Arduino noob, needing guidance on malfunctioning project

Projects General Guidance
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I hope this is the right place for this (if not -- mods plz move, thanks!). I built a "Zorkduino" (GitHub - rossumur/Zorkduino: Play Zork on your TV with an Arduino.). This is the second time I've done this; the first one, a few years ago, something shorted out the regulator on my eBay Arduino Nano and fried the board :frowning:

I got the code to compile (thankfully, my old thread from arguing with the code, that last time, was still extant!) and I got it to upload, with some difficulty. HOWEVER, something at a hardware level is not functioning correctly.

I followed the schematic at the Git repository very closely. The only modifications are:

(1) The audio lead is not going to an RCA output through a resistor, but directly to a small piezo element. (One of the little black can ones.)

(2) The video goes directly (through appropriate resistors, however) to a seven-inch 480x234 cheap trash composite LCD monitor I got off of eBay. The monitor requires 12v power, so power and power-ground are off the 12v rail of a dual-voltage power supply, and everything else in the circuit is at 5v, including the signal ground of the LCD. I have checked with various listings for identical monitors, and my example should be pulling about 6w (0.5a) at 12v.

(3) The previously-mentioned 5v rail is switched on and off by a small SPST rocker switch. As the LCD has its own internal power switch, I saw no need of a DPDT switch or anything to (further) switch the 12v rail.

(4) The whole thing is built into the inside of a SolidTek ACK-595 PS/2 keyboard, except the LCD, which is mounted on laptop hinges atop the keyboard.

(5) Not really a deviation, but the required SD card is a 32mb model, formatted FAT16 through gparted (I use Linux) and it is known good with the requisite files onboard.

I am powering the whole thing from a standard LaCie power brick, using the appropriate (Kycon aka "Power DIN" four-pin) connector. This brick is rated 12v 2.0a 5v 2.2a. When I plug it in, the LCD displays a severely horizontally distorted "No signal" message. Turning on the 5v rail's power switch "stabilizes" (for lack of a better term) the screen, but it still reads "No Signal". Interestingly, if I power it from a LaCie "Bigger Disk" brick (12v 3.0a 5v 4.3a), the brick power-cycles rather than applying steady power.

The only thing I can think of is some sort of 'back-feed' sort of situation through the LCD, where, maybe, both grounds are shorted together for expediency and that that's responsible for the mess.

Photos upon request, but please bear in mind that (a) I'm a quite poor photographer and (b) this thing is a truly masterful rat's nest inside.

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A little help here would be appreciated...

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This is the part of the thread where I rant and rave because I've done everything I'm supposed to and I'm getting COMPLETELY THE F*** ignored.

You have a concise explanation of my project, including what I started with, and differences between what I started with and what I ended with. While there technically is no given circuit diagram in my post, I've described it well enough that the diagram could be easily constructed by anyone reading the post.
You have essentially complete details about what went wrong. At least, I don't think I left anything out.
You have an offer for photographic documentation, with the requisite warnings -- which are indeed warranted.

IOW, I've followed the usual "do this so we can help" directions to a tee. Yet I'm being ignored completely, with no explanation or anything -- just deafening silence. The only replies to this thread so far are one bump (by me) and this rant, over the course of six freaking hours. Meanwhile, over a dozen other threads have been given replies and assistance aplenty.

Is my "handle" odious in some way?
Have I managed to offend, inadvertently, in some way, in my first post?
Should I change my thread title to something more scintillating?
...I know I'm not leaving out any relevant information...!

I'm sorry, but...

WHAT IN THE BLOODY G****** NAME OF ZEUS' OWN P*** IS MAKING PEOPLE SKIP COMPLETELY THE F*** OVER MY THREAD OR OTHERWISE REFUSE TO HELP ME?! WHAT THE G****** F*** AM I DOING WRONG HERE?! (AND WHY DOES THIS LITERALLY ALWAYS HAPPEN UNTIL I B**** ABOUT IT?!)

...pardon me for being just shy of breathing into a bag here but It. Just. Keeps. Happening.

Literally (not figuratively, and I very much know the difference) every single time I post asking for help on an Internet forum, I am completely ignored until I make a huge nasty rant post. I hate it particularly because IRL I'm a really nice "let's all just get along" kind of guy who just wants a little assistance with an oopsie that I can't untangle on my own. But until I get frustrated and scream, nobody helps -- and then, once I make the post, I feel kind of bad, because it's not who I am and I'm just frustrated (and I inevitably get chided by the mods for "not being patient enough" or some junk like that, as if it actually matters how long I wait)... but, well, here we are. Again.

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Let's see, no code, no diagram, no simple explanation of what the project should be doing, etc. Add to that, you are swearing and shouting at us not jumping to your assistance in what, 6 hours? It took me almost that long to plod through your explanation. Good luck with your vinegar instead of sugar methods.

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Code, diagram, and explanation are at the Git link. Surely you don't expect me to replicate an entire Git repository here, just so that you can avoid clicking one link...?

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Also, if you and your annoyed, inconvenienced sarcasm had been here six hours ago, I wouldn't have HAD to put up the rant post...

...I'm just sayin'...

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Can't click your link.

And no, I don't care to go through your github and try to figure out what you are doing. You said you read the guidelines, but aren't following through.

I wasn't being sarcastic. Trying to tell you why you aren't getting any help. But it appears that you just want to rant.

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Link fixed, apologies. (Color me old fashioned, but I still remember how to highlight, copy, and paste links into an address bar, in the event that they are not clickable.)

If I quote the Git link, that will add information to the post, but it will be redundant because you could have easily clicked the link and read it there. Earlier you complained at the length of the first post, but now you want it unnecessarily made longer...? Do please forgive me for being confused.

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Ok, I clicked on your link. Couldn't make sense of what your issue is. Sorry. I'm done.

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The explanation of the issue is the third paragraph from the bottom, in the first post.

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Hi,
I think you need to realise that you need at least 24hours for your thread to be read by most of the forum members, as the world turns, so we each wake up in our own timezone and check the forum.

As you have mentioned so many hardware differences to the original, can you please post a copy of your circuit, in CAD or a picture of a hand drawn circuit in jpg, png?

OPs circuit from Zork.

zork.jpg
zork.jpg813×737 101 KB

Tom... :slight_smile:

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I suppose that's not an unreasonable request. I'll upload it as soon as it's done and scanned.

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starhawk:
(1) The audio lead is not going to an RCA output through a resistor, but directly to a small piezo element. (One of the little black can ones.)

So you have any clue how much current that piezo is drawing?

starhawk:
(2) my example should be pulling about 6w (0.5a) at 12v.

But does it, in fact does it work with video from a different source?

starhawk:
(3) The previously-mentioned 5v rail is switched on and off by a small SPST rocker switch. As the LCD has its own internal power switch, I saw no need of a DPDT switch or anything to (further) switch the 12v rail.

Makes complete sense, why just have one power switch when you can have 2 or more.

starhawk:
LCD displays a severely horizontally distorted "No signal" message.

But does it show a clean “No signal” message when hooked up by itself?

starhawk:
(b) this thing is a truly masterful rat's nest inside.

Well the link you provided showed a very well thought out and documented setup so maybe you should consider redoing it the correct way..

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ta9jZY4.jpg
ta9jZY4.jpg2200×1700 735 KB

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@Slumpert --

I don't know how much current the piezo is drawing, but it's one of those really little plastic can ones -- it can't be pulling that much. Besides. I have seen sooooooo many Arduino circuits where piezos are direct-driven. I'm sure I'm within tolerances there.

The last time I used the display it was working fine.

The rat's nest is a casualty of the person doing the work. I tend towards the kludge aesthetic -- if it works, it doesn't need fixing, and if the guts are all hanging out haphazardly anyways, it's easier to service when it does need it... and it easily actively repels fingers-which-should-not-be-there in the meantime :wink:

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Hi,
I think its just a typo, but check the diagram, 12V and 12V gnd from power in to power out on the lower socket.

Thanks.. Tom... :slight_smile:

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Yeah, that's a typo. Sorry! The jack label is correct, the pinout going to the LCD (which I should have labeled) is not.

I didn't sleep well last night and it's about quarter past midnight here now...

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Bedtime. I'm on US Eastern Time, so I'll be back in the morning around 10:30-11am that zone. I'll try and take some photos of the system's symptoms and that gloriously awful rat's nest inside, maybe. We'll see...

Catch ya'll all on the flip side :slight_smile:

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starhawk:
Bedtime. I'm on US Eastern Time, so I'll be back in the morning around 10:30-11am that zone. I'll try and take some photos of the system's symptoms and that gloriously awful rat's nest inside, maybe. We'll see...

Catch ya'll all on the flip side :slight_smile:

Do remember that the people on here answering your questions are volunteers, so no-one has to answer you at all.

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@starhawk will be spending a short period away from the forum, hopefully allowing them some time to:
a) replace all their toys in their pram
b) grow some manners
c) prune their overgrown sense of entitlement.