Red tent monitor

8bit Chef

Active member

Donor 2013
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
458
Reaction score
10
Location
montreal, Qu, Canada
Ok hi guys, im new to the arcade owning thig but im loving it. I bought a Nintendo Red Tent not so long ago, It had Vs. castlevania and Vs. Rbi Baseball. Now one monitor is perfect, and the other wont come on at all and there is no sound. if anyone can help me that would be great. the monitor is on the same side as the PCB board(if that means anything.).
 
I stuck a suggestion in your other thread before I realized you had put the question here.

I'll throw it out here, too, just in case.

RBI baseball and Castlevania are both daughter boards, so they can come unseated easily. Just pull the board out and make sure that both daughter boards are seated properly.
 
Monitor

so what you are saying is if the RBI baseball daughter card is not mounted properly the monitor will give me no response when i power on the machine? because the monitor is pretty dead as far as i can see. the castlevania side works just fine. And i mean i get no response at all from the other monitor.
 
Yeah, it can appear as if there is no response from the monitor. especially if the monitor's brightness is turned down. I would also swap the RBI baseball to the castlevania side to confirm the card is good.

if you still don't have a response, or even first just to be sure, trace the power from the monitor, make sure it is plugged in to the bottom of the tent.
 
Even if the daughter card wasn't seated right, the monitor would give you a response. I would say it is time to remove the monitor to see if there are any blown fuses etc. Start there and maybe work towards a cap kit?
 
cap kit

ok ill research this cap kit you speak of just after i switch the daughter cards.....Again im a noob who is trying to break in to this hobby, its been a dream of mine since i was a kid. my ultimate goal is to build a mame Light gun arcade cab. Thanks for the info guys i'm greatful.
 
Resist all ideas to plug the monitor directly into a wall outlet. Yes it ( most likely) has a common 120 volt power plug but it is only 100 volt. If swapping the daughter cards on the pcb yields no change to the dead monitor you could swap the monitor to the other side. Pain in the ass to swap but will confirm if the monitor needs work. Did you check for neck glow?
 
crap

well i turned on the cab today and was greeted to this :( what do i do now? both monitors seem to be screwed. is it time to give up? id rather not however i aint a rich guy this was supposed to be a learning project on one monitor but am quickly becoming overwhelmed
 
Last edited:
Don't give up yet. There is a wealth of information availible on this site and out there on the web. I'm learning myself. Most of my suggestions are based off what has worked for me.

Did you try swapping the daughter cards? Make sure the edge connectors are clean as well. You can clean them up with a pencil eraser.

Also, you will need to have a CPU in both sides at all times, or neither side will function. So, if you pulled the cards out and didn't put one back in it can cause problems.

I've had one side work while the other side was not seated properly, but once it was removed completely, it gave problems.
 
Alright there is some truth to some of this statement. This is from my experience working with all types of diffferent games/cpu's/ppus.. it may not be fact, just my observations...
Did you try swapping the daughter cards? Make sure the edge connectors are clean as well. You can clean them up with a pencil eraser.
-Definitely worth a try. If the pins are not fully seated or are dirty they will give you an internitten problem. You should make sure the pins are nice and clean.

Also, you will need to have a CPU in both sides at all times, or neither side will function. So, if you pulled the cards out and didn't put one back in it can cause problems.
-False. Only certain games ( i.e. super mario brothers, I am not even sure any others need it) needs a cpu on both sides and the one for super mario brothers can be defeated by putting a jumper in the unoccupied side. Most of the games I test I do on the top side of the board, with nothing on the bottom side.

The picture I see does not say the monitor that used to worked is screwed. Look at it like this. What did you change? Can you change it back? Make sure all the edge connectors on seated properly. If I am not mistaken … a white screen usually means a PPU/cpu/chip or some kind of problem. Did you switch games or move the ppu?

Not to worry, we will set you straight, start form the top and work your way down...

As for the monitor that does not even turn on, that will be a completely separate issue. You will need to check for neck glow, voltage etc. There are people that will solder for you, I think someone posted that they would install a cap kit for $20 bucks! That's a steal. All you have to do it take the monitor out, remove the chassis (the computer board on the back of the monitor) and go from there.
 
ok

Well today i will try to switch the daughter cards i have (castlevania, RBI baseball) and see what happens. and are you guys sure that i will get no response from a monitor is the chip set or daughter card is not set properly? that sounds weird.
 
Also, you will need to have a CPU in both sides at all times, or neither side will function. So, if you pulled the cards out and didn't put one back in it can cause problems.
-False. Only certain games ( i.e. super mario brothers, I am not even sure any others need it) needs a cpu on both sides and the one for super mario brothers can be defeated by putting a jumper in the unoccupied side. Most of the games I test I do on the top side of the board, with nothing on the bottom side.

Thanks for the clarification on that one. Super Mario Bros is in fact the game I was working with when I had that issue. I hadn't tried it with any others yet.

Like I said, I'm learning too. Been working with computers for my whole life, but arcades are a whole new beast.

And, again. Good luck to the OP. A red tent is an excellent machine to have
 
ok

Well i switched the daughter cards just now and yes they are seated firmly. still no change, i also powered on the machine with the PCB board unpluged and the grey monitor powered on but the dead one still gave me no response. so even if the games are notr firmly in place the monitor should give you a response.
 
Back
Top Bottom