Lynx II - No Video

[cowdog360]

Hello,

 

I have a Lynx II that I've had since I was a kid in storage. I went to power it up about 2 weeks ago, and the backlight comes up, and I can hear sound, but I get no video. I tried the unit on batteries, and then on the AC adapter. I did manage to get some video for a short period of time on AC. So after that, I decide to re-cap the unit. I did that, plugged it in, and had video , then reassembled the unit, and again no video. I've tried playing with the ribbon cables and such, but can't get the video to come back.

 

At this point, would this be considered a dead screen? I went ahead an ordered McWill's LCD/VGA mod hoping that solves it. I'm just hoping the problem doesn't lie any deeper than just the LCD.

 

Thanks!

[gilsaluki]

That's strange. I have the very same thing happen to me today. I have several Lynx II's. One I was going to use for McWill's mod. I played it several times this past week. This morning I turned it on; no video/picture. I had good sound, backlight was on, I could control the movement with the joypad (Ms. Pacman, so I know the sounds). Powered it down and back on a few times, still no picture. Is it the LCD? Prior to today there were dead pixils; this is why it was a candidate for McWill's Mod. Thoughts?

[7800fan]

First: is the backlight on? Then you are sure the ribbon connector is plugged in correctly? The cable needs to go all the way in and straight or the LCD won't work.

 

If it's the backlight, on Lynx II they can be unplugged, check that. If it's plugged in,

 

As long as the sound works, it's probably safe to remove the LCD and the bulb and get the new LCD installed.

[gilsaluki]

Replaced the LCD screen (It has a nice fresh and straight ribbon cable), still to video. It looks like it is on Full bright (backlight). All the controls work and I get great sound. What else could it be? I got the LCD screen from Best E. But it kinda looked used, some surface scratches etc.

[gilsaluki]

Hello,

 

I have a Lynx II that I've had since I was a kid in storage. I went to power it up about 2 weeks ago, and the backlight comes up, and I can hear sound, but I get no video. I tried the unit on batteries, and then on the AC adapter. I did manage to get some video for a short period of time on AC. So after that, I decide to re-cap the unit. I did that, plugged it in, and had video , then reassembled the unit, and again no video. I've tried playing with the ribbon cables and such, but can't get the video to come back.

 

At this point, would this be considered a dead screen? I went ahead an ordered McWill's LCD/VGA mod hoping that solves it. I'm just hoping the problem doesn't lie any deeper than just the LCD.

 

Thanks!

I finally had success. After replacing the LCD Screen from Best Electronics, it still showed only white screen (backlight). I then decided to reflow the entire board. That did it. So, here's to Bradley at Best. Thanks. The old screen did have bad pixels and was failing, so that was not wasted money. He shipped super fast too, about two days. Now I have another toy. Also repaired my Lynx PS. The cord was broken where it leaves the PS body. Had to open it up and rewire it. Used a hacksaw to break the case open. Then used a glue gun to seal it all up. No fires yet.

[cowdog360]

I finally had success. After replacing the LCD Screen from Best Electronics, it still showed only white screen (backlight). I then decided to reflow the entire board. That did it. So, here's to Bradley at Best. Thanks. The old screen did have bad pixels and was failing, so that was not wasted money. He shipped super fast too, about two days. Now I have another toy. Also repaired my Lynx PS. The cord was broken where it leaves the PS body. Had to open it up and rewire it. Used a hacksaw to break the case open. Then used a glue gun to seal it all up. No fires yet.

 

Hmm, I also tried swapping in a new screen with same effect. I'm curious about the reflow. I may have to try taking off all the shielding, grab some flux and give it a go myself.

[gilsaluki]

Well, cowdog360. I spoke too soon. Seems I did not completely fix it. Here's what's happening. When I turn it on, everything is great..video and sound. After about an hour it goes back to full white screen. Last night I was playing my other Lynx. I used a Ni-CAD pack (from Best Elect.), it's good for several hours of play. When the power, juice gets low, the orange power light begins to flash (this is normal operation). Then it goes to full white screen, also normal. That made me think, hummm... is the problem with my problematic Lynx really a power problem? Low volts, a bad capacitor, or other. I don't know at this point. Hate to recap the thing, just to find out that is not the problem. What does anyone reading this think?

[7800fan]

Lynx generally don't suffer from bad caps like Turbo Duo and Game Gear does. DO take picture of your Lynx board, good closeup so we can look at the caps and see if any of them are going bad.

[gilsaluki]

Inspecting the Caps, I don't see anything obvious (bulging, malformed, or burst caps). All looks normal. Maybe a transistor (Q?)? I am thinking after time, power is diminishing to the point as to not provide sufficient juice to run the video. Who knows?

[gilsaluki]

Still have the full bright, all white screen issue (backlight is working). The sound and controls are perfect. It has a new screen installed from Best. The ribbon cables are seated nicely. Baffled. No video, sound is strong and loud. Some say caps are usually not an issue on LYNXes, yet some have changed theirs with success. Not sure how to troubleshoot this. Anyone have this particular issue in the past?

[HunterZero]

Does the brightness knob do anything? If you look at the screen from an extreme angle above or below can you see anything?

 

I'm having a similar issue with the screen on one of my Lynx 2 units except the screen is dark like the brightness is turned down too low and the problem is intermittent. Recapped the electrolitic caps and and I thought I fixed it but it's now intermittently back where it was so no change. Wondering if voltage regulation is the culprit.

 

Anyone have a guide for testing voltages on a lynx 2?

[gilsaluki]

The brightness knob does nothing. Thus far I have changed the screen (the old one did have a few bad pixels when it did come on. After the screen changed, I would get video for about an hour, then full backlight bright. Now, all I get is the full backlight bright screen, no video image. I read where you, hunterzero had recapped your Lynx 2 (thought it had fixed it). I was hesitated doing a recap as I have read several on this sight say caps are rarely bad on the Lynx. Even the folks that sell cap kits say it may, or may not fix Lynxes problems. I was also thinking there might be power problem, not enough juice to drive the video. But, who knows? I have no idea how to check it. A schematic would not do me any good.

[gilsaluki]

Okay. This no video issue made me mad. I had previously changed the screen (it needed a new one anyway because of lines/pixel issues). Reflowed the solder joints. It worked for a while then back to the backlight only. Well, I took it apart again. Inspected the board (solder side) with a jewelers loop. I was not happy with some of the solder points. So, I again reflowed all the joints I could get to. It worked. I just played Awesome Golf; it worked perfectly. Oh, during my take apart I inspected both ribbon cables. The control ribbon's contacts were rubbed off on its edge. I trimmed it back about a 1/16", that fixed that issue. I will "burn it in" some more. Try reflowing sold for vid problems. I still think the bottom line was a power problem, not enough juice to pump the video circuits. Crossing my fingers that this one is done.

[HunterZero]

I read where you, hunterzero had recapped your Lynx 2 (thought it had fixed it). I was hesitated doing a recap as I have read several on this sight say caps are rarely bad on the Lynx. Even the folks that sell cap kits say it may, or may not fix Lynxes problems.

Yeah I thought it had fixed it. Usually it works great but sometimes when I turn it on the image has faded. It's definitely the board because I swapped just the board between units and the fault followed the board.

 

When you reflow you should use flux, or redo the joint by adding solder wwhich adds flux, sucking it away then resoldering with new solder. I did notice on my board a few of the factory solder points were a bit questionable.

[cowdog360]

I fixed mine by going to the McWill LCD mod. So there must be something wrong with either the original ribbon connector, or maybe some other component.

[gilsaluki]

Okay. This no video issue made me mad. I had previously changed the screen (it needed a new one anyway because of lines/pixel issues). Reflowed the solder joints. It worked for a while then back to the backlight only. Well, I took it apart again. Inspected the board (solder side) with a jewelers loop. I was not happy with some of the solder points. So, I again reflowed all the joints I could get to. It worked. I just played Awesome Golf; it worked perfectly. Oh, during my take apart I inspected both ribbon cables. The control ribbon's contacts were rubbed off on its edge. I trimmed it back about a 1/16", that fixed that issue. I will "burn it in" some more. Try reflowing sold for vid problems. I still think the bottom line was a power problem, not enough juice to pump the video circuits. Crossing my fingers that this one is done.

The darn video still went blank on me. As I suspected, it was a power problem (not enough juice). Having put in a new Best Elect. screen, a new speaker... I had about $30 invested. Not to give up, I finally caved in and bought a cap kit for $5 from Console 5. Just put it in (not all that bad). NOW, she works good. Got about $40 in the beast. Don't know if it was worth it, but I did learn something. I guess that is worth it.