[teisenbe]

Hi! I just got kathryn's tangara today, and the screen doesn't seem to be working. It only displays all-white, or occasionally a noise pattern. I've tried re-seating the display cable, but it didn't seem to do the trick. Any recommendations for debugging?

[emily]

Complete guess, but is the haptic buzzer attached to the back of the faceplate board?

[teisenbe]

Yeah, unfortunately it is. I tested it with the front and back separated to make sure there's no shorting from contact

[teisenbe]

It's started displaying a noise pattern with a fragment of a distorted UI that changes with scrollwheel use, so my best bet right now is something with the data bus

[emily]

That does seem likely, but that haptic buzzer issue was the only other time I've heard of that happening.

In case it helps narrow down where to look for faults, here are where the SPI lines are on the mainboard (shown from the ESP32/SD card side, in blue):



and default faceplate (shown from the display+touchwheel side, in red):

[teisenbe]

I should have access to an oscilloscope sometime next week, as well as another unit, so hopefully between probing and swapping out the display board and cable I'll be able to get a better sense of what's going on.

Other weird bits about this unit, who knows if it's related: It doesn't seem to ever charge beyond 50% (3816 mV), and typically claims to be in fast charging mode (though once I found the power lua module reporting a 'fault' state)

[jacqueline]

Hi! Very sorry about this issue! We would be most suspicious of one the solder joints connecting the display to the faceplate PCB. It's a very tricky joint to reflow (start by very carefully peeling the screen off of the PCB; try to avoid peeling the white backing off of the display panel, but it's easily restuck if it does happen) but you might be able to pull it off.

Or of course you can always email support@cooltech.zone and we will sort you out with a replacement/repair/return/whatever! Apologies again for the faulty unit!

[hoogh0]

Just to add to the metrics, I'm experiencing the exact same thing. I have zero experience messing with hardware though. 😅

[teisenbe]

Hi! Very sorry about this issue! We would be most suspicious of one the solder joints connecting the display to the faceplate PCB. It's a very tricky joint to reflow (start by very carefully peeling the screen off of the PCB; try to avoid peeling the white backing off of the display panel, but it's easily restuck if it does happen) but you might be able to pull it off.

Or of course you can always email support@cooltech.zone and we will sort you out with a replacement/repair/return/whatever! Apologies again for the faulty unit!

You were dead on, jacqueline. I cleaned up the joints with some alcohol and hit it with some flux and a soldering iron and it reflowed well enough to get it working great.

[jacqueline]

Oh beautiful! So happy you were able to get it going again!!!

[ASquirrel]

My unit just showed up today and my screen is also DoA with all white pixels as well. I am not seeing any glitches or artifacts, just blank white from the moment it powers up until I lock it again. Everything else seems to work, but I am clicking about blind.

I checked and the buzzer is not loose at all.

Is there any guides on what parts to pry up and attempt to fix or should I just email in for a repair? I have some experience with hardware but I am not "owns an oscilloscope" good.

[jacqueline]

Hi! Sorry about this! We don't have a good write-up at the moment, but it'll most likely just be the connector under the display. The display is stuck down, but the adhesive is quite weak. Work slowly and carefully and it will come up just fine. Then give the solder joints a good clean (use IPA), some flux, reflow, then another good clean.

It's also 100% fine if you just want to email us and get a new faceplate! support@cooltech.zone is the address to hit.