Well it's almost time for spring cleaning and I've pulled out my backup rio mk2 for something to tinker with in my spare time.

The patient has a small issue with it's display board after a failed knob/button illumination kit install. After a failed install attempt, and after I stripped the kit from the unit, it now has an issue with the dimmer feature. Both in the car, and in "fake" DC mode using hijack, the display will simply not dim. It senses the headlight mode properly, and the dimmer settings adjustment shows the proper dimmer setting depending on which mode the headlights are in, on or off. No matter how much I adjust the dimmer setting, in either extreme, with the headlights on or off, the display simply does not respond to the changes.

Even though unrelated to this issue, I checked the small fuses that have been known to blow on the mainboard near the display connector, but they are both OK.

I checked, then rechecked the connection to the mainboard and display board, and all are A-OK.

I installed and uninstalled the dimmer fix, still with no avail.

Tried a fresh beta 13 install with and without Hijack. Also tried version 1.03. No luck with any of the above.

I have a feeling I must have damaged some component or the pcb board itself while trying to install the button/knob kit.

I seriously botched the first install, and as a result burned the board a little, scraped a little off of some of the printed circuits, and might have melted some of the surface mount components a little (although none appear to be damaged to the point where it would affect operation).

So, lesson learned on the first attempt, and the second install attempt went OK on my full time unit, but now I'm interested in getting the backup unit up to full speed.

Can any one offer any advice to get the dimmer working properly again, short of trying to get another replacement display board?

TIA!

-lothar

In reply to:

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I seriously botched the first install, and as a result burned the board a little, scraped a little off of some of the printed circuits, and might have melted some of the surface mount components a little (although none appear to be damaged to the point where it would affect operation).

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This whole sentence would worry me. Any of the above could stop things working. Probably lucky that there is still a display:-) You might want to chat with support, or some of the more techy whizzes here might be able to tell you what values you should be able to measure for these components.

Start by swapping display boards between your two players. This will confirm that the problems are confined to only the dsplay board.

Next, compare the two boards, looking for tracks that may be missing/broken on the botched board.

...

Ok, update here.

I swapped the boards. It's definately something with the display board itself. The other display board with working dimmer is operational in this unit.

I traced along some of the circuit tracks and noticed a few were scraped off enough to break the connection, and the holes on the pcb that the button led's go through are a little burnt. Other than that, just some excess solder here and there on contact points...

I also started a dialog with support. Hopefully, there will be a light at the end of this tunnel!

thx

woo hoo!

Journeyman status. This must be my lucky day!

(please pardon the obligatory celebration post)