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LW3 no Dmd

Tim R

Tim R

Registered
5Years
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Messages
289
Location
Almondbury, West yorkshire
Hi guys I need your help once again, I'm trying to save this lethal weapon from the scrap heap, but every hurdle tests my patience, I have one more problem to fix. I can't get the dmd to work at all, I know the dmd is a worker as it came from my Addams before I stripped it, and the PSU and MPU are brand new.

I don't even get the rom test screen on the display when it powers on, it's just totally dead, I have replaced both the processors and the ram chip on the dmd controller board and I'm running out of things to try, can anybody offer me a solution? Or if someone has a known good working dmd controller board they want to lend me just to prove I'm looking in the right area? That would be awesome.

Anyway here are a few pics, see if you can spot what I can't...image.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpegimage.jpeg
 
Hi Chris, yeah I have checked and double checked. Am I correct when I say even if I had the data lead from the mpu to the dmd controller disconnected, I should still get the rom test screen show on the display?

I might just take you up on that offer aswell before I start swearing at the bloody thing.

Cheers pal
 
it's booting, as we can see the two lit LEDs, but i can't see any batteries so maybe it's never *fully* booting up? (i had this issue last week myself) so maybe the DMD, if it was connected right, would say 'open the door' -

try disconnecting everything going to the DMD board (including those two red/black, that may be the wrong way round) and reconnecting them. at both ends. put some batteries in. and make sure all boards are secured to the backbox for earthing. then have another go and report back?
 
cooldan said:
it's booting, as we can see the two lit LEDs, but i can't see any batteries so maybe it's never *fully* booting up? (i had this issue last week myself) so maybe the DMD, if it was connected right, would say 'open the door' -

try disconnecting everything going to the DMD board (including those two red/black, that may be the wrong way round) and reconnecting them. at both ends. put some batteries in. and make sure all boards are secured to the backbox for earthing. then have another go and report back?
Click to expand...

Hi buddy thanks for the input, however the game itself is actually running fine, there are regular sounds and shouts and controlled laps running. It's just the display, I have checked all voltages and connections and they all appear fine. Puzzler
 
Beyond my knowledge zone I think, all I know is that (1) I've regularly seen Andy @pinballmania mentioning the 12V gap, and (2) when DE games go wrong, the PSU is often the culprit. Especially as you know this is a working DMD.

have you got another DE power supply you could try swapping in?

Also FWIW when I had a LW3 the display was always flaky and regularly used to disappear or come on after a while so it may be a software thing in which case a factory reset may help, or a ROM code update.

Dunno mate but good luck and report back as the search feature here is worth its weight in gold.
 
I think I might have to take Chris up on his test rig idea before I go any further. Seems it could be a number of things.
The roms are also new from Mop too so shouldn't be them either
 
Ok so I was on the wine last night and ended up ordering a replacement controller board from the states, I was going to use it for comparison and reference only so I could keep it as a spare.

However it has been bugging me all day so when I got home tonight I googled my problem and a lot of the replays involved the word.. 'Rottendog'. Over and over page after page, so I went back to the machine and tested my voltages again, and one tip was to meter the potential difference across the two high voltages.... Circa 5v :-o that's not right it should be 12v, so anyway I unplugged the display and the voltages stabilised.

It would appear that a quick Google search of 'Rottendog PSU, no dmd' brings up quite a few pages of people complaining about these psu's and about how they only work with brand new displays or certain brands of older displays.

So without further hesitation I have just been on phil's website and ordered an XPIN PSU and hopefully that should be me sorted.

I shall fill you in on the result in a day or so's time.

Has anybody else had trouble with Rottendog products before?
 
Sexyy looking xpin board arrived today, unfortunately still no dmd, although I now get a flicker that looks like screen collapse when I turn the machine off. So we are getting somewhere. Guess I'll have to wait for the replacement controller for answers. 20151125_163408.jpg
 
Ribbon cables ?
I have had all sorts of display issues fixed by replacing the ribbon cables. Always Bally/Williams though.
I did once repair a LAH with a dead display but it was the power supply board that was sausaged.
 
20151206_134828.jpg So after buying a new dmd controller board and that still not curing my problem straight away. I was very annoyed to say the least.

I thought it was the roms as the new board came with a game rom installed, which worked in both boards. (Note one game rom)
So i went online looking to order a replacement set of roms, again, and i came across a forum that mentioned adding or removing resistor 11 on the controller board wether or not you have one or two display roms ( i have two) my heart sank at the thought. Could all my issues really have been caused by a missing jumper? All that money spent on microchips and a replacement board. :tut:
So i fitted a resistor and here is the result...

A working display. Buzzing and gutted at the same time.

Morale of the story? Remember to check your jumper positions kids!!
 
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