leonk

Soldered on LCD is common back in the day. You cut the ribbon when you sega nomad mod. No big deal. Just need to know the solder points. On a side note. I'm truly amazed at the amazing things coming out these days for retro gamers. If 2014 was the year of the NESRGB then 2015 is the year of the Lynx lcd mod (in terms of top technical achievement, in my book anyway). Congrats on an amazing product. My offer still stands on beta testing lcd only mod for GG!

I have a Lynx system where the diodes just past the voltage straight through without lowering it to 5V! Wait on AC or batteries, it just shows a white screen. It only works fine when I use a 6V AC power. Perfect candidate for power regulator!

?? Please read my post above. It explains how the +ve terminal of the battery connects AFTER the diode / spot where OUT from 7805 should connect. The German mod forces the battery power to also go through the 7805 rather than after. The cut and wire IS needed if you want to regulate the 9V from the batteries.

Got it. So it should work fine, except you have to remember the following: 1) Tolerances are lower on these SMD voltage regulators 2) Heat - do they require any passive cooling (i.e. heat sink) Best to find datasheet for the part you want to use and read it. Apart from that it all looks good!

PM'd for boxes..

For my install, I picked up the following voltage regulator (while purchasing an NESRGB kit for a customer): http://etim.net.au/shop/shop.php?crn=206&rn=547&action=show_detail It's the OKI-78SR-5 Switching Regulator (5V). I then followed the German instructions (except I forgot to remove ZD13/I left it in place, I believe it might be needed for the small LED light in the front of the unit, oh well. All works great). In any case, I think a good switching regulator is much better than a 70's technology 7805 or 90's tech 7805 reduced to the size of surface mount. Once the mod is done, I don't like to get into the system to fix it.. EVER. (this is why I also did a full cap kit). The instructions online are correct. The +VE terminal of the battery holder should touch the pad of D11 that's closest to that big cap. In this mod, it's labelled "OUT" in pics lower in the post. What this mod does is send the power from the batteries through the voltage regulator as well! (original design did not do that). If you insist on using the other regulators, keep this in mind. All regulators must have 3 pins: - IN - unregulated power in (from DC plug or AA batteries) - GROUND - to drain extra voltage to - OUT - regulated 5V power In your 2nd pic, it doesn't seem you have it connected correctly. top rail in schematics is 5V. bottom rail is GND. (rail = horizontal line going across entire picture)

Google translate is your friend for this: http://circuit-board.de/forum/index.php/Thread/4779-TUT-srdwa-Donking2000-Atari-Lynx-1-2-Spannungsregler-Umbau-SMD-Variante/?s=57e20125a860dd0b9153c2a4c85b17ebf0b8a076 I did this on my Lynx 2, except I used: - brand new IN4001 instead of reuse the ones from D9/D11 on my Lynx 2 - used switching 7805 replacement (rather than standard 7805) - it generates no heat and a lot more reliable. It's also rated for input voltage of 7V-35V!!! Unless you know how to read schematics, and done similar type mods before, I suggest you let someone else do it for you. Just my $0.02.

Ah. Yes. Connect Lynx to rgb monitor.

?!?! you want just the LCD driver PCB without the actual LCD + ribbon cable? Isn't the PCB configured to run with that particular LCD display? What else can you hook it up to? On that note, McWill, I noticed the inputs (D0, D1, ...) seem to all be digital inputs. Is this device specifically made for the Lynx resolution, or can it be adapted to other devices assuming we know their pinout (e.g. NOMAD, Game Gear, etc). I understand the PCB has specific holes cut for the Lynx, but assume we can figure out a way to "make it fit". Just a general question.

Installation tips: 1) if you only care about lcd and don't plan on doing vga port, you can skip connecting the brightness button. Also, after removing the brightness knob, you can snip the 3 legs in the front, put electrical tape on 3 holes and solder brightness potentiometer back down. This way you won't have any open holes on your Lynx / look stock from outside. 2) assuming you have proper desoldering station, it is easier to just remove the old lcd connector than solder to it. The added advantage is it makes the install much easier/clean as lcd wires and lcd screen would be facing one another once assembled. You will not have to figure out how to route wires without interfering. 3) use color ribbon wire. I soldered the lcd front first and then installed it. This minimizes the time the lcd is exposed to air and potential of getting dust. Take picture of front so you can use it as color map for final install. 4) enjoy. This is a fun simple project with great reward at the end!

I believe it all goes back to the same problem - the poorly designed flex cable. Exposed graphite traces is a bad idea as they break/rub off and slowly deteriate.

Got a very good condition Atari Lynx 1 box. But own Lynx 2. Anyone want to trade boxes?

... Double post ...

I completed my Atari a lynx 2 super mod: - new LCD screen (no VGA out don't need it) - new buttons / flex cable - 5V regulator mod (new switching type / no heat) All works great! I was shocked by the video quality when first turned on! Pictures online don't do it justice.

Spent another 2 hours on it (I'm that stubborn) and I think I figured it out! I'm surprised this is not documented anywhere because a lot of people ran into this problem. I believe this is no different than the usual "My Lynx worked, I opened it, now it doesn't". The root cause: the dreaded keys flex cable. It seems that some systems are sensitive to the position of the cable as you close it. If the cable is left to find its natural resting shape, the battery holder puts stress on it as it clams down causing contact loss for on button. Fix: make sure ribbon cable is as straight as possible as you close it. Put battery cover in. Lift it 1/4". Use flat head screw driver to push flex cable straight (tension under battery holder) then close. Now battery holder doesn't put stress on cable/pull it out and all works great!

Hi. I installed the new flex cable + buttons into 2 of my Lynx 2 systems. One works great, the other has a very strange behaviour. It took me hours to try and figure out what it is, but I think I figured it out, and was wondering if you ran into this problem and what you might suggest I do. When the Lynx 2 is tested with the back cover off, it turns on/off. When I put the cover down (using the 4 screws) the ON button doesn't work. The root of the problem is the battery holder piece of plastic (the one that is held in place with 1 black screw) If it's not there, I can put the system together and play it via AC/DC adapter. When the plastic holder is in place, it doesn't want to turn on. I thought it might be pinching the flex cable (which is new!) but I think it's the actual PCB. When the cover is off, and I press with my finger on the PCB around where the flex cable goes in, the system doesn't turn on! Do you think that the little tab on the battery holder (which also pressed the PCB down) is the root cause? And if so, what exactly is causing this? I reflowed the ribbon connector and no change in behaviour. I'm going crazy with this thing. I've spent >40 hours trying to fix it! At this point, I would rather have working ON/OFF button than able to use batteries. The worst part about this all is that this is my best system. I already install the LCD mod into it and 5V voltage regulator.

I prefer to keep my systems as stock look on outside as possible; be able to play using DC adapter, 6 batteries or even the Lynx extended battery pack (kind of cool to show people). Very much true to the original design. If an NES can take 9V AC (or 9V DC in Famicom) and convert it to 5V using a 7805, not sure why we can't either (and Lynx 2 original input is 9V!) If you look at my updated schematics, the German hack replaces D11 with the 7805. There is no way anything but regulated 5V gets into the system (battery or DC plug). It's the simplest, cheapest, cleanest mod. No need to over complicate it.

My $0.02 tips: - use only ide cable wire (28awg) as multi strand wire is better than solid core for this application. - use 60/40 solder. Anything else has too much tin and harder to work with / get professional looking thruhole solder points. - test you Lynx power using multimeter before install. Don't want to feed 8v into lcd PCB and toast it. Lynx is cheap. This board is not.

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to follow the German site instructions for 7805 mod except use a modern switching 7805 drop in replacement. It's much more efficient (>90%) with no heat like 7805. Only flaw is cost. $10 vs $1.

Here's the updated schematic. Not sure how I made such a silly mistake. Here's a link to how to add 5V power regulator. Use google translate for English: http://circuit-board.de/forum/index.php/Thread/4779

You're right! It was a typo on my part.

In an effort to fix 2 Atari Lynx II systems, I spent some time updating the Lynx 1 power section schematics with the correct markings as found on the Lynx II. I hope using the information found here will help someone fix their Lynx that might no longer start up. Let me know what you think. If anyone wants to post this on their web site / wiki .. feel free.

Technical question: on 2 Lynx systems I recently restored I noticed that power on initial rail is as high as 8V. A crappy zenor diode is used in the hopes of lowering power down to 5V but it does a poor job at that. I was thinking of doing a 5V power regulator mod + lcd mod to my system. Where does this thing tap it's power and what voltage range should we test before we connect? In case zenor failed I don't want to kill lcd controller PCB.

McWill I PM'd you about getting a screen. Please add me to wait list. Eager to try it out on my Lynx 2!

For those interested, this is the real thing, region 1 version with all the discs, material and even DVD box that the DVD case goes into. Same thing as you can find in any store. When paying, please mark if you want widescreen or fullscreen version. Thanks.