Hydro Thunder - the dreaded 6 beeps

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Hey guys, just wondering if you have any thoughts on this.

The Hydro Thunder that I picked up at an auction is returning the repeating 6 short beeps when trying to boot it up. A peripheral problem and most likely the diego board or video card from what I've been reading.

Suspiciously this cabinet included a diego board that was completely disconnected. Almost like someone ripped the previous one out to sell or whatever, and then just threw a loose one in for the sale of the cabinet -- who knows.

Anyway, what is peculiar (or maybe means absolutely nothing!) is that the buttons (high/low/pilot) on this Hydro Thunder are constantly lit up when the power is on (fuses look good), seems like for most other people with HT boot issues the buttons are blinking as opposed to constantly on...

QmIr2us.jpg


Does that mean anything to anyone? Maybe there's something more to investigate?

Thanks!
 
6 beeps? That is not the Video card, Video card is 1 long and 2 short this is also normal as the PC can not detect a functioning 2D video card installed.

The Diego board has nothing to do with booting or post. That can be completely disconnected and the game will still boot.

6 Beeps sounds like a bad memory stick or something.

Find out who made your motherboard and look for that model "beep error code list"

Also some PC's will not boot without the CMOS battery installed AND have a charge.
Re-seat the RAM sticks ect... then test again.

The "blinking Buttons" is the normal way this is supposed to be, That is kind of a poor mans way to tell if the PC is talking to the Diego board. Once communication is established the buttons blink.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I'll check for a motherboard "beep error code list".

I had been reading information about the 6 beeps from the manual (error message troubleshooting) and previous threads thinking my issue sounded similar, e.g.

Hydro Thunder 6 beeps, stop, 6 beeps. What could it be?. am i missing something?
Hydro Thunder, I give up....
Hydrothunder 6 beeps?

From my experience, the PC will "boot" without the Diego board, but after POST (when the Hydro program starts running), it'll almost immediately fail and go into a 6 beep loop (I believe it is 6) until you hard reset.

Curious, do you hear a "low-high beep"? right before the PC starts it's 6 beep issue? I'll link a video of this happening in a bit. You'll first hear the 1 long, 2 short as mentioned, and eventually a "low-high". Following that will either be a beep error code that loops, or a "high-low-high", which I assume means it past whatever tests to continue booting (communicating with the Diego board, etc.)

I can't 100% remember, but I believe blinking lights on front of Hydro Thunder mean that Diego is waiting for proper connection to the PC (security call and all), as this was my goal when I worked on getting Hydro Thunder to work with other video cards (Lights go off = Diego board is happy). I think the blinking would happen even if no serial port connection to the PC, as long as power is applied. All lights on seem to indicate it is in a locked sort of state? I BELIEVE the manual talks about the Diego board and the default jumper positions that need to be set on the board. That could be your issue.

Here is a link to the video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/riwgzv8d1yabkn2/2017-11-17 22.50.46.mp4?dl=0

In your manual, jumper settings for Diego: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wkmu757d7rvs7pj/Diego Jumpers.jpg?dl=0

In your manual, lights on the Diego board. This may help figuring out the issue: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jz6w8cka3vgy2ly/Diego Lights.jpg?dl=0

My money is something with the Diego board, either not configured properly, not powered/connect properly to PC, or bad board.
 
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From my experience, the PC will "boot" without the Diego board, but after POST (when the Hydro program starts running), it'll almost immediately fail and go into a 6 beep loop (I believe it is 6) until you hard reset.

Curious, do you hear a "low-high beep"? right before the PC starts it's 6 beep issue? I'll link a video of this happening in a bit. You'll first hear the 1 long, 2 short as mentioned, and eventually a "low-high". Following that will either be a beep error code that loops, or a "high-low-high", which I assume means it past whatever tests to continue booting (communicating with the diego board, etc.)

Yes, all of the "other beeps" after the long 2 short and the Phar-lap OS beep codes. I keep forgetting about those, and I think I could be confusing people with my "vague" description of the post / boot terms. The PC will Boot with the diego board disconnected, but after the OS Starts to load the Game it freaks out.

You can actually see this if you install a AGP video card into the PC and connect that to a normal VGA monitor. (IF the PC is posting / booting) that is.
 
6 beeps? That is not the Video card, Video card is 1 long and 2 short this is also normal as the PC can not detect a functioning 2D video card installed.

The Diego board has nothing to do with booting or post. That can be completely disconnected and the game will still boot.

6 Beeps sounds like a bad memory stick or something.

Find out who made your motherboard and look for that model "beep error code list"

Also some PC's will not boot without the CMOS battery installed AND have a charge.
Re-seat the RAM sticks ect... then test again.

The "blinking Buttons" is the normal way this is supposed to be, That is kind of a poor mans way to tell if the PC is talking to the Diego board. Once communication is established the buttons blink.

Just found that out with mine :) Booted up the spare one, and heard the 1 long, 2 short and silence. Nothing happened, even though it worked fine before (made it to the 6 beeps since it's unhooked from everything). Hooked up a 2D card and keyboard and got the CMOS error. Replaced the battery and all good!
 
Curious, do you hear a "low-high beep"? right before the PC starts it's 6 beep issue? I'll link a video of this happening in a bit. You'll first hear the 1 long, 2 short as mentioned, and eventually a "low-high". Following that will either be a beep error code that loops, or a "high-low-high", which I assume means it past whatever tests to continue booting (communicating with the Diego board, etc.)

Sounds like I'm getting an identical beep pattern as the one in your video. Here's a video of mine. Sorry, I don't have sound coming through the internal PC speaker, but I do get sound through the cab speakers, so the recording is up near the speaker grill.


Jumper settings look good

In your manual, lights on the Diego board. This may help figuring out the issue: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jz6w8cka3vgy2ly/Diego Lights.jpg?dl=0

On mine, LEDs 1 & 2 are always flashing together, so I'm assuming the board is never getting out of "game startup".

Here's a picture of my diego board (just in case you happen to notice anything)...

uCeffjh.jpg


Thanks alot guys!
 
Hey Linkinpark9812, Have you done any more tinkering on the VGA mod for HT ? I know you had it at least "partially" working.

Haven't been able to mess with it further. Kept hitting blocks. Did get it in some cool diagnostic mode, but it wasn't any help. Maybe I will look at it in the future.

Sounds like I'm getting an identical beep pattern as the one in your video. Here's a video of mine. Sorry, I don't have sound coming through the internal PC speaker, but I do get sound through the cab speakers, so the recording is up near the speaker grill.



Jumper settings look good



On mine, LEDs 1 & 2 are always flashing together, so I'm assuming the board is never getting out of "game startup".

Here's a picture of my diego board (just in case you happen to notice anything)...

Thanks alot guys!

Curious, does your LED 1 and 2 flash at about the same rate as the front panel buttons do in this animated gif?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hhirw0fxgekv1ea/Works!.gif?dl=0

I wonder if they blink in sync until the security checks complete and then the front ones stop blinking, while LED 1 and 2 blink differently and on their own (maybe they are communication lights).

If so, maybe the Diego is good and you have some wire fault issues with the front buttons causing them to stay on.

It could be possible this same fault is causing communication issues for the Diego, causing the 6 beeps.

If possible, maybe isolate how the buttons are getting the power to come on and if it's coming from the right source (aka the correct pins and not being pulled from a parasitic power source). I think the manual has these diagrams.
 
Curious, does your LED 1 and 2 flash at about the same rate as the front panel buttons do in this animated gif?

Yes, that seems to be a similar cadence.

If possible, maybe isolate how the buttons are getting the power to come on and if it's coming from the right source (aka the correct pins and not being pulled from a parasitic power source). I think the manual has these diagrams.

That's a good idea, I'll try going down that route once I have a chance. The cabinet is quite "clean", i.e. I haven't noticed any hack jobs, I'd be surprised if it's not pulling from the correct pins -- though there could still be some wire fault issues to investigate of course.

Thanks again for the help!
 
Yes, that seems to be a similar cadence.



That's a good idea, I'll try going down that route once I have a chance. The cabinet is quite "clean", i.e. I haven't noticed any hack jobs, I'd be surprised if it's not pulling from the correct pins -- though there could still be some wire fault issues to investigate of course.

Thanks again for the help!

No problem! Keep us posted.
 
I know this is an old thread but I just purchased a HydroThunder this week and I have exactly the same problem. I receded every card in the PC and disconnected the Diego board and still get the dreaded six beeps. Could it be something as simple as that little CR 123 battery being dead on the motherboard? Has anybody figured out what the problem was in their situations?
 
Check the battery. If you don't have a bios, it's hard for the game to boot.

Try this:
1. Buy a new CMOS battery.
2. Remove the existing battery for 15 minutes.
3. Install the new battery.
4. Try a start and see what you get.

6 beeps on POST means different things for different boards. What CPU board is in your system?
 
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