• home
• products
• learn
• free games
• company

Tutorials -> ODROID -> Tutorial 13

Tutorial 14: Build Tutorial for ODROID-XU4 with an OGST Case

• Author: Brian A. Ree

  
  

  Sections

  - Parts Needed
  - Tools Needed
  - Introduction and Tutorial Goals
  - Reviewing the Parts
  - Prepping The Case Top
  - Finishing Up
  

  
  
  

  0: Parts Needed

  - A Working Monku Retro 3 / ODROID-XU4:     link XU4
  - An OGST ODROID-XU4 Case:     link OGST Case
  

  1: Tools Needed

  - Small Screw Driver Set
  - Velcro Strip Permanent or Velcro Strip Removeable
  - External USB 3 Harddrive
  

  2: Introduction and Tutorial Goals

  This tutorial covers the process of housing your ODROID-XU4 device in a beautiful OGST case. The reason why we want to use the larger OGST case is because it comes with an expansion board that allows you to add power and reset buttons to the case and a place to hold an external USB harddrive. This will allow you to increase the available storage space to GB or TB depending on your harddrive size. This tutorial will show you how to quickly and easily assemble the case and secure the harddrive to the case. Needless to say if you're building a retro gaming console this really opens the door for storing a ton more games.

  3: Reviewing the Parts

  Let's take a look at the parts we'll be working with. The following image shows the hardware needed for using the XU4 with OGST as a retro gaming case.

  
  
  

  The setup I'll be working on, shown above, during this tutorial is an XU4 running Lakka. You can actually use any setup you want on your XU4. If you want more storage space then the OGST and this tutorial are for you. A wireless Game Sir controller. A 64GB misro SD for the boot drive. A KESU external USB 3 harddrive with 250GB of storage. Now I could have gone bigger but the drive is $40, so this is the perfect setup for the retro console builder on a budget. I'll post some links for XU4 building tutorials and parts below.
  
  - Wired Game Sir Wired Controller (Hard Kernel)    $17
  - Wired Game Sir Wired Controller (Amazon)    $17
  - Wired Game Sir Wireless Controller    $17
  - KESU 250GB USB 3 External Harddrive    $37
  
  
  Now to hold the drive securely in the case we need some velcro strips. This will give us a secure but easily detachable way to store the harddrive in the case. You have two options, super strong permanent strips or strong but removable strips. If you want to potentially reuse the hardrive without having velco strips on it for life then you might want to go for the second option. Here are the links for the two types of strips.
  
  - Heavy Duty Velcro Strips    $3
  - Removable Velcro Strips    $3
  
  
  

  
  
  

  Once you've got that all sorted out you'll be ready to build your advanced case. Remember you can always go bigger on the harddrive. As long as it has a similar size to the link provided above it will fit in the case fine. I chose to use the super strong version of the velcro tape because I wanted the drive to be firmly held in place and have very little chance of coming off. I also don't intend to use the harddrive for something else as it was purchsed soley for this console project. Next let's open up our OGST case and see what's inside.

  
  
  

  In the case you'll find an expansion board with a small screen. A set of plasic caps, a ribbon cable, 2 USB cables and some screws. Oh and of course a case. The cables are important! They USB A to USB Micro B cable is perfect for the external USB drive. It has a 90 degree connector that will make it much, much easier to house the drive in the OGST case. Let's take a look at our XU4 hardware.

  
  
  

  Again we're using the XU4 with a 64GB micro SD card. You'll need a screw driver at this point. A standard electronics screw driver set should do the trick. Now if you don't know how to setup your XU4 with an OS you can follow the links below.
  
  - Munku R3 / ODROID-XU4 Ubuntu with Retroarch Multi-use Console - Tutorial Part 1 - Munku R3 / ODROID-XU4 Lakka Retro Gaming Console - Tutorial Part 1
  
  From this point on I'll assume you have your XU4 device all setup. Because I'm building this case for a retro gaming console and because I want to use every last drop of the device's resources for emulation I decided not to setup the second screen on the expansion board. If you want to set your's up, this may depend on the OS you're using on your device. You can find more information at the links below.
  
  - OGST Case Second Screen Info (Wiki)
  - OGST Case Second Screen Info (Wiki)
  
  
  That ends this section of the tutorial. Next up we'll start putting things together.

  4: Prepping The Case Top

  The board mounts upside down on the top side of the case. This is perhaps a bit unusual but as you'll soon see the case is wonderfully designed and very easy to use. The two pictures below depict the mounted XU4 board on the top side of the OGST case. TIP: Take your time with the screws. The fit is a little strange due to the larger threading on the screws. Just take your time and carefully tighten them until the board is secure. Try not to over tighten them. The picture shows the XU4 board, screws, case top, and the screw driver I'm using.

  
  
  

  The following pictures depict the board in position and properly screwed into the case top.

  
  
  
  
  

  Next up we'll be setting up the expansion board and ribbon cable. The picture below depicts the parts you'll need for this step.

  
  
  

  We want to connect the ribbon cable to the mounted board first. Make sure you have the direction marker facing the correct way. The marker requires a slot in the ribbon cable connector. Line up the slot on the ribbon cable connector with the mark on the cable itself. Carefully make sure that the ribbon cable is all the way into the connector. You may need to take your time and push it down evenly. TIP: Don't put too much pressure on the board when your attaching the ribbon cable.
  
  Next you'll want to attach the expansion board. Again make sure the ribon cable mark is properly aligned with the slot on the ribbon cable connector. Be extra careful when attaching the ribbon cable to the expansion board as it is very easy to end up pressing on the screen and potentially cracking it. After the ribbon is connected take off the screen protection sticker and let the screen sit in the two guide slots built into the case as shown below. Don't push it all the way into the case top just yet.

  
  
  

  Next up we want to connect the USB to USB cable. This splits one USB port on the XU4 board into 4 USB ports that are available on the front of the OGST case. Notice that we want the USB cable to sit on top of the ribbon cable as shown below. We are working on the top of the case so everything we're doing will be flipped upside down when we're done. The USB cable should be below the ribbon cable this will make it easier to access in case you want to take apart the case.

  
  
  

  That brings us to the end of this section of the tutorial. In the next section we'll cover connecting and securing the harddrive.

  5: Finishing Up

  Now we are going to prepare the harddrive. Holding the harddrive upside down use the included drive USB cable to connect the harddrive to the expansion board. Notice that we are bending the cable and sort of visualizing how the hardrive will sit in the case. This is a good time to make sure that the drive can fit and that the cables all behave nicely. Take a look at the picture below. In this shot I'm double checking how the cable works with the drive's cable connection. It looks like it'll play nicely with the case.

  
  
  
  
  

  Ok, so we still haven't put any thing to gether yet. We need to do a little more work to make sure the drive sits on the bottom of the case properly. While leaving the top of the case as is, put the bottom of the case next to it and place, but do not adhere, the velcro strips where you want them. I usually put the more fuzzy part on the drive, no real reason why. You can set it up any way you like. If you use wider strips the hold will be stronger and you'll have more flexibility in how you place the harddrive on the bottom of the case. The photo below shows my first attempt at placing the velcro strips. I eventually doubled up on the strips to make the contact surface bigger. TIP: Make sure that the drive's cable is taken into account when setting up the velcro strips on the case bottom.

  
  
  

  Next up you'll want to set the expansion board firmly in place. Be careful to make sure it goes in evenly. If one side is farther down the plastic guides you won't be able to seat the board properly. Resist the urge to apply a lot of pressure during this step. Just apply enough force to get it set properly. Now you can place the top of the case vertically on your work surface and place the drive and the bottom part of the case next to it with the USB drive cable attached as shown below. This should be the final check before we begin to close up the case.

  
  
  

  Now it's time to close the case! Bring the two sides together. Make sure the USB cables are below the expansion board's ribbon cable. Make sure the harddrive's USB cable is looped and set properly and that the drive is secured with velcro strips. Close the case and put the two grey plastic caps over the front USB ports. TIP: Make sure to align the two small ridges on one side of the cap. These line up with small ridges on the case itself.

  
  
  

  Congratulations!! You're done. You have now added extreme storage to your odroid XU4 build! The pictures below depict the completed setup. Enjoy!!