LoTR Display Locking Up

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

It doesn't happen all the time, but is becoming more of a nuisance.
Upon start up, the screen will either not come on, freeze, or boot just
fine.
It will then start a game, but the screen doesn't move and freezes in
whatever screen it was in prior to hitting the start button. Or during
play, it will freeze, after working properly upon startup. Or you can
complete
a game with absolutely no issues.

Called Stern, Chas says it could be U201. Bought the socket and new
chip and will put it in. He also says it could be the display board...or
the
CPU board...or the Driver board. How does one know where to start.

I don't want to throw a ton of money into this as it is being sold, but I
don't
want to stick the new owner with a potential issue or problem either.

If swapping out U201 doesn't work, who is good with repairing any of the
Stern boards mentioned above. My concern is it doesn't happen all the time.
Will test equipment pick up this erratic behavior?

I have seated and reseated all cables several times, and even put back in
the roms that came with the game thinking it could be a rom issue. It
happens
with the old roms, so I'm assuming it's not that. Reseated IC's as well.
I'm lost.

Any help or guidance much appreciated.

Harry Williamson
My Security Pro
877 767-2337
________________________________________________________________________________________
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Harry Williamson wrote:
> It doesn't happen all the time, but is becoming more of a nuisance.
> Upon start up, the screen will either not come on, freeze, or boot just
> fine.
> It will then start a game, but the screen doesn't move and freezes in
> whatever screen it was in prior to hitting the start button. Or during
> play, it will freeze, after working properly upon startup. Or you can
> complete
> a game with absolutely no issues.

Harry,

This is how I approach this problem. Easiest first and process of
elimination. The display itself first. They can do some pretty
strange things. A good place to start is read Clive's description of
the working of dot matrix.
>
> Called Stern, Chas says it could be U201. Bought the socket and new
> chip and will put it in. He also says it could be the display board...or
> the
> CPU board...or the Driver board. How does one know where to start.

He says this because of communication issues between circuit boards.
In the old days the displays just followed the mpu and showed whatever
it was sent. The newer pinball systems some boards actually talk to
one another.
>
> I don't want to throw a ton of money into this as it is being sold, but I
> don't
> want to stick the new owner with a potential issue or problem either.
>
> If swapping out U201 doesn't work, who is good with repairing any of the
> Stern boards mentioned above. My concern is it doesn't happen all the time.
> Will test equipment pick up this erratic behavior?

Irratic behavior can be temperature related, line voltage related, or
even vibration related. You have to eliminate these possibilites.
>
> I have seated and reseated all cables several times, and even put back in
> the roms that came with the game thinking it could be a rom issue. It
> happens
> with the old roms, so I'm assuming it's not that. Reseated IC's as well.
> I'm lost.

You're not lost, start over. You need a known good display as part of
your troubleshooting.

Mario
Pinthetic

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Harry,
I had this problem when I first got my NIB LOTR.

Remove the translite, pull out the DMD and check the plug connection to
the DMD controller board. Mine was loose.. Plugged it in properly and
voila!!!

Hope yours is as easy to fix.

regards
Paul

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

> This is how I approach this problem. Easiest first and process of
> elimination. The display itself first. They can do some pretty
> strange things. A good place to start is read Clive's description of
> the working of dot matrix.

Can you point me to this article please.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

That's not it. I reseated every cable coming from the DMD, CPU, and
Controller Board. Nothing.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Harry
<stokiebouy@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1121467248.339530.214740@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> Harry,
> I had this problem when I first got my NIB LOTR.
>
> Remove the translite, pull out the DMD and check the plug connection to
> the DMD controller board. Mine was loose.. Plugged it in properly and
> voila!!!
>
> Hope yours is as easy to fix.
>
> regards
> Paul
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Harry Williamson wrote:

> If swapping out U201 doesn't work, who is good with repairing any of the
> Stern boards mentioned above. My concern is it doesn't happen all the time.
> Will test equipment pick up this erratic behavior?

We repair all Stern boards except the current display driver board
because it has a Xilinx surface mount FPGA which emulates the 68B45 CRT
controller used on the earlier boards. This FPGA must be programmed on
the board using the JTAG download connector. Basically, if the FPGA is
at fault, the board is unserviceable without being repaired by Stern. It
is unlikely anyone is going to get the VHDL code required for setting up
replacement FPGAs outside Stern or CES (who design and build the boards
for Stern).

Clive
---
Board repairs, EPROMs, servicing...

The Coin-Op Cauldron
405 Wild Wing Way
Easley, SC 29642
(864)238-1707
http://www.coinopcauldron.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

A new display driver board costs about $105-$120
I can't remember exactly, we just orderd one for a roller coaster tycoon.
OH, it was dead totally.
Timathie
"Coin-Op Cauldron (Clive)" <Clivejonesen@netscape.net> wrote in message
news:42D8732E.5030009@netscape.net...
> Harry Williamson wrote:
>
>> If swapping out U201 doesn't work, who is good with repairing any of the
>> Stern boards mentioned above. My concern is it doesn't happen all the
>> time.
>> Will test equipment pick up this erratic behavior?
>
> We repair all Stern boards except the current display driver board because
> it has a Xilinx surface mount FPGA which emulates the 68B45 CRT controller
> used on the earlier boards. This FPGA must be programmed on the board
> using the JTAG download connector. Basically, if the FPGA is at fault, the
> board is unserviceable without being repaired by Stern. It is unlikely
> anyone is going to get the VHDL code required for setting up replacement
> FPGAs outside Stern or CES (who design and build the boards for Stern).
>
> Clive
> ---
> Board repairs, EPROMs, servicing...
>
> The Coin-Op Cauldron
> 405 Wild Wing Way
> Easley, SC 29642
> (864)238-1707
> http://www.coinopcauldron.com
>