[PleaseEatEggs]

Ahh, sorry! Haven’t posted here before, didn’t really know how to do that, but now I do haha

[PleaseEatEggs]

Before taking the display completely to pieces, it might be worthwhile to try the WINDAS diagnostic software, which has a Failure mode to report faults detected by the MCU.
You can find more information and links to the s/w here: http://www.piclist.com/images/com/geocit...ua/windas/

Okay, so I’ve been figuring this out over the weekend, and my adapter came in today so I’m going to fiddle with it soon. The only issue I have is that my monitors diagnostic pin out is a bit wacky compared to the others I’ve seen. 

So I found that the only connector on the schematics which doesnt connect to anything is CN901, and this corresponds to a bright red, easily accessible empty connector on the G board (I’m assuming that its probably CN901 for most monitors of this kind). The pins on this connector are labeled as follows:

1 - 1K DET
2 - HV ADJ 
3 - PRT ADJ 
4 - OVP
5 - X RAY DET
6 - GND
7 - 2ND HV PROT

The TTL adapter that I bought has 6 pins, and they are labeled as such: 

1 - VCC
2 - GND
3 - TXD 
4 - RXD 
5 - RTS
6 - CTS 

I’m looking more into it myself right now, but I was just wondering if you have any insight as to how I should connect these two. Thanks!

[PleaseEatEggs]

1 - 1K DET
2 - HV ADJ 
3 - PRT ADJ 
4 - OVP
5 - X RAY DET
6 - GND
7 - 2ND HV PROT

Ok, NVM I found the right port (it was just tucked away underneath this bulge on the back). Although, I’m still really curious what these connectors are for? They’re not connected in any wiring diagrams, so I assume theyre for some kind of service, but what?

[robespierre]

Ok, NVM I found the right port (it was just tucked away underneath this bulge on the back). Although, I’m still really curious what these connectors are for? They’re not connected in any wiring diagrams, so I assume theyre for some kind of service, but what?

The ECS port is a four-pin "Berg style" connector, with pins +5V, GND, TX, RX. You can use a "floppy power" plug, AMP 171822-4, to connect to it.
The +5V and GND go to the VCC and GND pins of your TTL adapter, and TX goes to RXD, RX to TXD respectively.

The other connector with HV pins etc is used to adjust the focus and EHT of the tube and verify that the x-ray protection circuit is working (which in Sony displays is unified with the horizontal convergence cap). I believe there is a special fixture that plugs in there to facilitate that part of the setup, but I have never seen it. You shouldn't adjust any of that.

I would scan over http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/monfaq.htm (especially anything that says "Sony") to get a sense of how they fail and what repair is like.

[PleaseEatEggs]

The ECS port is a four-pin "Berg style" connector, with pins +5V, GND, TX, RX. You can use a "floppy power" plug, AMP 171822-4, to connect to it.
The +5V and GND go to the VCC and GND pins of your TTL adapter, and TX goes to RXD, RX to TXD respectively.

Ah, I wasnt planning on messing with that other one, but its good to know what it does.

I finally got WinDAS up and running (took a lot lot lot of fiddling), and connected to the monitor. I think I did it correctly, connecting TXD to RXD and RXD to TXT, but making sure that the ground and +5V spots correspond with the ones on my controller.

This is where I ran into my first problem-- the monitor model I have is not on this version of WinDAS (the only available version thanks to SONY). I decided that I would ignore that for now and go ahead, selecting a similar model from the list, the GDM-4011P whose manuals I have been using throughout my repair. However, WinDAS does not recognize the monitor, and prompts me to check my connection when I try to save the current data file, or do anything else having to do with the monitor. I'm assuming that this probably has something to do with the fact that I do not have the correct monitor selected, but am really not too sure. I've tried switching the TXD and RXD pins a couple times just in case, but this doesn't change anything...

I'm going to sleep on it and think about what I can do (and ofc wait for a reply that might be of help), but it doesnt seem like there's much I can do... If there's a newer version of WinDAS out there somewhere, it probably has a more complete list of monitors, but its a closed software and... Ahhh! I'm quite frustrated with this thing right now, but if it doesnt work I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and check all the caps..

[robespierre]

I would suspect a problem on the computer side.
As you noticed, it is not exactly a polished software product and has a lot of warts; it needs to be set up carefully to bypass the dongle check (yes, it expects a hardware security key!) and supply all the libraries for its obsolete signal generators.
Were you using a real COM port or a Virtual COM Port with a USB cable? Check that the cable works with other software, etc.

Also, the DAS software can only communicate with the display if the latter's MCU is running. If the PSU is not supplying any 5V to the MCU it will obviously not respond... See if you can find some safe places to probe the D board, especially the stby+5V rail and the crystal oscillator.

[PleaseEatEggs]

I downloaded a version that had most of the stuff I needed already installed, and made sure to do the rest of the set-up that I needed. I don’t think that I got any messages about a security key being needed, but I’lol look through the guide again and see if I have what I need on it. The libraries are all there, as I don’t have any warnings expecting them. 
I installed some drivers for my chosen converter that should have made it actually appear on a COM port, but I’m not entirely sure if it worked (I haven’t had to do any fiddling like this with Windows for a long time, I’m usually on Linux and can just use dmesg and stuff like that)…
Under COM ports, no matter which port I plugged the thing into, all of my USB devices were under COM3. When I looked at the device itself, it was labeled as being in Hub0002 or something like that… Maybe this is the problem?

[PleaseEatEggs]

Okay, so yeah whoops. Changed it to COM3, and it now communicates with the monitor. It throws up ECS syntax errors any time I do anything because of the fact that I'm not using the exact right model, but still does whatever I ask it to.

So I checked the failure tab. When I first open it, I get this image:

---

However, after clicking refresh, it becomes this:

---

Here's the maintenance screen:

---

I've also saved the .dat file I have, although it's just a bunch of gibberish to me and may also be full of errors due to the model incompatibility. 
What does the message on the side of the maintenance screen mean? I can turn the power on or off, but aging always stays off.

[weblacky]

I'm sorry, I still don't understand what this has to do with your monitor needed new parts? This system is for high level tweaking and programming, I don't think it's going to give you a code like an automobile ECU for you to work with. It can't be that smart...this was a 90's after all...

Just start researching and replacing the caps (even huge ones) in your main power section and start there. Unless you have LCR meters, curve tracers, MilliOhm meters, and reference material (or duplicate and functional boards to test against) - I think you need to be a parts replacer here unless you have the specialized tools to individually evaluate the capacitors out of circuit and make a determination.

It's either spend money on tools to make a more accurate determination or spend money on parts and try your best. I've been where you are on similar things, you either dive and do it and prepare to fund a research project for a few years...choose your path.

[PleaseEatEggs]

Yeah, I was just curious what the ECS did anyway, and wanted to see if this would give me any help before I start. I have. a multimeter which can test capacitance, and will probably be using it to test these capacitors against the values that are printed on them — for the ones I tested earlier, it seemed to be quite accurate. Thanks for your help, time to get to the grind haha!