PSPi 6 - Raspberry Pi Zero (and 2W) and Compute Module 4 in a PSP

Meet the new PSPi 6, formerly called the PSPi Compute. Its made for the Raspberry Pi Zero (and 2W) and the Compute Module 4.
This is a custom all-in-one board I've been working on since the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 was released. It allows you to turn your broken PSP into an emulation system or a fully functioning portable Linux system, all without making any modifications to the PSP shell.
It works with any 40-pin Raspberry Pi boards (intended for the Zero and Zero 2W) and the Compute Module 4.
Buy the board
jlcpcb.com/?from=othermod
othermod.com/product/pspi-6-b...
Schematics/PCB
oshwlab.com/adamseamster/pspi...
Code
github.com/othermod/PSPi-Vers...
PSPi Playlist
• PSPi
linktr.ee/othermod
Donation Links
othermod.com/donate/
/ othermod
Social Links
/ othermod
/ othermod
www.minds.com/othermod/

[@larko2933]

so basically you downgraded the psp

[@user-ys4op3ux1p]

How? I'm pretty sure the pi can emulate a psp plus a bunch of other consoles.

[@user-hm9cd9yb8x]

No? The rpi boards allow a lot more flexibility while also running Linux as the OS which gives you full control over the underlying system. Maybe it isn't for you, but for hardware nerds such as myself stuff like this isn't a downgrade and is stupidly useful. Also, the gpio pins can probably allow mango pi and other boards such as some of the beagle or orange pi boards and are probably a lot more powerful with a bit of studying of the schematics. The possibilities are pretty much limitless.

[@donaldjuan4934]

@@MrLeroyFox It is obvious that you can't understand. I see the level of the projects on your channel is sticking eyes onto your dogs head when it's upside down.

[@BlueEyedVibeChecker]

@@user-hm9cd9yb8x Linux and gaming go together like oil and water lmao. It's one of two reasons I dual boot instead of making the full switch over to Linux Mint. That, and Paintdotnet.

[@fordesponja]

@@user-hm9cd9yb8x The only real reason would be reusing a PSP shell from an unrepairable console. And that's it, everything you said can be done in other shells.

[@disadvantagedchef2683]

Every single day I look at my pile of broken psp's. You are a genuine inspiration man, I've loved watching how the project has progressed. Can't wait till I can make my own pspi

[@evilmonkeywithissues]

I would be willing to take a few of those broken PSPs off your hands, my friend!

[@evilmonkeywithissues]

@@randomacc7808 I know, people have been trying to charge close to $180 for any generation of the console since the pandemic. It's like when GameCubes suddenly became popular a few years ago and jumped from $30 to $100 almost overnight.

[@buddyguy4723]

did you pick one yet or are they all still in the pile?

[@evilmonkeywithissues]

@@randomacc7808 That's great! I'm trying to keep an eye out for good deals myself. There's a pawn shop that my dad uses that he says sometimes gets old consoles in, and they always sell them dirt cheap, so he asked the owner to give him a call the next time they got a Vita or PSP in. Hopefully I won't be waiting too long for one to show up.

[@PranshuTheGamer]

comment has exactly 256 likes at the time of writing. nice

[@surajtomar4870]

I love how PSP's UI looks so fresh and responsive even after decades.

[@Retrovertigo53]

It hasn't been even 2 full decades （笑）

[@rosiehaircolor2299]

that's retroarch though

[@majorskies7091]

@@rosiehaircolor2299 based from the psp and ps3 ui lol

[@rawk0r]

@@rosiehaircolor2299 It's actually the XMB UI on Lakka (they showed RetroArch right before)

[@olokosdsfddfdfs]

This isn't PSP UI, this is Retroarch UI.

[@Dunleap]

I know nothing about boards and circuts, but I admire this type of projects. Best wishes man, humanity is destine to greatnes by people like you

[@othermod]

Thank you for the kind words

[@8ddman274]

only 1 comment

[@8ddman274]

among us

[@jonatan_leandoer96]

​@@8ddman274Posted up in the kitchen

[@snarkyjay4744]

This is so cool! It blows my mind you were able to design, prototype, and create this fantastic PCB for the PSP body. It's one of my favorite handhelds, and seeing it get love like this is great! Look forward to more content!

[@brandongoeckner6602]

Its an understatement how impressive your determination to excellence is in this design.

[@Youcef8830]

I love that your voice isn't overwhelmingly "KZbin".

[@gingertom64]

Sitting patiently waiting for this to be completed. PSP shell and compute module sat in a box waiting. Thank you for all your hard work on this.

[@SRC267]

I might do this too

[@MarbleThumbs]

What a brilliant way to make use of a beautiful shell, lovely work man.

[@othermod]

Thank you very much

[@MaverickNE]

That's actually crazy, it's stuff like this that motivates me to work with hardware. Keep up the great work

[@othermod]

Thanks for the compliment

[@GeomancerHT]

Maybe you can use a small USB-C cable adaptor just long enough so you can remove the PSP charger port and route the new USB-C male cable end to that place and possibly clamp it with a 3d printed piece. This is incredible work, I would have never expected something this up on the hardware generations level, having seen the open sourced GBCs as great, a PSP is amazing, a new level entirely.

[@charizard4410]

I believe a solid core wire for charging would be the way to go. They like to stick to whatever shape you put them in, and a 3d printed mount would help keep the design clean. The only issue would be finding a supplier for a custom length solid core usb c cable from male to female.

[@ahmidiyasser376]

@@charizard4410 why not a small pcb with a female USB C connector on one side, and pads on the other side, so you can get whatever length USB c cable u got, trim it to size and solder it.

[@charizard4410]

@@ahmidiyasser376 Good point, and i tried finding a custom length usb c cable with the specifications i had in mind, and it was almost $150 from the only company i can find that would make a custom solid core usb c cable with a male connector on one end and female on the other and it still didn't look like it would fit right.

[@Electheo]

I’d use a flexible pcb, many benefits to using it.

[@boss_niko]

Many handhelds come and go but PSP will remain in our hears forever.

[@SaneGhoul]

Just saw Macho Nacho’s video on the progress thus far. I really love the idea of an easy(ish) mod of the PSP. And I really appreciate the dedication to keeping the original design of the PSP intact, no big modifications. AND the open source nature of the project that doesn’t stifle progress. I’m super interested in trying this with the CM5. Looking forward to getting this once it comes out. Amazing work!

[@luh034]

This is my first time hearing about this project. It's really cool, and even though I will likely never put this into my own PSP, I'll definitely keep up to date with this!

[@norndev]

This is awesome. I'm fairly sentimental when it comes to PSP's so I love that someone is still working on keeping them out of the landfill in 2023 and preserving them for everyone that loves them.

[@sharzy7209]

The psp is my favorite handheld of all time. Definitely going to keep following this project and look forward to more updates in the future

[@doro4414]

Wow!!! So much work in this project. This is one hell of a project. Awesome job man!

[@esvedium]

I built an OG Gameboy Pi thing a few years back and really enjoyed it. There was a lot of soldering, and it was kinda janky, but it was a fun project. This, however, is a whole new level of cool! Following your progress on this, for sure! Thanks (for once) to the youtube algorithm for actually suggesting something amazing!

[@gijoe7370]

This is simply fantastic project u r working on, all the best and i hope ur channel grows exponentially

[@othermod]

Thank you

[@AphexWebb]

I'm amazed by this. The psp modding scene has always been exciting and inventive. This has to be the most inventive mod ever for the console. This breaths new life into it. I look forward to seeing more from this project. Nicely done!

[@ChrisTian-sd5yq]

can I play vita games?

[@aiodensghost8645]

​@@ChrisTian-sd5yqno. Lack of right analog stick, back touchpad, front touchscreen.

[@acex222]

This isn't much of a PSP mod, it's a completely different mainboard

[@christopherhorne8665]

​@acex222 exactly. This is an evolutionary backwards step. The psp is more powerful than a pi.

[@pontiacg445]

@@christopherhorne8665 lol, no. The PSP was released in 2004 and has 32mb of ram on a single thread 32bit cpu running 222mhz at most, and 333mhz on unofficial overclocks. 166mhz GPU with a whopping 2Mb of GPU ram. The PSP is an absolute nugget, although it was pretty legit around it's release date. An original pi is significantly faster, and didn't come out till near a decade after the PSP.

[@danandrei96]

wow, I am in awe at this project, you've done some amazing work!

[@hamiltonalexUA]

You won’t believe how long I waited for something like this. Legend👍

[@ericblenner-hassett3945]

JLCPCB and a few others can do " Flex " cables and that looks like a place to have one for the USB. Test ahead of time if the data and power are swapped or not before hand as the orientation does not look like they are, yet they could be. If you do go for a flex cable, you may want to consider " finger " ends ( gaps from the plastic ) for the PSP board side and a normal flat end for the pi board side. This is a very interesting project and wonderful design choices at this point.

[@italianbasegard]

It’s immediately apparent from the start of this video how cool a product like this could be, but when I heard you mention the visual indicator for speaker level @ 4:30, I knew you wouldn’t stop with this project until it was truly “done right”. Keep it up

[@othermod]

Absolutely. There is always something I can add or improve.

[@Globbs]

​@@othermodI want to buy the finished product. 😊

[@jodyandmichelle1]

Super excited to get my hands on these boards. Gonna start collecting PSP stuff in anticipation.

[@user-fy7ru4ii1i]

I made a pandora's battery + Magic memory stick, some YEARS ago, with a friend. Once we did it and tested it (and it worked), we had a lineup of friends coming to visit us to mod their PSP's. From bricked PSP's to long term owners who wanted a quick mod. Those were fun days.

[@hugomundo4826]

First thing on my mind is, why? Because the psp is such a good emulation machine already. But then, awesome project, dude! the evolution on your work is amazing.

[@MatthewCobalt]

The PSP is designed really great for portable gaming, but the internal hardware itself is becoming more and more antiquated. It's also about being able to use something with a more modern feature set and better compatibility with modern software tools.

[@chomp7927]

compared to a pi the PSP is way behind in emulation, not to mention the hoops you need to jump through compared to how easy things are with the pi and the still active community around it

[@Globbs]

As others have said it really just needs more processing power. I had a couple emulators on mine and it was cool. Id definitely convert my old unused PSP.

[@SToad]

Incredible. Inspirational. Life changing. Well maybe not life changing but thank you! This is such a great use of a broken PSP. I feel inspired to make one of these one day.

[@MGJJ123]

Bro this is amazing great work so far.

[@smoscar]

Awesome work!!! 🔥

[@stonededge]

Very nice work!

[@GhostOnWater]

I just came across your video though my feed and I got to say what a creation you made! Keep pushing through your bad times (if you have any not assuming you do, but who doesn't?) and keep going strong. Your creation blew my mind and I love it and want one of my own. It's a work of art.

[@TheRealKnightchip]

This is really cool! Fantastic work

[@Spazzmoticus]

Putting a CM4 into the psp sounds awesome. The pi zero in my version 4 is a little under powered and I have a few extra CM4s lying around so it sounds like an upgrade might be in order.

[@leonoliveira8652]

You can try a zero 2 meanwhile.

[@Rowrin]

Wow this is really amazing. I've been fixing up some broken PSP's, putting them in new shells, soldering on new switches etc. Ended up with one with a water damaged main board and rusted umd drive. The other boards like analog, buttons all work. Was going to use it as a donor for parts, but this project has me thinking it's the perfect candidate for a brain transplant lol.

[@ILostMyOreos]

This absolutely rips. Amazing. I only have cursory experience with hardware so this is so cool

[@epicshadowkrazee]

Dude. This is an amazing idea, and I can't wait to build one myself. 12/10, keep doing what you're doing!

[@r_firefly4292]

It would be a lot of fun to revive a PSP in such interesting way!

[@sirflimflam]

I only just discovered this project but I love it. I had similar idea a few years ago with an old DS lite I had kicking around, but it stayed as an idea with some _very_ rudimentary kicad schematics for interfacing with the hardware... Seeing this makes me want to dust off that idea again.

[@Khipher]

I think this video was the extra push I needed to want to get into all things hardware coding related

[@woutervandegroep4374]

First time seeing this- this is ridiculously awesome!

[@DatBlueHusky]

this is crazy, i have a few psp's sitting around and would be awesome to do this, then it can be reverted back easily with no damage. I really hope you work with a website to mass sell these or open your own. The world needs this for the amount of psp's still laying around collecting dust or junk systems with bad boards.

[@TheOneAndOnlyTBash]

your doing the lords work.

[@1777bond]

great project man! I wish I knew about this kind of development, keep the good work coming :)

[@morebasheder]

Saw this earlier on Tito's channel. This is incredible work 👏

[@othermod]

Thank you

[@aquieomax]

this is phenomenal. i would love to see this kind of thing inside a original gba shell. i think i could even learn all the necessary to do this.

[@leonoliveira8652]

There's... at least one gba-shaped handheld with a pi inside. It has four buttons and an analog, and I think it has extra shoulder buttons too. I've seen it in the past but since it's not what I was looking for, I didn't follow.

[@davidrato2947]

There's at least one from China I believe, with a CM3 It's not a unmodified case but still.. search for " lcl cm3 " But I much rather have this psp one !

[@radianttakanuva8388]

That exists! The Freeplay - there's one with a Zero, and one with a CM3 compute model. They sell expansion boards to add dual triggers, sticks, HDMI out, etc + clean amp mods, USB type C rechargeable, etc. I hope this is the start of that sort of console with this project. The main barrier I foresee is a lack of aftermarket shells

[@aquieomax]

@@radianttakanuva8388 i took a look at it, and the lcl too, but unfortunately they are very expensive, for me

[@kleingib213]

@@radianttakanuva8388 3D printing will make that a non-issue

[@mileskosik472]

This is incredibly cool, I'm so glad this got recommended to me! I have always been interested in a little emulation machine, but have always been off put by the not so great looking ergonomics, and I looove the PSP ergonomics, so I'll definitely be making one of these once you consider it finished! Keep it up!

[@spaceraisin.]

Just an fyi, unless you want stuff like N64 then the PSP running custom firmware is also a perfectly capable emulation machine :)

[@AtariWow]

You could always get something like a PowKiddy X55 (or something else from the many other companies in that market)

[@suhtangwong]

Dream coming true! Amazing work!

[@TRIPPLEJAY00]

Oh this is so awesome. I love people who are devoted to project's.

[@LollygagDev]

Really good progress 👏

[@Yous0147]

Seeing Zelda run on a PSP is awe-inspiring. Awesome work and great video.

[@obudanbondon]

you could always run Zelda ALTTP on the PSP. wym ?

[@HoLDoN4Sec]

i've been following this project on and off for the past two years and your passion for the project and progress really shows. i do have some suggestions: 1. you can design a flexible ribbon cable for internal USB connections. 2. you can actually route the pi's micro-HDMI to the PSP's IR blaster port, and i think the black filter there is big enough that maybe a Mini-HDMI port could fit in there (IR Blaster is unused in the PSPi project so that would be the perfect place) for a clean HDMI out appearance. 3. i believe if you use passive cooling with some little high density heat sinks for the Pi zero then heat management could be a little bit better. 4. i noticed in your circuit that the audio circuit isn't quite separated away from the rest of the PCB, or well it is not sitting further from the rest of the circuit - while charging / utilizing bluetooth or wifi do you experience any sort of audio interference from transient frequencies due to electricity?

[@othermod]

1. Do you know of any pre-made microUSB solutions that will fit into the case? I like the FPC idea, but everything I found was too bulky. 2. Micro HDMI is right up there with USB-C for most-requested features. I think my preference would be to just go all the way and make a PSP-like custom shell that has 2 joysticks, HDMI out, USB C, and anything else that's reasonable, and make a simpler board that doesn't have to exactly match the PSP board. Maybe I'll do this in the future. 3. The Zero normally stays very cool. The CM4 on the other hand...I am using a thermal pad to draw the heat away. Ss far the passive cooling is working well, especially with the new charge IC. 4. I have the audio running through a pretty decent buffer and filter setup, and it has its own dedicated linear regulated power source. I haven't noticed any noise, but I do intend to go further and put the audio on its own ground plane.

[@mileskosik472]

The IR port actually seems like it would be great for a USB C port, it's probably impossible to have both power and video transfer over one USB C port, but it would be cool to have a single USB C for both be the only external visual difference. Maybe make two boards, one with USB C for video and the mini USB for power, or for people who don't care as much about having video out, USB C as power only.

[@farcere]

@@mileskosik472 power and video is what thunderbolt does through USB C

[@ZephyrDavid]

This is what is called dedication and talent. Great work!

[@othermod]

Thanks

[@murzak1821]

Didn't heard about you and this video but I only seen a thumbnail and fell in love - looks awesome

[@nullcoreproject]

It'd be interesting to see SteamOS running on this, if that's even possible. Nice work!

[@stanb1455]

wont ever happen for the time being

[@FreeUgcgamecards]

Dude this is amazing! It was always my dream that someone remakes the psp with the same shell, same looks but powerful hardware. is the PSPi capable of running DS games? because thats one thing i could never get to work on my modded psp

[@gormless-idiot]

It can do whatever a Compute Module 4 can, and later whatever a Compute Module 5.

[@theretrogeek2281]

That’s excellent work,long time coming Well done 😊👍🏽

[@othermod]

Thank you

[@sikiruekunsumi2482]

This is so cool. Cant wait till its finished

[@MakeOrBreakSociety]

Definately going to order one. And I'm down to do some testing with you!

[@electricspider2267]

I always remember definitely and infinity are spelled kinda similarly. It helps me spell definitely.

[@MysticWhiteDragon.]

That's awesome news. Would be cool to try to get HDMI somehow through the IR window for HDMI out. Might need a little bit of filing unless it were to be micro HDMI like the Pi4. Of course then a 3D printed part could be used to hold the micro HDMI plug. Plus maybe use some of the FPC cable adapters for the USB and HDMI. That way it can be easily attached to the board without any soldering.

[@othermod]

I think the CM4 interface board will allow for this. I'm still just focusing on getting things working and polished, but it should be pretty straightforward to make a CM4 board with this.

[@MCVAMP666]

​@@othermodI'm selling a psp bundle with pabdora battery tool if you wanna buy? Nobody seems to have it so just letting you know. 👍👍

[@flosa1995]

​@MCVAMP666 You can easily make a pandora battery yourself by modifying traces that's why it's useless tbf

[@MCVAMP666]

@@flosa1995 ita definitely not easy to make one especially what mine us either I have video uploaded on my channel with led ones. To make your self a pandora battery it takes alot of skills to open a battery and make certain cuts in there and glue and Thermal pasting on chip. Not a simple task for a normal person.

[@haskinlommd]

​​@@flosa1995it is definitely not easy to make especially with LED that guy person was saying the hard part is the Thermal burn paste on the chip pieces inside the battery and glue together the parts in there one little drop your done.

[@realgustavof]

This is so cool, great job!

[@MultiGameSystem]

Ribbon usb cable. I've used ribbon hdmi cables for limited space applications.

[@othermod]

Do you know of any pre-made ones that are small enough to fit into the case?

[@MrBorderdown]

Legitimate question. Why? The PSP can run emulator natively up to PSX and keep PSP game / disc support. The pi runs ps2, DC, and such but it's slow and compatibility is janky. It can't emulate PSP perfectly either. There are also devices less expensive that have dual analog and support the same emulation range. What gap does this project fill and does it do it for less money? I can't think of one. Please correct me. I'm genuinely curious. Why not just use a Vita also, it's much more powerful kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGbdlZJ_dteBsM0si=3HwiF3KJE-sYNlZS

[@somehow_not_helpfulATcrap]

I remember a PI Zero USB carrier board that soldered directly to the USB pads on the bottom of the Pi Zero. A PCB something like that with nice castellated mounting moles would make for a easy to install with a soldering iron, reversible with hot air reflow, and very mechanically secure place to break out the USB pads to the PSP's USB port.

[@Rory_shi]

I would've never thought of this even a single time. Damn, that is so clean with that skin, too!

[@rpm10k.]

But... Why?

[@institute9879]

this is also puzzling to me

[@chadgarc]

Maybe it could be useful for those $25-$35 psp's you find for parts only

[@abid2586]

This mind-blowing. Fantastic job you are an inspiration

[@sleazyeezy9452]

I was legit laying in bed playing my PSP the other night thinking why hasn’t anyone done this yet?! And boom recommended! Thank you 😂

[@TheBaldOne]

I love this, I missed out on the other versions but I'll for sure pick up this new one!

[@raspbean716]

Looks awesome, good work

[@lowmantequilla]

Definitely doing this in winter with my PSP, greetings from Germany mate!

[@coey25]

First time here. This is so dope! 🤙

[@jonathanmilstead]

Looks amazing man

[@7073shea]

This is epic bro. Nice work

[@yairchimal2867]

The design of the pcb is aweosome.

[@blankfido7229]

New sub❤ from India 🎉thanks for all the hard work and trying things out which most of the people dont or not able to

[@JulianUccetta]

This is amazing! Can't wait to see it finished, would love to try this myself. I would love to see something like this done with the PS Vita.

[@szubert51]

That's what I thought! PS Vita would be awesome with something like this

[@raphifpv]

great stuff man, love that you are doing such things! Keep on :)

[@othermod]

Thanks

[@unpotat7672]

This is really amazing! I can see you doing something like this with the Switch in 10-15 years time when it’s internals are also aged! I’m half tempted to put my coding hat back on and give you a hand but it has been ages! Low powered computing is just so much fun right now! As much or if not more so than working on things that require a 3080+

[@dontbleedthadalo]

Super cool project man!

[@patrickhdsn]

Awesome. This is giving me flashbacks of blowing my friends minds showing them my hacked psp playing roms and homebrew back in the day. That and the ds were the best handhelds.

[@mechamania]

Oh, HE🏒🏒’s YEAH!!! That’s freakin’ sweet! Thanks for the UI tour and tech breakdown!

[@wensz1]

Greta job. Thanks a lot of work done.

[@user-jq5ie5mg5m]

Well done. Looking forward to seeing your progress

[@wyattarich]

Fantastically well done, you earned a sub.

[@junovicz]

This project is so cool!

[@cmm159]

That's awesome I so can't wait until the project is fully done. I definitely will buy a final version.

[@Nethezbet]

Brilliant, great work.

[@dazbrugernavn]

just stumpled on this video, this is so awesome, keep up the good work!

[@othermod]

Thanks

[@juanmiron2321]

this is badass dude. Wish i hadn't gotten rid of my old cracked PSP now. might go get me one again.

[@merthyr1831]

This would be an amazing gift for someone into retro gaming, or a kid who wants their first mobile gaming device. Super cool

[@onkelhiphop]

Nice work I can’t wait to see the finished pspi

[@phara128]

thank god for the youtube algorithm. fantastic project! i have an OG PSP ready for this!

[@leomysky]

Thank you for the video, man Good luck

[@Del0w_]

awesome word dude, love seeing this old hardware getting a new lease of life

[@othermod]

Thanks

[@DeViL303]

Wow, Impressive. Thanks for doing this!

[@christofferainek]

Had no idea this project existed! This looks like a perfekt match for my dusty old PSP-shelf-warmer.

[@Missterpaja]

Wow what a amazing job!

[@phunktasticvoyage]

Such a great project! You have some room in a psp phat to work with, so I really hope you get there

[@Linkislinkoopsie]

This is sick dude, I love when people can find use for these old consoles that just don't have the power anymore :( people used to gawk at the PSP! Hopefully this will make people feel like they did back then, I may have to make my own soon!

[@killitgameing658]

I would never dare touch a first gen and do something like this but for increasing the usefulness of the later production models especially when they're beat up this is a pretty cool idea