First arcade monitor D9200 - 01/29/09 UPDATED - FIXING THE CABLE ***SOLVED***

[cmoses]

I just acquired a Wells Gardner D9200 monitor out of a EA PGA Golf III cabinet.  This is the first arcade monitor I have had and was hoping to get a few questions answered.  I did some searching, but have gotten some conflicting information on a few things and was hoping to get some of them straightened out.  I know that the D9200 doesn't have the best reputation but I got a really good deal on it.

I was not sure that it was working, but got home and plugged it in and the screen came on and displays "No Signal" in a rectangle in the middle of the screen that cycles between red, blue and green.

I had read that you can just plug the cable into a video card and as long as you are in 640 x 480 resolution you should get a picture.  I tried this first with my laptop and then my MAME machine, but neither was able to generate a signal that the monitor liked.  So is this statement true or do you need a specific card like the ArcadeVGA?  I have seen reference to Soft 15khz, but also did not have any luck with that.  My video card is a NVidia 9400 GT, PCI-E and has a regular 15 pin monitor output.  The monitor did not have a VGA cable so I took one off of a old monitor that I had.  Does the D9200 use a regular video cable or does it need a special one?

If anyone can answer my questions that would be great.  I think I will ultimately get a ArcadeVGA 2 PCI-E card, but was hoping to test out the monitor prior to that with my MAME computer, just to make sure it was working well.  Can't really judge to much by the "No Signal" screen. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
 

[Kevin Mullins]

How are you connecting the vga cable?
What pinout on the monitor chassis are you using?

Specs: http://www.wellsgardner.com/pdf/Spec/D9200_27_33.pdf

[cmoses]

I am just using a 15 pin male to male standard vga cable.  The Wells Gardner did not have one and I saw many places saying you can connect it to any VGA card.  I took a cable from a LCD Dell monitor that I had and plugged it in.  That is why I asked if it need a special cable. 

On the link that you directed me to it says VGA: 15 pin D-sub high density male.  Not sure if my cable is high density but the rest is correct.

I looked at the board layout pdf on Well's site and the correct connections are made for VGA not the CGA/EGA ones. 

[Kevin Mullins]

A standard cable should be just fine....
Did you verify that your video card is actually functioning by connecting a regular pc monitor?
(just gotta ask)

[cmoses]

Yes, I set it to 640x480 on my computer monitor, then unplug it and connect it to the arcade monitor.

[cmoses]

*** UPDATED with Pictures ***

I did some looking at the board and I think I may have found the issue, but am hoping to get some confirmation from someone on here.

There is a black ribbon cable that runs from the video board in the back of the machine to the main board.  There appears that there is one cable that splits off and goes to a connection on the board marked LW803.  This cable appears to be broken.  I also noticed that the cable is a little frayed where it goes through a black filter.  Does anyone know how easy it would be to replace this cable?  Part number for the cable?  Any information would be helpful.

Last picture is a adjustment knob that I thought was bad, but on the service supplement I see that it is (Factory Sealed) which I assume is so that it won't get changed.  Can someone verify as it looks like it went bad.

[Kevin Mullins]

Is that whole cable messed up ?
Couldn't quite tell in that pic.
I see the one line that is obviously cut, but what about the rest?

[MonMotha]

*** UPDATED with Pictures ***

I did some looking at the board and I think I may have found the issue, but am hoping to get some confirmation from someone on here.

There is a black ribbon cable that runs from the video board in the back of the machine to the main board.  There appears that there is one cable that splits off and goes to a connection on the board marked LW803.  This cable appears to be broken.  I also noticed that the cable is a little frayed where it goes through a black filter.  Does anyone know how easy it would be to replace this cable?  Part number for the cable?  Any information would be helpful.

Last picture is a adjustment knob that I thought was bad, but on the service supplement I see that it is (Factory Sealed) which I assume is so that it won't get changed.  Can someone verify as it looks like it went bad.

Looks like perhaps some shipping damage on the cable.  Dunno what it does, but broken cables can certainly cause all manners of problems.  Looks like it just goes to the other side of that 1-position connector with the cable to nowhere.  Confirm with a schematic/wiring diagram if possible, but reconnecting that (assuming not other broken cables) might be all you need.  WG can probably provide you with a replacement, though.

That pot isn't bad.  It just has glue dribbled over it to prevent it from being messed with.  Looks like it says HV ADJ, which is something you wouldn't want to mess with normally, so I guess that's why they glued it.

[cmoses]

The cable is in good shape except for the one section where it is broken and missing a piece.  The connection on the Video/Sync Interface board has a 7 pin connector and the connector on the mail board has 6 pin connector.  So it is a 7 pin to 6 pin cable.  With the one cable splitting and going to LW803.  The connector on the board is labled P502.  So the cable is broken where it splits off and then there is also a piece of the cable missing. 

Here is a picture.

 

[Ummon]

Looks to me like someone cut that black one, and stripped off the other side of the gray-white wire. Try to find the schematics. Should'nt be hard.

[cmoses]

I called Wells Gardner and talked to a very nice man in tech support.  I explained my issue and described the cable that was broken.  He said he thought they did not have any more of those cables, but would look.  I got a call back from him about 20 minutes later saying that they did not have them.

I then decided to try to build a new cable or see if I could repair it.  I went to a electronic store and also Fry's and neither had any similar parts to build a new one.  I then figured I could repair the one I had.  I got a male 25 pin and female 25 pin connectors.  I cut out the bad section of the cable and then split the wires and stripped a little off of each one.  I then punched them down into the connectors.  I also patched the single cable that splits off.  I connected the 25 pin connectors and then plugged the cable back into the interface board and the main board.  I then powered the monitor on first.  It turned on and came up with the same "No Signal" message as before.  Well I was happy that I hadn't fried anything so I then turned on the computer.  The monitor switched and up came the Boot screen, then the Windows startup screen and finally Windows.  YEAH!!!  I launched MALA and went in and checked out a few games.  It was amazing looking.  Much better than the 27" TV I was planning to use.  Very crisp and clean.  I am running in 640 x 480 mode and everything looks really good.  The cable I made is working but I would like to get a replacement.  I posted in B/S/T so maybe someone out there has one they are willing to part with.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=89004.0

I guess my next decision will be whether or not to go with a ArcadeVGA card to get some more authentic resolutions.   
 

[Ummon]

Dude, hallelujah. Now leave it be. Also, you might post 'solved' in the title. OH, and since you can, try out some native modes, yo.

[cmoses]

What is the easiest way to try some native modes?  Is that a option in MAME?

Sorry but have only run MAME on a computer monitor so have never had that option.

[Ummon]

A D9200 is what's called a multisync. Read about it in the monitor wiki.

[cmoses]

A D9200 is what's called a multisync. Read about it in the monitor wiki.

A Ummon is what's called a dumb

Really???  A multisync monitor?

Yes I know what it is and what it can do, thats why I got it in the first place. 

But thanks for your smart ass answer anyway.

[retrometro]

I called Wells Gardner and talked to a very nice man in tech support.  I explained my issue and described the c
...
I guess my next decision will be whether or not to go with a ArcadeVGA card to get some more authentic resolutions.   
 

I had a D9200 and it lasted for about five years before dying.  I ordered a D9400 and the specs were trivially better.  But I definitely agree with how good and prompt their support is.

I thought about getting an arcadevga as I had the first version with my first cab (jap candy cab).  but after playing with soft15khz for only a few minutes, I knew it was a very good replacement.

You've nothing to lose if you haven't bought your arcadevga yet.  see if you soft15khz will get you your res/refresh for the games you like.

[cmoses]

I tried Soft 15Khz a little, but I don't think it works very well with my NVidia card.  I have a NVidia 9400 GT, and when I load it it says something like "Does not work with GeForce 8 and 9 cards".  It seems to only give me 1 resolution below 640 x 480.  I think it was 512 x 448 or something close to that.  Having only that one probably doesn't help to much. 

[Ummon]

A D9200 is what's called a multisync. Read about it in the monitor wiki.

A Ummon is what's called a dumb

Really???  A multisync monitor?

Yes I know what it is and what it can do, thats why I got it in the first place. 

But thanks for your smart ass answer anyway.

Hahahahah. I was being neutral and unassuming of your degree of knowledge about all this, particularly given your confused comment on native modes. I still recommend the monitor wiki, as well as the soft15 thread (this latter particularly would've let you know what cards are supported, and why).