Quote by: Windell

I'd certainly suggest turning the matrix around so that it faces the right way. IIRC, the matrix will still work, but that the 24 R/G/B columns are scrambled. It could probably be fixed with a patch to the library (and you're welcome to do so if you like) but if you've got the matrix socketed, I'd suggest pulling it out and turning it around.

wow fast reply. i had gone back outside and started trying to sop up all the solder, then i remembered reading that i can wiggle the display off. it came off quite easily. putting it back on was a bit trickier as the pins were all bent up. but within a few minutes everything is fine and dandy (minus those unlit columns). and now i recognize the game. before, it was all messed up. "color off" was green, etc.

so now i'm going back outside to figure out which blobs of solder are too big or too small to fix the display. then i can FINALLY start assembling the totally awesome MeggyCade Jr.

edit: 1 column down, 2 to go (1st & 7th)

edit : i'm giving up for the day. i need to get a couple hours sleep before work.

i can't seem to get column 7 working. i've messed with pin 14, 15 & 19 on U4 a dozen times, so it can't be those three pins. i don't see any bridges other then that clear-yellow stuff that pops off in a couple areas but no actual solder.

most of the posts made are about rows out, not columns, so i didn't find any help in any previous posts.

are there any other target areas i should examine?

thanks!

There aren't any columns controlled by U4, so I'm not sure what you're trying to do there.

The columns are controlled by the transistors, driven by the microcontroller through the base resistors. The second column from the right (what I'm assuming you call column 7) is driven by Q1 through RB1, and pin 5 of the microcontroller. Check those locations (or at least the chip, base resistors, and transistors in general) for trouble, as well as socket pin 25 on the LED matrix.

yeah i'm not sure what i was trying to do there either.

the way i saw it, the schematic showed Col7Red/Col7Blue/Col7Grn for those pins in U4, so i thought they weren't soldered good enough and caused that column not to activate.

the good news is, i added about six or seven "teardrops" to questionable resistor connections and that fixed the column!!

the bad news is i have a flight tomorrow and will be out of town so i'll have to put this project on hold after i put in a few more hours this afternoon.

thank you for all your help, doc!!

just an FYI to anyone following this thread, i'm very close to being finished. all that's left is wiring one last component, painting the rest of the mini cabinet, and final assembly.

applying the "finishing touches", will be finished this afternoon.

i will put all the photos online on Photobucket or something. perhaps you guys would want to feature the one and only MeggyCade Jr on the newsfeed

cheers,
mike

We'd certainly like to feature it on the blog; we recommend flickr for image hosting.

i had been posting the pictures as i took them, to facebook. i just noticed that they supply a public link to view the photos, so hopefully forum members here who do not have facebook will have no problem viewing. there are 28 photos in all.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=185207&id=503116499&l=9665f1c893

edit: i just tested the link and it works fine.

ran into a problem - communications port is not working and it's because the male pins are not long enough. or at least i think that's what the problem is.
see this picture: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6341383&l=c274e1b811&id=503116499

these are the errors i get:
avrdude: stk500_getsync(): not in sync: resp=0x00
avrdude: stk500_disable(): protocol error, expect=0x14, resp=0x51

It's pretty hard to tell from the photo if that's the problem, but yes, I think you can get an error like that without a physical connection.

user error. i was trying to conenct pins 1 2 3 4 5 6 to pins 6 5 4 3 2 1. i just turned one of the plugs over.

D'oh!!

currently trying Super Monkey Kong with real arcade controls. it's almost like a real DK machine!

i just spent the last few hours shooting / editing / uploading a video of the MeggyCade to youtube. it's live now. check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiiA_OVhYjs

crank up your speakers

Posted!

http://www.evilmadscientist.com/go/meggycade

Love the joystick!

thank you for all your help!! it was a fun ride!!