Picade HAT - Speakers and Power Button Questions

I purchased a Picade HAT for the power on and safe shutdown functionality. I’m beginning the build and I have some questions.

  • Am I correct in my understanding that I still need to use the Picade PCB for the speaker connections and volume buttons?

  • To use the Picade HAT power on and safe shutdown functionality, do I need to add an additional button to the Picade? Can I power on and off the Picade through a button combination or do I need a dedicated button?

  • If I still need to use the Picade PCB, what is the ideal button and joystick wiring? Should I wire the joystick and buttons to the Picade HAT or Picade PCB?

Thank you to all replies.

  1. the Picade HAT is a self-contained product but only support a single channel / mono speaker. Volume up and down is supported out of the box via bcm 13 and 26, on the right hand side, if you want to make use of those, though they can be repurposed.

  2. the power functionality is tied to a specific GPIO, bcm 17, at least in term of the software behind it, though technically it could be customised. Still, there is a dedicated connection on the left of the HAT.

  3. it is really up to you. If you change the key bindings in the Picade PCB firmware you can double your number of inputs, and only use a single joysticks… for a LOT of buttons.