No picture on Odyssey monitor

[vette6048]

If your hard drive goes bad on the Odyssey would it prevent you from getting a picture on your monitor. When I power up my machine iy goes to 410,411 etc then it goes to 9999 but I get no Juggler on the screen, just a very very lite green screen and that is it. Before I was getting the Juggler and that was it but after I checked the boards and played around with the machine for about 2 hours I am getting the 9999 code but no Juggler and the button lights are not even lighting up. Any suggestions before I part it out.

[CVslots]

You may have jiggled your Juggler away! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Something may have come loose if you had the Juggler and 9999, now you just have green screen and 9999. Have you checked the Robert Winters site (link on Home page, lower right side)? He offers the manual with error codes and troubleshooting. It may (or may not) help.

Don't part it out just yet...may be something relatively simple.

[vette6048]

I have the manual for the Odyssey. I talked to Robert and he said it could be the Hard Drive. I hate to spend that kind of money on a hard drive and find out thats not the problem. Tried the machine today it goes 410,411,412 etc and as it is going through this the screen is green and as soon as the machine code goes to 9999 the screen goes black and no lights on the buttons. Not gonna run myself crazy on this beast. I had it for 2 years and I should count my blessings!! I have some extra boards for the Odyssey that I think I am gonna sell but I can't guarantee if they work!! I just might sell the machine as is cause the touch screen alone is a rarity to find and leave it up to the buyer to find a shipping firm. Just had my Game Magic shipped to me from Vegas and I used that company U-Ship the ones that are on TV.

[vette6048]

This is it. Nobody else out there has any suggestions. Lets go here I sure somebody that has a Odyssey or had an Odyssey can suggest something besides throwing this monster out!!

[Neonkiss]

This is it. Nobody else out there has any suggestions. Lets go here I sure somebody that has a Odyssey or had an Odyssey can suggest something besides throwing this monster out!!

OK, but you already know the answer.
Change the hard drive!

If you don't like that answer then hook the drive to a computer via SCSI card and see if it responds. If not, again change the drive.
If it does read, then plug in your computer monitor. If the picture is good, then the monitor is bad. But if it also has a bad picture change the video card.

[vette6048]

I really appreciate the help. I probably sound fustrated because last time I played the machine it worked good and did not play it for about 3 weeks and then this. Where do I get a SCSI card? I am assuming that when I check the monitor and Hard Drive via this SCSI card I would be doing it by means of a lap top. Never did this before so I need all the info or if you can step by step on how to perform each test. So I would have to purchase a hard drive through Robert Winter to start the ball rolling? Just curious if you own an Odyssey. Thanks for all your help.

[Neonkiss]

I have two Odysseys, one is finished and working, the other I never did build. I have only tested the parts for it so I know what ones were good before I start putting it together. Just haven't had the time and is low on the priority list.
SCSI is a very old format and was used years ago, mostly in main servers. The advantage to it was that you could run multi drives off one ribbon cable. I think 5 was the max. Anyways you would need an old computer system that has this connector.
If or when you do, be very careful. you will need to set the jumpers on the hard drive before you hook it up to the computer so the drive is read ONLY. You do not want to write even one bite of info to that drive if it's good. Also remember that the computer you use will mostlikely be using Windows as the operating system. THIS IS NOT COMPATABLE WITH THE PROGRAMS ON THE ODYSSEY.
You will only be going into the drive to see the health of the drive. And NEVER format the drive if asked by your operating system.

If your not computer savvy do-not do anything that I have posted here. This is not for the the armature guru as you will mostlikely do more damage than good. This is why most folks won't detail a how to on this. If you screw it up your on your own.
Again if you not sure about what your doing...... Don't do it.

[vette6048]

I am gonna take your advice and not do it. Do you think by having a bad hard drive it would prevent me from having a picture? If you were in this situation what would your steps be? Omit doing the scsi test what would my next step be? Since you have a Odyssey I appreciate any info you can give me and I appreciate the info you have given me. Just for more info when I turn the machine on it goes into 411,412 etc then I get a green screen with lines and soon as the 9999 code comes on it goes to a black screen. In your opinion you think its the hard drive doing this? Thanks for all your help so far.

[Neonkiss]

I do believe it is the hard drive.
But use your computer monitor and plug it into the machine in place of the monitor.
Then boot the machine and see if it does the same thing.
If so, then yes replace the hard drive. If you do get a pciture then you have an issue in the monitor.

[OldReno]

Only thing I remember about Odyssey is that there were 2 fuses in the power supply that were hard to get to.  Hey, you asked for ANY suggestions....

[vette6048]

I pluged the monitor cable into a laptop and whatever picture that was on the laptop meaning the desk top also displayed on the Odyssey monitor. So would this mean that the monitor and video board is good and the hard drive is bad? Don't know what else to do? If this is the case I will get a new hard drive from Robert. If I did something wrong please let me know and I will try something else. Thanks for all your help with this.

[robertwinter]

Your monitor is definitely good if you're seeing a picture when attached to a laptop.

If you're seeing 411, 412, etc, all the way to 9999, I wouldn't suspect the hard drive just yet.

You *should* be seeing the Juggler on the video screen after 5-10 seconds after power up, and especially after you see the 411/412 codes.  If you're seeing a green screen, it sounds like either the video board is not seated properly in the Ebox or the cable to the monitor is not plugged in fully.

BTW, when you see the 411/412/413 codes as it boots up, that means the computer is seeing all the partitions on the drive.  If it gets to 9999, that means it's *starting* to boot normally.  Doesn't necessarily mean it will finish though.

Your first order of business will be to get the Juggler on screen when you turn on the machine.  Until you get to that point, I wouldn't change anything else.  Then, once you're that far, do a Full Safe Clear.  After that, if the machine won't boot into MMS, *then* I would suspect a bad hard drive.

[vette6048]

The last few times when I first power up the machine all I am getting is 0000 and nothing else. I have to turn the machine off and on maybe once or twice before it goes to the 410,411 etc with the green screen and then to 9999 where the screen goes dark. By the way I must have takeen the video boardout 20 times and put it back to make sure the board was in nice and tight. I have an extra Video board should I try that one? How can you tell if a video board is bad and when it is bad? Still trying but I feel like I am dying!!

[vette6048]

I have the machine on with the 9999 code with no picture and no buttons lights on or credit light on. Just curious on my psycho board there are 8 red lights and only 7 are on. Is this common to have one not lit? Some people have mentioned the power supply may be bad. Could that be? Also when you first power up the machine I notice on the hard drive or behind the hard drive a green light comes on and flickers for a bit then it goes off. Is this common procedure? I really appreciate everybodys help on this. Should the green light always be on when the game is on or does it go off after the machine is started up?

[robertwinter]

Ignore the lights on the Psycho board.  Most important is what you are seeing on the diagnostic readouts (411, 412, etc)

The fact it is semi-booting kinda proves the power supply is fine.  The behavior you describe on the green hard drive light sounds normal.  I've never seen an Odyssey video card go bad, but I guess it's possible.

If it's getting to 9999 but you don't see or hear anything or any button lights, I'd do a Full Safe Clear.

[vette6048]

I tried a full safe clear and no success. Screen is dark and code is 9999. You mentioned before to make sure the monitor cable is fully pluged in to the monitor. If it was not I would have never gotten a picture on the Odyssey screen when I plugged in my lap top to it. Is this correct? I have a extra video card(do not know if its good or not) should I try that one for the hell of it. Would a bad video card prevent the screen and buttons from working? Let me know what I should do next or try next?

[robertwinter]

If you did a Safe Clear, you should NOT see the 9999 code.  Did it ever go to 4000 during the Safe Clear?

The monitor is good since you tested it with a laptop.  The video card *may* be bad.  Try swapping it since you have a spare.

[vette6048]

Yes it went to the 4000 code. I followed procedure after that but had no luck.

[robertwinter]

If you got to 4000, then reset the switches and powered up the machine, 1-2 minutes after it got to 9999, it should then go to 1017 and a couple other numbers.  This would mean the machine is fully booting into MMS and needs configuration.  If it goes to 9999 then nothing further, you more than likely have a bad drive.

But none of this would cause you not to have video output.  You should still see the Juggler on the display the entire time during power up.

[vette6048]

Just switched video board and guess what machine is up and running. All this time bad video board. I just put my Bally Game Magic next to the Odyssey and they look good!! Thank You to all that offered their help and support on this project. Maybe I will sit down now and have a beer and take a deep breath.