Send MIDI data to Game Boy, using Python and pigpio
This is a small, draft like, heavily WIP project to bring the functionalities of the Arduinoboy (https://github.com/trash80/arduinoboy) to the Raspberry Pi. All versions should work, I tested and used this code on a Raspberry Pi 400.
Currently it's only useful with mGB (https://github.com/trash80/mGB)
You can play the channels one-by-one, and change amongst them sending Program Change 1-5 on Channel 10 to the software.
My far goal with this project is to create a small, convenient and smart USB MIDI host out from the Raspberry Pi 400. One of its modules is this project, pyPiMgb as a "driver" for Game Boys.
This software maps MIDI Channels 1-4 to Game Boy channels. It listens for commands on Channel 10 (PC), and you can use a MIDI controller (like a keyboard) on Channel 15.
| Game Boy Link cable PIN# | Raspberry Pi PIN# (GPIO) |
|---|---|
| 3 (SIN) | 15 |
| 5 (SCLK) | 14 |
| But all of the parameters are configurable in config.py file. |
You need to have pigpio package installed to your Raspberry Pi.
Run it:
python3 ./main.py
The software reads from /dev/midi (but configurable in config.py) and bitbangs the data to the Game Boy.
I recommend to use virtual MIDI devices (snd-virmidi) and map your controller or player to it with aconnect.
THIS IS REALLY REALLY WIP. A snapshot of the code.
My original project can be found here: https://github.com/eocorekuneho/PimGB
Since Raspberry Pi OS Bullseye doesn't support wiringPi anymore, I had to rewrite the whole project with pigpio, and also in Python.
It's much more better than the original, C version.