Two dead Pandoras (my fault). Can they be fixed?


Grench

Grench

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So, I managed to get some barrel connector based chargers switched around and connected my CC and 1Ghz Pandoras to 14VDC and 12VDC respectively. Yup. I'm an idiot.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Both are not only merely dead, but are really most sincerely dead. I have tried the proper charger, a spare battery, 5VDC via the miniUSB, batteries removed, hard reset sequence, etc. They're dead Jim.

American pop cultural references asside, it's likely that I fried something(s) on the motherboards. Having seen lots of pictures of the motherboards and seen them directly back when I was changing video cables, I do not recall seeing any fuses. I recall seeing that ED was finishing up selling the last of the Pandora inventory with no 1Ghz boards left.

Is there hope of fixing them to the level that it makes sense to pay bi-directional shipping from the US to Germany and back?

Or do I now own two sets of keyboard mats, case plastics & screens and should be looking for someone selling a Pandora with a broken screen?

I recall ED talking about selling some screen-less entertainment center Pandoras. Do those exist?

Thank you - and yes I'm an idiot. For those of you who do not want to be an idiot, be sure to trace back every barrel connector to the power supply and read it's output voltage before connecting it to the device in hand. I am very glad that the Pyra is doing away with barrel jacks in favor of the microUSB charging solution.
 
it may be possible to debug and see what blew up and replace the component(s). Most likely need someone with such skills and specifically SMD soldering skills.
 
Not sure if this gets you anywhere, but you can probably still get the system to boot using the + and - terminals printed on the edge of the PCB. Those bypass all the charging circuitry, so should tell you if something else is bust too. You'll need a good PSU to generate the voltage for those pads though - last time I did it I used a professional laboratory variable power supply.
 
I checked ED's shop - no Pandoras or boards showing up in stock. Not even the screen-less console rebirth models.

I tried to check Link's US shop - the Pandora order link from the Pandora website doesn't link to Link at the moment. I do have an ICP2 credit there if he had one or more working boards still around... might be worth pursuing. Since I'm already all-in for a Pyra prototype, my credit there is kind of in Limbo as it won't likely be used on a Pyra. Does anyone have a proper link or contact for him these days?

Would Linux-Swat be likely to have a fully working motherboard or two lying around?

I checked EBay - only 1 unit at present and the seller wants more or less full new retail, which may be appropriate for a lightly used unit these days. I would rather repair mine or find fully working motherboards to swap into them.

Yes, I'm still an idiot.
 
Note that the TV-Edition Pandoras (those without Screen) have an broken LCD Connector so you can't easily use them with an Screen.
 
lukey said:
Note that the TV-Edition Pandoras (those without Screen) have an broken LCD Connector so you can't easily use them with an Screen.
Click to expand...

Thank you - I wasn't aware of that. I thought that those were made due to a screen shortage and did not know they would have broken connectors.

I have LCD cables - both of the ones in my units and a couple of spares from the various versions that have come out over the years.

But yeah, if the connector on the motherboard itself is broken, that doesn't help me then.
 
ED would probably know how feasible but it could be that the TPS65950 power IC blew up. It could even be a fuse or something small. That power chip looks like a pain though. Just glancing at the TI site I think its a bga.
 
Hmm, that's something MWeston should be able to reply to. You can try sending him a PM.

We will have more Pandoras in stock, some which are partly broken for a cheaper price, but I don't know any 1GHz models will be in there.
 
@Grench
How comfortable are you with a Multimeter? You may be in luck. MWeston put a protection fuse on the board that I would assume was to protect from what you did. Here is a photo of the PCB and I boxed F1 (the fuse). It is right next to the power connector. Check for continuity across it. I would image you will get none. If that is the case simply replacing that fuse should do the trick.

Board_rev5.jpg


If the fuse is ok there are a few possibilities as to what may have blown. I can try to highlight some parts to check after the fuse, but it wont be so straight forward.
 
Last edited:
drock said:
@Grench
How comfortable are you with a Multimeter? You may be in luck. MWeston put a protection fuse on the board that I would assume was to protect from what you did. Here is a photo of the PCB and I boxed F1 (the fuse). It is right next to the power connector. Check for continuity across it. I would image you will get none. If that is the case simply replacing that fuse should do the trick.

View attachment 28222

If the fuse is ok there are a few possibilities as to what may have blown. I can try to highlight some parts to check after the fuse, but it wont be so straight forward.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly comfortable with a multimeter (automotive work). Great eyes on spotting that fuse! I will pull the boards out of my Pandoras this weekend and check that. MWeston might have saved me from myself nearly 10 years ago then.

If that is the issue, though, it looks to me like I'll need to find the component and someone comfortable de/soldering under a dissection scope. I may have to bug MWeston, but at least I'll be able to say what it is I'm after.
 
Last edited:
So - I had put off dealing with my dead Pandoras since my Pyra delivery seemed to be just around the corner. So, I'm back to the idea of fixing these now and started looking into the $.50 parts that might be the culprit. No, I still haven't cracked them open to check continuity over the fuse - because Pyra is just out of reach around the next corner and... Yeah, procrastination.

Looking up the part noted above led me here:
http://www.littelfuse.com/products/resettable-ptcs/surface-mount/microsmd/microsmd200f_2.aspx

According to the description these are, "The microSMD series provides surface mount overcurrent protection for applications where space is at a premium and resettable protection is desired.".

I focused in on the term, 'resettable'. How does that work?
 
Grench said:
. . . I focused in on the term, 'resettable'. How does that work?
Click to expand...
Simple viewed, its a thermo resistor.
The higher the current get, the higher the themperatur of the fuse get.
The higher the themperatur get, the higher the resistance get.
After the failure gets fixed / the device gets switched of the resettable fuse cools down and lowers its resistanc,
 
Looking this up on Wikipedia...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resettable_fuse

"When power is removed, the heating due to the holding current will stop and the PPTC device will cool. As the device cools, it regains its original crystalline structure and returns to a low resistance state where it can hold the current as specified for the device.[6] This cooling usually takes a few seconds, though a tripped device will retain a slightly higher resistance for hours, slowly approaching the initial resistance value. The resetting will often not take place even if the fault alone has been removed with the power still flowing as the operating current may be above the holding current of the PPTC. The device may not return to its original resistance value; it will most likely stabilize at a significantly higher resistance (up to 4 times initial value). It could take hours, days, weeks or even years for the device to return to a resistance value similar to its original value, if at all."

Won't that be the ultimate joke on me if I plug them into a normal Pandora power supply now and they work again. I'll have to give that a try.
 
Grench said:
Won't that be the ultimate joke on me if I plug them into a normal Pandora power supply now and they work again. I'll have to give that a try.
Click to expand...

Using a factory Pandora labeled charger - neither one would boot without a battery. Leaving it on the charger for 2 hours left the 1Ghz Pandora's battery very warm, but nothing from the unit. So - the not-booted battery charging circuitry seems to be working. Does that current flow through this fuse?
 
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