9xr pro freezing up help please

[jhsa]

Mike, what I find strange is that the radio seems to work again for a while after rebooting, as far as I understand.
Not sure if a badly soldered component would do that.
In my opinion, there might be a bad component that changes its value somehow after a while (capacitor??), or the LCD itself..
I am just guessing of course..

João

[jonrev]

Morning Mike,
Well I've just done resoldering all the caps below the ribbon connector and am pretty sure they are all well seated now. Tx turned on and as usual lasted about 3 mins before freezing. Each time it's switched on after that first freeze from cold it lasts very much less time (maybe 30 seconds then less each time) until it's left for a good while to 'cool down' then I get the three minutes again. This pattern is repeatable every time.
Screen corruption doesn't happen every time and didn't this morning.
With the test firmware you put up yesterday for me the screen blanks when I turn thr cut on just leaving the backlight and a blank screen. Turning thr cut off again has no effect with blank screen still there.
All sticks and switches etc. are clearly still working fine after the screen blanks and beeps etc still there.
When I start with trims inwards for flashing the screen acts the same and freezes but flashing goes fine (I use eepskye just to be on the safe side as I can't get any info from the frozen screen)

During resoldering I managed to 'glue' several caps together and had fun sucking the excess solder away! I thought I had a nice small iron tip but it's way too fat for this sort of work.

Hope something from the above might be helpful.

Thanks

John

[jonrev]

Hi Joao thanks for chipping in again. Must say I think you're right about a bad joint. I'm still wondering if the CPU has problems?

Just wanted to add for info for Mike that I tried his firmware switch trick while the screen was dispalying ok and it does indeed switch the screen off then back on again.

Cheers
John

[jonrev]

I had thought the screen was basically just a grid of elements that were switched on by voltages sent down the ribbon cable. Is there more to it than that? Can it be that irrespective of what's coming down the cable the screen can freeze with a complete display still there?
If so am I likely to be able to find a screen which is compatible to swap out? If not too expensive it would be a quick and simple job to replace.

[Kilrah]

Is there more to it than that?

Yes a lot, the screen has its own controller chip onboard that actually drives the LCD. Ribbon cable just carries commands telling that what to display.

Believe it's getting hard to find parts since it's been discontinued for a while now.

[jonrev]

Hi Kilrah and thank you for the explanation. Yes I haven't found a source for 9Xr pro parts anywhere now. 9x mainboards are still available so I guess there's a lot more of those radios around.
I didn't know if the display was a proprietary part for the 9xr pro or a more off-the-shelf item in use for other equipment as well. Maybe other radios?

John

[jhsa]

I think someone managed to find an LCD for his 9XR-PRO radio somewhere. But I think he never posted where he got it from
And this was a while ago, so I Don't remember the full story anymore..

There is at least one shop in China selling LCDs only. Perhaps they have something that fits. The problem is to find out what works and fits in the radio

Or perhaps contact HobbyKing. Maybe they can get you one.. We never know..

João

[jonrev]

Thanks Joao. If I was more certain it was the display I'd feel more comfortable trying to get one at probably a premium price but it would be disappointing if it turned out not to be the problem.
I've got a 9x screen and a quick look suggests the ribbon cable is the same. Wonder if there's a convention for cable connections. Even if it didn't show the correct display it would be interesting to see if it froze after a while. If not it would suggest the original display is faulty.
Dare I risk hooking it up and seeing what happens? Could it do more damage if it's wrong>>

John

[jhsa]

Wait.. I remember reading something.. Please let me do some quick research.. You can search too.. I think someone managed to use a 9x screen on the PRO, by inserting the ribbon shifted one pin either to the left or to the right.. But I am not sure if I have dreamed this or actually read it.. So, please do not attempt anything before we find out..

João

[jhsa]

No, I am not crazy, Not yet, found it

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthr ... ixes/page5

João

[jonrev]

Wow- just about to post this and your reply popped up. Guess we both found the same info. Thanks Joao you're a star.

Just looking around and found this on RCG- '9XR-PRO Hacks and Fixes'. Guy asked if anyone knew where to get a screen for a 'pro and this was the reply:-

"As far as i know it not available off the shelf but you can use 9x lcd which is available but you need to have a stable hand with xacto knife because it is one pin ahead so need to cut ribbon cable. 9x lcd pin 2 is 9xr pin 1 so it need cutting pin 1 of the lcd module which is 9x spare. happy to help if interested."

Interesting! I may whip out the screen and have a closer look.

John

[jhsa]

Yep, it is the same info.. I suggest you follow the link I have posted, and PM him.. He could probably help you with it.. worth trying at least..

João

[jonrev]

Yes will try contacting him. Have taken pro screen out and compared the two. Big problem is that the 9x screen ribbon has it's contacts on the opposite face of the cable. The ribbon is actually a fair bit longer so I could probably twist it so contacts face the right way for the socket but I wonder if the no.1 pin is then in the no.1 socket position.

Nothing's ever easy is it? I'll PM the OP from the RCG thread.

John

[jhsa]

I think there are adapters that have the contacts on both sides.. Not sure if the 9XR-PRO socket is one of those.. Perhaps Mike or Skynorth know that..

João

[jonrev]

No the pro socket only has contacts on one side so the cable has to go in the same orientation.
I'm not too worried about just writing off the pro as it was only a project unit that I'd probably pass on eventually anyway. Just I'd like to get it going for the satisfaction if I can. I certainly don't think it's worth spending too much money on if a fix isn't easy. After all I can always get a new one from Amazon for £350

John

[ReSt]

This connector could possibly help you
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpos ... count=1500

Reinhard

[jonrev]

Thank you Reinhard. I can't quite see if this reverses or can be used to reverse a ribbon cable orientation. Do you think it does do so? The extension length shouldn't be a problem and the price is great so I'll order one if you think it would do what I need.

John

[ReSt]

That was the question that was answered in that post.

Does anyone have the ERC12864-2 adapter board that flygear was selling? I need one or where I can get a 30pin top to bottom ffc adapter.

I'm not sure, but I think it does.

Reinhard

[jonrev]

Well I read through some of the thread but still not sure so have ordered one and will see when it comes. Thank you Reinhard.

fxamit from the RCG thread hasn't replied yet so I'm still not sure now which is pin 1 on the 9x ribbon. I will have a look in one of my 9x's and see if I can see from that. Don't want to get it hooked up the wrong way round after all this.

Guess that's as far as I can go till the adapter arrives. I will come back on here and detail what happens when I've tried it.

Thanks to all
John

[jhsa]

I can post a schematic for the 9x a bit later if that helps..
Not sure if the schematic for the PRO has been released to the public yet.. Can't remember..
Actually, I can't remember a lot lately..

João

[MikeB]

9XR-PRO LCD connections:

Mike

[jhsa]

And, the 9x schematic..

João

[jonrev]

Wow that's amazing thank you both. I did open a 9x up and although pin1 doesn't seem to be obvious I could see all the caps were connected to the same (left) end of the socket as the pro so assumed the no.1 pin is at the right the same. That being so I couldn't hook up the 9x display even loosely for a test so have put all to one side till the adapter arrives.

I'll keep your info for future reference- very handy.

Thanks again for all the help. Really appreciated.

John

[jonrev]

Just a final post to let all know that the adapter is no use. It works fine except it doesn't reverse the ribbon cable it's just an extension which maintains the same orientation.

I contacted Hobbyking help desk who were very good and replied immediately but unfortunately they don't have and can't get a screen and I can't find one anywhere else.

I've put the pro radio 'away' for now but dare say at some time a dead one will come along so I'll keep my eyes open and wait.

Thanks to Mike and Joao for once again helping me and Kilrah and Reinhard for their help too.

Happy flying to all

John

[jhsa]

Please keep trying to contact the other person that posted about using the 9x LCD on the pro.. Perhaps he will answer

João

[MikeB]

The display on the 'PRO is the same as that used on the 9XR, so if you can locate a "used" 9XR, you could get the display from that.

Mike

[jonrev]

Thank you both.
Joao I don't think the chap who posted the screen info is about much but will try another PM just in case.
Mike that's good to know as a non-pro could well be less money if one comes along.

If I do have any progress I will come back and let you know

John