[darkwing327]

Hello all,


I fired up my projector this morning to do some work on my HTPC. Everything went fine. I then shut it down. About 20 minutes later the software I was waiting for came so I fired up the system again, but the projector would not come on. I am getting a code on the back of the projector that alternates between 00 and EF. I understand that 00 is the normal state, but I don't have a service manual to see what EF means.


Any assistance as to what this code means and how to fix this problem would be appreciated.


Thanks in advance.


Darren

 

[darkwing327]

bump

 

[Chuck Williams]

Darren,


That's a rare failure code. According to the service manual, EF is "EEPROM Read Error (SYSTEM PWB error)," and I would recommend unplugging the unit, take the cover off, and reseating all of the boards inside the metal cage at the rear of the unit.


Chuck

 

[darkwing327]

Hi Chuck,


Thanks for the response. I removed the covers and reseated all the boards as you mentioned. Tried it twice. No luck still getting the "EF" code.


You mentioned that this was rare. How so? I didn't do anything wierd, I just turned it on. I wasn't tweaking, honest.


What do you suggest for the next test.


Again, thanks for any help.


Darren

 

[darkwing327]

Hey all.


Thanks for looking to see if help could be had. Thanks to Chuck for letting me know what the code meant.


Anyhow, today i was in Vancouver so i stopped by Curt Palme's place and he gave me all the boards out of one of his other projectors to check in mine. I also grabbed the service manual from him. On the was home i was reading and i see the EF code in the book as Chuck said EEPROM read error. I read a bunch more and I just happened to find a very obscure paragraph on EEPROM's elsewhere. The EF is a code that you can reset. Hold down the select button on the projector for 10 seconds it will go to EE and then to 00 once it reprograms the EEPROM.


For any one who has a NEC XG remember this as I put Curt out of his way when I really didn't need to. Now we all know Curt will do anything to help somebody out and this certainly proves it.


Thanks again Curt

Darren

 

[Chuck Williams]

Quote:

Originally posted by darkwing327 I read a bunch more and I just happened to find a very obscure paragraph on EEPROM's elsewhere. The EF is a code that you can reset. Hold down the select button on the projector for 10 seconds it will go to EE and then to 00 once it reprograms the EEPROM.

Wow, Darren, I sure will remember that! Do you recall where in the manual it describes this procedure? And with "reprogramming the EEPROM," did that mean you had to completely set the projector up again or did all of your settings and convergence come back? And, Curt really is a champ, isn't he?


Chuck

 

[Vern Dias]

It's rare, but it can happen. It happened to me once, When you reset the Eeprom, you will lose ALL your settings. This means a complete set up from scratch including, but not limited to:


Phase

Bias

Gain

Kelvin

and every single memory setting you had so painstakingly set up.



The answer (for the next time):


NEC has a utility that can save all settings, to a PC. You can then restore the original settings after doing the reset.


Vern

 

[MikeEby]

How do you save your settings to a PC. I realize via the serial port but what program, or do you use just a terminal emulator?


Thanks

Mike

 

[Vern Dias]

You use PCCWFXG, a program that NEC created specifically for the XG series projector.


Since it is copyrighted by NEC, I am not going to tempt fate by posting it for download.


As to where I got it from:


I could tell you, but then I would have to shoot you.....


Other members may be braver.....


Vern

 

[darkwing327]

Hello Chuck,


Yes, unfortunately, Vern is correct. Everything was gone, however that is a small task considering the fear I was having before.


The paragraph that I found is on Page 9-20 of the service manual.


Thanks again all.


Darren

 

[Doug Baisey]

Darren,

Thats the safe way not to disclose.


I would like to mention that this should only be attempted if all else fails, if for some reason there is a system board problem this could render the projector "brain dead" as in not being able to store anything back into memory. In some cases it wont do anything but sit there until the system board is replaced.


Because there are projectors out there that are still in warranty we are bound not to disclose, if this was caused by other reasons it will mask what that reason is and could cause other problems if not corrected.


You have to remember that "something" happened to corrupt the cpu boot, it would be better to think on what happened just before this failure.


Some reasons I have found for this:


If you are using a controller and your going to quit using it, go into the settings menu and put the projector in stand-alone if you were using a control cable.


Plugging in to the option port instead of the remote1 port or vise versa (external control).


Static discharge to the system board when removing.


Unseated system board.


No earth ground and or voltage applied to the earth ground.


Low or high line voltage (bad neutral at service panel) system diagnostics failure.


Loading the Osc board to the system board.


This is kind of a touchy area, the projector is dead anyway but its worth thinking about, when the projector is in warranty this has to be checked or its just a band-aid for the cause. Some cases just cant be explained. Doug