Dragon's Lair Restoration - Trouble With Laser Ace Setup

mylz

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I've got this Dragon's Lair cabinet that I've been slowly bringing back from the dead. It was left sitting for maybe a couple decades and when I got to it turned on and that was about it. Inside the cabinet were 2 Dragon's Lair board sets, a Pioneer LD V1000 player and a Pioneer LD V8000, and a Laser Ace with all relevant cables. It sure looks like whoever had this last was in the middle of repairing/upgrading this and stopped.

I replaced the busted CRT with a flatscreen for now and after cleaning it up and getting everything hooked up stock with the LD V1000, it seems to be working fine, except for the player skips and jitters during gameplay... probably why the person before me was upgrading. The sound was also not working, but after replacing nearly every part in the audio circuit I got that going. The other board set had the audio amps removed and were just rattling around in the cabinet so I know the previous owner was chasing that issue too.

The LD V8000 player looks to be working just fine. I can load the disc in and hit play and it plays it through with no skips, but I can't get the Laser Ace to talk to it it seems. I'm using the manual from dragons-lair-project.com to try and set up. Using LED flash codes I've got the Laser Ace programmed with the correct (I assume) Input/Output player set up, but after turning it off, plugging everything in and turning on, nothing happens. Player outputs to TV with the blue standby screen, and the game boots with one beep, but nothing happens after that. I also can't get OSD setup to happen. When I press the key combo on the Laser Ace to activate it in the manual nothing happens at all.

Anyone have any experience with this? It seems everything is there to be able to get this project going with what I have, it just seems to have trouble communicating.

Pics attached of the setup.

Thanks!
 

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I don't have any personal experience with the LaserAce board, but I do know the LD-V8000.
It looks like the "Program Run" light is on. Follow these steps to reset and configure the V8000...

---------------
Enter the settings menu by holding-in the "display" button while you push in the power button.
You should see the P-0 page.

Press the open/close button. This resets everything to default. (you wont see anything happen)

Press scan forward until you get to page P-3
Press step fwd to highlight SQUELCH,
Press step rev to change to black background

Scan forward to P-4
step fwd to LEVEL II AUTO START
step rev to change to OFF

scan forward to P-7
step fwd to AUTO MEMORY
step rev to change to OFF

Press the "display" button to save the changes and exit the settings.
--------------

Now the "program run" should be off, and the LaserAce should be able to control the player.
 
I should explain that the LD-V8000 has its own internal computer than can be programmed for interactive kiosks and such.
It can also be set to read and execute a pre-recorded program embedded into certain laserdiscs.

When either of these cases are set active, the "Program Run" LED on the front of the player lights up, and player will refuse to respond to external control, and sometimes even front panel control.
To make matters worse, there is no obvious way to turn it off.

So, you might pick up a "Non-Working" V8000 off of ebay at a good price, and then follow the steps above to return it to working order. :)
 
Thanks for the tips!

That got the program run light off but unfortunately nothing is happening still when I turn everything on together.

I'm wondering if there's inconsistencies between the laser ace I have and the documentation since it seems like support for this thing is low to null right now.

As it is when I turn everything on, the player turns on, play light comes on then park light comes on and I hear a click from inside the player.

Laser ace turns on and the input led flashes slowly and the output player led flashes quickly every once in a while. According to the manual I have that may mean bad communication with the output player?
 
The manual puts a lot of importance on the power switch.
It looks in your picture like it is currently set for "power from the game".
Is that correct? or are you using a 9V power supply?

It also has different output player flash codes if you have an early board or a later one.
You have no sticker on the back of the laserace, so I'm guessing you have the early board.

Thus, you should be using input player LD-V1000, flash code 5
and output player LD-V8000, flash code 22 (a later board would be flash code 24).
Is this correct?

Next, I would try to do the "Setup LA for the first time with On Screen Display"
If that works and you are able to see the setup menus on screen, then you will know your V8000 is configured correctly.

One last thing, On your DL main board, make sure dip-switch B3 is OFF (player type LD-V1000).
The numbers printed on the switch banks are off by one, so B3 is marked with #4 on the bank closest to the back of the cab.
 
Previous owner soldered a standard barrel jack from 5v on the game board. Switch is set to that option and I checked with my multimeter to make sure the 5v was there and it all looks good.

Those are the flash codes I have set, so thanks for clarifying!

And dip switch B3 (#4 on the bank) is set to OFF.

The On Screen Display part is where I'm getting hung up and not sure if the Laser Ace is talking to the player correctly. When I press the button combo described in the manual to activate it nothing happens.

Sequence of buttons I press:
-Reset, then wait 5 seconds
-Hold down MODE button
-While holding MODE, hold down ENTER
-Release ENTER
-release MODE

No activity on the Laser Ace changes and no menu pops up on my screen.

The manual mentions something about the game "blanking" the video signal, but I don't think that applies here since the game isn't actually running.

I really appreciate all the help so far! The suggestions you've given are all great and I wish they were working haha. This is the first time really digging into a LD game and it's a bit of a learning process.
 
It's looking like a communication problem with the V8000.
Did you try both codes for the LD-V8000, 22 and 24?

When you did a reset earlier, the baud rate stuff should have all defaulted to the correct settings, but re-check them.
On page P-5
9600 baud, no parity, 1-bit, 8-bits, <CR>

If all of that stuff is correct, than the serial port on the V8000 is faulty, the cable is faulty, or the LaserAce is faulty.


You are right about the blanking issue. Some games have the video pass through a video board before getting to the monitor, but that's not the case with Dragon's Lair.
 
Hmmmm okay gotcha.

I did try both codes before all of this help, but I think I will go back and try again just to be sure. I'll also check the connections on either end of the cable with a multimeter just to be extra sure.

And I did recheck the baud rate setting after the reset just to make sure they matched the manual and that all looks good.

I'm thinking I may have to bite the bullet and look for other options. The Merlin board looks promising, is that still produced/supported? Although if its a serial port issue on the player that wouldn't help me much.

Thanks again for your help!
 
Download the LD-V8000 manual Level 1&3
On appendix D page D-1 you will find the cable pin to pin wiring.

Long shot here, but If you happen to have an old computer with Win98/95/ME on it, you can use Hyperterminal (I think that is what it was called) to send commands to the player and see its responses.

Yes, I still make and support the Merlin board, but you're right, it wont do you any good if the LD-V8000 is the problem.
 
Oh I did not realize it was you that produces the Merlin board! I will try my best to check the cable/connection and you may be receiving an order form me soon.

Thanks for all the help!!
 
Oh boy I'm at a complete loss with this one... All the things you've suggested here and that I've tried seems like it should fix this thing right up but I have seen absolutely no changes in behavior with every thing I've tried.

I took a look at the cable and the previous owner had wired it up all wrong. According to the manual you referenced, the DB-15 male part of the cable should have the connections on pins 1, 2, 3 and 4. The cable was wired to pins 5, 6, 7 and 8. I said EUREKA!!! he just got them backwards, this should do it for sure! I opened the cable, put the pins in the correct positions and checked with my multimeter to make sure they were wired to the right connections on the DB-9 female part on the other end and it all looked good.

But still nothing!! Game does not boot, and I can't get the Laser Ace to activate the OSD on the player. I'm pulling my hair out about this one, it seems like I'm fixing stuff that should do the trick and just... nothing.

I also found this in the manual that says there is a CTS connection on pin 5 of the DB-15 end that is not referenced in the appendix. Is this irrelevant?
Screenshot from 2025-11-08 13-20-03.pngScreenshot from 2025-11-08 13-24-15.png

I'm prepared to order a Merlin board from you, but is there any way I can confirm the RS-232 port on the player is working correctly before I do? Or do you have any recommendations on any other options?

Thanks again for all your help!
 
I have had reports of dead serial ports on the laserdisc players. It's not common, but it does happen.

The only way to test the player's port would be to connect it to an old PC with a serial port and the right software.
Do you have an old PC?

Another option...
Send me your LaserAce, and I'll test that on my known working LD-V8000.
If it's bad, we can guess your V8000 is fine, and I'll set you up with a Merlin.
If it's good, we'll look into getting you a different player.
If you want to go this route, PM me.
 
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