Author Topic: Screen now bad  (Read 16570 times)

iball (OP)

  • Posts: 196
Screen now bad
« on: December 12, 2019, 01:04:43 am »
Well, so much for that.  After having my RG350 for a few weeks now I turned it on a few minutes ago and the screen started going all rainbow-effect on me.
It was working fine an hour ago when I was playing a Genesis game.  Turned it off to get something to eat, turn it on again and now the screen is bad.  On firmware 1.5.1.  I'll try reflashing the firmware again but that's probably not going to fix it, there's probably a cold solder joint somewhere on the board that finally gave up the ghost.
My GCW-Zero from 2013 is still fine after hundreds of hours of play but this "new and improved GCW-Zero" turns out to be a hunk of garbage after a few weeks.
Oh well, it was good while it lasted I guess.  Once my PocketGo pre-order comes in, I'm done with Chinesium handhelds.

UPDATE:  Put original micro-SD card with the shipped firmware in it and the screen is still bad.  Into the drawer of broken crap it goes.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2019, 01:15:08 am by iball »

gameblabla

  • Posts: 1451
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2019, 04:38:51 am »
It could be a bad ribbon cable or interference from the motherboard.
The only handled were i had this particular issue was the RS-90 and even then it wasn't as bad.

If you don't mind taking it apart, replacing the ribbon cable is worth trying ?
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iball (OP)

  • Posts: 196
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2019, 05:47:36 am »
It could be a bad ribbon cable or interference from the motherboard.
The only handled were i had this particular issue was the RS-90 and even then it wasn't as bad.

If you don't mind taking it apart, replacing the ribbon cable is worth trying ?
I've emailed them about it, waiting to hear back. 
If they don't reply or refuse to replace it, then I'll just never buy anything from them ever again.
I'm not tearing it apart just yet.  Looks like it's happened to at least two other users as well with this same device, so it could just be ticking time bomb in *all* RG350 units.  But I know it's not the ribbon cable.
« Last Edit: December 12, 2019, 05:49:38 am by iball »

elea

  • Posts: 63
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #3 on: December 12, 2019, 10:11:02 am »
AFAIK on discord there is only one user that reported their screen going bad (ReverendS3rvo), not two.

One of the users that initially had the same problem but said that it went away and didn't return. A dev also mentioned this happening also to them with their GCW Zero way back when.

At least 10k RG350's have shipped so far based on a rough estimate of sales numbers from Aliexpress and other resellers. 2 or even 3 reports seems like an insignificant blip so far. 

In any case, if you bought it from Anbernic it's highly likely that they'll replace it for free.

iball (OP)

  • Posts: 196
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #4 on: December 12, 2019, 12:55:26 pm »
They responded with the usual "reflash the firmware" and I replied that I've already tried that to no avail.

elea

  • Posts: 63
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #5 on: December 12, 2019, 01:51:12 pm »
Yeah, definitely demand a refund.

pcercuei

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #6 on: December 12, 2019, 03:31:47 pm »
Call it a hunch, but I think the problem is software.

SeongGino

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #7 on: December 12, 2019, 04:19:03 pm »
Have been using many versions of the software, and hasn't happened to me.

Can we not make this another needlessly combative discussion? Haven't we had enough?
It's just your average Seong.

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RxBrad

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2019, 04:25:02 pm »
I've had a similar screen glitch.  But in my case, the glitch only affected a block in the the lower-left 60-70% of the screen and then abruptly stopped.  When it appeared, it slowly faded onto the screen over a few seconds, starting from the lower edge and working its way up. (It happened twice; once on 1.5.1FW while connecting to PC over USB, and once while flashing the 1.7BASE FW)

The last time this happened, the glitching actually burned into the screen temporarily (it's gone now).  You can see where it stopped between the Hotkeys & Saved States menu items in this photo.


pcercuei

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2019, 04:27:32 pm »
Can we not make this another needlessly combative discussion? Haven't we had enough?

WTF? This is not a discussion, I'm just saying that I think the problem is not hardware, but rather how the software configures the LCD.

SeongGino

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #10 on: December 12, 2019, 04:32:24 pm »
WTF? This is not a discussion, I'm just saying that I think the problem is not hardware, but rather how the software configures the LCD.

And I'm saying, why would the software just suddenly decide to break screens when it doesn't for a greater majority of users?
It's just your average Seong.

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RxBrad

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #11 on: December 12, 2019, 04:33:47 pm »
@pcercuei Not sure if you read my report of a similar problem just above your post.  The way it weirdly faded into place sure seemed hardware/voltage-related at the time.  Although I supposed that could be something configured in the software, since, in both cases, it went away when the currently-active program exited.

pcercuei

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #12 on: December 12, 2019, 05:08:33 pm »
And I'm saying, why would the software just suddenly decide to break screens when it doesn't for a greater majority of users?
If you had a GCW Zero, you may remember the "white screen of death". It was mostly working, but still break for a short number of people.

This was a software bug.

What I think happens here, is that the LCD timings are bogus, if you compare to the ranges documented in the datasheet. The hsync is too long, and the vsync is too short.

pcercuei

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #13 on: December 12, 2019, 05:11:44 pm »
@pcercuei Not sure if you read my report of a similar problem just above your post.  The way it weirdly faded into place sure seemed hardware/voltage-related at the time.  Although I supposed that could be something configured in the software, since, in both cases, it went away when the currently-active program exited.
Yes, I see the same behaviour,  but only when I run custom kernels, I never saw it happen with the stock firmware (doesn't mean it won't).

RxBrad

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #14 on: December 12, 2019, 05:43:53 pm »
Seems like a convincing explanation to me.  Thanks!

I wonder if @tonyjih is aware of the issues some are having and this possible link...

iball (OP)

  • Posts: 196
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #15 on: December 12, 2019, 07:06:09 pm »
@pcercuei Not sure if you read my report of a similar problem just above your post.  The way it weirdly faded into place sure seemed hardware/voltage-related at the time.  Although I supposed that could be something configured in the software, since, in both cases, it went away when the currently-active program exited.
Yes, I see the same behaviour,  but only when I run custom kernels, I never saw it happen with the stock firmware (doesn't mean it won't).

I actually thought that too which is why i put the card with the firmware it originally shipped with back in and booted it up but it was still ghosted/bleeding like in the picture.

eltehero

  • Posts: 338
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #16 on: December 12, 2019, 07:21:15 pm »
It might be worth bringing up the issue at discord and see if there are possible solutions. There's a good and friendly RG350 community and lot of help and useful info is available there

pcercuei

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Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #17 on: December 12, 2019, 07:28:03 pm »
I actually thought that too which is why i put the card with the firmware it originally shipped with back in and booted it up but it was still ghosted/bleeding like in the picture.
Yes, it also uses the same bad timings.

iball (OP)

  • Posts: 196
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #18 on: December 12, 2019, 07:44:32 pm »
I actually thought that too which is why i put the card with the firmware it originally shipped with back in and booted it up but it was still ghosted/bleeding like in the picture.
Yes, it also uses the same bad timings.
Intriguing if not entirely unexpected based upon what I've read up on in here over the years.
So what do I need to modify to get the correct timings?  Recompile the kernel with the right timing info?  Or is that in the driver?
Where's do I find the correct timings for the LCD installed in the RG350?

ReverendS3rvo

  • Posts: 4
Re: Screen now bad
« Reply #19 on: December 13, 2019, 01:58:35 am »
AFAIK on discord there is only one user that reported their screen going bad (ReverendS3rvo), not two.
Hey, that's me. Lol
Here's a video of what mine was doing. Pretty much the same deal.
<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220812031634/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soqJpoXxFnA" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soqJpoXxFnA</a>
I recommend that Discord as well.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2019, 02:00:34 am by ReverendS3rvo »