EvilDragon17
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Posts posted by EvilDragon17
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On 5/6/2023 at 3:43 PM, retrosix said:
Full info here https://www.retrosix.wiki/power-circuit-atari-lynx-ii#HJuwv
Check your Schmitt trigger circuit components
Thanks, that's a very good guide (though I do not have an oscillator at home), but somehow, I'm still at a loss and couldn't figure out what exactly this could be.
Okay, here's what I tried:
* I made a short circuit between pin 13 and 14 on U6 to prevent the unit from turning on when I connect it to power and was able to measure all U6 voltages. These are all fine.* I checked the values of R69, R73 and R68. They're all fine.
* As I modified the unit with a RECOM, I don't have Q8 and some other parts on the board. This mod is NOT responsible for the problem - the problem was already present before and I've added that mod to around 20 Lynx before, so that should be fine.* I can SWITCH OFF the Lynx II either pressing the power button or by connecting PIN 13 with PIN 14 on U6. And it STAYS off.
* I can SWITCH ON the Lynx II by connecting PIN 13 with PIN 7 on U6. I CANNOT switch it on using the POWER BUTTON or by connecting Pin 6 with Pin 7 on ribbon connector or by connecting TP17 with TP18 (which basically simulates pressing the Power on-Button.
So in a gist:
As soon as the Lynx II receives power, Pin 13 is put to HIGH for some reason.
Switching it off does work and puts Pin 13 LOW (and it stays LOW), but a power button press does not bring it HIGH again.
What part could be responsible for that? It sounds like it should be something really simple, but I cannot grasp it yet.
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On 4/28/2023 at 11:08 AM, Stephen Moss said:
Well the manual tests with the piece of wire shows tells me that the power on/off latch comprised of U6E U6F is essentially working as it should as it is clearly latching in both the on and off states. So I still think it is either a bad solder joint or bad capacitor issue with C37 & C38 as they are the only thing I can see that fits the know facts.
Okay.
On 4/28/2023 at 11:08 AM, Stephen Moss said:The problem with continuity checking connections, and particularly with surface mount devices is that the probe pressure/conductance can sometime make a bad solder joint and so all looks fine when it is not.
True, that's why I usually try to touch the surface of the ceramic cap without applying pressure
On 4/28/2023 at 11:08 AM, Stephen Moss said:I am assuming a typo with regard to C38 being connected to R68 & C37,
Not really. R68, the negative side of C37 and R68 are all connected to GND, and that's a straight connection that can easily be seen on the PCB.
The anode of C37 is connected to the other side of R68 whereas the other side of C38 is connected to R70.
On 4/28/2023 at 11:08 AM, Stephen Moss said:but if your meter can read the relevant capacitance values I would be inclined to remove C37 & C38 and test them (in circuit measurements are not always accurate) in case they have failed. But before that you may want to re-solder both ends just in case it is a bad solder joint to either the power latch circuit or GND.
C37 has just been recapped, but the reading also shows 1uF, so that's fine.
C38 shows 9,8nF when it's desoldered, so that does look good as well.
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On 4/26/2023 at 10:59 PM, JagChris said:
Isn't this also a symptom of a bad flex circuit?
Well, but it behaves the same without the flex connected and the works fine in another Lynx II
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On 4/26/2023 at 10:21 AM, Stephen Moss said:
Usually for the immediate switch on at power connection I would suspect Q12 short, U6 or C38 open/no connection to either pin 11 of U6 or GND so that it is not pulling pin 11 low.
The fact that it powers off would suggests that Q12 is probably OK and the issue is more likely to with C38 (discounting U6 for now as you say you have replaced it).
Well, I replaced it with an untested one from another Lynx II (which was completely dead), but at least I think it would be rare if they both had the same defect.
On 4/26/2023 at 10:21 AM, Stephen Moss said:Obviously, a multi-meter would be one way of checking this but if you do not have on to had using a piece of wire to connect pins 11 and 7 of U6 while power is applied is an alternative, if the rest of the power latch is operating normally the Lynx should stay off when the wire is removed but would be tricky to as you two people.
I have a Multimeter here, but I did test it anyways:
Connecting Pins 11 and 7 while I connect the power supply keeps it off even when I remove the wire afterwards.
And...
On 4/26/2023 at 10:21 AM, Stephen Moss said:If that is the issue and you have a short piece of wire to hand you can check it manually by connecting Pins 7 and 13 of U6 together for a second when the Lynx is in its off state, that should put the power latch back into it the power on state.
... connecting Pin 7 and 13 afterwards powers on the Lynx II.
So, spot on with the diagnosis!
The question now is to figure out what to replace / check / fix now.
C37 is properly connected with C38 and R68.
The other end of C38 goes to R70 and Pin 11 of U6.
Pin 13 of U6 is connected with TP16 and Q7.
Anything I'm missing? Thanks
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Hi,
I'm having a Lynx II here with a power issue I've not encountered before.
As soon as the power supply is connected or batteries are being put in, it switches itself on automatically.
It can be switched off - but switching it on does not work again (also not connecting TP17 with TP18, so it's not the flex cable - I also tried the flex cable in another Lynx and the Power On button does work fine).
I've done the following:
* Replaced U6
* Checked the capacitors and resistors needed for the on / off latch
* Disconnected the Flex cable (to make sure it's not a stuck button).
* Checked that TP17 and TP18 don't have a short circuit
So... anybody have any idea?
Why would the Lynx II switch itself on as soon as you give it power and while it can be switched off, it cannot be switched on again...?
Thanks in advance for your help
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Thanks for your help, I actually figured out what the problem was. It wasn't a failing part, it was a missing trace....
I'll still give some information as it might be helpful for other
The pins for the power On button on the flex cable connector are Pins 6 and 7.
These are directly connected without any other part inbetween to TP17 and TP18.So connecting TP17 and TP18 effectively simulates pressing the Power ON button. That's a good way to rule out the flex cable.
Another helpful hint was:
"ON Button Pressed = shorts ribbon pin 6/TP17 to ribbon pin 7/TP18 (about 100 Ohm)"
"OFF Button Pressed = shorts ribbon pin 7/TP18 to ribbon pin 14"As pressing OFF did work in my case, we could basically rule out an issue with TP18 / Pin7.
Which narrows it down to TP17.
We know TP17 is connected directly to the Power ON button - but where else should it be connected?
According to the schematics I found here, TP17 should be connected to R68 and C34.
And that's what lead me the wrong way: I didn't find any C34 on my Lynx II mainboard.
However, you did mention the issue could be C37 - and then I took a look at the mainboard and the schematics linked above. And in fact, it looks like what they call C34 should really be C37.
The capacity is correct and it's also connected to ground and R68. So it SHOULD be connected to TP17 as well, if the schematics are correct.
Well, it wasn't on my mainboard. So I did add a small wire from TP17 to C37 - and that made the power on button work again.
I haven't followed the trace, so I don't know where it broke - but for some reason, it did - and that simple wire fixed the unit.
So thanks for pointing me in the correct direction, another Lynx II is now fully restaurated and ready to be played
On 3/2/2023 at 11:03 AM, Stephen Moss said:I presume that was a typo and should have read 100K, otherwise something is wrong there which is likely to be a fault with U6 as failing resistors tend to go open circuit/high resistance.
Ah, yes, that was a typo, I missed the K on my multimeter. It is in fact 100K.
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On 2/27/2023 at 10:57 AM, Stephen Moss said:
As you say shorting pin 11 to the supply pins switched the Lynx on and off it would seem unlikely that U6 is e issue as the Latch comprised of U6E, U6F and associated components appears to be operating correctly.
First of all, thanks for your help
I was just wondering, as TP18 is connected to Pin 13, not to Pin 11, so something might be broken inside U6.
On 2/27/2023 at 10:57 AM, Stephen Moss said:If, as you sat the flex circuit is fine then I would be looking towards either an open circuit between the flex circuit and U6
but did you check the connection from TP18 to Pin 13 of U6 and R69?
Yes, they're all find and R69 is 100 Ohm, so all good there.
On 2/27/2023 at 10:57 AM, Stephen Moss said:or the power on button itself.
It is possible that either it had become misaligned with the pads on the flex circuit during re-assembly or there is usually a conductive pad on those types of button (not checked it present on the lynx myself) make the circuit when pressed and that may either be worn or missing. You tried the flex circuit in another lynx but perhaps you should try swapping power button from the bad lynx in the good one and visa-versa to see what effect that has.
Well, it can't be the power button as the system doesn't switch on when I connect to TP18 and TP17, which should basically simulate a press of the ON button without the flex cable involved :/
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Hi!
I'm having a small issue with the Lynx II Power circuit (there are tons of threads about it, but these didn't help me yet...)
Okay, I received a Lynx II that didn't work at all. So I gave it a full-refresh with new capacitors and also the 5V Recom Mod (which I did on multiple Lynx and Lynx II as well, so I'm fairly sure the issue doesn't have anything to do with that mod).
So, what's not working?
Pressing Power ON does not work.
What have I done to figure out the culprit?
Well, of course, the first thing I usually check in this case is the membrane and any broken traces.
The membrane is fine (and works in another Lynx II) and both Pin 6 and 7 go to TP17 and TP18.
Manually connecting TP17 and TP18 also does not power on the Lynx II.
Replacing Q8 did not fix that. Bridging the pins to check if a cartridge is inserted also doesn't help.
What DOES work?
I found in a thread on these boards, that connecting Pin 14 and 11 of U6 should also start up the Lynx II.
And indeed, that does work! The Lynx II starts and runs without any issues - all buttons work and powering it off does work as well.
So, to recap...
The power button circuit does not work. Connecting TP17 and TP18 does not start the Lynx II.
Connecting Pin 11 and 14 of U6 starts the Lynx II without any issues.
It CAN'T be a lot of parts now that could cause this behaviour, I guess. But I don't know which ones this could be.
The Zener diode (and most of the other diodes as well as some resistor and Q7) don't even exist anymore because the'yre not needed when you have the Recom Mod.
Is there anything besides U6 that could cause that issue?
Other idea: Could there be a workaround? Seeing that bridging Pin 11 and Pin 14 makes the unit boot, maybe I can disconnect the On-Switch from the normal connections and directly connect them to Pin 14 and 11?
That would only be a worst-case fix though, I'd rather fix what's broken, but I can't find the culprit.
Thanks for any help here
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Nope, that's MicroUSB.
I usually buy power supplies with a USB Port and use an external cable, as that can be used with anything
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Don't forget the cable! A cheap, thin USB cable has a higher resistance and causes a voltage loss. The higher the needed power is, the higher the voltage loss.
So even 3A power supply won't help if the loss of the cable is too high.
The longer and thinner the cable, the more loss. So thin and thick cables should usually work better.
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I've had adaptors with 1.5A which worked... and 2A ones that were so cheap they didn't. So it depends on the adaptor - if you have it already at home, it won't hurt to try it.
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Sure, my shop has it in stock
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We're trying to find a cheaper shipping service to get them to console5 right now.
No worries, there a still a couple hundred left
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The other solution would be to not use USB at all since USB only offers DC voltages. With a 100% AC design, then one could purchase a dedicated AC power supply that would plug directly into the 4 prong AC power converter. One AC power converter would be wired for TI-99/4a AC voltages and then another one would be wired for Spectrvideo AC power voltages. All three power converters would need to have some type of color code so that someone does not plug the wrong adapter into the wrong system and fry one of their systems.
Creating a high-voltage (220V / 110V) power supply is almost impossible, as certifications and safety testings cost more than 10k EUR.
That's the reason we had the USB idea - I first wanted to simply create a new power supply for the Coleco, but that's almost impossible.
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That would mean that we'd need two different populated PCBs with more parts, so the cost for the ColUSB would've been around 12 EUR higher.
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That is planned, however, for the Coleco, you would need to get that weird plug - and therefore would have to produce them yourself, which would add again to the total costs.I just wish this product had been split into two parts, with some commonly available interface (Molex connector?) inbetween them. One half to convert from Colecovision power connector to standard Molex, the other half to plug in a USB power source and generate the desired voltages used by the Colecovision. If it had been a two part solution, later on additional adapters could be made to generate AC voltages onto the Molex connector to be used with e.g. Spectravideo computers or TI-99/4A. As it stands, this is a product that only can be used with the ColecoVision.
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Hopefully, it produces clean and reliable voltage. That's always a bit of a hit or miss with chinese adpators.
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I am interested in the Coleco USB power converter and its been mentioned that it costs a lot of money for the safety certifications. I am now seeing a CE Europe and FCC safety certifications logo on the pictures online, I might order a few of these in the future.
What is the official manufactories website to order these Coleco power converters in QTY? I am thinking about purchasing a few and testing it with a high-end 3.5 amp USB C power supply.
On www.dragonbox.de, you can request a reseller account. If you just want to buy a few ones, there's already a QTY discount on our website anyways
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Oh, boy... As I was writing with my phone, I though mentioning that I know it's not cheap making small patches, would have been enough...
But it clearly wasn't.
No harm done, my post was mostly aimed at christo930, who finds the price pretty high
Of course you are welcome to internally mod your Coleco... though I'm not sure you will find a suitable PSU these days, as 12V, -5V and +5V is not that easy to get (unless you buy a normal PC power supply, but these won't fit and are even more expensive).
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Well, you're welcome to design, develop, prototype and betatest your own power supply. Then get all the certifications (costs a few thousand as well), create and produce the case, packaging and manual... and try getting it cheaper.
if I sell 500, the profit is exactly 0. Selling more would make profit, but so far, I don't make any with it.
The parts alone are over 14 EUR of the costs, add production and assembly on top of that...
It's not cheap producing something in small QTYs.
Including a power supply wouldn't make sense. It would need to have international certifications and different plugs (US, UK, AU, EU), so it would easily add 10 EUR costs.
Unneeded costs if you already have USB power supplies at home (like many have).
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Yes, console5 will receive more units.
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It says on the description that EACH port has 2.4A, so that should be fine.
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There is no "too much" when it comes to A
2A on a power supply simply means that it can provide a MAX of 2A.
If a device only needs 1A, then that is fine, but if it needs 3A, it wont be enough and the voltage drops down.
So yes, the higher the better.
The Colecovision has graphical issues if the voltage drops below 4.7V.
Thats the reason it can glitch if the power switch oxidates: it adds resistance and therefore lowers the voltage.
Now, most USB power supplies provide 5V. Some even provide 5.2 or 5.3V, which is good.
Why? Well, the first voltage drop is the cable.
The cheaper cables have a high inner resistor (1 Ohm or higher per Meter).
Which means: Voltage can drop by 0.3V already, when its running with 2A.
Use a 2m cable and it already drops by 0.6V.
The adaptor tries to compensate it as good as possible, but at one point the loss is too high.
So, for best results:
1. The power supply should provide a stable 5V at 2A (some already drop the voltage when being used with 2A)
2. The cable should have as little inner resistor as possible. And the shorter, the better.
3. Of course, contacts and power switch of the Coleco should be clean, otherwise the voltage drops even more.
If you have a bunch of cables and power supplies at home, test and mix them.You might find the best combination
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Try a different USB-C cable or charger.
Some users here have tested it with a SuperGameModule and it worked.
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Lynx II switches itself on automatically
in Atari Lynx
Posted
Heck, yeah, Lynx is the opposite from most oth
Ah, yeah, as Lynx is the opposite way from normal systems, this always confuses me
Removing Q7 and / or C36 doesn't change anything.
I haven't yet connected it to 9V - as for some reason, the official Lynx power supply makes 12V. Is it safe to connect these as well?
I have tried a few more things regarding C37 and R68:
* When the unit is switched off: When I connect TP17 to Pin 7 of U6 (bypassing C37 and R68), should that switch on the Lynx II? As it does that.
* Removing R68 doesn't change anything
* Removing C37 stops the unit from switching on. When I shortly connect TP17 to Pin 7 of U6, the unit starts up.
Some more measurements:
* When the unit is switched OFF, Pin 6 of the Flex PCB connector (POWER ON) has 4.5V, Pin 7 (POWER COM) has 4.95V.
* When the unit is switched ON, Pin 6 of the Flex PCB Connector has -0.34V, Pin 7 has 0V.
This is the same whether a flex cable is connected or not.