HP 3200ps 44" wont boot

[styloid]

I had a healthy z3200ps 44 until I removed the formatter and in order to test a  spare formatter.

The machine had the latest firmware. 

The formatter had a disk labeled TR9, 

I did not boot but just gave a blank screen

I put the origional back in and got the same result - a blank screen not  booting

I put the origional formatter into another z3200 24  on the workbench and it booted fine after a 53 error which seemed to clear itself

My gorgious Z3200ps 44 is now sick and so am I

Is there a way back ? 

Do I need a new main PCA ? 

What have I done ?

Thanks 

[jasonmiamifl]

if nothing work, try the following :

turn off power on the back

insert original formatter board back carefully   ( clean contacts before you insert & make sure all contacts good )

right hand press     UP arrow  &  OK  together, then left hand turn on power.  hold till charractor appears & release

right fingers.   

see does it work....   wait longer & see is there a miracle .

if still blank screen... hardisk might be bad & good luck.

[styloid]

Hi tried your suggestion it didn't work unfortunately don't think it the hard drive as that formatter will work in another machine my next plan is either to take a electronic module of a 24 inch 3200 or i will buy a new electronics module.
The 24 inch module may further mess things up or may not work.

Any advice here ?

Thanks for your help

[jasonmiamifl]

First, if your orginal printer with the original formatter board still blank screen...  if you have another z3200

printer, then take out that original formatter board & insert to the 2nd printer.

If 2nd printer with original formatter has display which means the original formatter board is good. If screen

blank , it means the formatter board is bad, mostly likely hardisk was bad & board hardly go bad, myself

right at this moment have 4 z3100, z3200 formatter boards on handwithout hardisks .

Those formatter boards are not interchangeable as far as I seen, because hardisks recorded the printer serial #,

print mech pca board # & have error 03:10     59:03 ??  etc etc . 

Myself bought directly from HP part store & when I received and printer had blank screen...  tried on my 2nd 

z3200..  same.  called HP Tech support , then hp agreed   DOA.    they gave full scredit.   

Up to this moment, my Z3200 44" still have no hardisk. but since I have 2 Z3200  & 2 Z3100 full wokring & I

don't bother to find or soved its problem.

Some other posts have similar topics & some said problems solved. search more for reference.

Good luck 

[davidzuts]

90% of the time when you have a blank screen it is the main pca that has gone bad.  From what I remember with the Z3200 there are two versions.  The "A" and the "B".  Your models last digit will tell you the version as it will be an A or a B.  It is possible the formatter you placed in that caused the main pca to go bad was the wrong version.  All that said, hp only sells the main pca with the power supply as a combined unit.  Q6718-67029 is version A and Q6719-67009 version B.  If you remove the power supply and then separate the main pca from the power supply the main pca will have a part number on it.  You can probably read it with separating.  If you look on the net for that part number you can find people selling it just as the main pca.  Ebay is a good place to start.  Keep in mind that when you buy parts from HP, they are new never used parts so any information the part needs to obtain from other parts already in the machine it does so without problems.  When you use used parts most times information that needs to be the same does not happen since parts that have items such as serial number and other information already written to them will not accept different information from used parts which can in most cases cause all sorts of issues.  You should never use parts that work with only one version in any machine other then that version.  In other words if you plotter is an A version, never use parts that are only for the B version.  While most parts will work with both versions, there are those electronic (PCA and Formatters) that only work in one version.

[styloid]

HI David,

Thank you for your detailed and iformative advice

I will check to versions but I think they were all revision A

Can you clarify - Can I put a PCA from an   "A 24" on an "A 44" ?  

How dioI ensure it keeps the PS feature ? I guess  this is on the print mech or the display board  ??

I have checked the net and the parts you list do not seem to specifiy the printer size.  

Kind regards 

Pete

[davidzuts]

To be honest I do not know where the postscript code is contained but it is done at the factory since you can not purchase at postscipt upgrade kit.  That would also mean that is one of the items that will write to the mainboard, printmech or other board when one of the boards is replaced so as to provide backup and rewriting when one of the boards is replaced with a new unused board.  The size of the unit does not matter with any of the boards since it is just a hardware issue which is calculated when the printer initializes.

[styloid]

The story continues....

I replaced the suspect main PCA with a suitbale  working man PCA pulled from a workign machine

I took a working formatter and powered up the machine

Display light up - no charactors  then the machine powered off.

I then took the suspect main and put in a 3200 24 and put a working formatter in it .

It powered up. 

So the suspect main is OK, and there is something wrong elsewhere in the machine

Im a little frustrated !

An advice   ?

Kind regards 

[davidzuts]

First off not a good idea to be using used parts since you can ruin good parts by using used parts.  Second as I said in my previous post you could be dealing with A and B versions and they do not work together.  Check the part numbers on the items and do a google search as it will tell you if the item is the A or B version.  Blank display will be formatter, main pca, cable going from pca to display or the display itself.  From what I have been told the printmech will have no effect on the display and it acts as a backup or storage place for printer infromation such as model, serial number, etc.  Also are you swapping just the main board or the combination main board and power supply?  I have seen instances of the power supply itself going bad where the fan stops working and overheats the main pca so maybe just the power supply is bad and hence the powering off.

[styloid]

More infomatin and confusion.....

I tested the Printer  with a interconnect cable pulled from a 24" 3200 and the print mech board, display and connected all this to the main PCB with a formatter  installed. 

It booted got to 100& and stated to initialise

IT then gave a 1.10.10 error.

Now for the confusing bit - I  installed the parts to the  interconnect installed in the machine and  power on the machine.

Display lights up - not text and then powers off. 

Its consistant

I know i have to sort out the NVR issue as the print mech board is corrupted.

But why does it boot and error when on the 24" inteconnect and does not boot at all when I use the installed interconect board  it jist  power off after 30 or so seconds....

So think the cable must be damamaged and this has caused the NVR to screw up. 

Any advice ???

Thanks for reading this story of woe, Please help me find a happy ending !

Peter