Can't get power with XMDirect cable, help please!

pyros · 12-27-2005, 01:06 AM

I got the 8-pin mini din and 9-position d-sub connecter all soldered up, and now i'm working on the power. Instead of a molex connector, I'm using one of these:

its a 2.1 or 2.5mm dc jack (forget which one, i have the adaptor that plugs into it) and i'll be plugging in this dc-dc regulator (hacked up cigarette lighter power adaptor) into it.

Problem is this. I plug the dc-dc power into this (female) jack. From one of the terminals (that you would solder the wire to) I get proper ground, the other I do not. I can get a constant 12v using only 2 of the terminals which is fine i'm assuming (guess one is extra or for something else?). However, once I solder the wire on (ground to the ground, power to the power), I can't seem to get any voltage higher then 0.5v on the multimeter. I've tried 2 of these jacks incase one is deffective, but both have the same result.

The diagram that's next to that dc jack on the website looks like this:

and i really have no idea what it means in all honesty.

The cable I'm using is shielded and has 4 wires. I have 2 pieces, one that goes from the mini din to the d-sub and the other from the mini din to the dc jack. I've tested the voltage both right at the wire where its soldered to the pin on the dc jack and at the pins on the mini-din that its soldered to (incase there was a break in the wire... which I'm guessing there is not..).

also have a question with this from i-hacked.com:

any idea how/why they're using only 1 wire for power when there are 2 pins that require 12v? think they're splitting it in the d-sub case/cover?

Any idea what I'm doing wrong? I dont have much experience soldering so maybe I'm screwing something up? Any suggestions on what to try? Also, how/where do you solder the shielding to?

Thanks,
Chris

P.S. Does ANYONE have frodo's test app? I can't find it anywhere. All the links I find when I

are dead

pyros · 12-29-2005, 08:44 AM

28 views and not one person has any idea what could possibly be wrong?

pyros · 01-03-2006, 10:06 AM

I solved the problem myself so I'll answer my own question in case anyone else has this problem.

One of the two 12v wires on the 9-pin mini-din was touching the mini-din connector (metal part) causing it to short. Since the two 12v wires were together, it was shorting the power to both. Used some electrical tape to ensure it doesn'thappen again, and all is fine.

To troubleshoot this: test both 12v lines with a multimeter individually to ensure power. If one of them is shorted, it will show no or very little voltage (0.4v in my case). Trace this wire to find out where its shorting and your problem should be solved. You can also use this method for other wires (non-power) by supplying it with power (note: do NOT have it hooked up to your XMD unit while doing this :P)