Bally Alpha M9000 help needed

[rebfan831]

I have a Bally Alpha M9000 running Fairy Play.  I did a NVRAM clear hoping to increase the pay lines from 20 to 25 and it was a mess.  I kept getting messages like "validation not set" and "machine control not selected".  I found a configuration manual online and followed those instructions.  I did another clear and set it back up according to the original configuration.  No messages after configuration but when I restarted the game only 1 pay line is available and none of the deck buttons are lit up.  Along the bottom corner it says "ram cleared and restart"  then "closure M".  If anyone can tell me what I've done wrong and what I need to do to fix it I would greatly appreciate it. 


TIA,
Jean

[rickhunter]

There's a game setup button that lets you select the number of lines and the bet per line.  Also when doing the device configuration, what button panel did you select?  The ram cleared and restart and closure M are normal and go away on the first play.  Did you put money into the machine after that, otherwise, none of the buttons will work.  They don't light up until you have credits in the machine.

[rebfan831]

Thanks for the help!  I put money in and it plays...that's the good news   The bad news is that it only shows and plays on 1 pay line.  When I set it up I selected 25 pay lines.  When I got it there were only 20 pay lines.  Is it possible that the software only allows for a max of 20?  It just seemed odd to me that the set up would offer 25 if it wasn't available. 

Oh, I selected the 11 button panel because that is the one that was selected when I got the machine.  Seemed strange to me since there are only 5 buttons.

Jean

[rokgpsman]

When you select the 25 paylines (or 20 paylines) choice did you then save this selection before exiting the setup screen? Maybe the machine didn't save your changes?

The button and payline setup screen can vary according to the particular game you have and possibly the Jurisdiction of your game. Different gambling jurisdictions have different rules the slot machine companies have to abide with. Also, it says that after making changes on this screen you have to clear the NVRAM on the machine, otherwise the changes won't take place.

Is this what your button and payline setup screen looks like:

[rebfan831]

Yes, that's similar to the screen I see but mine offered up to 25 lines and I did save it.  I can do another clear and run through the set up again and see if it changes.  I'll try it tomorrow.


The jurisdiction is California - Tribal


Jean

[rokgpsman]

Did you clear it before or after making the payline changes? The Game Setup screen says to do the clear after making changes and saving them.

[rebfan831]

I can't make any changes to the pay lines unless I do an NVRam clear.  I did the clear and then went through the configuration...touchscreen, clock, device config, credit set up, then advanced game set up for the pay out percentage, game set up for number of lines & credits per line, com set up for protocol.  Once that was done I checked in the upper right hand corner and there weren't any messages so I returned to the game and saw that there was only 1 pay line.  I shut it down and rebooted it thinking the reboot might help.  Still just the 1 pay line.  Everything else seems to be working just fine.


Jean

[rokgpsman]

I don't have an Alpha machine so can't try it myself. On your setup screen where you select the number of paylines does the instruction appear saying to clear NVRAM after saving your choices?

In case you don't have this, and for any others following this discussion, here is the Alpha clear procedures plus a note at the end about setting some configuration parameters after the clear.

[rebfan831]

It says that I can't make any changes until I clear the NVRam.  The instructions that I used also noted that I shouldn't save anything until I was certain that the setting was correct because I would have to do an NVRam clear to change it again.   

Your instructions look like the ones I used.  My machine doesn't give the option to only clear the NVRam.  I only am able to do an NVRAM &  EEPROM clear so that's what I did.


Jean

[rokgpsman]

So, to clarify, you do NOT see the instruction about clearing NVRAM after making changes that I highlighted in reply#5 above that is shown on the Game Setup screen? I'm not sure about what you see on that screen.

Also, after the clear and you set all those parameters one of them that you set is the "Base Denomination"? Perhaps different jurisdictions have variations from the normal setup contained in the manual. Hopefully someone more familiar with the Alpha machines can be of more help with this.

[rebfan831]

I was finally able to open the link   It's the same manual that I used.


Jean

[rebfan831]

Yes, my machine says the same thing.  Once I save the setting I can only change it by doing a NVRAM clear.


Jean

[rebfan831]

I did another NVRAM clear and set it all up again and still only have 1 pay line available.  Could the problem be in the button deck panel selection?  The machine has 5 bet buttons plus the re-bet button.  When it came it was set to an 11 button deck panel.  11 buttons would give me the option to chose the number of lines that I want to play but that isn't an option on my machine.  I can't choose the number of play lines to play, just the amount of the bet ie:  1,2,3,5,10.  Just thinking out loud but any feedback would be good


Jean

[rickhunter]

Doesn't your screen have a max bet button you can touch?  If not, then that game was no designed for the "easy bet" panel that you have.  The 11 button selection is correct when you have the easy select panel, but the software has to work with it.  The workaround that I did for my machine was to move the spin-rebet button to be the same as the maxbet button, that way the game selects all lines and bets the max.  It involves moving 1 pin on the molex cable a spot over, but you need to have a molex pin extractor or get creative.  They are fragile pins, and if you break it, you would need to put a new pin (which is not expensive, but you need the correct tools to do it).

Here's a link to my post regarding this modification.
http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=10741.msg58342#msg58342

[rokgpsman]

What is confusing is that when he got the machine it was setup and working for 20 paylines and an 11 button panel setup, but after clearing the nvram he can't get back to that setting.

[rebfan831]

Problem solved!  No matter what I did I could only get that one pay line to come up so I finally called the guy I bought it from.  They put in a new deck panel that wasn't made for this machine and had to Frankenstein it to make it work!  I just had to stick some money in it, fake out the door closure button and push a little button on the inside of the door...VOILA!  25 lines all functional   Thanks for all your help everyone!  I didn't feel like I was all alone trying to figure this out


Jean

[rokgpsman]

That sounds like the tip mentioned over in the other thread that Rick linked to up above. Installing the temporary button panel fooled the machine into configuring to the setup you want, then reinstall the original button panel. Is that what the seller did to your machine? If so, if you do another nvram clear will you lose that setup?

http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=10741.msg58064#msg58064

Rick- on powerup or after a nvram clear does the machine look to see what button panel is present and only gives you appropriate options in the setup screens for that button panel?

[rickhunter]

The button panel is passive, other than the USB ones.  You have to select the correct button panel.  The newer alpha s9K's had the elite button panel that the OP mentioned in his post with the large oval button to repeat bet.  Most of the older games require the 14 button panel that has the lines and the bet per lines buttons.   My work-around of just making the large rebet button to be wired to max bet is the easiest solution to make the elite button panel work with all the older titles.  I have made this mod to all my button panels since it is so easy to do if you have a molex pin extractor.  You can also do it with a pair of flathead precision screwdrivers, but sometimes this squeezes the pin too much and damages it.