GE 13GP240A (TX826TB) has lost its mind

[Bill]

Have a GE (Thompson) 13" portable that has gone insane.
It appears to tune properly, but the video is inverted.
It also reports that it is in SLP mode (no it doesn't
even have a tape mechanism).

I assume the little Zilog chip, which appears to be a
Z8 derivative, is the brains of the thing. Did they
program the thing to be capable of SSAVI descrambling
and driving a VCR mech, but simply turn those features
off for this set? If so, can I reset the thing through
a service menu?

I have not yet located any service info for this set.
Anyone lend me a clue?

 

[David]

No service menu available.

The inverted video is an actual video problem, fix that and the system
control issues will probably go away.

Make sure you have the unit plugged into an isolation transformer whenever
working on it live as it uses a very hot and easy to destroy chassis (not as
bad as the ctc185 but none the less very easy to trash beyond cost effective
repair).

David