Preset Swop not working (may be a hardware fault)

[Mystic]

Hello, I had a very annoying experience with my avo pearl last night. At one hour before the show the console started to have strange behaviour : the LCD backlight and contrast was fluctuating forcing me to adjust it every second, the preset leds were blinking very low for no reasons. Then ten minutes later the preset swop buttons were non-functionnal, so no patch possible, no programming of any fixture (just dimmers)... and this behaviour lastest for the whole show with some very short lapse of time where the preset swop were functional. The console is a pearl 2000 (no 010) upgraded with the latest 2004 software, i've seen no bus error in the service menu, and tried to reboot the console softly and hardly (well my english is not ok but i think you get the point). I've opened the console and checked every connector (unplugged and replugged), i've checked that the power supply is ok (+5V and +12V clean), so i fell like being stuck. Now my console is patchless and i cannot do it again because of those uneffectives swops.

Do you think this is a hardware fault or can it be a very nasty software bug ? if it is some harware failure do you see any compoment i can check or change myself or do i have to send the console back to avolites for a fix ? (i'm quite concerned by the price of this latest option as we are a non-profit, low budget organisation).

Thanks for your help.

[niclights]

Definitely sounds like hardware - notably the fluctuating contrast.

Speak to Nick Forro. I'm sure he will help you trace/fix fault if it is possible.