Pandora's Box 4 645-in-1 won't sync/bad pic - all my other Jamma bds work fine?

[Spicules]

(let me preface with - I know people don't have high opinion of these boards - but I got tired of dealing with my MAME setup, so I just wanted something for people to play when I have company) 

I bought a Pandora's Box 4 and and King of Air 51-in-1.  Despite what people say - I think these are decent for the money.

My King of Air works great on my vertical cab - no problem. 

The Pandora's Box 4 looks like its not sync'ed / theres no video ground or something.  I double check those connections - seem good.

Tried my other Jamma boards (The King of Air, 60-in-1, a bootleg Ms-Pac)- all work fine.

Tried the Pandora's box in my vertical cab - no problem.

I cannot think why this board does not want to display properly in my cab.  Any body have any exp with these boards?  Is there something particular to them?

Thanks!

[FUNWIZ]

Going to need a pix of the back of the monitor, and also the wiring connector of the monitor and of the game board.  Did the board come with a wiring diagram?

[Homerjay]

Looking online it seems Pandora 4 is svga and svga is 800 x 640 (around 40k hz).  I could be wrong but if the monitor only goes to VGA (31k) that would result in the lack of sync.

[Doublekick]

You can run these with a standard resolution monitor as well through the Jamma harness
What monitor are you trying to use??

[Spicules]

This is a standard res monitor in my horizontal cab.  Its a NOS flat-tube CRT "Nieman" that I bought off Mick a few years ago.  Thing looks beautiful and I've had no complaints with it, until now.

I am using the jamma edge connector on the Pandora's Box 4 - NOT the vga connector out, which uses 31k.  This board can do both.  Ive tested it on my vertical monitor, a standard res monitor, with jamma wiring, and it does work fine there. 

But on my horizontal cab, I get that picture.  Ive tested 3 other jamma pcbs  and they work/sync fine in this horizontal cab.  Just not the Pandoras' box.

While troubleshooting, I have hooked up just the video and power.  My Jamma harness did not have a video ground on pin 14 - instead just one coming off the standard ground going to the video input connector for the monitor.  Never had a problem before, and all my other harnesses I've ever bought have the same thing -  but figured I'd go ahead and connect that wire directly to pin 14 on the jamma harness.  Did not matter - still same distorted pic. 

I have a standard 2 player jamma harness with 4x buttons. 
The pinout for the Pandora's Box is standard jamma pinout - except it has buttons 5/6 as pins 26/27 (respectively - see below)

[busa32927]

those multi boards usually have a way for you to select what kind of monitor you are using.  sometimes it is a dip switch and sometimes it is something else.  i would check the manual and make sure you set it to 15kz for a standard res monitor.

[Spicules]

 There's no option.
 
You select by the output by plugging in the VGA output on the side of the board for 31k or jamma edge connector for 15k. 

[busa32927]

there isnt an option in the software menu?

[Spicules]

No display setting.  Which makes sense - unless you have a tri-sync, you'd have no way to see the menu.   So you just use what plug your monitor has - jamma edge or VGA out.
In any event, without changing any options, I can plug into my vertical cab next to it - and perfect picture (except its rotated 90 of course)

On the outside, there's a menu button, a volume pot, the jamma edge, and a VGA out.  There arent dipswitches, like you have on the 60-in-1 that most people buy. 

[FUNWIZ]

Ok, you've talked about the board, but still given no details about the monitor. There's a 25, 27 and 39 inch, and multiple variations on each, and optional HV which is what's missing on yours. Did you try adjusting vr4 and vr7 controls?  Since it's not a tri-sync, you might need to readjust the control settings for this board each time you swap from one to another, as I'm guessing you board swap to play different games.  Is this monitor NVD 3M27?

[HammysHangout ( Hammy )]

im pretty sure that's a tri-sync if its a flat tube.

need a better picture of the chassis...

[FUNWIZ]

im pretty sure that's a tri-sync if its a flat tube.

need a better picture of the chassis...

I'm sure you've touched that monitor a few times, you should know, lol.  Hopefully now he will take a few pix of the monitor to post, or maybe turn the dials and fix the problem. 

[Spicules]

Its a standard res, I'm certain.  (the chassis model # says 15k - its hard to see from the pics, but its labeled 15k)


At first, I used it for a mame setup with USB encoders instead of a jamma harness, and wired in a db-15 vga connector to plug a PC withGroovyMame and hacked video drivers directly to it.  I would wait until the startup bio screens passed, as otherwise I would get an out of sync display (31k output when PC first turned; you can see DB-15 hanging off away from the chassis).  But now its JAMMA, and I have a JPAC, for hooking up a MAME PC, once I get this whole issue sorted.
( short story - 31k - monitor no like)


Having the MAME PC, etc., I'm definitely used to adjusting monitor controls when changing games.  I did try that before posting here.  The first pic is the best pic I could get after spending some time with the relevant pots on the remote board.

[Spicules]

(seeing if I can post a higher quality)

[FUNWIZ]

Nieman Video Displays- NVD Model CH288 C29A, 15k CGA, 640x200, composite negative sync.  NVD phone number is 519-621-1722.  You could call and ask for tech support, maybe they can suggest a fix.  You might try inverting the sync, using 74LS04 or 7404 inverter. 

Reading about the board...found this info about the plugs, says remove cga connector!  Did you do that?

Features

- 645 in 1 Multi Game Board. 
- CGA / VGA HD output all in one unit.
- Easy installation via JAMMA and VGA connection.
- Built in mounting holes.

If you use CRT, connect the jamma and disconnect the VGA connector.
If you use LCD, connect both the VGA HD connector and the JAMMA connector.
If you connect the JAMMA and VGA together, it defaults to use VGA output.