Tech Help: Alien Poker
Steve A
machine is stuck in diagnostic mode. Number of credits shows 04, balls
in play displays 00, and first player score shows 1501_2_ (with two
missing numbers). According to the manual , it needs to be in "game
over mode" to be able to reset to the factory settings. I have tried
turning the machine off and on, with and without the door closed
according to the manual. Still no "game over mode". Any and all
responses are appreciated. Steve
MarchAFB
Make sure you have a ball in the machine and the switch for the ball
is registering and your batteries are good. If the batteries were bad
you may have to set it for free play again.
Corey
Examiner
To quote from pinrepair.com :
Dead batteries (or worse, dead corroded batteries) will cause problems
getting a system4 to system7 game to power-up properly. On these
games, if the batteries are dead, the game can still boot, but will
come up in "audit" mode (system3 games do not have this boot-up audit
mode). To get to attract mode, turn the game off and on again quickly.
If done fast enough, the game should come up in attract mode. Note on
System6 and System7 games, the coin door *must* be open for this to
work (memory protection switch open).
If the game still doesn't come up in attract mode, even with the "turn
it off and on quickly" trick, the CMOS 5101 RAM chip at IC19 is
probably bad.
be aware that even if you can get it into "attract" mode, you will
still need to fix the problem that causes it to boot into audit mode.
Also, I wouldn't try the "turn on/off fast" trick *too* many times as
you could stress some power related components.
seymour.shabow
Single ball williams machines of that era do not check for presence of a
ball before starting the game.
As the other responder noted, it's entering audit mode, and the
appropriate troubleshooting tree for that.
Steve A
Hey Guys, Thanks for the quick responses, I checked and replaced
batteries, and ball is making contact. I am new to pinball repair, but
I do regularly fix my bingo pinball. Although, it does seem like
apples and oranges. If you could bear with me here... What is a CMOS
5101 RAM chip at IC19? And what do I need to do to fix this problem. I
have located it on the schematic but that is all. Or, should I start
looking for a real pinball repair man? Again, any help would be
appreciated. Steve
railbender
There is a really good explanation here at this link.
http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37/index2.htm#factory
A lot of times the key is to see if the 4.5 volts is actually getting
onto the board from the battery pack (upside down batteries, corroded
battery pack) before you worry about replacing the 5101. Follow some
of the troubleshooting tips on this link.
I personally think everyone should learn board repair if they enjoy
pinballs and a system 6 board has to be one of the most plentiful in
the world. If you decide on trying board repair. Go to this link on
pinrepair.com also. http://www.pinrepair.com/begin/index.htm
Good luck and ask questions.
Kenny
MarchAFB
machine still come up in audit mode? The battery keeps all the machine
settings in the CMOS. If the batteries were dead, then the machine
probably reverted back to factory defaults and you may not have a
problem unless the old batteries leaked acid on the board. You may
just be able to go into the game adjustments menu and change setting
number 18 back to "0", which is the setting for Free Play. Default is
"30" I think. I had to do this on my AP machine when I changed my 40-
pin interconnect and batteries.
If you need to know how to change settings through the menu, see
Clay's guides at http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37/index.htm like
Railbender said.
Corey
Hans
on the holder?
Not unusual for the actual battery contact to fall off, but not get
noticed as the fiber spacer behind it is almost the same color.
-Hans
barakandl
open the coin door and flicker the power on and off quickly once or
twice and see if it will go to attract mode.
firepower
need to see about 4.3v (or more) with power on... AND 3.9v (or more)
with the power off. Otherwise the batteries aren't getting to the 5101
CMOS RAM. Report back with readings from your game.
Here's a diagram showing the locations of the test points and values you
should get: http://www.firepowerpinball.com/downloads/CPUBoard.pdf
Plenty more diagrams on that site. Some diagrams and info are here too,
if you click on the Sys6 board repairs or Firepower Backglass:
http://www.firepower.2ya.com
BTW - Alien poker was a Sys 6a - except for the 7 digit displays it used
the exact same boards as Firepower. It was a hybrid... a "missing
link"... Sys 6 guts, with Sys7 7 digit displays and Master display. You
need to look at the schematics and diagrams behind the Black Knight
Backglass (Sys 7) for the display info only.
I like Alien Poker, great single ball single level game.
BTW - First player score showing 1501_2_ says you have "1" Green
Flipper ROMs, Game ROMs are for "501" = Alien Poker, and your version
is v2. There is a v6 Game ROM out there, but that won't be the source
of your problem. It's just a comment.
-Richard
Steve A
wrote:
Thanks for the help. I will find my meter and probe tp7. Great
websites by the way. I have a lot of reading and comprehending to do.
Obviously, I am new to this. But eventually, with all your help I
would like to figure this thing out. I'll post the results as soon as
I can. Thanks again
Steve A
Hey Guys, On closer inspection, noticed there was some
corrosion on one of the tabs where the negative end of the battery
rests. Cleaned it as well as i could, and replaced with new batteries.
Didn't see any other battery damage. I checked TP7 and got a reading
of 4.72v w/ machine on, and .4v? w/ machine off. Is the battery
holder the culprit here?
firepower
so settings can't be held.
That part of the circuit is very simple, nothing much to it.
I'll give you the information, but why even mess around with the old
battery holder. Buy a new plastic replacement 3 (or 4) cell holder,
with the wire springs and mount it remotely to the CPU board in case it
leaks. If you can only find the 4 cell holders, this explains how to
put a diode there instead of just a wire jumper:
http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37/index1.htm#battery
I've actually had batteries leak in a remote holder when a game was
unused for a while. I was *so* glad I cut off the original battery
holder the CPU board and Velcro'd a $1 plastic holder to the side of the
backbox out the way.
On the normal board setup, the bottom of all 3 batteries are the + side,
they face with the plus side down on the Sys 6 and 6a boards. I'll
assume each battery is 1.5v, although it should still work down to about
1.0v per battery. After that AA cells tail off fast.
You should be reading 1.5v at the bottom of the battery on the Right
with respect to the game's ground;
3.0v (or so ) at the bottom of the middle battery with respect to game
ground; and 4.5 v at the bottom of the left battery.
Let's say you can see +4.5v at the bottom leftmost batter holder tab-
which is where you attach the + from a remote battery holder). But no
3.8v (or so) voltage at TP7 - then the only thing it can be is the diode
at D17 (1n4148) - just replace it. It's easy to get and cheap.
Cheers
-Richard
Steve A
wrote:
I am far from having this resolved, but thanks to all of you I am at
least headed in the right direction. Thanks again!