XCade

[ex0r]

Hello everyone, I wanted to post my project, and I will continually post updates on it as I progress:

I am using a 512MB pi, and an old original xbox case as the case. My end goal is to have a retro gaming system, that looks like a gaming system, and has everything internal :)

I took apart the original xbox and gutted it, but saved the internal power supply. It will supply all the power I need for my USB Hub and to power the pi internally as well.

The original xbox had four controller ports on the front, which were basically proprietary USB connections. I removed the connectors, drilled and dremeled out the internals, making it just a hollow shell. It’s the perfect size for USB extension cables to fit into, giving me four external USB connections that will plug into an internal usb hub (The system will only require the use of two controllers at a time, but I have 2 free usb slots I can use for a keyboard/mouse or any other combination I need) (Including plugging in a usb flash drive for transferring stuff over).

The front bezel has two LEDS on it, which I plan to incorporate as a powered state, and a powered on state (There is one LED on each side of the power button, and when the system is plugged in, but not on, the right side will illuminate, and when the pi is on and running, the left side will be on, completing the circle around the power button. The power button will act as a power on/power reserve for the pi. (It will be connected to two GPIO pins on the pi, one for sending a shutdown command, and one for the dedicated pin to turn the pi back on from halt/standby). There is also an original eject button that used to eject the disc drive, but will be used to perform a hard reset in the case the system freezes or locks up (Connected to the reset jumpers on the pi). The main power supply is going to power the USB hub, which will power any devices connected to it (I will probably eventually put in a portable hdd but for now just the four usb extension cords), and will also power the PI. While the pi is on standby, the psu will keep the rest of the system on so I can quickly boot back into the pi by pushing the power button.

The back of the original xbox case has a cutout for cat5e cable, which will have a connector hot-glued and wired to an ethernet cable internally connected to the pi (along with a wireless usb dongle internally)

The original a/v cable cutout is going to be patched and replaced with an HDMI passthrough on it, and I will drill three new holes for composite connections for connecting to standard def TVs.

I am still debating on if I want to keep the XBox Jewel on the top how it is, or clear it out and put a couple of status LEDs in there, but I may just leave it green, or clear it out, sand down the XBOX part of it, and repaint it green. what do you think ?

Here are a couple of pictures of progress so far, which isn’t much other than the case being torn apart.

[ex0r]

Here’s an updated video of what i’ve gotten done so far:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsjG0fDC-jI

After this video was taken, I went on quite a binge to tighten up some stuff, and it’s just about finished, so I will post pictures of the finished product hopefully tomorrow!

Please give me you comments in this post or on the youtube channel with your thoughts!

BTW: How do I include a picture in the topic title, like others have ?

[ex0r]

Its finally done.. xcade is finished and all is well! These pictures show how the end product looks.

[Author]

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