[3dem] No video problem, Vitrobot Mark III

Tue Feb 17 05:38:49 PST 2015

Dear all,

We also have a Vitrobot - related problem, described below. Any ideas,
suggestions and advice will be greatly appreciated - and are really needed!

Our Vitrobot is Mark III - it has it's own internal PC, with external
monitor, keyboard and mouse.

In one sentence: there is no video output on the monitor when the
Vitrobot is switched on.

And in more detail, this is how the problem developed and what was checked:

1) Initial video problem - the video resolution would change at Vitrobot
start-up, so that the (VR) software window would not fit on the screen.
The work-around was to de-select a non-existent second monitor, which
would allow the resolution to change back to normal. Once the video was
back to normal, the Vitrobot would work OK.

After restart, the same video problem would appear again, with a second
monitor "detected", but actually not there.

This was going on for a week or two.

2) Because of a suspected driver problem, I tried to disable and
re-enable the drivers, but actually that made things worse, and Windows
98 would refuse to start in normal mode, only in Safe Mode.

3) Checked settings in the BIOS and found display settings with options:

1. LCD
2. CRT
3. Both LCD and CRT

(or something like that, the above list is from what I remember -
unfortunately I didn't take notes *before* this setting was changed!)

Option 3. was found to be the pre-selected choice - and seemed as a
possible reason of why the Vitrobot would expect two monitors. Changed
that to option 1.  - and since then there is no any video output on the
computer screen!

When pressing F2 at start-up with the hope to enter BIOS "blindly", we
can hear bleeps sometimes, but that is all. The Vitrobot beeps as normal
when the power is switched on, and the Vitrobot chamber fan starts
running, but there is no video output, no sign of hard disk or any other
activity.

4) Tried to find BIOS battery to re-set BIOS, but unsuccessfully.

5) Tried resetting three jumpers visible on the PC board. Resetting
Jumper 3 (JP3) produced flickering of the monitor at start-up and
bleeping when trying to access BIOS setup, but that was all we could get.

The Vitrobot monitor works fine on another computer; another monitor
connected to the Vitrobot doesn't have any video either (tried both CRT
and LCD monitors).

We cannot completely rule out the possibility that changing the BIOS
video settings somehow destroyed the PC video output; but after
discussions with our IT support, we now believe that there is probably
an underlying genuine problem with the integrated PC.

At stages 1. and 2.  I was thinking there might be a problem with a
corrupted video driver file.

However, at stage 3. it looked like somebody (or some hardware problem?)
changed the default settings in BIOS, causing the initial video problem.

4) and 5) were suggested by our computer guys.

Assuming the initial problem was not a result of a loose connection,
with things later made worse by resetting of the drivers and changing of
the BIOS video settings, there must be an underlying hardware problem
that is causing things to not work properly.

Our humidifier wasn't working for a long time, and we would use the
Vitrobot by manually increasing humidity with a hot water beaker in the
chamber. It doesn't seem likely that would have contributed to the
current problem, but we can't rule out anything at the moment.

When the Vitrobot is switched on, the PC LEDs light up (6 LEDs visible
on the PC boards, and 4 more up on the pneumatics/mechanics control
boards when the back cover is removed - however there might be more LEDs
hidden behind other elements and cables). So there is some power going
to the Vitrobot electronics, but of course it is not clear if this is
within specification - could it be that the power supply is not
producing the required voltage?

Or if, indeed, it is a wrong BIOS setting, is there a way to re-set it?

Is there anything else we could do to narrow down the list of possible
problems before eventual engineer visit?

Is it possible to connect an external PC to control the Vitrobot, if
indeed the internal computer is dead?

Thank you so much!

Kind regards,
Svet

-- 

Svetomir B Tzokov
Electron Microscopy Facility Manager
Krebs Institute for Biomolecular Research
Dept. Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
The University of Sheffield
Firth Court, Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TN
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)114 222 4674
Fax: +44 (0)114 222 4243
Email: s.b.tzokov at sheffield.ac.uk

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