

the monitor bracket.

Add the #6 washers and nuts to secure everything as one big "sandwich". Finger-tight the nuts for now.

Connect the Red and black backlight cable into the LCD driver PCB. It will only fit one way. (Again, if your

LCD does not have the red/black wire pair, don't worry, you don't need it.





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Pull-out the ZIF (zero insertion force) connector. Use your finger nail on each side and be gentle.

Insert the LCD screen's ribbon cable. Push the ZIF connector back in to secure the ribbon cable.

Flip the assembly over, align the screen and tighten down the nuts. Not too tight ! Otherwise, you will

split the wood.

There is a protective plastic film on the screen... Leave this on until the cabinet is fully assembled and





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when you have put away any sharp objects used to assemble.

Grab the panel piece F3 and the PCB full of tiny buttons attached to the monitor (this is the monitor

control panel).





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Add two #6 x0.75" machine screws into the PCB. Add the #6 black washers to the back of the PCB.

Place this into the panel as shown. Add the #6 washers and nuts to secure.





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Place this assembly into the top of your cabinet.

Grab the cover plate (F2) and place this above the monitor matching the orientation as shown.





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Secure these panels with two #6 x1" machine bolts, washers, and nuts.

3. Marquee underside buttons

You will need the following hardware:

12mm black push button

12mm red push button

Insert each button from the bottom, add the nut and tighten. The red button should be towards the





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middle of the cabinet. If you didn't dremmel the recessed area like in the beginning steps, glue these

buttons with a hot glue gun.





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4. Speaker, Amplifier, and Bracket Assembly

You will need the following cabinet panel parts.





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(4) #8 x 1" machine round-head screws

(4) #8 washers

(4) #8 nuts(6) #6 x 0.5" round head screws

(6) #6 washers

(6) #6 nuts

(4) #4 round head screws

(4) #4 nylon washers

(4) #4 nuts





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Assemble the bracket pieces as shown. These bracket sets can be glued together. Gluing is optional.

Don't glue the brackets to the cabinet!

Place two #8 bolts into the arcade cabinet. Place one of the assembled brackets onto the bolts. Fasten

with a washer and nut.





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Install the other bracket on the opposite side and fasten with a washer and nut.





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Grab the speaker mounting bracket (M) and your speakers.







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Repeat for the other speaker.

Place four #4 nylon washers in the location shown. Add the amp. The DC jack should face down. Fasten

with four #4 screws and nuts.





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Remove this jumper on your amp. We need it removed to utilize the built-in volume adjustment.

The volume buttons will not work with this jumper installed. You will also see two tactile switches "K1"

and "K2". If you want the volume buttons enabled, K1 & K2 must be in the OFF position.

Here's what K1 and K2 do when enabled in the following combinations:

K2 K2ON Sleep Mode ON Disable volume

OFF Active mode OFF Enable volume controls

Sleep mode = the chip works with low power consumption. Mute = chip's output is disabled.





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Cut the black and red wire into two pairs as shown of equal length. Strip the insulation off both ends.

Thread the black wire into the negative (small) tab of the speaker. Bend the wire over the tab and

solder.





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Solder the red wire to the positive tab. Do not solder it to the power resister (the open end of the white

block).

Repeat for the other speaker.

With a screw driver connect the speakers to the amplifier. Loosen the four screw terminals on the left

and right output channels on the audio amp. On this model, they are labeled ROUT+, ROUT- and





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LOUT+, LOUT-. For most retro games, the left and right speakers will output mono sound. But early 90's

arcade and some not-so-old console games output stereo sound. When connecting the speakers face

down, the LEFT speaker will connect to the ROUT pair and so on.







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6. Front Panel Arcade Button/Joystick Assembly.You will need the following cabinet panels.

You will also need the following hardware

(2) black* arcade buttons(1) red* arcade button

(1) blue* arcade button

(1) orange* arcade button

(1) green* arcade button

Joystick

(6) micro switches

(4) #6 machine nuts

(4) #6 nuts

(4) #6 lock washers

(4) #6 x 0.75" Flat head machine screws

* or whatever colored buttons you choose.





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Follow these steps very closely. Pay attention to the pictures. The orientation and layering of these two

pieces is critical.

If done incorrectly, you could glue the font panel upside down and playing the arcade will be very

uncomfortable (and it will look weird).





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Grab the notched control panel, lay it as shown. Glue on this side.

(Bottom side of joystick/button assembly.)

Do not get glue on the outer edges. These are the edges that do not overlap. All the holes will line up.

Take notice of the 6-button arc curvature. Do not glue these two pieces in the opposite stack. Follow

this picture.

Add the top panel. Squeeze firmly and wipe up excess glue. Make sure there is no glue in these non-

overlaping areas.





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Add some clamps and wait for the glue to set (about 30minutes depending on the glue).

Don't forget to countersink the top four holes with your drill and countersink bit.





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When everything is dry, remove the clamps, flip the panel so the top is facing the table. Label the

following with a pencil.

(Button/joystick panel, play/ top side.)

Unscrew the ball-top and cover plate (may differ in color) on the joystick. Place these aside.





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Insert the four #6 x 0.75" flat head screws into the counter-sunk side (that would be the top side). Insert

the joystick. The five pins must face the buttons.

Add the washers, lock washers, and nuts to secure the joystick.





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Flip the unit over and replace the dust cover plate and ball-top

Insert the six arcade buttons in any color pattern you like. Tighten the plastic washers on the arcade

buttons. Insert the microswitches. They will "click" in with the proper maneuvering. Just insert the

microswitch in the peg closest to the button, and push the rest down in a lever-action.





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Repeat for the other five buttons.

You can keep working or take a break. This is also a great time to get an energy drink or coffee (just a

suggestion) the next step is going to suck be a blast.





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7. Wire the Front Panel Buttons and Joystick

You need the following hardware and assemblies:

Front Panel with buttons and joystick

A Raspberry Pi Model B (512MB), (not supplied)

22 AWG Crimp terminals,

4-5 ft of wire (22 AWG is best).

The female/female ribbon cable (about 21 wires).

You will also need some tools:

Very small tip screw driver, or something pointy

Wire strippers

Terminal Crimpers





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This tool crimps and strips! It's around $10.

Let's take a closer look at the micro switches.

They have three pins: NO, NC, and COM. These stand for Normally Open, Normally Closed, and Common

(aka ground).

We will be using two of the three pins: Normally Open (N0) and Common (COM). These two tabs on the

microswitch will be the circuit for each arcade button. When the button is pressed, the microswitch

closes the contacts inside and the Raspberry Pi recognizes a button was initialized.







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Terminate the wire from the + side to the correct pin of the Raspberry Pi.

The above example shows three separate circuits, however, they are missing the other half of the loop;

the ground. The ground, or common all share the same return path. Therefore, we can connect them all

together and wire this to any one of the RPi's ground pins. Wiring to Ground completes the circuit for

each button.







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We (actually just you) need to build the wiring harnesses. You will need wire strippers/terminal crimpers

and a very small flat screwdriver. We are going to make all the harnesses at once. The following wiring

harness need to be made (ribbon color does not matter):





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The following pictures show where each harness is used in the arcade. This is just to help visualize our

goal.





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The set of 5 wiring harness does not need crimp connectors. Just peel of a set of 5 wires from the ribbon

cable.





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The last two wiring harness are called daisy chained. They all share the same electrical signal, which is

'ground' or 0V.





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Start with the long wire provided in your cut. Cut this wire into ~3" (50mm) sections. You will need five

of these 3inch sections. Strip ~0.25"(5mm) off each end. Crimp a terminal to one of these ends. Now,

using the opposite end of the wire we just crimped, twist another wire on, then crimp a terminal. Do thisfour more times. On the last (sixth) crimp take a strip from the ribbon cable, remove one of the

rectangular connectors and twist this end and crimp it.





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You will need to make a two more daisy chain harness, but each only needs with two crimp terminals.

This connects the buttons on the side panels. Make the a pair of two straight crimp wires if you have not

already.





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And finally make the harness for the smaller menu buttons.

Be sure to have your cabinet near-by so you make the

daisy chain wires long enough to reach from the top to the RPi.

Now it's time to terminate (land/plug-in the wires) to the Raspberry Pi and the microswitches. Read over

the rest of this chapter once, (if you haven't already), before landing the wires. It may get confusing.

The fewer mistakes here will save a ton of time trouble shooting later. For example " When I press'jump' my dude goes to the left." That kind of trouble shooting.

Print this next page out at 100% scale. Cut out the pin mapping and press it into your raspberry pi

header. It might help to pre-perforate the holes with a breadboard and something pokey.





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Print this page out. Cut out the header cheat-sheet and press it onto your Raspberry Pi's headers. You

might to scale it to match the dimensions.





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If you have the Raspberry Pi B+, the first 26 GPIO pins are the same. They are located at the top of the

Pi.







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Grab the set six of jumper/terminal crimp harness you made. Connect the buttons to the RPi. Use themiddle terminal on the micro switches.





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Finally, add the grounding harness (the daisy chain one). Connect the ground to top of the micro

switches (the COM) terminal.





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Place the Raspberry Pi into the front panel opening. Do not glue this onto the cabinet.





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Place the front panel on the cabinet. Getting excited yet? Well, calm down! We're not done. Rotate thecabinet so you can see the back. Pull the RPi in.





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Plug the 5V signal wires into the corresponding buttons.

Plug the grounding wiring harness into the side panel buttons. Be sure to plug grounding pin into one of

the Raspberry Pi's GND pins.





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Focus on the top portion of the cabinet, near the marquee. Time to wire the F1 and ESC buttons (the

menu and quit-game buttons). You can solder these if you want, but I used crimps because I have a few

thousand on hand... Connect the signal, then ground daisy chain. Don't forget to plug this into the





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respective RPi header pins.





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Well done. If you skipped through this section looking for a wiring diagram; you're in luck! Hopefully you

wired everything correctly...





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8. Mount the Raspberry Pi into the Cabinetyou will need the following cabinet panels:


(2) #4 machine flat head screws

(2) #4 bolts

(2) nylon washers

Place the #4 x 1" machine screws into the bottom case panel. The heads will be flush with the bottom.





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Place the Raspberry Pi mounting plate

panel on top as shown.

Finally, add the raspberry Pi, nylon washers and secure with the nuts. Snug is all you need. Do not

tighten too tight or you run the risk of cracking the Raspberry Pi board.

If you have the Raspberry Pi B+, Insert three #4 flat head screws into the outer holes. Use two screws in

the holes closest to the edge (near the rear panel). This will provide support when using the USB ports.





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9. Connect Volume Buttons to AmpLooking at the rear of the cabinet, insert the speaker assembly into the speaker brackets.





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With the last of the wiring harness, connect the terminal (signal/ 5V) ends to the white arcade buttons.

With the other end of the harness ( jumper end) plug this into the amplifier. The lower white button will

be volume down, the upper with be volume up. finally, connect the Ground into the Ground of the amp.





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Use the wiring diagram as reference.





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10. Audio, Video, and Power Connections.You will need the following cabinet panels:


HDMI cable2.5mm stereo audio cable (12in or 3ft -varies by what's in my inventory)

1:2 DC jack splitter (Y-splitter)

Micro USB Power cable for Raspberry Pi (not supplied)

Panel mount DC jack

Male DC plug pigtail (may differ in color/length from pic)





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Turn your soldering iron on. Grab the DC pig tail and the DC panel mount jack. We are going to solder

these together. The amplifier and monitor use a center-positive power connection; that means the

center pin of our power cable is positive (red wire) and the outer shell is negative (black wire). Followthe pictures to solder the DC panel mount and pigtail together. Use a multimeter to verify you soldered

to correct pins. If you accidently swapped the polarity you will damage your amp and LCD.





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Start by threading the panel mount DC jack assembly through one of the 0.5" holes on the cabinet back

panel. It does not matter which hole.

Check the fit against your cabinet before inserting the power cable and DC jack. The back panel is not

reversible; the cutout will only fit one way. Make sure your Pi's USB and Ethernet ports clear thecutouts.





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Pull through, then add the locking washing for the female 5.1mm DC jack. Tighten snug.





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10.2 Integrating the Cabinet's Power supply and Raspberry Pi's Power supply to

one cable.

If you don't want a separate power cable for the Pi and the Cabinet's monitor and Amp you can perform

this modification. For this mod you will need your micro USB-B to USB A cable that powers your RPi.

Cut the cable close to the regular USB "A" end.

Strip back the insulation on the longer section of the cable.





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You will see a red, black, green and white (or green and yellow) set of wires. Cut off the White and

Green. These are for data and are not needed to power the RPi.

Strip off some insulation off the red and black wires. We will now solder them into the DC panel mount

jack. Match the Black and Red to the current black and red wires soldered on.





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If you have electrical tape, wrap some around this solder joint.

10.2 HDMI, Audio, and Plugging in Power

Remove the speaker assembly for a moment. Plug one end of the HDMI cable into the LCD driver board.

Using the power harness, plug one of the 5.1mm male DC connectors into the DC power jack on the LCD

driver board.





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Place the speaker assembly back into the cabinet brackets. Lift the HDMI and 1:2 DC splitter cable upand out of the way when inserting the speaker assembly. Plug the other 5.1mm DC male jack in the

speaker amplifier.

Plug one end of the 2.5mm stereo audio cable into the amplifier.





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Plug the other end of the audio cable into the Raspberry Pi's audio jack.

Plug the Micro USB power cable into you Raspberry Pi. Insert the SD card at this time too. Do not power

on the Raspberry Pi yet!

Connect the DC splitter and DC panel mount assembly together.





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10.2 Install Rear Panel Mounting Hardware

You will need the following hardware:

(2) #8 x1" Round head machine screws

(2) #8 x 0.5" Round head (wide head) machine screws

(2) #8 x 1.25" aluminum hex standoffs (female/female ends)

Focus on the holes in the bottom corners of the speaker mounting bracket. Insert the small, wide head

machine screw into the lower right hole. The head should face the monitor.





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Thread the hex standoff into the machine screw.

Repeat for the other side.

Place the rear panel on. Use the #8 screws to fasten the panel on. You might have to wiggle the speaker

bracket from above the get the screws to engage the threads.





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11. Top Panel and Power-OnYou will need the following cabinet panels:


5VDC 5.1mm supply (yours might look different)

Next, place the top panel on. Gluing this is optional. If you think you're going to paint the Porta Pi, do

not glue this yet. When disassembling the Porta Pi, removing the top panel makes things MUCH easier if

it is not glued.





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Insert your SD card (if you have not already) from the bottom.





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Plug in your 5VDC Raspberry Pi power supply. Enjoy your work! Assembly is now complete!

Nice job!

Enjoy!





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12. Acrylic Section.

The Acrylic Kit assembles exactly like the Wood Kit, except this kit must be glued with acrylic cement.

And instead of applying glue to each piece as you assemble it, we assemble the acrylic shell then glue

everything in one step.

If you've never glued acrylic before, it's easy, but there are some tips and tricks you should know before

you start. (Oh, and sorry these pictures show a Red 7" model. I got lazy..)

12.1 Pre-Assemble the Acrylic

Pro tip: It is very helpful to have two 12" bar clamps to help with assembling the cabinet. You can get

these for ~$15 each at most hardware stores. But, if you're lucky enough to have that cheap hardwarestore with all the Chinese tools in your town,(the one with the coupons), you can get one of these

clamps for under $5 each. Again, it's not required, but it's incredibly helpful to have one or two clamps.

Let's begin.





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All 26 cabinet pieces have a sticky-paper-backing on them. Do not remove the protective backing yet.

Leave this on until it is time to assemble.

You need to visualize how this cabinet goes together before we glue.

Read Chapter 1 then come back here. Have you assembled the cabinet (without glue) the way chapter

one says? Leave the paper backing on.

Alright, if you've read everything once over, and know what to expect, we will begin.

Now, remove ONLY ONE SIDE of the paper backing on these panels.





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"What paper side do I remove?" The sides that face inside (inward) the cabinet. These panels:

Remove both sides of the paper backing for these pieces:

You may notice later pictures still show paper

backing on the monitor bezel. I later found out this becomes an enormous hassle to remove the paper

after it is glued.

Now it's time to assemble the cabinet like chapter 1. Go back to chapter one if you need to (you should

so you don't get the monitor bezel piece backwards). This time when everything goes together you

should have plastic on plastic contact.





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I have a lot of clamps and I use them. Make sure all the joints are tight and square. Add some masking

tape (if you have it) for that extra "feel good" clamping action.

I also use foam (those pink squares) between the clamps and the cabinet. My squeeze clamps are rated

for 300lbs of clamping force. The foam will keep me from applying too much force. Do not break your

cabinet with your clamps!

12.2 Gluing the Acrylic

When you purchased your acrylic cement you should have also received a bottle applicator with it. This

bottle has a very small diameter needle-tip applicator.





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Pour (or siphon) some acrylic cement into this applicator. You will only need an once (10ml) for the

cabinet. Turn the bottle upside down and do not squeeze!!!!!! This glue is very viscous. It will drip out of

the applicator tip with gravity. MAKE SURE IT'S NOT LEAKING OUT ANYWHERE ELSE. I had to epoxy my

applicator tip to stop additional leaks.





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Just like water's adhesion properties, this acrylic cement will "wick" into cracks and bond tight fitting

acrylic pieces together. (Actually, it 'melt's the two acrylic pieces that are touching, and welds them into

one piece.) Practice gluing with some of the scrap pieces that came with your kit. When you're ready,

glue your cabinet in all the same places indicated in Chapter 1.

You can also watch some internet videos on "gluing acrylic". They helped me on my first time.

Let this glue "set" as indicated by the glue directions. Continue building the cabinet from Chapter 2. The

next section (12.3) explains how to secure the rear panel without glue. You can come back to it when

the cabinet is fully assembled. That hardware is included for Neon kits only.

13. Trouble shooting (End of Hardware Section).

Q. I don't see anything on the LCD screen.

A. Make sure the SD card is inserted and seated fully. Verify the RPi has power. Verify the screen has

power. Did you power-on the monitor first, then the RPi? Since the HDMI connection requires a

"handshake" upon initialization, the screen must be turned on first when the RPi begins the handshake

process. Make sure the monitor is in HDMI input. Sometimes the monitors are in VGA. Use the small

control panel with buttons to switch between the monitor's video inputs.

Q. I still don't see anything, the image is all weird/ inconsistent.

A. Check the ZIF connector and ribbon cable. Make sure this cable is inserted and seated all the way.

Q. Nope, still nothing. Something is wrong with the screen.

A. Check your wiring from start to finish. Check all your cables. Did you turn off the RPi by pulling power

to with when it was writing to the SD card? You may have corrupted the SD card/ OS image. You will

need to write a new image file to the SD card to fix this.

Q. There is no sound.

A. Check the power to the amplifier. Did you wire the speakers to the amplifier? Did you connected the

audio cable to the amplifier? Is the audio cable fully inserted in the RPi and the amplifier? Is the DC

power cable connected?

Q. The buttons and/or joystick do not work.

A. Make sure each circuit is grounded. Make sure you plugged the correct cable into the correct RPi pin.This is easy to mess up. Double then triple check this.

Q. My joystick buttons are reversed when I play a game. The buttons are mapped wrong.

A. You may have wired your joystick correctly, but then mounted it upside-down. Or vise-versa. Check

your wiring. Go slow, take your time. Wiring can be tedious and confusing. Patience will pay off.





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Q. I'm missing some hardware.

A. Double check you put the correct screw (type/size/length) in the correct place. Maybe I messed up.

Email me and I will help you out.

Q. Why are there extra holes on the back panel and only one is used?A. I made the option available to add a on/off switch if you want.

Q. I have more questions.

A. Email me!

Q. What is your email?

A. [email protected]. Please put "Porta-Pi Arcade Kit Help" in the subject.

Q. I broke my ZIF connector because I am way too strong apparently. Now what?

A. Cut a small rectangle from a old credit card or gift card and wedge it under the ribbon cable. This

should be a good work-around.





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14. Mount the Porta Pi Arcade Image to an SD Card.

We are messing with software; download and install at your own risk.

This section describes the steps to download the OS for your Porta-Pi. This OS includes Rasbian, a

Debian/Linux operating system for the Pi, and Retro-Pie the front-end and emulator package for

your Raspberry Pi.

Things you’ll need:

A Windows PC

4GB+ SD card (8GB recommended)

USB SD card reader

14.1 Download Retro Pi.

Go to http://www.retrobuiltgames.com/porta-pi-arcade-help/porta-pi-software-os-download/ anddownload the image of your choice.

When the download is complete, unzip the file and place the image somewhere. It’s a good idea to

make a folder for this image. In the future when you have everything configured and running, you’ll

want to make a back-up of your SD card.

14.2Download Win32diskimager

Software is needed to mount the image onto the SD card, and write it in a file system for a Linux OS.

Use your favorite search engine and search, “Win32DiskImager”. Download and install. Many siteshost this free software. Pick the source you feel comfortable with. Be wary some spam-like software

might be bundled depending on your download site. Read the user agreement carefully when

installing.

14.3 Mount the RetroPie Image

Insert your SD card into the SD card reader/writer and plug it into your pc. Open the installer. Select

your device with the SD card reader. Note: This software is very utilitarian. If you have an external hard

drive plugged-in, it’s very easy to accidently overwrite/corrupt that drive. It will not give you a second

warning. Unplug any drives you don’t intend to lose. Otherwise, make sure you get the drive letters

correct!





1) Select the image (RetroPie in this case) you want to write to the SD card.

2) Select the device/ drive letter, (this is the USB SD card reader with SD card plugged in).

3) Click “Write”.

Unplug the device when it’s complete ( it will take some time- enough time to make a sandwich).

Documents

9 Inch Porta Pi Arcade Cabinet Assembly Manual Rev1.6