Troubleshooting Help Needed for Blank Vision LCD - SOLVED on 11/08/2010

[John0813]

I have a IGT S2000 Double Diamond Deluxe Machine with a Bonus Wheel LCD Screen.

Yesterday, the machine played okay and the LCD Screen was working properly. Today, I turned the machine on and the LCD did not start -- e screen is blank. The fan is working, there are no error codes on the front display, and I noticed that on the bottom of the Processor Board the top red light is blinking. Any troubleshooting ideas are appreciated....I already looked for a disconnected harness...could find none....is there a fuse that went bad?  do I need to enable the LCD in the menu??

Thanks.

[stayouttadabunker]

The red light on the MPU is never good.
Sounds like the battery is dying on the MPU board.
It looks like a coin battery.
There are many threads on NLG covering this subject.
Just type in "Coin Battery" in the Search box and several threads should help you out.

[John0813]

The battery tests good.

When I turn the machine on..the start-up menu is the same as the "Old" start-up menu ...no error messages...The "waiting for the video display" stays on longer...15-20 seconds..then the game starts as normal and plays as normal. The red light is still blinking...any other ideas are appreciated...

[stayouttadabunker]

I'm sensing a couple of things here.
When you first turn on the machine - it can take as long as 7-8 minutes before it is ready to play
depending on the software installed according to the manual.
Yours seems to be ready to play within 30 seconds?
I'd leave it long longer to see if the program "boots up".

Also, can you show me a hi-res photograph of the back of you LCD computer?
I'd really like to see the wires going into the Molex connectors into the LCD.
I'm suspecting a loose or broken wire inside of the Molex housing.
These need to be really inspected closely as the connections to the pins there are
under a strain from the weight of the harness.
The harness going to it really needs to be tied and held up to reduce the strain.

If you have the old style power supply, the F2 monitor fuse may be blown as well.
I'd check that but we need to know what power supply you have.

[John0813]

In response to your last posting...I waited 15 minutes....the screen remained blank.

You mentioned a possible blown F2 monitor fuse...Where is it located?

Attached are photos of the rear of the LCD...

thanks,

[stayouttadabunker]

Wow...You need a can of compressed air?
Please clean the black colored finned heat-sink that 's placed over the microprocessor.
It's filthy clogged with dust and old cigarette nicotine deposits.
The microprocessor heat-sink cannot perform it's job of cooling the chip with
whatever moving air it's receiving from the probably also clogged fan...

Whatever you do, do NOT tilt the can of air or it will shoot out alcohol instead of cool air.
The photographs of the wires going into the Molexes near the top of the LCD computer case are excellent!
I was able to zoom in and look real close at the wires and from what I can see - they do look good.
It's too bad that heavy metal harness coil pulls down on the harness though.
I'd try to zip tie it up there or at least stick some Velcro to help it stay up there instead of
pulling down on the harness with its weight.
 
You see the empty PCMCIA card slot on the right side?
I believe that's for the RFA cad.
I don't know what number card your machine needs though.
You'd have to ask your vendor for that info or try to get a hold of Blueridge.
He might have some ideas as he helped out Dorothy Macaw with her Vision setup last month.

Anyways, I think you stick in the RFA computer Microsoft card into the side slot,
power on the machine,
let it go through it's sequence,
power off and
pull the RFA back out ( It's just for the operating system I think)
re-install the top PCMCIA ATA card into the top slot,
power back on the machine,
read the various screen instructions,
turn the jackpot reset key a bunch of times to get rid of all the
error codes then the computer LCD screen
then you oughta be back in business!

(Please,anyone correct me on this sequence of re-booting
an LCD computer if you see anything wrong.)

Basically, somehow everything might of got lost or corrupted
due to a bad battery or some power surge.
You DO have a power surge connected to the machine right?
I'd go through all the steps of re-flashing the LCD computer with the RFA card.
That card can / may be obtained through various vendors here on NLG.

Please give us updates if you can, so this thread can help other Vision owners in the future!

[stayouttadabunker]

The F2 fuse is the under middle fuse cap located on the older power supply.
I believe yours is the newer one that's on the back wall underneath the reel shelf.
Please disregard if your power supply is the newer one.

However, did the proper RFA card come with your machine?
I see that you have the proper ATA installed in the top PCMCIA slot.
Don't take it out unless you have the RFA card to insert into the side slot.
Also, I wouldn't try to see if that coin battery (under the white plastic tie-wrap)
on the LCD computer is bad yet until you have the proper RFA card.

[brichter]

The first thing I'd do is put a jumper on JP1 on the right side of the LCD motherboard (left side in your pictures, between the RAM modules and the edge of the mobo, you can almost see it under the bundle of wires going down the left side of your second picture) and watch the LCD screen for the standard PC bootup output. It looks just like a regular PC booting up with the BIOS and POST sequences (because ist's a 486 computer), then it will try to load the game.

See what messages you get and report back. If you see nothing, the monitor fuse would be a good place to start, as well as power to the motherboard. When you say the fan works,are you referring to the fan in the upper left corner of your second picture, or the one in the top cabinet of the slot machine?

[John0813]

Additional information...both fans are working, the game plays just as before and if I hit a bonus wheel combination, everything works well.... just no picture/video. I have a second processor board and put in the double diamond chips for this game...the same problem happened and no video...and the red light was still blinking.
 
I do not have a RFA card...Please explain..."jumper on JP1"..connect to what??

I was told the LCD has its own power supply...where is it? and how can I test it?  thanks

[brichter]

If the bonus game works as designed and you just have no video, you need to concentrate on the display itself, as it is unlikely that the display adapter on the motherboard failed.

Check your email for some stuff to get you started.

Sorry, you don't have your email configured in your profile. I can't send you the docs.

[John0813]

If I needed to buy a replacement LCD does anyone know which vendors who advertise here have one.

The IGT part number is 625-509-00. Screen size 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 10 1/2 diagonal.

[stayouttadabunker]

I'm not kidding...I did a search and found one...but the price is ridiculously high...lol
At this website , slotsmith dot com wants $4,669.70 for the Display, LCD, 10.4" 32 MB, CD Ready...>>> 
They must charge that to casinos I guess...holy moly!

slotsmith.com/SlotStuff/_/.../partslist%2005_01_03%20complete.xls

[idesign]

If I needed to buy a replacement LCD does anyone know which vendors who advertise here have one.

The IGT part number is 625-509-00. Screen size 8 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 10 1/2 diagonal.

Jim @ Blueridge Slots should have one for you.

[John0813]

The Problem continues....LCD Screen not lighting up....

I have installed a new/used LCD monitor board....The fan is working but when I try to Jump the JP1 nothing happens..... Sometimes when I start the machine it read "video display comm failure"....then I turn everything off...restart the machine and the game starts correctly...all sounds are played correctly...the bonus wheel sounds are there but no picture in the LCD....

How can I see if the machine communicates with the LCD? is there an I/O test? 

More assistance is needed...thanks in advance

[TZtech]

Hi

I dont have a machine around to confirm this on but you should be able to get the information in the 1. Accounting Menu. - Look for the sub menu called program version information. It takes a while to read all the relevant info but i think it should show the info for the LCD if its talking to it. (Can someone with a vision please confirm if this will work

Based on the fact that your machine is not tilting My guess it that your problem lies with the LCD panel itselg. On LCD's the backlights and backlight inverters are the usual suspects.

Ian

[John0813]

I looked in the Version Accounting Meters menu and it does not show the LCD...Also I did install a new monitor board and the screen still does not light up...

Any other ideas.??

Do I have to configure the machine to recognize the LCD??

[stayouttadabunker]

The jumper should be connecting the 2-pin header at the JP1 location.
It will be on the left side of the LCD motherboard between the RAM sticks and the case.
Don't just touch the two pins together momentarily...
leave the jumper on connecting the 2 pins so you
can see what is happening on the LCD screen as the LCD computer is booting up.

It will looks just like your home computer when it boots up, esp. the older computers
from the late 90's when we used to use Windows 98 or earlier.

oh...by the way, the jumper plug for the 2-pin JP1 header is exactly
like what we see on desktop motherboards today!
Pictured below are examples of what a 2-pin jumper plug might look like.
They come in many different colors and plastic housings but generally look like this>>>

[TZtech]

Hi Again

Its occured to me that I never took one of these apart. Since I have 4 broken ones I suppose its as good a time as any and try and see if they can be fixed.

When you say replaced the monitor board do you mean the entire vision LCD sub assembly or just the vision processor board ?

Have attached pics of the Processor board (See if you can spot the problem) and LCD panel. (The pink and white wires are for the backlight and plug into the backlight invertor board. The white ribbon cable plugs into the processor board.

Ian

[TZtech]

Pics of the inverter board - First thing I would check is the fuse - Marked F1 2A 24V.

[John0813]

I replaced the entire LCD sub-assembly.....like your 1st picture...

I put a pair of clips on the JP1 and started the machine ...nothing happened...does that mean limited power to the unit?

Where is the inverter board located?

Thanks

[TZtech]

Hi

Just below the fan there should be a screw - Unscrew this and the whole bracket comes off and you will see the inverter board. Make sure that its plugged in properly to the processor board and that the LCD tubes are plugged in properly to the inverter board. Does your LCD change colour in any way when you power it up (From totally black to dark grey). If not its probably your backlight tubes or this board that are shot.

Ian

[John0813]

I do not have any tubes..???  There is nothing under the fan.......here are some photos...the only fuse that I found is the one in the lower power supply...

It that the one you were talking about?

[TZtech]

Hello John

Sorry for the confusion. The parts I am referring to are all part of the LCD SubAssembly in the top box. The tubes I am referring to are actually inside the LCD panel. you will need to remove the entire LLCD box to get to the inverter. Dont know what equipment you have at your disposal - if you dont have a basic multimeter to test the fuse there is no use in taking it all apart to get to it.

Ian

[John0813]

I have a multimeter...I will look, test, and report back...

[John0813]

Here is a photo of the back of the screen.....do I need to remove the backing?? It is thin