New Life Games LLC
**Reel Slots** Gaming Machines => IGT Reel Touch Games => Topic started by: Jlong on September 09, 2019, 10:51:58 AM
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I am finally getting to working on my Reel Touch Tabasco. The 504b board is toast from the varta leaking many years ago. The 3 other 504b boards I found in storage have the same issue. Should I swap the backplane and get a 1270 board for it or just replace the 504b? Seems to be close in price to do either. The topbox seems to be working as it boots up and waits for the mpu. Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks
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For Tabasco Reel Touch I would stick with the 500 series MPU. I have had some minor audio issues with 1270 boards with Tabasco Reel Touch. It seems like the music that plays while the reels are spinning ends early using a 1270 board. Not a big deal but I thought I would post it here for your information. Everything else works just fine with the 1270.
Rich
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That’s good info much appreciated. I will continue to look for a 504b then if that’s the case. Only have one of these so it’s going to be in my collection for a long time I am sure.
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Also a 502 board should work and since the sound is produced in the top box it should not have the issue of hum as with other S2000s. They may be cheaper and more plentiful.
Either way remove the Varta as soon as possible and clean the area with a mild vinegar and water solution. Dry very well.
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Good to know. I will get started looking and hopefully I can get this machine running. It looks great sitting there but it’s time to play it. Thank you for the advice I really appreciate it
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Ok I got a new used 504b board. Wrestled with the io cards to get the buttons working for the key chip. Changed the cmos battery in the top box computer. Cleaned behind the touchscreen to get it accurate again. Cleared with a 224 key chipped with a 45. Followed the setup instructions for an s2000 from here on the forum. Now all I have left is a protocol mismatch error and that blue call attendant screen. Any ideas much appreciated as my head is sore from banging it on the desk. I will attach screenshots of the rfa ect.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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Have you seen this machine work in this configuration or did you receive it non functional?
From my records the top box with the chip set you have should be bios 1, that is a red white and blue finger splash screen on the top box when it first boots up.
Bios 2 has a green and yellow energy star.
What is the history of the hard drive or was the top box changed?
The BGM/ATA on your hard drive is for a bios 2 top box.
There are a few ways to get you working but I need answers to my questions above.
Rich
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I get the finger when I turn it on. (Pun intended) it is the red white blue that says reel touch. I also have this extra set of chips in the pic that I have not tried. This came out of a casino storage unit and had not been used in a very long time. The extra board in the pic is covered in acid the chips I am trying were on the board in the machine when I picked it up. I also have cd’s one just says rfa Tabasco. One says ata-2009 and the third says bmg 20083 if any of this helps
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OK bios 1 from my records show:
RFA20003
ATA20023
BGM20083
SG000290
SB000537
VS009GX0
This is a configuration I know works.
You can try using the chips from your other board. I know SG000536 will work with bios 1 on other Reel Touch machines but the ATA on the hard drive is usually 20045. You must also use the VS011GX1.
Getting a match that works can be a real head banger these machines are very picky about hard drive and mpu chip combination.
Rich
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Thanks again Rich. I’ll give the other chips a try and report back. I do have a chip programmer and may have to back the working set up in case something happens again. I’ll report back after I give them a try though. Dying to see this machine working again.
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One more note bios 1 HDs can NOT be viewed externally on a PC. If you do the hard drive will become corrupt and will need to be reprogrammed.
I think your best option at this point is find a set of SG000290s and try those. Still may not work with that hd.
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One more note bios 1 HDs can NOT be viewed externally on a PC. If you do the hard drive will become corrupt and will need to be reprogrammed.
I think your best option at this point is find a set of SG000290s and try those. Still may not work with that hd.
SG000290 requires ATA20010 or replacement according to the PSR.
Use SG000239, VS009GX0 or jurisdictional equivalent for that ATA.
I have a pair if interested.
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Thank you for that heads up Rich. I had been planning on backing up the hard drive and sticking a ssd in there for reliability. Are there instructions for setting up a new hdd based on the cds I have? I am located in Costa Rica so shipping back and fourth will be difficult to say the least.
RB I have GXO do you think SG00239 will solve the problem? Thanks.
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I certainly think it's worth a shot. PM me your email address.
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From my experience the PSRs on Reel Touch are unreliable at best. ATA20010 is a bios 2 load. I would still try the 290s over the 239s. I have many versions of Reel Touch running with 290s. On bios 1.
The only way to copy a drive is to clone it from a working HD and the cloning software must run from DOS or a non windows operating system.
I have had limited luck loading from CDs.
Put an unformatted HD or SSD (between 30 and 70MB)
In the top box. Put the RFA CD in the top box and turn machine on. Let it completely load then follow with the ATA and finally the BGM disk. (Note this process takes a few hours. )
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I guess I will give them both a try and report back. It can’t hurt to try them.
So I should be able to clone it with a Mac? I’d just hate to go thru all this work to have the hdd die in the end.
After I get it working I will try sticking a blank drive in there and see if the cds will do it.
Thank you again for sharing your wisdom.
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How did you do? Is it working?
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Nope it’s still not working. Got a little busy at work and slowed me down a bit. I tried the other set of chips. Same error. I haven’t had a chance to try the 239’s out yet. I did however get a shiny new ssd drive for the top box. I was going to install it after the machine is working to hopefully keep it going for a long time.
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Just thought I would update you on my horrible luck with this reel touch. I tried my other set of chips with the same result. I have a set of 239’s I was planning on trying as well. I got the machine cleared and key chipped then when I went to boot with the sb chip the top box just does a repeating 4 beeps with a blank screen. I took a look at the motherboard and see bulging caps. 4 beeps is usually ram error but I am betting on the motherboard. What luck I have. Since I have to change this at this point would bios 2 be a good idea? Thanks in advance.
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Very common and easy fix. Remove the two memory sticks in the top box gently clean the contacts with a pencil eraser. Make sure there is no dust in the slots and reinstall.
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I’ll give it a go tonight and report back. Thanks qbert.
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I tried cleaning the contacts and it still does the 4 beeps repeating. So I then remembered I had another set of pc133 ram in my Atronic Emotion that I know work and tried them with the same result. I then tried the ram from the reel touch in the atronic and the ram is fine. I am guessing the bulging caps I see are the issue. I can get one of those motherboards qbert recommended in another post but should I also try to find bios 2 to go with my software?
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Try gently working the connections on the motherboard of the top box. Also try removing and reinstalling the ram 4 or 5 times, the sockets also corrode that should help. Post a picture of the daughter card of the top box (need to see the whole board). That board on Ebay actually has a bios two chip installed but I need to see the daughter card because some are different. Also you may have to replace the HD to use the bios 2. I still think the 239s may work if you can get the ram to work. I have many that still work with bulging caps. Try the ram chip reinstall a few times. It was working I can't believe it went bad. The only time I replaced the motherboard is when there are no signs of life.
Rich
This is why they are called Real Touchy.
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Ok I’ll give it another go. The ram slots do look pretty shiny still. I did clean this top box out with an air compressor before I started trying to make it work. It was working fine. I thought it was strange that I had only touched the mpu to swap chips and the top box stopped working. Reel touchy huh? It’s better than being e-motional. Lol. I’ll report back tomorrow.