Qss 3312-Arcnet Headache

[mike11918]

Ok, I have had a huge headache for about three weeks now. I'm hoping (praying) that the wise here can shed some light. I have had a Noritsu Tech here for a week already and he can't solve the problem. The per hour rate has become too much and I have asked Noritsu to stop trying. 

My problem...QSS 3312 was working fine about three weeks ago. I was printing and suddenly computer froze. Mouse didn't work. Nothing. I forced shutdown and restarted a few minutes later. I received blue screen of death of inaccessible boot device. I performed recovery and reinstalled system software. I receive ARCNET errors. I have ran the self check in C:\NoritsuKoki\Self-check and nothing is communicating except the LVDS/ARCNET, I have checked the voltage of the Digital ICE control PCB. It shows 5.02, which is fine.I called in Noritsu Tech because I did not want to play with the optical cables. He removed all optical cables, cleaned all connections and I still get this error. He even changed the Digital ICE control PCB, the Image Control PCB, the Image Process PCB, the printer processor PCB, the LVDS/ARCNET, and the board that is connected the the Digital ICE Control PCB ( I forget the name of it). Nothing has changed. There will be times that some of the boards do communicate when running self check and at other times they don't show. We have been able to get as far as to do software upgrade on all boards except laser. Or sometimes we get all except Image control PCB. It is always a different one not communicating, never are all communicating. Tech has tried swapping out the LVDS cables to no success. He finally believes that the optical cables themselves are bad because of all the troubleshooting that he has done. All pertinent boards have been changed and optical cable connections cleaned so I assume he is right? Has anyone else got ideas?

[kodak_service]

See here https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bw3VhtgT5I5denJQeHlhUGdzSkk/edit?usp=sharing

[mike11918]

Thank you. But like I said, the tech has been changing/cleaning the optical cabled and connectors.

[yustas]

Did you try to check the ARCNET status with the ARCNET testing software?

[yustas]

You can take it here from my web site:
http://www.minilablaser.com/manuals.htm

 

Please report the rsult of the test afterwards...

[kodak_service]

Thank you. But like I said, the tech has been changing/cleaning the optical cabled and connectors.

If you want to make something well - you must make it itself (Russian saying) 

[Minilab service]

He used ARCNET testing software and wrote results above. Very low possibility that ARCNET cable is bad, if it is not broken ( divided into the few pieces ) . Can use some other ARCNET cable, if have suspected. For example temporarily can switch with cable connected to some other board. One is clear - ARCNET should have not errors, when ARCNET test software running.

[mike11918]

Romas is correct. All are bad. Sometimes there are intermittent connections but never are all always good.

[Magenta]

1st of all arcnet is tricky but not impossible to get a full pass using the arcnet tool.

Look at arcnet like a network. Each fiber optic sends a signal like "hello can you hear me" and the other sends a "yes I can" signal back. Each bank of black and white connectors is either lit or dark. The problem is not just dust inside the cable receptacle it will often have slithers of black plastic from the optics outer cover that are stripped off when people pull the optic out without pushing the white or black ring down. often you need to push the optic in a bit before pulling it out.

The engineer should have used a syringe with a short length of heat shrink tubing that will fit into the receptacle to suck any debris out. I often have to remove the PCB and tap the board onto a desk top to knock out larger lumps or dirt, plastic bits.

I tend to disconnect everything and only connect 1 pair at a time. Of course when you run the tool it will report a fail on any devices not connected but we know they will report a fail. Start by plugging in the longest  lead from the printer direct to the PC. The problem ones I find are normally the PCB under the dryer. It gets very dusty and will often tell you about phantom paper jams, prints went down the processor but were not seen coming out of the dryer. If you can get any of these PCBs pinging back even if say the processor is not that proves the the LVDS PCB in the PC can send and receive. I always leave any neg scanner till last The s2,3,4 can often kill the whole arcnet system. The cable going up to the top of the scanner often gets damaged as the scanner should stand clear of the table or top of your machine. People drag the scanner forward, bending and snapping the fibre optic inside the grey plastic cover so it cannot be seen.

You need to go step by step. Prove each PCB one at a time, then each pair of sockets one at a time. A length of good fibre optic is a great help. if it talks with a good cable but not the one fitted in the machine its likely the cable is damaged. Look for red light shining through the grey cover (hard to see with the black covered ones.

PS check device manager and make sure windows has loaded the correct drivers for the LVDS PCI cards they should not have any warning marks for unknown devices. If so delete the driver and update driver it should find a Noritsu Koki driver

If you have golden hands this will work again, good luck

[mike11918]

Thank you for your reply. That is what I am doing. I am connecting one pair at a time. Right now, the ARCNET connected to the printer pcb from digital ice control pcb is showing errors. The dark cable is also not emitting as bright a light as the other darks. Leads me to believe that cable is faulty. I've switched cables and the board emits light fine through another cable. I've ordered another pair of cables and will be receiving them today.

[mike11918]

Just wanted to give an update. Fixed machine. Fiber optic cable from digital ice control pcb to printer control pcb was bad. Replaced and everything is working fine. Thank you for the help and especially thanks to this wonderful forum. I'd have been lost so many times without this site. Most of all, thank you Romas

[Big Dave]

Mike, where did you obtain the cable, and approximately how much ??

[mike11918]

I got it directly from Noritsu. The cost depends on the length that you need. Cost  was somewhere around $30 for a set. Couldn't just buy the one that I needed. They come in a pair.

[Minilab service]

From Noritsu ARCNET cable very expensive. I always buying from shops, which trade electronic elements. There about 20 times cheaper than buy from Noritsu.