SSL Total Recall display looks "grainy"

[essentialsound]

Hello all,
We starting having this display on our total recall recently.  All other screens such as the mix and VCA "green only" functions of the monitor look crisp.  But when we load total recall, the display looks very grainy and difficult to read.  We suspect the video or TR card, but just wondering if anyone else has ever seen a TR display get funky like the one of the attached pic.


Thanks!

[michaeldtech]

Nope.  Never seen that.  Does the "A DAY AT THE BEACH" or the other TR boot graphics look the same with that cross-hatch? 

I would say that it has something to do with video memory or data I/O, maybe for RED? on the TR card.  It looks like a math problem.  You can start with a chip and connector re-seating, whatever you can, on that card.  If the card has a haze of dust on it it is an indicator to put "clean the SSL computer" on your downtime to-do list. 

The monochrome MIX display is OK because that is generated off the TR card and routed through to the monitor on GREEN which does not have a missing bit or whatnot like RED or BLUE do.
Mike

[essentialsound]

Thanks for the reply Mike!  Yes, the "Day At The Beach" display also has the hatch look.  Will try to reseat the card from the computer.  Are you also saying there are components on the card itself that could be reseated as well?  Sorry for the ignorance, but I'm not much of a tech, but can pass this info along to our tech here.

Many thanks!

[sintech]

The TR stack seems also to use an RM VDU40 for Video, the same card is used as a piggy back on the on the Keyboard and VDU card.

I could dig you out a spare VDU40 card from the boxes!

[jwhmca]

Very rough idea from my "Arcade game" tech days... the Video ram chips in those suckers can do very similar things.... reseat chips?

[essentialsound]

Just to follow up, the problem ended up being a RAM chip(TMS 4116 61K Dynamic RAM) on the TR display board.  Hope this will help others. Many thanks to Sintech for his help and all others who posted!