A new day, a new project to tear apart a Raspberry Pi and subject it to our will. Turning one of these mini computers into a retro console or a media center is easy (and not so traumatic for the hardware), but today we have something that will force us to remove physical ports, perform high-profile hacks, and install a lot of spaghetti. The portal Hyperglitch published complete instructions for building the hgTerm, a Raspberry Pi converted into a portable mini PC, with built-in screen, Bluetooth keyboard, and its own 3D-printed case.
What has been your last hack? Remember it doesn't have to be related to computers. After all, something as classic as turning pants into shorts is a hack. Creativity, improvisation, experimentation, reconversion, desire to learn and make mistakes... hacks give us much more than we think.
If you're wondering where to start, the answer is one of the most frequent recommendations on the Web: Raspberry Pi. Why? It is very well documented, the variety of available accessories is impressive, and if your budget is tighter than usual, you can limit your investment to 20 euros and get a Raspberry Pi Zero W, more than enough to get your hands dirty. However, today it's the turn of a more advanced project: hgTerm.
hgTerm: A Raspberry Pi Transformed into a Portable Mini PC
The folks at Hyperglitch share on their official site detailed instructions for building the hgTerm from scratch, and a fundamental step is to "strip" a standard Raspberry Pi 3 B (the Raspberry Pi Zero can help save space but is too slow, while the 3 B+ consumes too much power).
The display module is the HyperPixel 4 sold by Pimoroni, and for the rest of the configuration we see an Arduino Pro Mini, a Bluetooth keyboard, an RTC module, and a charge regulator (Powerboost 1000c) that is connected to the lithium battery (part of a Xiaomi powerbank). The most complicated part is making all the pieces fit in the required volume... and they damaged a screen in the process.
Once all the connections were made and the Raspberry Pi was "cooled" with a small copper module, they went on to create the case, printed in 3D. The design is open source, and its plans are available on Bitbucket. As for software, the base is Raspbian with i3 replacing OpenBox to adapt better to the small screen.
The final touch? Test it with a PlayStation emulator. Yes, hgTerm is still thick even with the modifications, and for the final price of the components you might get a refurbished laptop... but it won't be DIY, will it?
Official site: Click here
