mal421 Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 My trusty old Fat Frog failed last night just before a show. It had been working fine all day whilst plotting and programming. I powered it down to move from the stage to the tech box and when switching on in the tech box it wouldn't power up.All the LEDs in the push buttons come on and all the LCD screens go black and that is it. Any ideas ? My initial suspect is the PSU. I will contact Zero 88 tomorrow just thought I would try here first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 While you are waiting, it is worth checking for things which might have been disturbed by the move. Ribbon cables between the boards for example by carefully opening the FF to check. When was the battery last changed? Does either of the LCDs ever say anything when you power it on or do they just stay black? Can you connect a VGA monitor while booting to see if this says anything extra? If you need the maintenance manual (which includes which cables go where and how to run the test program) let me know and I will send it on separately. There are some photos of a stripped down FF on the internet if you do a google for them. Peter (we too have a FF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mal421 Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 The LCDs say nothing just black. alas my FF is one of the first batch made so doesn't have the option to attach an external screen. I will be opening it later this morning to check the ribbons etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 The LCDs say nothing just black. alas my FF is one of the first batch made so doesn't have the option to attach an external screen. I will be opening it later this morning to check the ribbons etc.A quick glance at the maint manual suggests checking the DRAM module(s) on motherboard are properly seated. The two LCDs are on one ribbon "C" so that might be significant (from motherboard to main LCD to wheel LCD). The desk front itself is on the A ribbon and the fixture controls on the C ribbon (The motherboard should be clearly marked A, B, C). As mentioned before, the battery is always worth changing if it has not been done recently (except your one is probably soldered?). Another thing to check is the earth link between the top and bottom of the desk hasn't broken (but seems unlikely would be just this). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mal421 Posted October 6, 2013 Author Share Posted October 6, 2013 Have reseated all ribbons and reseated the DRAMs but fault persists, have also checked the PSU and that seems OK. The battery doesn't look like it has been replaced so I will get a new one and replace that. Thanks for all your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted October 6, 2013 Share Posted October 6, 2013 OK one last suggestion. As you don't have VGA, you might not be able to see the "operating system not found" message which is one of the symptoms of a dead battery (I think if this happens the LCD remains blank so that matches). If it is more than a few years old, this would be the first suspect but a major exercise to replace on the original motherboard. I wonder if it is worth seeing if the test program can start? To enter test mode, hold down the F1 key at power-on, until the main LCD shows a test page - then flash buttons 1-14 will run through the tests if this part of the desk is alive. If this is stored in a ROM rather than an EPROM then it might still work with mains power on even if battery dead. Absolutely last thought - check there is no diskette in the drive (especially one with a boot sector but not operating system install). I'm out of ideas now. Regards -- Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mal421 Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 Finally replaced the battery today and all appears to function as normal. The main board is dated 1999 and the battery appears not to have been changed in the past. So a big thankyou Peter for all your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Finally replaced the battery today and all appears to function as normal. The main board is dated 1999 and the battery appears not to have been changed in the past. So a big thankyou Peter for all your help.Hooray! Another Fat Frog lives to fight another day. Cripes - that means the battery lasted 14 years. Odd that it chose to die just when you put it back in the control room, but that's computers for you! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.