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#188127 - 05/11/2003 05:50 empeg display problem - no, not again!
PaulWay
addict

Registered: 03/08/1999
Posts: 451
Loc: Canberra, Australia
Aaaaarrhghghghghgh!

I got the player back from Rod last Friday and it's been running perfectly since then. But...

I plugged it into the car this morning and it went straight to the Pulsing LED of Power - no start-up screen, or anything. So after waiting the customary time for it to boot up, I then press the top button (to wake it up) and the top button (to unpause it), and music cometh forth from the empeg verily like a fountain. In short, the player does everything exactly as if the display was working, except the VFD never lights up and it always looks like it's on standby.

This is not optimal. I've checked the cables and everything is plugged in nice and tight (with the extra electrical tape that Rod put on the cable just in case it started fraying unexpectedly), and I can't see any obvious blown things or patches of magic smoke leakage. It seems related to its behaviour in the previous incident, but not exactly, and I know I did nothing more than put it down gently and pick it up again between when it was working fine and when it was not displaying at all.

Help? Please?

Paul (wanting the below to be true...)
_________________________
Owner of Mark I empeg 00061, now better than ever - (Thanks, Rod!) - and Karma 3930000004550

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#188128 - 05/11/2003 07:00 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: PaulWay]
pgrzelak
carpal tunnel

Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
The fact that you still get the strobe / standby LED even with music playing bothers me... No sign that the display cable is out of alignment, frayed, damaged?
_________________________
Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs

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#188129 - 05/11/2003 11:36 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: PaulWay]
Narkotic
member

Registered: 20/02/2002
Posts: 158
Thats odd, sounds like a problem my buddy has with his mark2 (non A edition). Sometimes he'll plug it in the car and get no display but get audio.. He just pulls it out and back in and its back. Didn't really bother him that much

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#188130 - 05/11/2003 11:45 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: Narkotic]
pgrzelak
carpal tunnel

Registered: 15/08/2000
Posts: 4859
Loc: New Jersey, USA
You might want to take a digital camera, look through with a zoom on. See if you can find any traces of cracking or breaks in the glass, in the electrical contacts, in the cable connections or the fuses on the main board. Anything unusual should be photographed and posted for evaluation.

One last check - you don't have the screen blanker or any software level display functions running, right? You might want to take a look with VNC or one of the other remote display software packages, just to get into the settings of the player to verify everything is okay there as well.
_________________________
Paul Grzelak
200GB with 48MB RAM, Illuminated Buttons and Digital Outputs

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#188131 - 05/11/2003 18:00 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: PaulWay]
Rod
journeyman

Registered: 04/05/2000
Posts: 84
Loc: Australia
Unfortunately I think this may be my fault.

I managed to blow one of the fuses while initially testing the display board and replaced it with a 250mA fuse that I had on hand so I could continue testing. What I later forgot to do was source and replace the temporary fuse with one of the correct 1A rating. My guess is that the underrated fuse has blown. You could confirm this my measuring the voltage on the capacitor on the back of the display board for 60 volts (be careful).

Of course I am happy to fix this and apologise for the inconvenience.

Rod.


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#188132 - 05/11/2003 18:49 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: Rod]
mrfixit
enthusiast

Registered: 14/06/2002
Posts: 337
The digikey part number for the proper fuse is WK4661CT-ND if it is that little smd one.
_________________________
Ben
mk2a 60gig green/Greenlights Buttons
mk2a 60gig green/Greenlights Buttons
mk2a 40gig blue no illumination....yet
hijacked

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#188133 - 05/11/2003 18:58 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: mrfixit]
Rod
journeyman

Registered: 04/05/2000
Posts: 84
Loc: Australia
Thanks for that. I'll have no problems getting the replacement. That's why I feel really bad about not doing it right the first time. Too excited to have the player fixed and back to Paul to remember to replace the temporary fuse.

Rod.

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#188134 - 05/11/2003 20:16 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: Rod]
PaulWay
addict

Registered: 03/08/1999
Posts: 451
Loc: Canberra, Australia
*starts to relax, stops twitching*

No worries, Rod; I might call in to my partner's brother-in-law (it's complicated) who has a good soldering iron and multimeter, and I'll spec the part today and see if I can get this done myself. If not, is it OK if I drive up to Sydney on Saturday and meet up with you and we do this thing? There's no point wasting half a week in postage and delivery if it can be done in half a day round trip.

It's just a pity I haven't got the Subaru Liberty we're planning on getting yet; that'd be so much nicer to cruise up to Sydney with. Heh - I must be getting old - I used to say that about the NX...

Give me a call on 0422 392 081 if you want to talk this over.

Thanks in advance,

Paul (keeping sig for now)
_________________________
Owner of Mark I empeg 00061, now better than ever - (Thanks, Rod!) - and Karma 3930000004550

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#188135 - 05/11/2003 20:34 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: PaulWay]
Rod
journeyman

Registered: 04/05/2000
Posts: 84
Loc: Australia
I'll be helping out on a sheep farm near Cowra this weekend. I'll give you a call, maybe we can organise something.

Rod.

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#188136 - 06/11/2003 02:29 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: Rod]
simspos
enthusiast

Registered: 28/03/2002
Posts: 230
Loc: Dudley, UK
/me resists temptation to make sheep jokes

D'oh - FAILED

Q. How does a New Zealander find a sheep in long grass?
A. Delightful

PS: APOLOGIES TO ALL NEW ZEALANDERS

Cheers, Sim

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#188137 - 06/11/2003 04:58 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: simspos]
JaBZ
addict

Registered: 08/08/2001
Posts: 452
Loc: NZ
Oi...
Australia has more sheep than us...

Jai

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#188138 - 06/11/2003 05:39 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: JaBZ]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
They need them, they have a higher human population...
_________________________
Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday

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#188139 - 07/11/2003 04:40 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: JaBZ]
simspos
enthusiast

Registered: 28/03/2002
Posts: 230
Loc: Dudley, UK
Oi...
Australia has more sheep than us...
I was going to use the Welsh as the target of ridicule, but they've had a hard week at the rugby & all, so I thought I'd let them off on this occasion

Cheers, Sim

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#188140 - 07/11/2003 05:16 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: simspos]
thinfourth2
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 13/04/2001
Posts: 1742
Loc: The land of the pale blue peop...
And what is wrong with owning a pair of velcro gloves
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P.Allison fixer of big engines Mk2+Mk2a signed by God / Hacked by the Lord Aberdeen Scotland

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#188141 - 09/11/2003 05:23 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: Rod]
PaulWay
addict

Registered: 03/08/1999
Posts: 451
Loc: Canberra, Australia
That Rod...

Never mind the velcro gloves, I worry what the man gets up to with the glue gun! He's glued down every part that he's touched, including a large glob of glue right on the 1/4A fuse that I had to get at. After a good bit of odd-hackery with a pocket knife I managed to get the glue away and a bit of soldering iron. So for a small moment I was cursing your name, Rod, but in the long run it's not such a big deal. As long as I can get that replacement fuse I'll be able to get it all working fine. I'll probably rip up several tracks from the motherboard trying to get the glue off so I can remove the IDE cable to make the job easier, but at least I'll know it won't come off on anything less than direct thermonuclear strike.

So all go here, Rod, whenever you can send that fuse down. Thanks in advance,

Paul
_________________________
Owner of Mark I empeg 00061, now better than ever - (Thanks, Rod!) - and Karma 3930000004550

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#188142 - 09/11/2003 21:20 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: PaulWay]
Rod
journeyman

Registered: 04/05/2000
Posts: 84
Loc: Australia
You should receive three fuses in the mail tomorrow.

Rod.

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#188143 - 04/12/2003 15:47 Re: empeg display problem - no, not again! [Re: Rod]
PaulWay
addict

Registered: 03/08/1999
Posts: 451
Loc: Canberra, Australia
Fiiiiinally!

Rob's mail got to me weeks ago, but last night was the first time I had the time and energy and the borrowed soldering iron all in one place. The job I did of soldering it on wasn't wonderful - I had no wick or solder sucker to remove the excess solder, so I smoothed down the previous blobs as best I could and soldered it onto that. But it's working now! YES!

Funny, but I got used to not having the display in a way; I was glad I'd given my major playlists PINs and had memorised the top level of the playlist menu. When Kate said "Can you get to my playlist" I was able to impress her with Down Down Right Right Right Right Right Down Down. It's better than staring at the player trying to find things at 100Km/H...

Thanks, Rod! My .sig is true again!

Have fun,

Paul
_________________________
Owner of Mark I empeg 00061, now better than ever - (Thanks, Rod!) - and Karma 3930000004550

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