You basically 'fill in' the through-hole on the Pi's GPIO pins, and hope that the solder makes a connection with the surface pad under the through-hole. I guess you could call it "blind cup-hole soldering". The first step is taping it to the board so it aligns with the pads on the board: The most nerve-wracking part was soldering the Pi Zero 2 to the Null 2. I also ended up using flux, solder, and some Q-tips to clean some parts with alcohol once I splashed flux all over them :)
#How to set up retropie on raspbian portable#
I finally have my own portable gaming handheld-and even better, I hand-made it! I even 'hand-made' some of the software, too, since the official Null 2 image-at least at the time of this writing-doesn't work on the Pi Zero 2 hardware! Video I guess out of a sense of jealousy, I decided the first thing I should do with Raspberry Pi's latest hardware, the Pi Zero 2 ( see my review here), is build myself a handheld retro gaming console.Īnd what better way than with the Null 2 kit (pictured above, from it's Tindie page), a kit integrating off-the-shelf components on a custom PCB, wrapped up nicely in a custom acrylic case.
#How to set up retropie on raspbian Pc#
I've played console and PC games, I've only used handhelds twice: once in middle school, when a friend let me borrow his Game Gear for a day, and last year year when my dad brought over his Nintendo Switch-which my kids quickly commandeered. Heck, as luck would have it I've never owned a Nintendo Switch, either. As a kid, I never had a Game Boy, Game Gear, or any other handheld console.