Here are the test pictures as promised. I couldn't find my multimeter at the moment, but i'll get back to you on that one.

As you can see, it's much more visible from an upper angle than straight from the front.

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-11, 05:52:

I really dont know, It might also be lack of ground on the second pcb, maybe the second one also needs to be screwed into chassis and thats where it gets its ground from

Just to answer your concern, the display was just as dim when i tried it in it's casing, and i pressed the casing against the metal in the pc case. That's how i discovered that it wasn't actually completely dead, just needed grounding.

see that plated hole on the top? theres even a fuse between it and ground

get that multimeter out and measure
-supply voltage, ground (pin 6) to pin 8
-bias, ground to pin 9

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-11, 16:50:

see that plated hole on the top? theres even a fuse between it and ground […]
Show full quote

see that plated hole on the top? theres even a fuse between it and ground

get that multimeter out and measure
-supply voltage, ground (pin 6) to pin 8
-bias, ground to pin 9

That ground fuse was a great observation!
Finally found the multimeter! Now, i feel really dumb to ask this, but are you talking about the pins on the LCD connector array, the LCD PCB wire connector (JP11), or the legs on the holtek chip as we discussed before (the ones just above "R21")?
Also, before breaking the fuse, what setting should i use on the multimeter for bias? I have 200, 2000, 20k, 200k, 2000k. Thanks!
Edit: also, when checking bias, should the unit be on or off?

Just did a quick measure of the fuse (FB21) connections on the lowest setting (200) for whatever it's worth, and it's at 0.03, which is the same bias as when just putting the measuring sticks together. So i guess there's nothing wrong with the fuse?

Just as a side question, is there any place where you can order a custom character lcd by uploading the layout and specs?
Or, an oled replacement would be very cool. But for that, i guess you'd need a chip that can load textures resembling the original layout that also interprests the lcd control chip connections and map them together.
Or a gpu type chip that directly interprets the main PCB chip. Maybe it all could be done by integrating a raspberry pi zero, or arduino, or something. It's fun to speculate, at least.
Technically, since the control chip for the unit is socketed, it could be taken out for a data-dump, and you could probably emulate the whole thing down to the "guru link"-connection inside a raspberry pi. But unfortunately, I'm not smart enough on the subject to know what that even entails.

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 07:26:

Finally found the multimeter! Now, i feel really dumb to ask this, but are you talking about the pins on the LCD connector array, the LCD PCB wire connector (JP11), or the legs on the holtek chip as we discussed before (the ones just above "R21")?
Also, before breaking the fuse, what setting should i use on the multimeter for bias? I have 200, 2000, 20k, 200k, 2000k. Thanks!
Edit: also, when checking bias, should the unit be on or off?

holtek chip pins
what do you mean breaking the fuse? dont break the fuse! 😀
to measure voltages there must be .. voltages 😀 so yes, unit on. But just from your post maybe get some IRL help? I can already see one of the probes slipping and you frying something 🙁

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 09:08:

Just did a quick measure of the fuse (FB21) connections on the lowest setting (200) for whatever it's worth, and it's at 0.03, which is the same bias as when just putting the measuring sticks together. So i guess there's nothing wrong with the fuse?

I mean that pad needs to be screwed into something, it needs solid connection to ground

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 10:10:

Just as a side question, is there any place where you can order a custom character lcd by uploading the layout and specs?

yes, Chinese LCD factory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5vlDdpbkw

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 10:10:

Or, an oled replacement would be very cool.

You want off the shelf replacement of this particular custom Abit LCD? 😀

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 10:10:

But for that, i guess you'd need a chip that can load textures resembling the original layout that also interprests the lcd control chip connections and map them together.
Or a gpu type chip that directly interprets the main PCB chip. Maybe it all could be done by integrating a raspberry pi zero, or arduino, or something. It's fun to speculate, at least.
Technically, since the control chip for the unit is socketed, it could be taken out for a data-dump, and you could probably emulate the whole thing down to the "guru link"-connection inside a raspberry pi. But unfortunately, I'm not smart enough on the subject to know what that even entails.

Replacing this LCD would be trivial for anyone slightly skilled in arduino, controller is talking SPI. But why? It would still take more time and money than repairing it.

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-13, 00:16:

I mean that pad needs to be screwed into something, it needs solid connection to ground

Agree 😁 that big pad is there for a reason and appears to be the ground side. Different but similar to a motherboards grounding stand-off pads....

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-13, 00:16:

holtek chip pins what do you mean breaking the fuse? dont break the fuse! :) to measure voltages there must be .. voltages :) so […]
Show full quote

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 07:26:

Finally found the multimeter! Now, i feel really dumb to ask this, but are you talking about the pins on the LCD connector array, the LCD PCB wire connector (JP11), or the legs on the holtek chip as we discussed before (the ones just above "R21")?
Also, before breaking the fuse, what setting should i use on the multimeter for bias? I have 200, 2000, 20k, 200k, 2000k. Thanks!
Edit: also, when checking bias, should the unit be on or off?

holtek chip pins
what do you mean breaking the fuse? dont break the fuse! 😀
to measure voltages there must be .. voltages 😀 so yes, unit on. But just from your post maybe get some IRL help? I can already see one of the probes slipping and you frying something 🙁

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 09:08:

Just did a quick measure of the fuse (FB21) connections on the lowest setting (200) for whatever it's worth, and it's at 0.03, which is the same bias as when just putting the measuring sticks together. So i guess there's nothing wrong with the fuse?

I mean that pad needs to be screwed into something, it needs solid connection to ground

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 10:10:

Just as a side question, is there any place where you can order a custom character lcd by uploading the layout and specs?

yes, Chinese LCD factory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5vlDdpbkw

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 10:10:

Or, an oled replacement would be very cool.

You want off the shelf replacement of this particular custom Abit LCD? 😀

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-12, 10:10:

But for that, i guess you'd need a chip that can load textures resembling the original layout that also interprests the lcd control chip connections and map them together.
Or a gpu type chip that directly interprets the main PCB chip. Maybe it all could be done by integrating a raspberry pi zero, or arduino, or something. It's fun to speculate, at least.
Technically, since the control chip for the unit is socketed, it could be taken out for a data-dump, and you could probably emulate the whole thing down to the "guru link"-connection inside a raspberry pi. But unfortunately, I'm not smart enough on the subject to know what that even entails.

Replacing this LCD would be trivial for anyone slightly skilled in arduino, controller is talking SPI. But why? It would still take more time and money than repairing it.

You are completely right, i do need IRL help with this, but I'm really thankful for all the advice I've got so far. But since these types of forums usually frowns upon business requests, while being the only obvious place to find the actual expertise, it's a bit of a cunundrum. But if you're saying "this would cost many moneys", I'm happy to dish it out, because this little gadget would be the crown of my first teenage pc build. Demand is high on this one, so to speak, when thinking in terms of supply and demand. 😀
But I'll do the measurements on the holtek chip, now that i know that's what you meant!
And when i said i would break it, not intentionally, of course. 😀 I just thought the multimeter was actually using some voltage when testing bias, and i didn't want to break the fuse with the wrong setting on the multimeter.

I have several Abit uGuru panels and they do NOT need usb connector to power on, just the Guru connection on an Abit motherboard. Before attempting any repairs I would make sure that all the pins on the motherboard side are straight, not bent or anything, and the wires in the abit uGuru panel cables are not cut and are fully inserted in the connector that plugs into the motherboard. One of the panels I have does exhibit a similar problem to yours although not to the same extent.
PS: Welcome Abit enthusiast! It seems we share a similar passion! I have the panel and also the Guru clock 😀!

nd22 wrote on 2022-12-13, 07:03:

I have several Abit uGuru panels and they do NOT need usb connector to power on, just the Guru connection on an Abit motherboard. Before attempting any repairs I would make sure that all the pins on the motherboard side are straight, not bent or anything, and the wires in the abit uGuru panel cables are not cut and are fully inserted in the connector that plugs into the motherboard. One of the panels I have does exhibit a similar problem to yours although not to the same extent.
PS: Welcome Abit enthusiast! It seems we share a similar passion! I have the panel and also the Guru clock 😀!

Thank you! Pleased to meet you! I actually have a guru clock too, the one with a round top, not the later square one. But the 5,25" panel is just so much cooler. 😁
Also, nice to hear from a person who's experienced the same problem. I'll try some new cables and check the pins connections on both sides, but it didn't look like there was a problem there.

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-11, 16:50:

see that plated hole on the top? theres even a fuse between it and ground […]
Show full quote

see that plated hole on the top? theres even a fuse between it and ground

get that multimeter out and measure
-supply voltage, ground (pin 6) to pin 8
-bias, ground to pin 9

Pin 9 to ground voltage: 3,53v.
Pin 9 to ground bias: 1
Pin 6 to ground voltage: 0,0v
Edit: Pin 8 to ground: ca 3,7v

I was counting the chip's legs from left to right, if you look at the PCB in the direction of the "ABIT GP-02" text not being rotated.

This was all tested during the pc on.

Unfortunately, there was no way for me to do this without using ground from the pc motherboard usb pins, because i don't have 3 hands, so there's probably something wrong with the results.

However, for a few seconds while booting the pc this time, a few characters on the display seemed sharper. Then it went back. Going by that alone i can see this being a problem with supply of power rather than the display itself.

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-13, 09:44:

Pin 9 to ground voltage: 3,53v.
Pin 9 to ground bias: 1

what exactly do you mean by bias? When I wrote
"-supply voltage, ground (pin 6) to pin 8
-bias, ground to pin 9"
I meant "pin purpose", "what to measure" 😀

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-13, 09:44:

Edit: Pin 8 to ground: ca 3,7v

this is impossible, cant have higher voltage than supply while deriving that signal from supply.

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-13, 09:44:

I was counting the chip's legs from left to right, if you look at the PCB in the direction of the "ABIT GP-02" text not being rotated.

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-13, 09:44:

Unfortunately, there was no way for me to do this without using ground from the pc motherboard usb pins, because i don't have 3 hands, so there's probably something wrong with the results.

explain?
I want you to measure Voltage between 6 - 8 and 6 - 9 while the thing is powered and displaying something

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-13, 21:02:

explain?
I want you to measure Voltage between 6 - 8 and 6 - 9 while the thing is powered and displaying something

Yes, i was putting the plus side on the multimeter on the chip, while taping together the gound/negative side of the multimeter to a ground pin on the motherboard. But since you tell me the results are wrong, i will try to do it again just using the chip pins. I just probably need an extra hand to hold the thing down. Or maybe use some tape.

Edit:
Pin 6 - 8: 3,72v
Pin 6 - 9: 3,53v
Those readings are directly from the holtek chip pins, no cheating.

nd22 wrote on 2022-12-13, 07:03:

I have several Abit uGuru panels and they do NOT need usb connector to power on, just the Guru connection on an Abit motherboard. Before attempting any repairs I would make sure that all the pins on the motherboard side are straight, not bent or anything, and the wires in the abit uGuru panel cables are not cut and are fully inserted in the connector that plugs into the motherboard. One of the panels I have does exhibit a similar problem to yours although not to the same extent.
PS: Welcome Abit enthusiast! It seems we share a similar passion! I have the panel and also the Guru clock 😀!

By the way, if you're interested in doing some trades, you can contact me on my twitter via PM.

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-14, 10:49:

Yes, i was putting the plus side on the multimeter on the chip, while taping together the gound/negative side of the multimeter […]
Show full quote

rasz_pl wrote on 2022-12-13, 21:02:

explain?
I want you to measure Voltage between 6 - 8 and 6 - 9 while the thing is powered and displaying something

Yes, i was putting the plus side on the multimeter on the chip, while taping together the gound/negative side of the multimeter to a ground pin on the motherboard. But since you tell me the results are wrong, i will try to do it again just using the chip pins. I just probably need an extra hand to hold the thing down. Or maybe use some tape.

Edit:
Pin 6 - 8: 3,72v
Pin 6 - 9: 3,53v
Those readings are directly from the holtek chip pins, no cheating.

I'm kinda wondering if one of the other fuses (fb16, fb10, fb18,... , fb13, fb1 ) on the main pcb, (not the lcd pcb) might be faulty.
Could you measure the voltage on the usb-A connector and verify if that is still 5v or close to it ?
and then figure out which pin on jp7 should be the power supply to the lcd, which I'm assuming should also be 5v.

ok, I was wrong about the EL thing, was jumping to conclusions based on other photos.

Might be a nothing to do with the problem, but I'm slightly curious about what's connected to what though, looks odd to have the GuruLink cable off to the side of the connector, and having a separate cable going to one pin, and needing just the Ground on the USB header. Do you have a manual for how it's supposed to connect up and could you take a picture of all the cable ends?

(also, think the FB devices are ferrite beads rather than fuses, but they can also go open circuit, so worth checking).

snufkin wrote on 2022-12-14, 17:36:

ok, I was wrong about the EL thing, was jumping to conclusions based on other photos.

Might be a nothing to do with the problem, but I'm slightly curious about what's connected to what though, looks odd to have the GuruLink cable off to the side of the connector, and having a separate cable going to one pin, and needing just the Ground on the USB header. Do you have a manual for how it's supposed to connect up and could you take a picture of all the cable ends?

(also, think the FB devices are ferrite beads rather than fuses, but they can also go open circuit, so worth checking).

I don't think it has a manual of its own, but the way it should be connected can be found in the manuals of the mainboard with which it was delivered... I already looked it up and forgot 😀 the guru link is some data from the mainboard and a connection (3pins?maybe 2) to the cmos reset jumper on the mainboard.

also, yes, Ferrite beads.

weedeewee wrote on 2022-12-14, 18:32:

I don't think it has a manual of its own, but the way it should be connected can be found in the manuals of the mainboard with which it was delivered... I already looked it up and forgot 😀 the guru link is some data from the mainboard and a connection (3pins?maybe 2) to the cmos reset jumper on the mainboard.

also, yes, Ferrite beads.

Ok, so I found http://abit.ws/upload/products/guru-panel.htm which sounds like your description. It shows the 3-pin side of the link connector going to the CMOS clear. The other side shows a 4 wire cable going from the GURU1 header to the combined connector on the GP-02 board. Looks like it's 4 wires arranged as 3+1 with a gap probably to make sure the cable is plugged in the right way around. Without knowing anything more I'd guess that it's an i2c like link, in which case the wires might be Power,ground, clk and data, but no idea about the order. Which would mean that that USB ground connection shouldn't be needed to make the display work.

Looking at a photo of the cables here: https://c1.neweggimages.com/ProductImageOrigi … -999-405-04.jpg (taken from here: https://www.newegg.com/abit-guru-panel/p/N82E16813999405 ) I'm not sure that the connection from motherboard to guru is directly 1-1, with the gap lining up the same. You can see the motherboard header going "White-Gap-Black-Green-Red". You can't see all of the motherboard connector, but you can see that it goes "White-something-something-Gap-something".

Might be worth going back to the motherboard and (with the PSU unplugged from the mains) check the resistance between each of the 4 pins on the GURU1 header and +5 and GND pins on the ATX power connector. That should show if there's power and ground on the header.

DJonekill wrote on 2022-12-14, 10:49:

Edit: Pin 6 - 8: 3,72v Pin 6 - 9: 3,53v Those readings are directly from the holtek chip pins, no cheating. […]
Show full quote

Edit:
Pin 6 - 8: 3,72v
Pin 6 - 9: 3,53v
Those readings are directly from the holtek chip pins, no cheating.

That looks correct and weird at the same time. I could totally see this module being powered from 3.3V rail, but 3.7V? thats one weird voltage. Either it should be 5V and your wiring is bad, or 3.3V and your board runs that rail hot (for example to help with overclocking). Still even at 3.7V it should work. Can you solder? One safe thing you can do is
- verify that resistor R21 is connected between pins 8 and 9
- solder a wire on top of it effectively shorting pins 8 and 9
This will set maximum output voltage for LCD, should make contrast better. Another option is rewiring it for 5V supply.