PSPi Version 1000.2 - Raspberry Pi Zero in a PSP Shell

This is the project I've been working on and documenting at otherMod.com for the last couple months. It's the second version of the PSPi, and includes many updated circuits. It's complete now, and the next version is in the works with some big changes coming.
Some of the parts used:
IRF7319 Dual Mosfet ebay.to/2Jyos6J
LM393 Voltage Comparator ebay.to/2HC8GYb
Lithium Charge Controller and Power Board ebay.to/2r1id4H or bit.ly/2KmQlA8
4.3″ Composite LCD ebay.to/2cVVN0O

[@shivarampersaud2332]

Oh My Gawd... That was freaking well done.... You should be proud!!! You fit all that in the PSP's case AND added extra features such as the LEDs, On and off, the actual PSP's buttons, etc. Well done. This is beautiful

[@landonjennings6969]

Great work. I don't know if another Rasberry Pi project has given me goose bumps when I first saw it, but this one did.

[@othermod]

+Landon Jennings That's quite a compliment. Thank you.

[@zaneh1719]

I am just recently doing this with a Wii U gamepad, it is nice to see someone else putting the zero in an iconic device.

[@othermod]

This is the dislike counter. Upvote it if you didn't like the video, and feel free to reply with constructive feedback.

[@hauenpappe3383]

Awesome work dude! It would be great if you could make a build guide video, like wermy did with his game boy zero. Keep on doing your great projects.

[@othermod]

I plan to, but only after I get the PCB finished. Right now this thing takes 15-20 hours to make and is horribly tedious.

[@MegiddoTheImmaculate]

So no documentation of the tedious stuff? But that's the best part!

[@othermod]

Oh don't worry. I'll have plenty of tedious soldering to show you.

[@DarkJuice420]

would be really nice to see you make it.

[@DjStiv3]

im in love with this... perfect idea to what i thought a psp would be with a pi so much better than a gameboy, more buttons, already there to take advantage of and a 4.3in screen. added benefit is now you also can use psp accessories or attachments etc. the 2000 and 3000 have even more accesories and grips if you want. But its also cool that mini usb works and can even add to it with an adapter. thats amazing. and it still charges from the same port, awesome. Lastly you should put in possibly a bluetooth module (idk if pi comes with) and perhaps hdmi or mini hdmi if it can fit to output to a tv, youse headphone jack... and if you want to keep, just relocate it, or just add an hdmi elsewhere. It would be very neat to see.

[@FrostedBattlefield]

This looks absolutely amazing. Once you release your PCB, I'm so going to do this.

[@OpenLogicEFI]

I don't this words can describe how amazing that is.. just freaking WOW

[@leberkassemmel]

This is a even better thing than my Gameboy Pi Zero!

[@BackForwardPunch]

A psp can already run al those emulators... I'm legitimately confused about why you'd do this. Still respect the work itself, tho.

[@josuarohmundjr]

BackForwardPunch because it was broken

[@Nomaran]

BackForwardPunch, also this is running Linux, so you can do more then just game!

[@vandalpir9]

BackForwardPunch totally agree. no local multi player, smaller game library, no volume control, no sleep function... I can keep going lol. the PSP was a great machine!

[@imkindahungry04364]

BackForwardPunch this is literally an entire computer stuffed into a PSP shell. You can run any raspberry pi OS on it, not just use it as a game emulator

[@CorruptName1]

You don't understand because you don't understand liberty! jk, what he did allows him to use the paperwork in any way you could imagine. the pi zero gives makes it a full linux computer with various hardware busses and io pins. this means that the sky is the limit on what can be done with his new gadget.

[@slappymcphee]

great work. looks like a labour of love

[@NODEtv]

Great job. Did you use a regular soldering iron or hot air gun to remove the micro sd socket? Whenever I've tried that, it seems to destroy the power circuit which is next to it.

[@othermod]

The microsd slot is still there. Those pads are on the other side of the board. When I do remove components such as that I use a rework gun. I'll usually add low-temp solder paste to bring the overall melting temp down.

[@jamesrivettcarnac]

This is a gold mine for me, i started a similar project, and battery magment has been making me twitchy

[@luulke]

I love it man now I'm going to have to make one for myself.

[@correia707]

This is sweet!! Great work my friend!

[@ry_man]

Thank you for sharing this project with us. I'm going to link your video to the Pi project sub reddit as I think there will be many others who would enjoy watching this or attempting to "emulate" (haha sorry) your work. How much time would you say you spent on this?

[@othermod]

Easily 15-20 hours. That's not including the hundreds of hours spent designing everything. I'm designing a board so everyone can make one in much less time though.

[@ry_man]

wow that's dedication! Oh really? Any idea when that will be ready to purchase? I have 3 PSP's at home, 2 are 1000s so I'm really looking forward to giving this a try!!

[@othermod]

Projects like this are what keep me sane. I just placed an order for the prototype I designed, so it'll take a few weeks to get made. Once it gets in I have to test and tweak. I'm trying to get something ready to be sold before Christmas. I've had a lot of people say they want to build one for their kids. Let me know which subreddit you're posting in. I like to watch the arguments over whether this project is an upgrade or a downgrade.

[@ry_man]

Posted on two different sub reddits - links below. Fingers crossed that you are in a position to ship these out before Christmas then, would be an ideal project for me to do over the holiday period! I've bookmarked your site so I'll keep an eye on it and hopefully be ordering soon! www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/55q4of/pspi_version_2_raspberry_pi_zero_in_a_psp_shell/ www.reddit.com/r/RASPBERRY_PI_PROJECTS/comments/55q1s4/pspi_version_2_raspberry_pi_zero_in_a_psp_shell/

[@geoffreyjohnstone5465]

Absolutely stunning effort. Thats so impressive. I keep buying Android hand held consoles but if you can build these, you should try to build a Windows system for emulators and slap joystick controls on it. The only thing I have against this type of device is the small screen. A 7 inch screen would just blow the competition out the water.

[@Ezanity]

Brilliant.subbed and will enjoy watching future work.

[@qazeqaz]

I would definitely buy one of these. Have a dead PSP in the closet due to a firmware fail.

[@daigosaito888]

Absolutely fantastic!

[@adamc1764]

Awesome! Can't wait to finish mine

[@andretaulien398]

Great project! You really get me into wanting to make one of these myself!

[@VibesofHarish]

FANTASTIC job! As someone who is basic on electronic mods, I have waited at least a YEAR to see someone do this on a PSP. Tempted to pick up a broken PSP to do this now. I didn't notice in the video (my bad if mentioned) but is the joystick on the left being used? Also, how difficult would it be to use a Pi with WiFi so you can swap out retropi to use as a computer? Does the earphone jack work?

[@othermod]

The joystick isn't enabled in this one. I decided to save it for the one I'm about to build. Wifi would be an easy feature to add, and would really just need a small USB hub. The headphone jack works but doesn't cut the speakers off when the headphones are plugged in. that's another feature I'm including in the next build. It's really easy to change the OS too. I just swap the SD card out.

[@VibesofHarish]

Thank you so much for the reply, I'm very excited for the next build video! What OS can be loaded on with PI? I know Linux is a standard one. Can android or something else be used on something like a PSP?

[@akasickform]

This would make for a great POV quadcopter transmitter (obviously it would probably need a little bit of tweaking if longer range..)

[@hughhughes4488]

I aspire to be able to do something like this. Today I actually soldered on a replacement home button for my 3ds (the ribbon cable housing was gone), the soldering was so tight I had zero hopes it would work. But amazingly, it did. Flux, flux, flux.

[@hughhughes4488]

Than a spot of hot glue to make sure it holds.

[@KillahmanMachine]

Awesome build!

[@TheDigi321]

hey Othermod, does the analog nub work as well? i noticed you touched a bit on nearly every other control but the analog stick(and a few of the buttons on the other side of the start and select buttons), is that what was broken on that psp? and how did you make the custom board? it looks really professional, also nice job on the project

[@othermod]

Not yet on the stick. The analog/digital converter boards should be here any day now, and that should get it working. The motherboard was dead, but all the controls still work. I just don't have them programmed to do anything yet. I'm using Eagle to design the boards.

[@SirSethery]

Cool project, though I agree with a lot of other people that it's a bit pointless since the PSP is already more powerful.

[@TheDutyPaid]

Great work again.

[@gufranceleb8391]

Nice video man 😃

[@volo870]

A very nice build. Why haven't you used HDMI? There is 480x272 (4.3') being sold. It is exactly the same size and resolution as PSP's original screen.

[@othermod]

It wasn't available when I was building this. I do plan to try it though. All my extra $ and time is tied up with getting custom boards made.

[@TheJman5520]

Thats very cool, i always thought about putting a raspberry pi in a psp when i first heard about them

[@damascenoalisson]

Amazing work, you won another subscriber here!

[@nreis02]

Yeah, would be amazing to see how it was made. I have a PSP 1000 that I would love to turn into a emulator.

[@1blisslife]

you still can if you use a jig battery, and appropriate flash to your specific battery. Quite a few ways to do it & plenty of guides here on KZbin.

[@1blisslife]

+1blisslife and PSP firmware btw... or build something like in this video.

[@codelockd0wn]

WOW that is stuffed bro. good work!

[@nidzdotnet76]

This is awesome. I'm considering getting a shell and making one myself however I'm a bit scared of all the custom's required. Would be nice to have a custom pcb made up for connecting.

[@RenManinJapan]

Nice job.. I have a Pi 3 built into a Super Famicon cartridge.. I want a portable.. just don't have the time! There are lots of PSPs for sale in recycle shops around me! I need to build one!

[@AngelGordoJ]

Have you tried making one using all replacement parts only? Not starting from a broken paper? Does the thumb stick work?

[@dsdude500]

Awesome project. One of the cleanest builds I've seen. What song is that at the end of the video?

[@othermod]

kzbin.infomusic The song is Turn On by RW Smith

[@fsevilla1]

great hack. would you mind telling me what is the lcd controller you used.

[@TheGameResponse]

Hey. I'm looking to build something similar though much more basic as I have absolutely no experience with this kind of stuff and was wondering if you would be willing to give me a hand at any point if Im struggling and can't figure it out from Google. If not a more detailed tour of yours would probably be very beneficial.

[@Ham549]

Yeah the thing that shuts off power when the Raspberry Pi power is down. I wanted to make something similar so when I unplugged my pi a battery backup will give it power just long enough for it to fully shut down and then all power to be completely cut off.

[@user56]

wow up until 5:08 i loved your device. but thats a stinking mess inside there! you should really clean that up. no but seriously, very nicely done, great project :D

[@othermod]

Stay tuned. Big changes are coming to the rat's nest.

[@UberWagen]

My only qualm with this is that currently, I use a PS3 controller and classicboy through my android phone. With my phone, I have one less thing to carry, plus I always have a console/screen in my pocket and it's pretty powerful. I can also hook it up to a TV via an HDMI adapter. However, if this thing later on can somehow screencast and use the PSP as the controller, this would be awesome for kids!

[@bennyzhng]

this is really cool, i always wanted a portable retropie (i built one for my tv tho but that is not portable)

[@criminalinfluencer071]

Nice man! How did Retropie work the RCA video?

[@GerdJentz]

Very nice mod! How did you manage the extreme short boot time? My Zero on the desk with retropie boots much slower.

[@othermod]

+Gerd Jentz I edited the video to cut out most of it.

[@GerdJentz]

I see. So the boot time is slow as usual.

[@sajowitz]

nice video m8... planning same project for my broken Pup :) few questions m8, does the analog stick for movement work for any games or anything?

[@moerwijkmichel]

how about a samsung galaxy tab 2 10.1 with a good lcd touchscreen? ?can it be used for a raspberry project

[@Schaff79]

i have an old psp i just want to use the screen ....did u use psp screen or a new screen?

[@FinlandCrafted]

Cool! Is it possible to use the power button behavior of the original PSP, where sliding up the power button once will freeze the device and use a lot less power, but can be restored to the exact state it was in, and holding the button will turn it off?

[@othermod]

Yea that's possible. It would require a redesign of the power circuits. What would probably be easier is to switch the LCD off when the power switch is in the bottom "hold" position. That would only need a few more components.

[@FinlandCrafted]

Ok. I thought that you were using a digital power switch, and not a hard-wired one? Because in that case you would only have to modify some code...

[@othermod]

+iSasFTW I am using a soft switch, but I'm not aware of any low-power mode on the pi that allows resume.

[@FinlandCrafted]

If the emulators support save state, you could turn off the pi and save the state, and when powered on, restore the state. I'm pretty sure the original PSP just turned off the display (and probably wifi and a couple of other things) though, so it might be possible for you to turn off the LCD programmatically, and when the button is held, send a shutdown command.

[@othermod]

I know about save state, but it doesn't really accomplish what the PSP did. The OS still has to be shut down and then loaded up again. Just turning the LCD off would save a ton of power and allow for instant resume.

[@ccf_1004]

Do you use the original screen? Or is it incompatible?

[@AgeofReason]

BTW, what's temps for it like? I didn't see any added cooling vents.

[@-arcadefever]

cool build !

[@ЕвгенийМамонтов-х6ъ]

I hear and watch so many media about RPi. But what RPi and is it possible for ppl like me who dosent know how programm understand it. I want create portable conslole for myself too, but all stuff inside is really hard

[@phoneguy2005]

Will it run a psp emulator

[@imkindahungry04364]

PhoneHACKERS the short answer is no. Raspberry pi zeros don't have anywhere near the necessary GPU for graphic intensive games

[@aintgotnobody5518]

RecaroRacer a rpi 3 can

[@iaincowell9747]

Actually Raspberry pi zeros can run psp, but only at about 15fps.

[@bruhmizr6651]

"we were to busy asking if we could, when we could have been asking if we should"

[@jackk1466]

TechGuy2005 no its a pi 0

[@AntonioBrandao]

Does it play Amiga SWOS nicely?

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Wow brilliant idea!!! Where can I get a pre made one ???????

[@Y2Kxx]

You can't, sadly. You would have to make it yourself.

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Y2K Yeah, but the guy is making a board you can buy right?

[@EdwardSpencer03]

Hanniffy Dinn it's called a raspberry pi

[@EdwardSpencer03]

Hanniffy Dinn Dude I get confused its called being human I didn't know what you were talking about be more specific and I can understand more.

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Edward Spencer You clearly don't even know what this project is about, it's pointless talking to you.

[@illusionalperson676]

I had a working PSP but the part where you insert the disc broke so all i can do is play with the homescreen on it sadly.

[@freakler2404]

Amazing! Very nice job :)

[@lnsflare1]

Would it be possible to hook up an OLED screen to the Raspberry Pi?

[@eldon226]

I really like your project. Do you think you could have fit a wifi circuit in it too?

[@othermod]

Absolutely. It would need a small USB hub, but that would be pretty easy to fit it in there. I even kept the original wifi antenna in this in case I decided to add the feature.

[@eldon226]

would you be willing to build one for sale about December?

[@othermod]

I'm not sure. This took a lot of time to make. Contact me on my site if you want to chat about it.

[@eldon226]

I understand, if you do decide to let me know. I'll definitely get one for Christmas if you do, I'd like the wifi though.

[@nathankennedy8704]

Nice job!

[@leonmatt4799]

Will you do a tutorial video? I'm planning on doin it if yes! Your work is too good, you deserve more views. I'm sharing it! I'm very noob with hardware stuff and i loved that you used all the original buttons i need assistance to get it to work!

[@othermod]

I will absolutely do a build video. All my custom boards are about a week from arriving.

[@leonmatt4799]

Can you also run an Linux like the raspian with onscreen keyboard and using the axis to move the mouse? I plan mostly ln havin this kind of stuff

[@othermod]

Yea Raspbian will work. I'm working on the mouse thing. Just waiting on the Analog/Digital board to arrive so I can get the joystick up and running.

[@leonmatt4799]

oh, okay, can you give me any tip on where i can find the shell with buttons? aliexpress don't seem to have it

[@othermod]

I recommend just getting a broken PSP from eBay. They sell for about $15

[@dannytsuji807]

Good stuff my friend... So you the sony LCD was broken or can it work.. just wondering cause i want to do this i have a broken one lying around..

[@Flabfactory]

I think this is absolutely amazing. I would love to be able to do this but I have 0 experience with electronics. How do I even get started or introduced to hobbyist electronics and how many years would I have to practice and learn before I could tackle a project like this?

[@othermod]

+Flabfactory start with the basics. Either electronics 101 or a good electronics book will get you started. Nothing worthwhile comes easy, but its a fun learning process.

[@reactking7093]

othermod I have a problem similar to him like I have some technical knowledge but not enough to solder in components what do you suggest I do because I feel like as soon as I learn how to do this stuff then I can start making my own devices

[@michaelparker2449]

Are you using the original PSP display in that, and if so where did you get the LCD driver?

[@othermod]

Not original ebay.to/2cVVN0O

[@RenatoRattes]

Amazing work! This is default LCD screen?

[@othermod]

Nope. ebay.to/2cVVN0O

[@aos10]

can you fit Raspberry Pi 2 pr 3 in the PSP 1000 shell?

[@correia707]

For someone who doesn't understand anything about electronics (like me), is it possible to build one like that? Because i am really impressed with these projects, and i would love to assemble one. I'm actually searching for the starting pieces for buy (like solder iron, etc). Is there any website where i can learn how to do this (piece by piece?)? thanks

[@othermod]

+Nuno Correia www.othermod.com That's my site, and I documented the whole process.

[@correia707]

Yes, i have checked your website. It's Great! i am already buying the pieces, but i can't find any psp PCB for the buttons... and i cant understand some of the circuits in the assembly tho

[@othermod]

Aliexpress has the boards for the buttons, but I recommend just buying a broken PSP 1000 on eBay.

[@emremutlu44]

Why did you use that old 320x240 LCD :'( zero has hdmi out :(

[@othermod]

+Emre MUTLU it's 480x272(not much better than 320x240). Find me an HDMI controller that fits into the PSP shell and I'll make it happen.

[@emremutlu44]

Here is a touchscreen 1920*1080 but it is 3.5'' Would look gorgeous but it depends on your taste - size VS resolution... solder work needed for connections. www.aliexpress.com/item/3-5-inch-HDMI-LCD-TFT-Touchscreen-Display-1920-1080-for-Raspberry-pi-2-and-Pi/32774253132.html?spm=2114.13010308.0.0.ApapAj

[@andrepido747]

What if you tried with a 3B+? You could emulate PSX games very well, at least

[@evilconcarne444]

This is great! Do you have a walk through?

[@GuenosNoLife]

Cool, when you make little perfect or finish final, will you remake again to better look cable manager?

[@jlhita]

Amazing job!

[@Sal_The_Sicilian]

this is genuis!! I'd so buy one of these

[@doom5895]

You know you can get homebrew and emulators on a normal psp right?

[@beliwyn4550]

it is exacly what I need, amazing

[@Webserfer22]

Drat, someone beat me to it :P Question about the lcd, how does the quality compare to an original psp especially after going through a composite signal? Like fuzziness, motion blur and colours ect.

[@othermod]

Webserfer22 it's not bad once you get it configured right. I went through 6 or 7 different brands before finding one that looked good enough. It's not quite as good as the original screen, but it's close. My goal is to find a way to use the PSPs original screen.

[@Mordaxe]

this is pretty damn cool

[@DylanDurdle]

Link to some further breakdown description would be handy.

[@DylanDurdle]

othermod.com/pspi-version-2/

[@othermod]

+Dylan Durdle My site is listed in the description and in the video

[@MrFixitMods]

Did you use the screen that comes with the psp or is that an aftermarket screen?

[@othermod]

I used this screen: ebay.to/2cVVN0O

[@MrFixitMods]

Nice i may try this now

[@supervortex8363]

no spwakers? i would love to buy 1

[@mikhailgorbachev3721]

Did you install Wing Commander on it? (MS-Dos game if you didn't) If you did please tell me how it runs. If not please do.

[@jonknieper5896]

nice job. Do you have a video or instructions on how you handled the power switch?

[@othermod]

www.othermod.com you'll find everything you need

[@nickdeets7818]

Are you using the original battery?

[@zExoRandArcade]

holy shit, thats impressive....

[@RiskyBiscuit]

The PSP is already a great emulation device. What are the benifits of turning it into a rasberry pi machine? *EDIT* I suppose it would be much cheaper if its just the shell that you buy for the internals to sit.

[@othermod]

That's exactly it. The PSP just serves as a shell for the Pi. It isn't really meant to be better than the original PSP was, it's just meant to be a fun custom project. Also, the Pi has far more capabilities than just emulating games. I can swap the SD card out and run a different OS in a few seconds. Hook up an external keyboard and I've got a fully functioning computer.

[@nikodemradomski1782]

do you use anything more that the raspberry pi zero? how to conect the screen and buttons?

[@kingjakewolf5348]

he only uses the raspberry pi and the new screen :D the buttons and the screen are connected to a little piece of hardware that makes al buttons works :V

[@trymschjervheim]

I diddnt completely understand the parts you used for the screen to work on the Pi. I was thinking about using a screen like that on my raspberry pi 2. What do i need for that?

[@othermod]

It's just the screen and controller/driver board. I used this screen: ebay.to/2cVVN0O I've got a basic tutorial here: othermod.com/raspberry-pi-zero-composite-lcd-installation/

[@trymschjervheim]

Ah! Thanks :)

[@sparrow6190]

I keep thinking of things I want to make into a raspberry pi. I might just end up making a Frankenstein with this 7" LCD and an old Xbox game controller

[@W00fer]

Why didnt you use the original PSP battery?

[@alexo5625]

Is there any way to fit a pi3 in the psp 2000?

[@TorutheRedFox]

You should make the light flash green when the battery is low and make it flash faster the lower the battery level goes, like a real PSP.

[@othermod]

I was thinking about doing something close to that, but instead of just the green blinking I would make it alternate between green and orange

[@jesuishalil]

Was that a quick boot or video edited?

[@othermod]

+Glychee S edited

[@mickslikker4739]

how did you make the power on/off circuit?

[@AgeofReason]

I'm sure it was a fun project, but do you actually play with portables anymore? The power of the Pi seems best if executed as a console or set top box to me.

[@FloppydriveMaestro]

Age of Reason I built a similar project with a pi 3 and a gamegear. I travel a lot with work so I often take it with me to play. You are correct it is better suited as a set top box or console but if you have use for a portable console its pretty hard to beat.

[@AgeofReason]

I'll give you that. It probably also acts as a portable computer. Does it?

[@FloppydriveMaestro]

Yes. I have 2 memory cards for it and can easily swap them and use it as a mini portable linux computer.

[@AgeofReason]

Ahhhhh! See it gets better now. Lol I knew there had to be more than just repurposing and old plastic box! OK. Now it's awesome.

[@AgeofReason]

Plus it has an HD output, yes? You could then use it as a settop of you wanted, yes?

[@Milan5605]

And with Intel Atom mobile you can run pc games??

[@tradicionmichoacana5758]

where can i get the step by step of this

[@KJ7JHN]

Nice job.