Question [HELP] Ashida has lines on bottom of display every few boots

[Bryceshaw06]

Hello everyone! I recently finished my Ashida, and I’m super happy with it! There's just one issue I’ve been pulling my hair out over, and I would like some advice on troubleshooting it. Every few boots (I'd say about 1 every 5) the bottom of my display will have lines appear. They are locked in at the bottom of the display, and it seems like they are a glitchy mirror of the top. If the color on the top changes, the bottom does too. This persists even in-game (or priiloader) so I’m thinking it’s not a software issue unless the VGA patches are really messed up. If I turn my Ashida off and then immediately back on without moving anything, the lines will go away. Here's my setup and notes:

- VGA
- Tried both twisted magnet wire and coaxial cables. Currently using coaxial for the video lines, magnet for the H/Vsync

- Display - 5" 16:9 800X480 IPS Screen + Driver Board from 4LayerTech https://4layertech.com/products/5-16-9-800x480-ips-screen-driver-board

• Before installing the display into my Ashida, I noticed that there’s a small spot in the bottom right corner that’s brighter than the rest when it’s on. I didn’t bother returning it because it’s faint and doesn’t bother me, but with this issue I’m getting suspicious that it could be related to the issue.

—Applying light pressure to the display doesn’t affect the lines. I don’t think it’s an issue of pressure or poorly seated cable.

If you need any more photos or information, let me know! Thanks!

Video:

 

[Teatimetim]

Do you have any pictures of your hsync and vsync wirings?

 

[Bryceshaw06]

Do you have any pictures of your hsync and vsync wirings?

Yup, here's a closeup of the wires on the AVE. They are not twisted, I was told they shouldn't be

 

[Teatimetim]

Hmmm, those connections look good. I would try cleaning up that area with some IPA as it looks like there still may be some flux residue.

Your VGA connections look a little suspect though, there's some big solder blobs there, although that would only impact the color you get out to your screen which looks fine, so I don't think that's the issue.

My initial thoughts are that it's something hardware related due to the way it's artifacting at the bottom but someone smarter than me could probably come in and correct me. It may be worth trying to shorten your hsync and vsync wires to see if that helps.

 

[Bryceshaw06]

Thanks for the suggestions! There's a bit of flux there, but not much. I think it's mostly from the reflections of the light I have on it. I went ahead and cleaned it up anyway, so we'll see

Agreed, the VGA lines don't look pretty at all. I originally had used twisted magnet wire, but that was causing an issue where horizontal bars constantly moving vertically on the screen. I swapped it out for the shielded wire you see in the photos, and that fixed the issue. The wire is just a bit thicker than it should be, it's really hard to work with. The lines on the bottom every few boots is definitely a separate issue, and it happened with the magnet wire as well. I'm not going to touch those coaxial cables again unless I absolutely have to, lol.

I think it's a hardware issue too, but the strange part is if I turn it off and back on without moving, everything goes back to normal (shown in the video). I will redo the H and V sync wires, making sure they're the same length tomorrow. I've redone them a few time earlier in the build without luck, so I'm not holding my breath on that one.

 

[Thomothy]

Yeah your soldering actually looks very nice! I was having a similar issue, and I rerouted the wires to go around the AVE rather than over the top and I haven't had the issue again.

 

[Bryceshaw06]

Thanks man! I just got a digital microscope this Christmas and it has been a godsend for tiny wiring like this. Just to confirm, that's the H-Sync and V-Sync wires that you rerouted, right? I'll have to try that.

EDIT: I have shorted out each video line individually (temporarily disabled each one) while the screen was glitched and it didn’t help, the issue is present with all colors.

 

[Thomothy]

Yeah! H-sync and V-sync. A microscope is what I should have asked for my birthday. alas I've just been using jewelers glasses at home and then obviously my universities labs whenever I can. Hopefully it helps your issue out too! If you dig far enough in the worklogs too you'll find some people get chastised for routing over the ave.

 

[Bryceshaw06]

I just got done shortening and rerouting the H-Sync and V-Sync wires, no luck

Something interesting I noticed is that if I go to the display’s settings menu and switch from 16:9 to 4:3 and back to 16:9, the lines go away. I am completely out of ideas

 

[Stitches]

Might just be a dodgy screen. They're usually pretty great, but there's always one in a batch. Do you have another VGA capable screen to test the Wii with?

 

[Bryceshaw06]

I don’t unfortunately. In the future I may just order another screen and see if that’s the issue. Right now I’m trying to fix my main Wii board, I ripped the U10 via out when troubleshooting the lines issue

 

[Mr Game & Cube]

I don’t unfortunately. In the future I may just order another screen and see if that’s the issue. Right now I’m trying to fix my main Wii board, I ripped the U10 via out when troubleshooting the lines issue

oof

 

[thedrew]

I've had that issue more than once... I've never been able to solve it as it is usually an intermittent issue. Hopefully a new screen/driver board solves this for you