Pinball Repair - Adding a Video Player

Dave builds a video player, and installs it in the Flash Gordon!
Steps to Setup Raspberry Pi Video Looper
Step 1: You will need (prices approximate in Canadian dollars, as of Feb 2024, from various sources):
• Raspberry Pi Zero WH (H for GPIO Header already soldered!) $23.20
• Waveshare 2.8” DPI LCD Touch Screen (be sure to get DPI) $57.59
• MicroSD card (Sandisk, 64 GB) $13.49
• MicroSD card reader/writer $9.98
• USB drive (64 GB) $16.99
• GPIO 40-pin Male to Female connector cable $12.25 (Pkg of 2)
• Micro USB male to USB female converter (known as OTG, or on-the-go) cable $4.99
• Power cable with switch (microUSB to USB) $8.29
• USB power supply (or old phone charger. Should be 2.5A. Mine is 2.4A and works fine) $12.39
• Electrical outlet, $5.00
• Computer with internet connection (not priced; I assume you have one!)
Total Cost: $164.17 (Canadian, approximately $125 US)
Other things you may want/need:
• Raspberry Pi Starter Kit: $15.99
o Case (two parts, top and bottom)
o Mini HDMI to HDMI connector cable
o Heat sink
o 2x20 pin header (not needed if Zero WH used above)
o Micro USB male to USB female converter OTG (on-the-go) cable
o Power cable with switch (microUSB to microUSB)
• Raspberry Pi 5V 3A power supply (substitute for power cable and phone charger above) $17.49
• USB Male/Female Charging Extension Cable, 22AWG, 6 ft, $13.99 (Pkg of 2)
• USB Female/Open End Cable, 22AWG, 30 cm, $10.00 (Pkg of 2)
• Mini HDMI to HDMI connector cable $7.99
• HDMI cable $9.99
• USB Hub $9.99
• USB Keyboard, mouse $24.97
 
Step 2: Install the Operating System and Setup the Video Looper
Download operating system and looper software (based on DietPi/Buster):
• Go to videolooper.de, a German site with free video looping software
• Select latest version, click on it to download. Be patient! It will eventually download, but may take a long time to even start. Do not touch video_looper_v2.6.zip.download. It will soon be unzipped and replaced by video_looper_v2.6.img. This is a disk image of the operating system for the next step.
• Place MicroSD card in card reader, reader in USB port of your home computer
• Go to www.raspberrypi.com/software/
• Click on “Download for macOS” (or as appropriate). Wait for download.
• Click on downloaded file (Imager_1.8.4.dmg) to get Raspberry Pi Imager
• Double-Click on “Raspberry Pi Imager.app”
• Choose Raspberry Pi Zero, Use Custom, video_looper_v2.6.img, Untitled volume (MicroSD card)
• Next. NO to customization, YES to erase existing data, password for your computer, allow access to removable volume, wait…
• Done! MicroSD card is named boot
Changes required for best display of video:
• Edit the file /boot/video_looper.ini using a text editor
• Find the line (near the end of the file) that begins “extra_args”
• Add the command “--aspect-mode fill” to the end of this line:
• extra_args = --no-osd --audio_fifo 0.01 --video_fifo 0.01 --align center --font-size 55 --aspect-mode fill
o This will select the center of your video, eliminating a slim margin on either side, in order to fill the entire Waveshare screen
 
Step 3: Install the Waveshare Display Software
Download and modify Waveshare software:
• Go to www.waveshare.com/wiki/Main_Page Waveshare display list
• Select LCD screen (2.8-inch DPI LCD), takes you to www.waveshare.com/wiki/2.8inc...
• Follow instructions following “For Raspberry Pi OS Buster branch”:
o Place MicroSD card in card reader, reader in USB port of your home computer
o Use text editor to edit config.txt:
Add the following lines at end of file:
Enable Waveshare 2.8-inch DPI LCD screen (Buster OS)
gpio=0-9=a2
gpio=12-17=a2
gpio=20-25=a2
dtoverlay=dpi24
enable_dpi_lcd=1
display_default_lcd=1
extra_transpose_buffer=2
dpi_group=2
dpi_mode=87
dpi_output_format=0x7F216
hdmi_timings=480 0 26 16 10 640 0 25 10 15 0 0 0 60 0 32000000 1
dtoverlay=waveshare-28dpi-3b-4b
dtoverlay=waveshare-28dpi-3b
dtoverlay=waveshare-28dpi-4b
PLUS THESE ADDITIONAL LINES TO ROTATE SCREEN 270 DEGREES:
Rotate by 90 degrees times value (e.g., 90 x 3 = 270 degrees)
display_rotate=3
o Save file
o Download 2.8inch DPI LCD DTBO and extract the dtbo files. Copy these files to the overlays directory (/boot/overlays/). Link to file:
files.waveshare.com/upload/b/...
o Save and quit the MicroSD card safely, remove from home computer
Step 5: If You’ve had Problems
• Check the Waveshare and videolooper websites (where you got downloads above) for additional information. DietPi.com has information on the operating system:
o videolooper.de Help with getting the looper to work
o www.waveshare.com/wiki/2.8inc... Help with getting the screen to display
o dietpi.com/docs/ Help with the operating system
o github.com/popcornmix/omxplay... Help with the video player
o www.onlineconverter.com/resiz... Can be used to resize videos

[@MRNBricks]

That's pretty sweet. Nice work.

[@toadstool1up1321]

Sell this as a mod! Would pay good money for my FG. Great work

[@snextime]

Great job.

[@davesthinktank]

Thanks! It really was a massive project. Hopefully I save someone a month of trial and error!