Gamebuino forum

i have a problem with my screen let me describe it to you
screen not working (permanet black bar at the top)
sound coming out
lights working
havent checked the hex file but im assuming its still working (because of the sound)
please help i havent been able to play anything on it yet

100 smileys, "like nothing youve seen before"... wow
It sounds like just the usual contact misalignment issue, did you read the getting started page, it explains how to troubleshoot display issues.

I know 100 seems like alot but I need to convey my point
anyway
How do you suppose I fix this alignment issue I tried all that I could with the limited resources I have (Phillips head screw driver, myself and various household items)
What do you suppose I do about it, I mean I'm here thinking the screen is broken( permanent black bar on screen)
But you're saying it isn't?
What do I do?

I test each Gamebuino before I ship them so it's not likely that your screen is broken. Did you try to snap the screen off the PCB to clean the rubber contacts on the back of the screen?

yes i did try to clean them but all i used was my finger im about to go and try some cotton tips on it (although i am not sure becuase parts of it could come off and damage it , we'll see how it goes eh?) and if that dosent work i got nothing

GentlemenCake wrote:yes i did try to clean them but all i used was my finger im about to go and try some cotton tips on it (although i am not sure because parts of it could come off and damage it , we'll see how it goes eh?) and if that do sent work i got nothing

so i cleaned them and nothing happened, then i dismantled the actual screen part of the screen and cleaned it too. Now, some interesting things happened when the screen was held at the correct angle and the correct amount of pressure was applied part of the screen would go black and fuzzy (only the bottom half) almost like it was showing a SD card logo, but he top half did nothing. I tried and tried again to make it happen again but i couldn't, im thinking the screen is just busted and i may need a new one

Yeah, maybe you screen got damaged during shipping or something. I you want to get a new one you can find them for $2.5 on ebay including shipping. You might want to get 2 of them, because as you can see they behave randomly. I'm sorry about the inconvenience

I experienced this exact same problem tonight with my new unit: black bar at the top, screen otherwise blank, back light worked fine, no problems uploading via the serial cable and I could tell from the sounds that the boot loader was flashing the loader fine. I disassembled the front and back plates and suddenly the screen started working again. I then re-assembled everything carefully, being sure not to apply too much pressure on the scrws, and it's been working fine all night.

Rodot, is there any possibility that the slight bending of the PCB around the LCD is responsible for this? I'm thinking I might place a tiny washer on the screws between the front plate and the spacers that separate them from the PCB so that the PCB doesn't have that slight bend.

Myndale wrote:is there any possibility that the slight bending of the PCB around the LCD is responsible for this?

I guess, these displays are hardly predictable. Yep you could try adding washers. I'll try to reduce the PCB bending in the next Gamebuino revision. Maybe by replacing the "screen holder" by a rubber part or something like that.

Myndale wrote:I experienced this exact same problem tonight with my new unit: black bar at the top, screen otherwise blank, back light worked fine, no problems uploading via the serial cable and I could tell from the sounds that the boot loader was flashing the loader fine. I disassembled the front and back plates and suddenly the screen started working again. I then re-assembled everything carefully, being sure not to apply too much pressure on the scrws, and it's been working fine all night.

Rodot, is there any possibility that the slight bending of the PCB around the LCD is responsible for this? I'm thinking I might place a tiny washer on the screws between the front plate and the spacers that separate them from the PCB so that the PCB doesn't have that slight bend.

I can back Myndale up, it seems a bit touchy about how much pressure is being used. I had to carefully loosen the screen until that point where it was firm, but still working. It's fine now. these screens are a bit touchy, but not unworkable.