messed with the lilliput -- now "no VGA signal" :(

viguera · 08-12-2005, 10:03 AM

Damnit...

I took one of my lilliputs apart yesterday to mount it on the non-motorized single DIN housing, and now I'm getting a "no VGA signal" message all the time.

I took the easier approach... instead of soldering directly to the board, I clipped the connectors going to the board, clipped the lilliput (10-pin) cable and spliced everything together. Really simple (or so I thought) since I don't have to remember what cable goes to what pin... just to match the colors...

But anyway... I spliced everything up (vga and touchscreen) and while the touchscreen works perfectly, all I get on the screen is a "no VGA signal" message. I made sure there are no shorts, and the contacts are good... and I'm obviously matching the cables right (well, unless I'm color blind

).

Any ideas as to what else I can check? I figured it was one of the wires, but I'm pretty sure everything is connected properly (including the ribbon cable).

viguera · 08-14-2005, 10:01 PM

nobody?

Why would the screen fail to see a vga signal if the cables/connectors are right? Is there anywhere else that I can look?

I didn't hook up the video 1/2 inputs, but I guess I'll try them now and see if it's just the vga or if the whole screen is fubar.

tolisn · 08-15-2005, 02:24 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by viguera

nobody?

Why would the screen fail to see a vga signal if the cables/connectors are right? Is there anywhere else that I can look?

I didn't hook up the video 1/2 inputs, but I guess I'll try them now and see if it's just the vga or if the whole screen is fubar.

Well I did exactly the same thing and everything is OK.
The only thing I can think of is that when you matched the color of the wires you conected the purple to the blue and vise versa. I'm telling you this because these two colors are so close to each other you can easily mistake one for the other, (I know I did).

viguera · 08-15-2005, 10:32 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by tolisn

Well I did exactly the same thing and everything is OK.
The only thing I can think of is that when you matched the color of the wires you conected the purple to the blue and vise versa. I'm telling you this because these two colors are so close to each other you can easily mistake one for the other, (I know I did).

Well I'd have to be CRAZY color blind, but I'll try it and see... I did it a few times and checked all the colors though, so I don't think that's it.

BUT on a sadder note... I took everything apart and hooked up the rca (video 1/2) cable back on to the connector on the side, and I hooked it up to a video source and changed the input, and I'm getting "no cvideo 1" (or 2, or whatever). So I doubt it's the vga cable now... otherwise the vga wouldn't work but the video 1 / 2 would...

So... I'm guessing it's some loose connector or broken trace or something... the ribbon cable is perfect (got the extended one from Armen) so it's gotta be something else, but I'll be damned if I know what...

Zebelkhan · 08-15-2005, 03:40 PM

It sounds like the ribbon cable.

I just spend a day and half with my lilliput (what a way to spend the weekend) because when I took it apart for a dash install and put it back together I either had "no VGA signal" or strange vertical multicolor lines running up and down, or the Jurasic Park logo. I also noticed that at times (especially when I had the "no VGA" signal, the button that switched between VGA and Video 1 and 2 did not work. After tinkering for a day and half, and breaking a few pieces on the board and resoldering back, it was the ribbon cable going to the button board that was not seated properly. After a million trys, I got lucky and got it right and now it works fine...

vvog · 08-15-2005, 04:04 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by viguera

Damnit...
I took the easier approach... instead of soldering directly to the board, I clipped the connectors going to the board, clipped the lilliput (10-pin) cable and spliced everything together. Really simple (or so I thought) since I don't have to remember what cable goes to what pin... just to match the colors...

I did the same to my lilliput with 9 pin connector and I had same kind problem as you. So I checked that original connector, and the wire colors didnt match. (both connectors had same colored wires, but in different pin numbers.)

viguera · 08-15-2005, 05:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by vvog

I did the same to my lilliput with 9 pin connector and I had same kind problem as you. So I checked that original connector, and the wire colors didnt match. (both connectors had same colored wires, but in different pin numbers.)

WTF!

Oh that's some BS right there... thanks, now I gotta break out the multimeter and see if purple on one end is blue on the other or some crazy crap like that...

viguera · 08-15-2005, 05:09 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Zebelkhan

It sounds like the ribbon cable.

I just spend a day and half with my lilliput (what a way to spend the weekend) because when I took it apart for a dash install and put it back together I either had "no VGA signal" or strange vertical multicolor lines running up and down, or the Jurasic Park logo. I also noticed that at times (especially when I had the "no VGA" signal, the button that switched between VGA and Video 1 and 2 did not work. After tinkering for a day and half, and breaking a few pieces on the board and resoldering back, it was the ribbon cable going to the button board that was not seated properly. After a million trys, I got lucky and got it right and now it works fine...

Thanks for the tip, but I'm not sure if that's my problem... I hooked up the original button PCB and ribbon cable last night trying to see if it was the VGA, RCA or both, and with the buttons working perfectly (used them to switch to video 1 / 2) and a working external RCA source, it did the same thing.

Hopefully it's something simple (stupid) like the colors not matching on both ends of the connector, and I can just find the right pinout and call it a day.

Thanks anyway though...

Zebelkhan · 08-15-2005, 05:42 PM

I still say move the cable on the button pcb to one extreme end and then little bit at a time move it towards the other end. That is what I ended up doing. I got all the above image scenarios until I found the right spot. I guess the cable end was worn out too much and I had a lot of room to cover...

viguera · 08-16-2005, 11:21 AM

damnit... the screen won't turn on now. Is there a fuse I can check? I know my power source is good and using another controller I can power up the tubes, but the screen I'm working on doesn't work...

viguera · 08-16-2005, 01:11 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by viguera

damnit... the screen won't turn on now. Is there a fuse I can check? I know my power source is good and using another controller I can power up the tubes, but the screen I'm working on doesn't work...

I just saw this at digitalww: http://www.digitalww.com/images/Controller_un.jpg

My guess is that it got messed up, so I'll get a replacement and see if it works...

gyro · 08-16-2005, 01:51 PM

I have the same problem ...

Getting those vertical multicolor lines. I know the problem is situated at the ribbon cable in my situation, so I'm desperately seeking for a spare ribbon that goes from the master pcb to the small pcb attached to the screen itself. Also the small lock at the connector on the master pcb is defective. Some of you guys are very handy in repairing everything, so is there someone that can give me a tip on how to fix this ?

Thanks in advance,

GyRo.

viguera · 08-16-2005, 11:20 PM

Ah... the sweet sweet taste of victory.

Well, sorta...

I replaced the fuse with the one from the bad controller that I had laying around... screen powers up. Yay.

Plug the cables back on, screen powers up but "no vga signal" -- BOO

Take everything apart and splice cables back into the barrel plug, match colors all around, screen powers up and desktop screen shows up. YAY. But WTF?

So it's obviously something in the barrel pinout that's changing the cables around... so for example "blue" on one end is not "blue" on the other, or something to that effect... and now I can't find my damn multimeter... GRRRR

Why in the world would a cable (or more) coming into the barrel plug map to a cable on the other side that's not the same color? What's the point of even using colors??

Bastards.

Looks like the pinout that I've been working with all along from digitalww's site, is only good after the barrel plug, but not before...

viguera · 08-16-2005, 11:36 PM

Ah... success... finally...

Since the instructions on digitalww's page were not working out, and I can't find the damn multimeter, I decided to look around until I found the pinout for the damn cable before the barrel...

And sure enough, there's a picture here http://digitalww.com/Lilliput_To_Mot...h/DSCF4874.JPG on the IH002 installation that shows the cables going to the controller, and the pins/colors are completely different from the instructions...

Apparently the gray cable is blue after the barrel and the purple cable is brown. I suppose if I had actually followed the instructions and soldered directly unto the board, I would have been fine, but the space is too limited for comfort. I just left the connector in and matched the cables (blue to gray, purple to brown) and everything is working perfectly.

Now to mount the damn thing in the car...

Thanks for the suggestions guys.