jmetal88

Ha, I installed the defective Suzy (along with my old LCD) into the broken Lynx just for kicks, and yeah, my flickering pixels followed the Suzy. (I just thought it would be a nice confirmation that some other disturbance on the board during my chip replacements didn't have any effect on the issue.)

Quick question for others using the McWill display: Have any of you guys noticed screen tearing on the McWill display? I've been catching an effect that looks a bit like screen tearing when I move horizontally in Chip's Challenge. I suppose it could've always been there, but perhaps masked by the low contrast on the original LCD, but I've noticed it's not present in the Handy emulator. It's a small complaint, really, as it's still much more pleasant to use than the original LCD, I was just wondering if anyone else had noticed that, or I guess more importantly, if anyone had noticed anything similar happening with the original hardware.

Well, I got the broken Lynx in and the results are interesting. I replaced Mikey first, of course, because that was my main suspect, but that didn't help and I had the flickering pixels in the exact same spots. So I thought, however doubtful I was, that I should attempt replacing Suzy next. And replacing Suzy fixed my issue! So yeah, any of you looking at a similar flickering pixel issue, apparently Suzy needs to be on your list of suspects. Makes me glad I went with the 'broken Lynx' route instead of tracking down a Mikey specifically, because if I had I would've had the wrong chip and no other options to test with.

I don't think you quite understand what my last few posts were trying to convey, so let my try to give a better explanation: On my Lynx, there are two pixels that flicker. Both are toward the bottom of the screen, maybe 8 rows up from the bottom. Left-to-right, one is near the left edge of the screen, and one is near the center. These behave differently depending on which game is running and what's being shown on the screen. On the Chip's Challenge title screen, both pixels flicker, but that is the only condition under which I've seen both flicker. During gameplay for Chip's Challenge, only the pixel toward the center of the screen flickers. I have also tried two other games, Todd's Adventures in Slime World, and Pinball Jam. On both of these, the pixel toward the center of the screen does NOT flicker, but the pixel toward the left side of the screen DOES flicker. In either case it is the same two pixels (they do not move around the screen), it just depends on what is being shown on screen as to whether one, the other, or both (or neither, in some cases) will flicker.

Also possibly of note, the pixel at the left edge of the screen behaves normally during Chip's Challenge gameplay, and only the one toward the middle of the screen flickers then. Which is also kind of odd, since that's the opposite of what the other two games do. The only place I've been able to see both flicker at once has been the Chip's Challenge title screen.

(Forgot to mention the other pixel is on the same row, but toward the left side of the screen.) Well, on my other two games, I can't see the flickering pixel toward the middle of the screen, but I can still see the one on the left side of the screen, and it is still in the same location. But, sometimes it flickers, and sometimes it doesn't, and it seems to be related to what's being displayed on other parts of the screen. It's like Mikey is getting intermittently confused and trying to render a pixel from elsewhere instead of the pixel that's supposed to go there. So if the two that are being confused are the same color, there is no flicker, but if they are different colors, it flickers between the two.

It's toward the bottom of the screen. On Chip's Challenge, it's right below the bottom of the 'A' in the title screen.

I've heated it with no obvious effect, but I don't have anything to cool it with, currently.

I will try a couple of different games this afternoon, though. I mainly just play Chip's Challenge, but I also have Pinball Jam and Todd's Adventures in Skills Slime World I can try out.

I don't think it would be anything passive if it's always the same pixel... Passive issues like cracked solder joints, bad capacitors, or corrosion are typically either random or they affect everything on that particular trace.

I'll do that if I can't get what I need out of that broken unit. But I'll see if that can help me first.

I thought they did, too, but I was looking on their site and didn't see it listed. I decided to take my chances with one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-Lynx-II-2-System-Console-for-Parts-Repair-DEFECTIVE-NO-RETURNS-NON-WORKING/382100414619?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649 Hopefully it won't also have a bad Mikey.

No, I swapped them back and it looked the same... I guess I never really noticed the second one before because of the horrible contrast on my original LCD. So I guess I have a bad Mikey.

Well, I thought I'd try swapping the RAM chips with each other just as a preliminary test. The results are odd. I have a flickering pixel in approximately the same location as before (although I think it may be one line lower due to the fact that it appears much more obvious in the title screen), but I now also have a second flickering pixel on the same line. I think that means the RAM chips are contributing to the issue, but I'm not 100% sure. I may have to swap the chips back for a sanity check.

I've got a question for those who are knowledgeable about the inner workings of the Lynx. My Lynx II has had a flickering pixel ever since I got it. I thought it was an LCD problem. But I've just installed a McWill LCD, and the exact same pixel is still flickering. This obviously indicates the problem was NOT with the LCD, but is on the main PCB somewhere. So, if any of you are Lynx hardware experts, where do you think the failure lies here? My suspects would either be one of the RAM chips or Mikey. Obviously it would be easier to replace the RAM chips (and I have the equipment/skills required to do so) but I'd like some confirmation that that's where the issue would most likely lie before proceeding. I have a feeling if it turns out to be Mikey I'd be better off just getting a replacement Lynx (unless anyone knows where I could get a Mikey chip by some chance). So what do you think? Replace RAM, or go ahead and look for a new Lynx?