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Dexter Setup Issues
https://www.daphne-emu.com:9443/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=3139
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Author:  aapljack [ Sat Dec 02, 2017 5:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Dexter Setup Issues

I just got my Dexter and attempted to set it up last night in my Dragon's Lair cabinet. I was previously running an LD-V8000 with an original DL disc and a Merlin 8000. Everything was working fine.

I have never run this game with a LD-V1000, so I have never used the original ROM board or cable. I am using both of those to try and get the Dexter running before I get my Merlin card updated.

I have everything hooked up but when I turn on the game, I get a lot of static in the speakers and the traditional startup beeps. After the last beep, the video does not start.

The LD-V1000 is selected on the Dexter and if I cycle through the LD versions and come back to the LD-V1000 setting and the video starts. However, it just plays the disc. One channel of audio is very faint (music/sound effects) and the other channel is fine (speech).

I am wondering if my ribbon cable is bad or maybe the ROM board is bad. I do plan on upgrading the Merlin, I just don't have the chip yet. Could it be that once the Merlin is updated, my problems might be fixed?

Author:  Matt Ownby [ Sun Dec 03, 2017 6:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dexter Setup Issues

A few things to try to help isolate the problem:

- swapping the audio connections between left and right to see what happens (does the background audio get louder and the announcer get very quiet?)
- is your ribbon cable plugged in backward? this is a _very_ common problem, especially from users who are using merlin 8000 because the cable orientation (I'm pretty sure) is flipped. The ribbon cable should be on the side next to the scoreboard cable, NOT the side next to the dip switches.
- is the dip switch on the dragon's lair logic setup properly for the type of laserdisc player that the dragon's lair logic board supports? The dragon's lair logic board can only support either LD-V1000 or PR-7820 (not both). If your ribbon cable is plugged in properly, Dexter can auto-detect which mode that the logic board supports and then you can set the dip switch accordingly.

aapljack wrote:
I just got my Dexter and attempted to set it up last night in my Dragon's Lair cabinet. I was previously running an LD-V8000 with an original DL disc and a Merlin 8000. Everything was working fine.

I have never run this game with a LD-V1000, so I have never used the original ROM board or cable. I am using both of those to try and get the Dexter running before I get my Merlin card updated.

I have everything hooked up but when I turn on the game, I get a lot of static in the speakers and the traditional startup beeps. After the last beep, the video does not start.

The LD-V1000 is selected on the Dexter and if I cycle through the LD versions and come back to the LD-V1000 setting and the video starts. However, it just plays the disc. One channel of audio is very faint (music/sound effects) and the other channel is fine (speech).

I am wondering if my ribbon cable is bad or maybe the ROM board is bad. I do plan on upgrading the Merlin, I just don't have the chip yet. Could it be that once the Merlin is updated, my problems might be fixed?

Author:  aapljack [ Sun Dec 03, 2017 9:12 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dexter Setup Issues

Thanks for the tips, Matt.

The right audio channel seems to be out. I have the Dexter hooked up to my TV right now and there is no sound coming out when there is no speech. So audio is only coming out of the left channel.

I did have the ribbon cable backwards. Fixed that. Also set the dips for the PR-7820 and got a game to start. It starts on a random screen (not the castle). I can get through that screen and it has consistently gone to the tentacle room, where it just plays that scene over and over, no matter if you get through it or die.

As far as troubleshooting from now on, I am just going to wait until I upgrade my Merlin card.

Let me know if you think there is a fix for the audio.

Update: Just to be sure that the audio issue wasn't specific to the DL image, I loaded up Cliffhanger on the TV and the right (red) channel was not working on that one either.

Author:  Matt Ownby [ Sun Dec 03, 2017 10:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Dexter Setup Issues

Playing the same scene over and over sounds like you have a dip switch set for engineering mode. You can read about that here: http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/tech/docs/engineering.asp

As for audio, unfortunately, you are not the first person to have this problem. It may be a soldering problem. I started testing all audio channels more diligently once I became aware of this problem but it sounds like I may have missed yours. My apologies! I will pay for shipping for you to send it back, fix it, then send it back to you. If it is the same soldering problem I discovered on another board, then a component will have to be de-soldered as part of the fix, so it's not an easy fix.

aapljack wrote:
Thanks for the tips, Matt.

The right audio channel seems to be out. I have the Dexter hooked up to my TV right now and there is no sound coming out when there is no speech. So audio is only coming out of the left channel.

I did have the ribbon cable backwards. Fixed that. Also set the dips for the PR-7820 and got a game to start. It starts on a random screen (not the castle). I can get through that screen and it has consistently gone to the tentacle room, where it just plays that scene over and over, no matter if you get through it or die.

As far as troubleshooting from now on, I am just going to wait until I upgrade my Merlin card.

Let me know if you think there is a fix for the audio.

Update: Just to be sure that the audio issue wasn't specific to the DL image, I loaded up Cliffhanger on the TV and the right (red) channel was not working on that one either.

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