Author Topic: The dreaded buzzing MPU after low battery change. (Read 3118 times)

allen84 · « **on:** September 02, 2019, 09:56:47 PM »

I haven't played my Bally Alpha S9000 in over a year. Decide to boot it up. I decided I would clear the machine first. I reinstalled the mystic lamp with no issues, went through all the setting to setup the tito. Which left 1 problem on the right top corner of the settings screen. Nvram battery 2 low. Ok no problem. I have 10 spare of the CR2032 batteries in an unopened package. Used the voltmeter I have, and they tested 3.5 to 3.53 v from the package. Still good.

Pulled out both of the batteries from MPU, NVRAM 1 battery tested 3.05v, NVRAM 2 battery, 2.44v, the backplane battery, 0.50 (not sure why the machine didn't tell me to replace that one)

So I put back in the MPU, and turned it on, the buzzing sound happens. Searched this board on this forum for "buzzing" and read virtually every topic posted about this problem, which similar to whats happening to me. Tried almost every solution posted:

-took out mpu and plugged in the power from the wall along with the monitor. Still buzzing.
-took out mpu inspected the pins on the back, and slot on the backplane, looks good. reseated it a few times already. still buzzing.
-took clear card out, cards in, OS and game card out and in, still buzzing.
-batteries are seated properly sitting flat, with the battery wording facing upwards, still buzzing.

The one thing that confused me was, one of the solutions of the boot up sequences. I've tried just about every combination, but to no avail. Still buzzing. What would be the correct sequence? (Probably doesn't matter as I may have tried it all in different orders).

You have (from left to right in order):

1. Main Power rocker switch
2. Cabinet rocker switch
3. The PSU rocker switch on the MPU
4. the tiny toggle throw ATX switch in the green lettering

Is there anyone else have any other solutions, not posted on here yet?

Thanks

mvco · « **Reply #1 on:** September 03, 2019, 05:57:35 AM »

Hope someone replies, same exact issue here with a 512 box after changing batteries.

rickhunter · « **Reply #2 on:** September 03, 2019, 07:34:51 AM »

Remove the two button cell batteries and power up to see if you still have the buzzing sound. Do it with mpu out of the system, just plugged into power and a monitor of some sort (I just use my pc monitor). If it powers up, then replace the batteries and try again.

allen84 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 03, 2019, 08:10:35 PM »

Quote from: rickhunter on September 03, 2019, 07:34:51 AM

Remove the two button cell batteries and power up to see if you still have the buzzing sound. Do it with mpu out of the system, just plugged into power and a monitor of some sort (I just use my pc monitor). If it powers up, then replace the batteries and try again.

Pulled both the new batteries out, turned out with no batteries. Still Buzzing. Even put back the old batteries, same problem. Could it be that the ram information is wiped out while changing the batteries, which causes the buzzing? That it needs this for the board to post? How on earth do I even get the info back on there???

If I do end up having to buy a new mpu, and the batteries need changing next time, I pull out the mpu, feed it an outside power source, turn it on, and then change the batteries while it's on ? Would that be safe to do?

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #4 on:** September 04, 2019, 06:33:24 AM »

Found this after a search. I have the same issue going on currently.

You can solve the "buzzing" by installing a AVBPROD0R807-00ST U16 BIOS chip. Boot the Engine with a 317 CLEAR card and Clear. Then Boot the Engine with a 317-2 OS card (the game doesn't matter), and you'll now notice the Engine doesn't "buzz" anymore. And you no longer have to toggle the ATX switch to boot the game.

The OS Updates (from 336-05, 336-09, 336-11) never updated the sequence because it was being "held" non-volatile by the batteries. Since casinos leave their machines on 24/7, batteries drying during normal machine life span, and OS updates, wasn't an issue.

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #5 on:** September 04, 2019, 06:59:15 AM »

Also found in a search, by replacing the bios chip had resolved the issue.

rickhunter · « **Reply #6 on:** September 04, 2019, 11:54:09 AM »

The Nvram information is not important because it gets rebuilt after a clear and initial setup of game. The reason I had you remove the batteries is because I ran into the issue once and that fixed the issue. After the mpu came up with a normal boot screen, I put the batteries back and haven't had an issue since. Your issue might be related to something else. I would try another mpu power supply to see if that fixes the issue. Sometimes, things just go bad for no good reason and it just so happens that it happened when you needed to replace the batteries, but it is probably not the cause of the problem. I would look for another known good mpu (they are plentiful and cheap) and if the game works with the new mpu, I would try move the power supply from the good one to the old one to see if it fixes the problem.

mvco · « **Reply #7 on:** September 04, 2019, 01:46:05 PM »

Anyone have that older software clear and OS card, as well as that boot chip? Need to try on mine. like the other poster, removed batteries, power up, still buzzing.

RB · « **Reply #8 on:** September 04, 2019, 02:16:14 PM »

Quote from: mvco on September 04, 2019, 01:46:05 PM

Anyone have that older software clear and OS card, as well as that boot chip? Need to try on mine. like the other poster, removed batteries, power up, still buzzing.

PM sent.

allen84 · « **Reply #9 on:** September 04, 2019, 03:03:20 PM »

Quote from: rickhunter on September 04, 2019, 11:54:09 AM

The Nvram information is not important because it gets rebuilt after a clear and initial setup of game. The reason I had you remove the batteries is because I ran into the issue once and that fixed the issue. After the mpu came up with a normal boot screen, I put the batteries back and haven't had an issue since. Your issue might be related to something else. I would try another mpu power supply to see if that fixes the issue. Sometimes, things just go bad for no good reason and it just so happens that it happened when you needed to replace the batteries, but it is probably not the cause of the problem. I would look for another known good mpu (they are plentiful and cheap) and if the game works with the new mpu, I would try move the power supply from the good one to the old one to see if it fixes the problem.

Rick, would I be able use any psu to plug in to test it? I looked at the mpu, it looks like the only thing that plugs into the motherboard is the psu. I have a spare corsair 650w psu.

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #10 on:** September 04, 2019, 07:49:18 PM »

I had the 336 OS buzzing issue and switched to the 317 OS and the buzzing is gone. There is a difference in the operating system, so I don't know if this is the answer for all games. It did work well for my 2 coin single line 3 reel stepper game. But there has to be a way to stop the buzzing issue as I know the tribal casinos move there Alpha machines around in the building and also move the Alpha's to there sister sites. So it seems to me that this issue has to happen when they unplug these machines for the move.

FireballJackpot · « **Reply #11 on:** September 04, 2019, 08:32:22 PM »

Sunrise found my post from a while back.:

You can solve the "buzzing" by installing a AVBPROD0R807-00ST U16 BIOS chip. Boot the Engine with a 317 CLEAR card and Clear. Then Boot the Engine with a 317-2 OS card (the game doesn't matter), and you'll now notice the Engine doesn't "buzz" anymore. And you no longer have to toggle the ATX switch to boot the game.
[/size]
[/size]After the 317 sets up the watchdog circuit, the batteries hold the "confirmation" data. Flipping the ATX switch does the same confirmation check if the boot shows any corruption (garbage code generated from low back up voltage). Once the watchdog circuit is saved, no more checksum error (buzzing). You can then update all the way to 336-11 if you so desire. No clue why the 336s don't reset the watchdog info also, but they don't. Maybe a costly jurisdiction reason (

).
[/size]
[/size]Hope this helps!

allen84 · « **Reply #12 on:** September 04, 2019, 10:57:58 PM »

I have the AVOS00000336-05 OS card.

Also a AVSO00000317-02 card, but this isn't an OS card, it's a clear card (I believe someone had put a clear card files on a OS branded card) I wish I had taken a picture of the clear screen, so I would know what clear card version it exactly is, I'm positive it's a clear card as I've cleared the machine with it. It's the only card I have.

I only own 1 Bally alpha machine, with 2 games. Mystic Lamp & Black Gold Wild.

My Bios chip is a AVBBP26S300M-03 ST U16 CS: F1BD 11/17/2009 S2010-070

According to this link, on Page 2 of 52 on the MPU compatibility matrix, there is no such thing as a 317 clear card. https://www.scribd.com/document/410487580/Bally-Alpha-Setup-With-Progressive-Payout-Tables If following this chart, in ascending order, my BIOS chip should be newer than the AVBBPRO0R807‐00 one. Did the older BIOS chip retain the boot sequence? I find it odd that it was taken out in the later revisions of the BIOS chip.

I'm in the process of getting another MPU, I think the next time the battery goes low and needs replacing, I'm going to take the MPU out of the machine, give it power from another power outlet, and replace the batteries while it's on. I'm thinking of sliding some electrical tape, inbetween the pin holding down the top battery, lift with the tape and pull the battery out.

Then, put the new battery attached with tape, but having someone holding the pin up, so you can slide the battery in. The whole point is to becareful as to not drop the battery into the board, bouncing around, and shorting something.

This must be a sure way to not lose the critical board settings.

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #13 on:** September 05, 2019, 04:03:01 AM »

Thanks Fireball !!!

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #14 on:** September 05, 2019, 04:05:51 AM »

I believe it's 317 OS that uses a 312 clear card . Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks!!

FireballJackpot · « **Reply #15 on:** September 05, 2019, 05:07:52 AM »

I have shoe-boxes full of cards, etc. Let me get everyone a screen shot of the Clear screen that will show the version of Clear that Iâ€™ve had success with. That way there are no mis-understandings.

Stay Tuned!....

RB · « **Reply #16 on:** September 05, 2019, 05:48:03 AM »

Here's a screen shot of PDF that matches BIOS chips & clear cards with the OS.

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #17 on:** September 05, 2019, 04:40:23 PM »

Okay. Yes I got rid of the 336 OS buzzing after battery change. Just like Fireball posted. Get a 312 Clear card, 317 OS card , 807 BIOS, and any game card along with your 335 clear card and you have everything needed to get rid of the buzzing due to battery change on the 336 OS. Thanks to all!!! Very Much Appreciated!! Tim

allen84 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 05, 2019, 08:31:02 PM »

Quote from: Sunrise Side on September 05, 2019, 04:40:23 PM

Okay. Yes I got rid of the 336 OS buzzing after battery change. Just like Fireball posted. Get a 312 Clear card, 317 OS card , 807 BIOS, and any game card along with your 335 clear card and you have everything needed to get rid of the buzzing due to battery change on the 336 OS. Thanks to all!!! Very Much Appreciated!! Tim

That's alot of cards. But wouldn't the 312 clear card and the 807 Bios is all I need? If I manage to get rid of the buzzing with the 312 and along with Bios, I would technically be good then? I would just continue installing my game and my 336-05 OS card that I currently have.

How does the 317 OS card come into play??

Sunrise Side · « **Reply #19 on:** September 06, 2019, 01:54:35 PM »

You need the 317 OS to go with 807 BIOS to boot up the game. You need the 312 Clear to get to the boot point. And that will get rid of the buzzing error. Then you can install your original OS & BIOS and do a clear

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Author Topic: The dreaded buzzing MPU after low battery change. (Read 3118 times)