No that's not a video card, That's the prisim card. The video comes off the mobo through a ribbon cable.

The Parallel port drives the pin2000 driver board.

Parallel port drives the pin2000 driver board.

no, that's the prism board that you're pointing to. mine is plugged into this one:

P2K - cga cable (resized).jpg

ps
you can find a copy of the operations manual here:
http://arcarc.xmission.com/Pinball/PDF%20Pinball%20Manuals%20and%20Schematics/Revenge%20from%20Mars%20Operations%20Manual.pdf

unfortunately, it's not very helpful for the computer portion (only page 2-32 calls out the computer parts

this may help as well. taken from:
http://www.pinballsupernova.com/Williams%20Repair%20Guide/Pinball%202000%20Repair%20.pdf

More than one Cyrix Media GX Motherboard was used, so you need to find a manual with a layout that matches
your game.
Here are links to Cyrix 586-GXM-AV (http://www.blackknightpinball.com/rfm/Cyrix-Motherboard-gxmav.pdf)
and the InformTech 586-GXM+ (http://www.blackknightpinball.com/rfm/Motherboard-it-596-gxm.pdf)

the links are still live (however, there is a typo for the 586-GXM-AV one, it's actually:
http://www.blackknightpinball.com/rfm/Cyrix-Motherboard-gxm-av.pdf
http://www.blackknightpinball.com/rfm/Motherboard-it-596-gxm.pdf

Parallel port connects to the driver board in the bottom of the cabinet.

I've come across motherboards before that have switch errors.

I found those two manuals, they're linked from the Pinwiki (same document the PinballSupernova document is taken from.)
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pinball_2000_Repair

Neither layout matches the OP's motherboard. Both manuals indicate the output is a VGA signal, not a CGA. So either the ribbon cable from the motherboard goes to a card that converts the video output to CGA or the documentation is wrong.

I wonder if his friend using the LCD has Borygard 's adapter in his SWE1? http://lockwhenlit.com/CGA.htm

Were you using your LCD monitor to test your friend's computer? Something doesn't add up if your computer is connected exactly the same way to the same monitor and says no signal.

Not sure why your friend's P2K computer will drive an LCD monitor without an adapter, unless he has added a separate video card of some kind or is using a motherboard that is not one of the commonly found "from the Bally factory" motherboards. I can assure you that is NOT normal, it usually takes an adapter to be used with the stock P2K motherboard in order to drive an LCD monitor. What you are experiencing with your P2K computer failing to sync when connected directly to a LCD monitor is normal. If you want to test your P2K computer case outside of the machine, then you either need an old monitor (CGA, or perhaps an old EGA monitor would also sync up) as I stated earlier or you need a CGA to VGA adapter to be connected between the monitor port on the back of the computer case and the LCD monitor cable. I suppose you could try using an add in video card inserted in a free slot in the computer case and connect the LCD monitor to that, if you could get the BIOS to correctly recognize and use it (I've never tried that) and you remove the PRISM card. I have tested my P2K computer outside of the machine, and it wouldn't drive a LCD monitor directly but would sync to an old CGA monitor.

So, get yourself access to one of the converters or to an old monitor and then you can test your computer to see if you can get it to boot outside of the pinball machine.

He must have a CGA Lcd then. What model is the Lcd?

The best way to troubleshoot is change one thing, then retest. For example boot your computer connected to your friend's LCD. When you see activity on his LCD disconnect it (preferably at the monitor end) and connect your LCD. If you get no signal, your LCD is the problem.

Do both LCD monitors use a cable that can be disconnected at both ends or is it permanently attached at the back of the monitor?

Looks to be a tri sync lcd monitor would need the model # to verify.

Sounds like the mobo then. But FWIW if it is a true pinball 2000 setup this will only generate a CGA signal.

Where do you get this information? The two motherboard manuals in this thread both say the output is VGA.

I have owned 5 pinball 2000 machines and converted 3 from cga to vga of the 5 and pinboxed 2 (this is VGA). I can look it up for you and post.

Have you ever owned or worked on a pinball 2000?

Go to monitor problems and the last 2 sentences may clear this up. http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Pinball_2000_Repair#Monitor_problems

It could be anything on the mobo going bad.
But you really need to test each one of your components long enough in a good environment to ensure they don't have the "warm" reset.
Unfortunatly; if you have id-ed the mobo as bad... you maybe sol.
Borygard may be able to fix it... but mobos generally are hard to work on. This one maybe old enough that he can do some fixes... but a modern one is a toss and replace.

I did see that in the Pinwiki. I also see the two motherboards linked to both say in the manual they put out VGA.
http://www.blackknightpinball.com/rfm/Cyrix-Motherboard-gxm-av.pdf (see pages 2 & 3)
http://www.blackknightpinball.com/rfm/Motherboard-it-596-gxm.pdf (see page 2)

Neither of those appear to be the OP's motherboard. If you have documentation that says the Pin2k motherboards only produce a CGA signal I would like to see it.

OP, has your problem progressed to the point that you never get video now? The video you posted showed the machine partially working but from your subsequent posts now you get no signal every time?

pin2k586GXm (resized).jpg

pin2kGXMAV (resized).jpg

The only thing I can think of given your situation (and without knowing the specs on your friend's VGA monitor) is this possibility:

> Your friend may have a LCD monitor that can sync to the signal his motherboard is sending out. If so that's great as most won't.
> Your motherboard may have lost all of it's BIOS settings when you removed the battery and now be on default settings. Perhaps without the PRISM card installed the video signal being output from your motherboard is different than what your friend's motherboard is outputting.

I'd recommend setting your BIOS settings to be equivalent (perhaps not identical if your motherboard models aren't quite identical) to the settings on your friend's motherboard, especially anything related to the video. Of course the barrier to doing that is you need to be able to boot your computer with a monitor that will sync to it!

Ok, here is something else I've never tried. Put your computer case back into your RFM and attach all cables. The PRISM card should be installed, because you indicate that is the only way you get any signal on your monitor, and your RFM monitor cable should be connected to the computer. Also plug in a keyboard to the back of the computer case. What you want to do is to try to enter the BIOS menu during computer boot by repeatedly pressing the appropriate "BIOS boot menu" key on the keyboard during the initial PC boot sequence, just as you would do when entering the BIOS setup menu on any other computer. Might take you a few tries to determine if it is the DEL key, the INS key, or one of the F keys (F1, F2 and F12 the most likely suspects for the F keys). I'm not sure if you can actually get to the BIOS menu in this way as perhaps the PRISM ROMS begin to get loaded too quickly, but it would be an easy thing to try. If you can get to the BIOS boot menu this way, then enter the menu and change the settings to be equivalent to your friend's BIOS settings. Yes, it will be a bit of a challenge to read your monitor display in the BIOS setting menu because it will be "mirrored" by your P2K glass - if you can't decipher it that way then bend down and look up at the monitor instead.

Let us know if you can boot to BIOS this way.

ESC & Spacebar are other keys used to enter the BIOS. Delete is the most common.

I notice that we never see the Power On Self Test (POST) screen. I suspect that's because it's displayed in VGA mode that the monitor can't display. When the POST completes and hands off control to the operating system on the PRISM card then the monitor shows the output from the PRISM as intended. That would also explain why the motherboard has a VGA connector but you need a converter to use a regular LCD monitor.

OP, you could test this theory by connecting a regular computer monitor to your RFM motherboard without the PRISM card in it. Also connect a keyboard. If my theory is correct you should see activity within a few seconds of turning the computer on. Somewhere on that screen will be instructions for entering the BIOS, likely at a line across the bottom on the screen that says 'press DEL to enter settings' or something like it.

RFMmonitorCable (resized).jpg

Using your friend's computer do you see the POST and the instructions for entering the BIOS, you just can't follow them without a keyboard connected? Or do you see only the monitor come on as if waiting for the PRISM to start sending video?

Has anyone ever seen the POST or entered the BIOS on their pin2k computer? If not, can anyone connect a regular monitor and tell me if it displays the POST while booting, then goes blank when the PRISM card takes over?

Yes, Remove prism card and it will show a post and enter setup.

if you only have the issue after the motherboard has warmed up, then most likely you've got an issue with a cold solder joint or bad components on the motherboard

my guess is that as the motherboard warms up, it is either flexing and you are losing connection with one or more components or one or more components are failing when they warm up

if money's no issue, there's a board on ebay:
ebay.com link: MOTHERBOARD PINBALL 2000 REVENGE FROM MARS STAR WARS EPISODE 1

otherwise, I would suggest reaching out to rob anthony and see if he's still offering to fix P2K motherboards

ps
rob's handle here on pinside is "borygard"

Nice job taking the videos! You're seeing the computer perform a Power On Self Test, then hand off control to the boot device. Since the boot device (the PRISM card) is removed it doesn't find one and stops.
At the bottom of the POST screen during boot it says "Press DEL to enter setup". That's how you get into your BIOS. I would do that using your friend's computer and take a picture of every setting. Then go into the BIOS on your computer and compare the settings just to make sure they are the same. Markmon mentioned this back in post 17. It's worth trying.

When your computer does not boot, we still don't know why. When it does nothing it could be bad memory, processor, or other motherboard problem. At least if it starts booting and freezes you can rule out the video.

I would blow all slots with dry air to remove any dust. I would try 1 stick of known good memory in one slot, then try the same stick in the other slot.

How much memory did you buy? Your test is only showing 8192k (and your friend's), which is 8mb. Back in post 12 it was mentioned they were using a 128mb stick. Your BIOS will show how much is installed.

P.S. In this photo you posted there are two sticks of memory. One of them isn't installed all the way. You have to push down until those arms on each end click into place. Or is that an empty slot? I can't quite tell.

RFMmemory (resized).jpg

I wonder if the video header or ribbon cable is bad on your computer? Have you been swapping those too?

The adapter and cable is what I was asking about. Don't remove the IDE connector from the motherboard.

I think you've checked everything you can. The only hope left is Borygard working on them or a miracle BIOS settings fix.

When you get it to boot to the BIOS screen you might as well press DEL and enter setup and input settings. You'll need a keyboard for that though. I doubt it will fix the other problems you are experiencing, but couldn't hurt.

I agree, get your motherboard professionally serviced so you can move on and play your game.