Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

Hi Guys,

My 225BW also started having ON/OFF power issues over the course of a month or so. Every time you got it to power ON, it would stay on, should I didn't think much about it.

One day I turned it on and the picture was all RED!



I took the damn thing apart and replaced all the electrolic caps, which were bulging quite alot. Here's a pic of the old ones:



Now I've put it all back together, turned it on, and it's still all RED The menu button seems to do nothing too. It points to the image processing chip/board, which probably means a deadend. Pressing the "Auto" button, I can see it can render BLUE, so it's not the LCD itself.

Anyone come across this problem before? Anything worth looking at on the dvi/vga board?

[PlainBill]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

Hi Guys,

My 225BW also started having ON/OFF power issues over the course of a month or so. Every time you got it to power ON, it would stay on, should I didn't think much about it.

One day I turned it on and the picture was all RED!

I took the damn thing apart and replaced all the electrolic caps, which were bulging quite alot. Here's a pic of the old ones:

Now I've put it all back together, turned it on, and it's still all RED The menu button seems to do nothing too. It points to the image processing chip/board, which probably means a deadend. Pressing the "Auto" button, I can see it can render BLUE, so it's not the LCD itself.

Anyone come across this problem before? Anything worth looking at on the dvi/vga board?

Hmmm, bad caps = excessive ripple. This causes the regulators on the logic card to work harder, caps can overheat, possibly resulting in noise on the 3.3, 2.5, and 1.8 volt lines leading to processing errors. It sort of sounds like the problems with some RCA TVs where bad grounds led to corrupted eeproms. Or the other problem we have been seeing where one of the regulators on the logic card dies and fries the video processor.

PlainBill

[Dgtech]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

The cap replacement sounds like it resolved your on/off problem. However, I hope we are not overlooking the obvious. I'm sure at this point you have tried a different monitor with this computer, yes , no? I only say this because I didnt see it stated. I hope you have a spare monitor or a spare video card to test this theory.

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

Hmmm, bad caps = excessive ripple. This causes the regulators on the logic card to work harder, caps can overheat, possibly resulting in noise on the 3.3, 2.5, and 1.8 volt lines leading to processing errors. It sort of sounds like the problems with some RCA TVs where bad grounds led to corrupted eeproms. Or the other problem we have been seeing where one of the regulators on the logic card dies and fries the video processor.

PlainBill

It does seem like the firmware is corrupted. Sometimes I can get a corrupt image of the menu to popup, with no text in it and half off the screen. The monitor usually "locks up" if you try using the menus.

There doesn't seem to be an obvious Flash chip or eeprom on the board. A shame really, it was made in 2006! I guess I'll have to bin it.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

I suggest posting it on craigslist or something like that. Maybe someone else can use the parts? Of course, it is your monitor and you are free do what you want!

A shame really, it was made in 2006! I guess I'll have to bin it.

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

It does seem like the firmware is corrupted. Sometimes I can get a corrupt image of the menu to popup, with no text in it and half off the screen. The monitor usually "locks up" if you try using the menus.

There doesn't seem to be an obvious Flash chip or eeprom on the board. A shame really, it was made in 2006! I guess I'll have to bin it.

One day later and my monitor is back to life! Didn't do a thing after changing the caps, except play with various buttons and trying get to the service menu, factory defaults etc (never archived that, or couldn't see which menu options I was hitting, as the OSD wasn't working).
This evening I turned it ON and it's perfect! Go figure? I suspect some settings data (in the eeprom?) got corrupted, out of valid ranges, and somehow I've got back to factory defaults, which it's happy with.

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

FYI this is what the hidden service menu now displays:

[Dgtech]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

What do you have to press to get into that menu??

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

What do you have to press to get into that menu??

You can google for the Service manual, here are the hidden key combos:

3-5 Hidden Key list
No
1. Hidden Service Function -. After setting brightness and contrast '0' push
the "Enter" button more than 5 seconds.
-. Service Function appear.
2. Factory Reset -. While Menu is opened(any menu), press "enter" key
over 5 seconds.
-. Screen is flashing, then all menus return to the
factory default.
3. Auto calibration To Analog video, In 16gray or any pattern using black and
white and any mode.(16gray and XGA mode recommend)
1. Push the OSD Menu button to open the OSD.
2. Select language English.
3. Push enter button during 5 seconds.
4. Screen is flashed and auto calibration is completed.
4. OSD lock -. Press the menu key over 5 seconds, then OSD is locked .
-. To unlocked the OSD, press the memu key over
5 seconds.

[kennyken]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

[QUOTE=ppmz]Hi Guys,

My 225BW also started having ON/OFF power issues over the course of a month or so. Every time you got it to power ON, it would stay on, should I didn't think much about it.

One day I turned it on and the picture was all RED!



That is exactly how my SyncMaster 205bw screen looked when it first played up. It went red just like in the photo then i left it off and tried it the next day and the screen was all black basically (could just make out the screen was on though moving the mouse cursor etc)

I purchased another 205bw screen and after swapping the logic boards my original screen works perfect again but i have never resolved the problem with the original logic board. The osd menu is a total mess lol. Glad to see your screen is sorted though.

My bro has got the 225bw so let's hope i don't have more monitor madness going on lol.

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

I purchased another 205bw screen and after swapping the logic boards my original screen works perfect again but i have never resolved the problem with the original logic board. The osd menu is a total mess lol. Glad to see your screen is sorted though.

My bro has got the 225bw so let's hope i don't have more monitor madness going on lol.

The fix for me was:
1. Press "down arrow" key.
2. Hold down the "enter" key for 10 seconds.
3. Turn off and back on. The redness disappears.

[kennyken]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

I been trying so many button combos but no luck at all. I still get the blank and unreadable osd's, corrupt menus etc... the best i get is i turn the screen on and press the "down" key once and i have a 1 in 8 approx chance of the screen displaying but when it does it is always in these crazy colours (see photos) . . .maybe i could sell the monitor to the Predator he will like the colours

I did a video to show aswell:

Video Here

As i cannt replace the logic board because samsung will not help me and there is not a single one on the internet I been looking into replacing the eeprom. That is the only helping word i have had, Trouble is replacing this is kind of thing looks outta the question as even if i got the right IC for soldering in place it would be blank. I think i still have to program the IC using a MTI-2031 DDC Manager as shown in the samsung service manuals.

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

I been trying so many button combos but no luck at all. I still get the blank and unreadable osd's, corrupt menus etc... the best i get is i turn the screen on and press the "down" key once and i have a 1 in 8 approx chance of the screen displaying but when it does it is always in these crazy colours (see photos) . . .maybe i could sell the monitor to the Predator he will like the colours

I did a video to show aswell:

Video Here

As i cannt replace the logic board because samsung will not help me and there is not a single one on the internet I been looking into replacing the eeprom. That is the only helping word i have had, Trouble is replacing this is kind of thing looks outta the question as even if i got the right IC for soldering in place it would be blank. I think i still have to program the IC using a MTI-2031 DDC Manager as shown in the samsung service manuals.

That sucks. Mine is now doing something similar, after working for 2 days! Have you tried holding the Enter key for 5+ seconds, while inside any menu? It's meant to reset to factory defaults. I beleive the key is to do this while it's not in the "locked up" state (OFF still works).

Have you tried changing to/from vga and dvi?

Which of the three eeproms is it meant to be?

[kennyken]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

Sorry to hear that. My menus are ruined, The trouble is if i enter any area of my menu and then try and do one of the reset's the osd locks up so it will not reset.

Pressing "menu" = Get's the corrupt menu in the bottom left of the screen
Pressing "down" = doing this sometimes makes the screen come alive but in those weird saturated colours shown above.
Pressing "up" whole screen goes blue and flickers, this is the only part of the osd that works as from pressing the "up" button i can actually adjust the brightness.
Pressing "enter" does the source change but the osd box comes up blank, functions though.
Pressing "auto" brings up a blank osd in the middle of the screen.

As soon as i do any of the button pressing though the osd locks up anyway as you can see on the video i cannot switch the screen on or off at the front button 90% of the time.

DVI or VGA mode it makes no difference sadly, i was hoping it would spring to life in vga mode meaning it would be perhaps the digital EEPROM but the screen is the same on both. My guess is it could be the "memory EEPROM" or perhaps the "NVRAM" but these are impossible to replace as far as i am aware as i cannot find anything on them online.

[ppmz]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

DVI or VGA mode it makes no difference sadly, i was hoping it would spring to life in vga mode meaning it would be perhaps the digital EEPROM but the screen is the same on both. My guess is it could be the "memory EEPROM" or perhaps the "NVRAM" but these are impossible to replace as far as i am aware as i cannot find anything on them online.

I've been doing some more experimenting today, and actually got my monitor to fire up! Who knows if it'll last. This is what I did to make it work:

Find the NVRAM eeprom.
Desolder and lift up pin 8 (VCC).

Of course I can't save my brightness/contrast anymore, but at least I've got a clean usable picture!

[loboblast]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

Great site. After reading this thread and opening up my monitor it looks like the capacitors could be the problem. They are all buldging out. I'm going to try to look for some Youtube videos on how to soder. I've never done that before. lol

[lucky13]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

I've been doing some more experimenting today, and actually got my monitor to fire up! Who knows if it'll last. This is what I did to make it work:

Find the NVRAM eeprom.
Desolder and lift up pin 8 (VCC).

Of course I can't save my brightness/contrast anymore, but at least I've got a clean usable picture!

I wonder if you replace that NVRAM with a new/blank one, would it work OK?

What's the # on the NVRAM?

[Freezer]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

This is my first post here on badcaps. It seems a lot of people say they are going to try this fix and then never report back. So I wanted to report back on my two monitors.

Several weeks ago off criagslist I got 2 Samsung monitors for free - both broken. One is a 225bw and the other a 204b. Internally they are very similar, the have the same power/inverter board (rev 0.1 for the 204b and rev 0.2 for the 225bw).

225BW:
When I opened up the 225bw it clearly had 4 bad caps at C110, C112, C304, and C305. I replaced those 4 caps plus C111. After the cap replacement the monitor powers on, but the backlight does not stay on. The lamps fire up for a split second before they shutdown. The video processing works fine, if I shine a flashlight into the screen I can see the image.

The 225 inverter board will successfully power the 204's lamps, so I don't think the problem is the 225's inverter board. Conversely the 204's inverter board will not power the 225's lamps. So I suspect the CCFL bulbs in the 225 are the problem.

204B:
The 204b had no obvious cap problems. I do not have a cap tester, and since I was already ordering caps for the 225 I went ahead and replaced the same 5 caps on the 204b as well. The 204b powers on and the lamps remain on. The problem with the 204 is the image on screen. The top 1/3 of the screen is correct. However, the bottom 2/3s of the screen is totally scrambled and completely useless. It doesn't matter VGA or DVI - even with no computer connected the "no signal" message screen is correct on top and scrambled on the bottom. I suspect the problem is the video board, which a replacement board from Samsung is something like $70 and not worth it.

So that's my report. I tried 2 different monitors and unfortunately neither one was successfully repaired. What's worse is I can't even combine parts from the two to make a single working monitor. The monitors are different sizes and different aspect ratios, about the only thing they share in common is the power/inverter board.

If anyone has suggestions for things to try I'm definitely interested.

[retiredcaps]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

It seems a lot of people say they are going to try this fix and then never report back.

Yes, I notice a lot of that too.

225BW:
So I suspect the CCFL bulbs in the 225 are the problem.

You can remove the CCFLs from the LCD and see if there are bad solder joints or if the CCFLs are damaged or burnt out at the end. See this thread for some good pics

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...t=ccfl+cracked

204B:
I suspect the problem is the video board, which a replacement board from Samsung is something like $70 and not worth it.

I agree, it is definitely not worth $70 to get a replacement board.

Start a new thread for the 204B and post clear focused pictures of all boards (top and bottom) with a top down view. A pic of the actual problem would be helpful. See FAQ on posting pictures.

[Freezer]

Re: Samsung Syncmaster 225BW

retiredcaps - I started a new thread for the 204b.

As for the 225bw, I started to disassemble the screen to get the CCFLs out. Unfortunately the screen does not come apart easily. For now I've put this project on hold. Later on when I have more time I'll make an effort to open the screen and check out the bulbs.

In the meantime, attached are pictures of the bad caps. As I said I've already replaced the 4 bad caps (plus the one cap between the two bad ones). So I'm posting these pictures... well, because who doesn't enjoy pics of bad caps?