Origin keyboard repair notes (fixed it myself), parts question...

[constanw]

So... Just a quick set of notes.

I bought a broken Origin Keyboard. Interesting synth.

When I would power it up, the screen would come on but was completely unreadable, no text, kinda faint lines like when you drop your phone and crack the LCD. No sounds from the keyboard. The previous owner thought it wouldn't boot...

Except that the 'demo' button would play tunes... ;-)

So I opened the display unit first, and found the board in the middle had an LCD timing controller. Found the datasheet, it explained the gamma voltage power supplies. I measured these and the negative supply was faulted. I replaced a few parts and got that working, and the display came back to life! (colors are a bit botched, I think the LCD is probably not happy about the time it spent being driven with DC offset...)

I upgraded the firmware, but I was still having keyboard problems, IE no response from the keyboard. I noticed that the 'A' logo on the back of the display unit was out, and the octave light on the left side of the keyboard would not light. It turns out that the keyboard controller is a separate card, and is visible from the bottom thru an access panel (they use this during assembly to plug the keyboard in).

The connectors are not locking(!). So the 5V power to the keyboard controller had slid out enough during shipping to not make contact. I reseated all of the connectors and the unit is 100%.

Anyway, I was trying to find out if it's possible to order a replacement LCD panel, rather than ship it back to France. If not, I'll probably keep it as is, all my encoders are even working right now...

[hermitnerd]

Wow good job man.

[Philippe]

Yeah, good job !!

Yes, you can get an LCD screen. I've sent a mail to David (the support guy), he'll settle that directly with you.

[constanw]

So...

The new panel arrived, unfortunately there was a flaw in the panel, about a 3mm circle of red near the middle. I'm not sure if it was pinched during shipping...

However, it was still working well enough to show me that I mis-identified the color problem. It's something with the Himax HX8817ALAG LCD driver IC. I ordered a few online but so far no luck, not sure if this is because the chip has internal registers that must be set first (EEPROM) or if I made a mistake during soldering, or if the chips are fakes (!).

Would a replacement LCD driver PCB be available? It's the one with the long IDC header connector and the LCD ribbon connector.

Thanks,

Dylan

[constanw]

Ah Ha! Fixed it!!!

First reflow job on the HX8817ALAG was defective, I had some solder paste beneath the chip. Short on 3.3V to ground. Now the display looks as new!

[Major Kong]

Ah Ha! Fixed it!!!

First reflow job on the HX8817ALAG was defective, I had some solder paste beneath the chip. Short on 3.3V to ground. Now the display looks as new!

Jolly impressive! Good job and congratulations on an excellent find. (And if you ever tire of if - perish the thought - I am from time to time looking for a keyboard version, depending on my current financial situation).

Cheers

K