AES Gold doesn't boot properly and reset itself

[jcoelho]

Hi all!

Hope you are doing well and merry Christmas for all of you! I heard this is the right place to look for help, so here I go...

Long story short, this is my first time touching an AES which I got with a known issue, the issue was (apparently) related to the PSU connector since it would reset by just moving the PSU cable. When I got it yesterday, I tested it the first time and was able to play a random game for a minute or something, today I decided to clean the power connector with IPA and the first try after that looked promising until the console just started giving me some glitchy graphics while I was trying to flash a game on my NeoSD Pro.

At the moment, all I get is the screens attached, I haven't been able to get further than that again the console resets itself after around 15 seconds, like a reset loop. Already tried reflowing the PSU and AV connector to no avail, not sure where to go from here.

The facts:

• This is an early revision, exactly the same to the picture attached.
• The power supply I'm using is a Triad WSX050-4000-R (5V 4A).
• The RGB cable I'm using is from Retrogamingcables and it works perfectly with my NEo Geo CD top loader.
• I actually get the "booting" sound every time I boot up the console or when it resets itself.

So, any ideas on what to try/check?

Thanks a lot in advance!!!

 

[jcoelho]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I get a blue screen if I boot the console up with no game in it...hopefully that's a good sign.

 

[jcoelho]

Hi all,

Just throwing some numbers here.

• The 5.14v from the power supply reach the left leg of the switch when it's open
• After switching the console on, I'm measuring 4.91 to 4.93v coming out of the switch and into the transistor.
• The center leg of the transistor is measuring 4.86 to 4.88v, got same results when measuring the big 1000uf cap that follows the transistor.
• The Z80 is receiving 4.83v which, I believe, might be a bit low?

Thanks.

 

[BIG BEAR]

Replace the barrel jack.
BB

 

[jcoelho]

Replace the barrel jack.
BB

Thanks for your reply BIG BEAR!

Would you mind elaborating on this a little bit? I'd like to understand what made you think the barrel jack might be the culprit.

Btw, I also noticed that wiggling the AV cable a bit results in the same screen with different color variations (see attached).

Thanks again!

 

[BIG BEAR]

Wiggle the power supply cord near the power jack and lmk if anything happens.
BB

 

[jcoelho]

Wiggle the power supply cord near the power jack and lmk if anything happens.
BB

Hey BIG BEAR,

Nah, unfortunately nothing happens. At least after the reflow it seems to be more solid since wiggling the cable doesn't have any effect.

On the other hand, I measured the voltage again but this time with a game in it and here's the results:

• 4.93v directly measured on the power jack.
• 4.73v coming out of the power transistor that follows the power switch.
• 4.72 reaching the Z80.

That seems to be too low, the voltage is dropping in the power switch and then a bit more in the transistor...not sure if that's expected but the results of 4.72v seems to be low to me.

I really want to make it work, it's one of those AES with a serial number of 2XXXX and outputs a beautiful RGB signal. It worked 'fine' the first time and then gave up

Thanks,

 

[BIG BEAR]

Do you have another power supply to try?
BB

 

[jcoelho]

Do you have another power supply to try?
BB

Unfortunately not but I just purchased one from a local store to try, I'll post the results.

Also purchased a NEC A1442 transistor to replace the old one since, I believe, it should be regulating internal voltage to 5v? But it's actually outputting pretty much exactly what it's receiving.

 

[Neo Alec]

Which power supply does the system say it takes on the back? A resetting AES is often due to inadequate power.

 

[jcoelho]

Which power supply does the system say it takes on the back? A resetting AES is often due to inadequate power.

Hi Neo Alec,

It says "PRO-POW" and I'm using a Triad WSX050-4000-R (5V 4A).

The triad outputs 5.14v but it goes down to 4.93 when the neosd is in, only 4.72v are reaching the CPU. The sudden drop surprises me but I'm definitely no expert, it also looks to me like the power transistor might not be doing much to regulate voltage.

Thanks.

 

[BIG BEAR]

Hold off before you start changing out parts. You know the NEOSD may be the issue with ths system.
Remove the SD card from your NEOSD and then power up.
Your going to probably need a power brick with a little more power.
BB

 

[jcoelho]

Hold off before you start changing out parts. You know the NEOSD may be the issue with ths system.
Remove the SD card from your NEOSD and then power up.
Your going to probably need a power brick with a little more power.
BB

Hmmm...more than 4A? I tried removing the SD card yesterday but got the same results

Somehow the console worked with the neosd the first time I tried it, at least for a few minutes.

 

[BIG BEAR]

That AES barrel jack may still need to be replaced because that's where your initial problem began and I encountered the problem you describe where there was play with the power cord in the barrel jack and I just replaced it
Again, you need to concentrate on it being either the power brick or the jack.
BB

 

[jcoelho]

That AES barrel jack may still need to be replaced because that's where your initial problem began and I encountered the problem you describe where there was play with the power cord in the barrel jack and I just replaced it
Again, you need to concentrate on it being either the power brick or the jack.
BB

Got it, thanks Big Bear!

I'll try to procure a jack, do you happen to know where I can find one? I measured it, so can do some research later but maybe you guys already know which is the right one.

I'll also measure how much resistance there is in the power switch, I think the voltage drop is unexpectedly high in there, might be some internal corrosion or something.

 

[BIG BEAR]

I procured my barrel jack from a parts AES so you're going to have to do a little research.Be sure to report back with your findings.. I usually will try to remove jacks from dead or obsolete electronics for re-use in the future..
BB

 

[jcoelho]

I procured my barrel jack from a parts AES so you're going to have to do a little research.Be sure to report back with your findings.. I usually will try to remove jacks from dead or obsolete electronics for re-use in the future..
BB

Thanks Big Bear, I think I found a winner here: https://core-electronics.com.au/breadboard-friendly-2-1mm-dc-barrel-jack.html, I'll give it a try and will post the results.

Also, would you know about this component soldered directly to the jack? I believe it is a 0.01uf ceramic capacitor and, if I replace the jack, it might be worth replacing that little guy as well.

Thanks!

 

[jcoelho]

Well, it turned out that the issue was actually related to the NeoSD pro and not the PSU. Here's what I found on the FAQ section of the Neosd Pro manual:

"Q: I loaded my own game but the Neo Geo always boots to crosshatch screen and I can’t enter NeoSD PRO menu.

A: The game header or security code is not recognized by the Neo Geo bios and it doesn’t run the cart, so NeoSD PRO doesn’t even have a chance to boot. Place the MicroSD in your computer
and delete a file named LastGame.cfg. If that file doesn’t exist, NeoSD PRO will present itself as a genuine cart and the menu will load. Then ensure your game program ROM has the proper
Neo Geo game header. It might be a .zip to .neo conversion error."

The file is actually named LastGame.pro, all I had to do was delete it and the console was able to boot to the menu, no issues. I tried 3 games and all of them had the same behaviour, so for some reason the header is not being recognised at all. The solution for me was to delete the LastGame.pro file and set the NeoSD Pro to boot to the menu instead of the last game.

The console still needs some maintenance but I can confirm it has been running solid for a while.

Thanks a lot for your help guys, hope this info can help someone else in the future.