Pandora's Box arcade with Raspberry Pi GPIO Controller

[@LAP-rd3sb]

I did it, followed your tutorials and managed to change the pandora board for a raspberry pi 3b + and connect the buttons and lever via GPIO, all thanks to you !!! excellent video friend

[@Rob.Coleman]

Another great tutorial 👍. I like how easy to follow you make it for us non-techie types! Very confidence inspiring, keep up the great work.

[@KenVersus]

Glad you like it! Hope you get a chance to make one of them.

[@AtomicZepherino]

Nice idea. One suggestion I would make is to use GPIO jumper cables instead of removing and rearranging the pins directly on the existing head. That way you can make changes quickly and have much less trouble switching back to Pandora's Box, should you ever need to.

[@KenVersus]

That's a good idea too.

[@Cesar-dt9nl]

Cool idea, i was breaking my head figuring out how to skip removing the gpio cables

[@bowzerblack]

How would you do this? I am very new to all this, Would I have to connect the jumpers to the pin connector attached to the pandoras box and re wire them from that onto the pi board?

[@SirJamesIGamerfuzion]

Thank you

[@BigHushAffiliate]

@@bowzerblack aaaaany minute now.

[@KenVersus]

PandoraBox 5S 986 in 1 (used in video) goo.gl/CNkTKo Recalbox GPIO pinout goo.gl/fSoowU

[@garystinten9339]

kenVersus is there a convertor for the controller bus?

[@KenVersus]

+Gary Stinten I don't think so.

[@chipg07]

In the pinout what does the HK stand for?

[@KenVersus]

HK , high kick

[@BigHushAffiliate]

The pandora box only has 8 buttons per player and the joystick (6 main buttons and the 2 others for adding a coin/reset and choosing player 1 or player 2). High Kick? Which button is high kick? Wouldnt that be 9 buttons?? It is not High kick, it is HotKey from what I am seeing.

[@drowhodis556]

raspberry pi 5 in fact is now a reality ❤️

[@nicktudor7478]

How do you get into the config file to change it from 0 to 1 ? Do I need a computer or go into the settings on recall box?

[@theadmin1977]

Great tutorial ! Unfortunately i did it on a PI 4 with Retropie (Recallbox not available yet ) and the GPIO controller is recognized but not the inputs when buttons are pressed.... I wonder if there is a work around ....

[@KenVersus]

You did rearrange the pandora pins right? It's not really plug and play. Every pandora will have different pint outs. You'll need a continuity tester to trace them like shown in the video

[@theadmin1977]

@@KenVersus yes...I rearranged them and followed the video....I think this is a software driver issue more than hardware....I may not have a choice and use USB encoders...

[@KenVersus]

That is strange then I would think retropi would support the rpi4 gpio already. Gpio is used by a lot of arcade builders. Maybe check out the retro pie forums with those who have used it with gpio. I haven't upgraded mine since the video.

[@theadmin1977]

@@KenVersus Yep...it was a driver issue...I got it working with gpionext from this video m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/iF7acpaGa9yJisU

[@oggamer1979]

How do you connect 4 player without usb ports changing

[@craigcoffman69]

Where do the emulations come from?

[@salesrep8153]

Can I hook mamma pcb into raspberry and use without a supergun?

[@thebigtexas11]

Great vid! Will the Pandora's box 3d arcade fit this format of pin colors?

[@KenVersus]

there’s a lot of pandora box clones now so hard to say. Most will have a 40 connector. The 3 I have all do but not sure of others.

[@andreazonchello6394]

Hi, great video! Is there a way to get the power from the gpio using the pandoras board 40pin connector?

[@bikerjohn53]

I have a bartop running Raspberry Pi 3 how would i go about putting a PandoraBox in it? to run both. thank

[@R0b3]

Great job dude. So tell me. By using GPIO are you getting some delay by pressing buttons or move joysticks? Thanks.

[@Sevenstars607]

How many games can support this my friend?

[@LunchboxBrimz]

Great video Ken. I had watched your previous video about hooking up a PB4 to a raspberry pi but you were running recalbox. Since I was on retropie, it took a lot more programming of the kernel to get the RPI3 to work properly with the PB4 however on the newer version of the PB5 it's got out of box compatibility with XBOX, PS and RPI. Same goes with some newe clone PB4 models. I've seen a video of a new one that has 1299. This model doesn't use the gpio for buttons it uses a separate connector as well as separate board to run the buttons. This in turn seems to allow perfect use of the PB as a USB fightstick. As far as midway games, the new PB5 w/upgraded hardware runs both MK and NBA Jam perfectly. Also the new PB5 let's you cycle through aspect ratios.

[@KenVersus]

Thanks Ray. The new features of the PB5 sound great. Hopefully it filters down to the clones. Innovation is always good. Too bad some of the newer clones don't use the same connector but there's still tons out there that have the 40pin, and the PB5 still has the 40pin from what I can see. Even without the GPIO it's not a huge loss, just use the USB.

[@ItsTommiii]

What did you do to get it working on retro pie? In my case my buttons work but my analog stick only goes right and down.

[@Breakskru]

Yea howd u get yours to work.. I have a pb5 but only 2 buttons work. Help?

[@0ldSkoolgenx]

3AGame version with updated cpu and ram ,pandoras 5 works with the RPI 3..no messing adding config files just config the controllers within retropie , both players work fine. Plug your P5 usb straight into the PI3 no need to power the Pandoras 5 up.

[@TeamVVV]

The Pandora's Box uses a Jamma connector. Is there any way of making a Raspberry Pi to Jamma? That way it can slot in like any other arcade board.

[@KenVersus]

I think there is an adapter you can buy. But it's pricey

[@KenVersus]

Check out the pi2jamma adapter.

[@TeamVVV]

@@KenVersus Thanks for the feedback, I'll look into it.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

There's a cable for the pandora family version for about $8 if you search for it, obviously you'll need to research connectors and the pi, or work out the jamma end with a multimeter.

[@rons3634]

This is so close to what I need, except I bought an empty Pandora box so the button wiring wasn't present. I have to connect my own buttons and no idea which wires go where. Is there another tutorial that shows how to do this from scratch?

[@KenVersus]

I have another video that doesn’t use the wiring connector. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYqwnWCLeMicmNU

[@RodJWhite-cw4lu]

Great video. Very helpful.

[@gino4895]

First I must say this is an excellent tutorial, I was able to replace my poor performing pandora with the pi and successfully pinned out. Now two questions, what is your GPIO cofig in recalbox? Seems I did everything right and most things work but I can't seem to move the directional keys in some Dreamcast games specifically, it works fine in others. I can move fine in sfIII for instance but I can't move in Virtua Fighter 3. Second how did you wire the Gpio to be Able to power off ? I have an off on switch on the pandora case that I'd like to use to power it off. Let me know please and keep up the awesome work ! :)

[@KenVersus]

My GPIO config is stock, I didn't change anything in there. If you watch my other RPi in Pandora's box video, I do show how to wire a shutdown button, or google it, it's pretty standard method with recalbox.

[@gino4895]

Thanks @@KenVersus the GPIO config works for Everything............... accept a couple of dreamcast games namely Virtua Fighter 3 and Fighting Vipers 2. Works fine for Street Fighter III cap com vs snk . I was hoping you encountered and found a fix for this thanks for following up.

[@KenVersus]

Unfortunately I don't run dreamcast

[@wolffactor56]

@@gino4895 Having the same issue. You usually use pin 5 and pin 6 to turn it on and off (after editing the configf file in recalbox). Did you ever find another method? This was using a push button approach, not the on and off switch (i lost mine)....

[@manadio]

Hi can you make a tutorial for those yellow delay usb encoders? im having a random " player 2 to player 1 swap" issue, sometimes p2 is p1 and viceversa.(both encoders are wired same way) looks like recalbox doesnt like same name usb devices.

[@wolffactor56]

manadio you might want to get a different encoder for player 2, I know sounds like a pain. Did you go to controller configuration and select each one for controller 1 and controller 2?

[@noel7777noel]

How can a trackball be added? Can I just buy a trackball with a USB and simple plug it into the raspberry pi, or can the trackball wire directly into the pinouts? And what pins? I seen a tutorial using a $60 I-PAK

[@KenVersus]

It should work connected to the rpi. Just like a mouse. Use it to test. If the mouse works so should the trackball.

[@noel7777noel]

@@KenVersus Thank you. I want to add a trackball in the center.... Doing research. All I want is to add a trackball for the game millipede... Looks like getting into the menu to change the settings is going to be fun. Thanks for helping out us old people.

[@AloneinFiction]

Do you think it would be easy to gut out the Pandora Box 5 and install everything into a Bar Top Cabinet?

[@KenVersus]

Should be pretty easy.

[@aarondiggens8282]

Can you use hyperspin in conjunction with Recalbox and this mod?

[@KenVersus]

You can probably use the USB and plug it up to either one at a time

[@willhowlett]

how did you handle power for the pi? Do you just pull out the micro usb power cable? Does that put your system at risk of corrupting?

[@KenVersus]

I wired a power button to shut it down safely. Check out step 6 on this site. This was another method to install a raspberry pi. www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-Inside-Pandoras-Box-Arcade-System/

[@ArinoSeb_Gccx_QC]

is it the same process for other pie images like retropie, motion blue, mlp ect...

[@KenVersus]

As long as they support gpio controllers which I think they all do. But I can't confirm since I only use recalbox.

[@FabioSpelta]

Thanks for this mate. I got two questions for you, please :-) Is there any performance benefits in using the GPIO vs the external controllers? I'm thinking about input lag. Also, how did you manage the audio output on the internal speaker? Thank you!

[@KenVersus]

I would thing gpio has less input lag. But if you use good usb encoders, they'd be good too. Just more options. I output audio from the HDMI to tv.

[@EliteC64]

have to do this as I just picked up a Pandora 3D Key 7 and the games have the cartoon filter which gives the look of a cheap java game and I cant seem to find settings to change it😕

[@KenVersus]

Yeah more and more of the later gen PB are junk. the cases are still nice for gutting out.

[@fragmentalstew]

is there no risk of static electricity with the 3m dual lock?

[@BigHushAffiliate]

Aaaaaany minute now

[@parthasarathyvenkatadri]

If there was a converter from the Pandora's pins to raspberry Pi gpio pins ... This would be even easier

[@JOHNN01.82]

Can you use a usb controller

[@KenVersus]

You can't plug a USB controller to it.

[@JOHNN01.82]

in the raspberry pie?

[@JOHNN01.82]

Youn must be able to use a usb controller otherwisebwhatvusbthe point offor changing itv from pandora jamma retro pie

[@babymaliants]

how much will u charge to get one ready working with RPis ? and pandora box !?

[@KenVersus]

+humberto c hi I don't do that. This video is to show people how to do it themselves.

[@gravitstudio]

Hallo Ken, work perfectly! but in game controller work only via USB, from GPIO work only start and select button, in menu work all, can you help me?

[@KenVersus]

+GravitStudio you using Recalbox? Sounds like the in game controls aren't set up with retroarch.

[@gravitstudio]

kenVersus i have solved unplug usb controller! 😂😂, thanks!

[@KenVersus]

+GravitStudio that was an easy fix haha. That'll do it.

[@williamoutta276]

Why does my TV screen show no signal？

[@Gaminggrandma73]

Is there an online store that just sells a two player shell/case? Sort like the viedo you did but more enclosed like a Pandoras box. Big enough for a raspberry pi 3 or an itx mother board (micro)

[@KenVersus]

I've seen some metal enclosures on aliexpress but the price was the almost the same as a complete pandoras box.

[@Gaminggrandma73]

kenVersus thanks. I just don't have tools or space to build from scratch. I live in an apartment.

[@KenVersus]

Same with me. That's why I love these Pandora boxes or bartop arcades. They are small.

[@Gaminggrandma73]

kenVersus I seen those forgot the name of those umm has a big X in the middle , cheaper than a panadoras box. I would of course gut it and put sanwa stick and buttons. Probably an 8 way gaurd replacing the 4 way. I'm in Canada so most places are expensive when conversion comes into play. There are some Canadian sites that sell mame machines only but I don't want to spend a lot just to gut something

[@KenVersus]

x-arcade tank stick I think.

[@pubba26]

Great video! Thanks

[@FreddSwart]

Hi. I love what you did there! I just got myself the original Pandora box 5 From 3A Game Store 960 in 1. My sole purpose for buying this was to build a mame emulator to add/remove my own games as I please. I want to know if the rewiring would be diffrent from what yours are from this awesome video. Please let me know as I am eager to start with this mod. Thanks again for sharing this.

[@KenVersus]

Should be the same but you should test with a continuity tester like shown in the video to verify.

[@winandd8649]

I'd make a adapter cable to go from pandora connector to pi connector.. non destructive way to easily switch main boards..

[@alaintopaz1698]

The same with rpi2scart....delicious😋

[@edery2k]

gracias por el dato

[@budokaiboy]

Hi there. I'm trying to add the option for the second input. When I do a usb query I only get the first 2 numbers in your example you have 3. Can anyone here help me out? Here is what I get..... T: Bus=01 Lev=02 Prnt=02 Port=03 Cnt=03 Dev#= 5 Spd=12 MxCh= 0 D: Ver= 2.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 8 #Cfgs= 1 P: Vendor=16c0 ProdID=05e1 Rev=01.01 S: Manufacturer=3H S: Product=3A arcade controller C: #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=20mA I: If#= 0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 1 Cls=03(HID ) Sub=00 Prot=00 Driver=usbhid I'm putting this in the cmd file.....usbhid.quirks=0x16c0:0x05e1:0x040 The last part 0x040 is just me copying what you put in. I have a different board. The Pandora 5 from 3A Games from Aliexpress. Any help would be appreciated. :-)

[@J.A.Z-TheMortal]

Do you you know if there's a 40 pin GPIO cable with the correct pin setup for Raspberry Pi for sale? I would like to keep the Pandora cable intact, and i am worried i could mess the cables. Thanks.

[@KenVersus]

I've never seen a cable like that that's why I had to modify the pandora's cable.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

Considering pandora cables are not all identical then no.

[@edwinkirkland8856]

Thank you soooooo much God bless

[@ScottyBot]

Please send me your old Pandora's box board! lol coworker killed his!

[@MobileDecay]

Can’t you just remap the buttons instead of rewiring it?

[@KenVersus]

Not really since the ground connections don't line up. Do you have to put them in the right place against the gpio.

[@MobileDecay]

@@KenVersus Ah.

[@FabioSpelta]

freaking genius

[@BigHushAffiliate]

Lol noob

[@kyfeam]

love hacking stuff like this.. gonna hack my X-Arcade Tankstick to have a pi inside.. good job!

[@baperacks-com6801]

HELP

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

Many years from now the raspberry pi 4 and all those things mentioned will be out of date.

[@KassieCBR600RR]

By the way those pandora box are fakes that's why the games arent running smooth.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

The lack of a fan is a dead giveaway.