Author Topic: Aristocrat 540 Black Rhino (Read 4753 times)

sutts71 · « **on:** November 21, 2018, 02:16:53 AM »

Hello all! A while ago I got a hold of a non-working Aristocrat 540 Black Rhino Poker Machine with the intentions of possibly gutting it and turning it into a jukebox. Anyway before I junked it I checked it out and it seems pretty complete so I tried firing it up and it powered on with a scrolling message appearing on the screen that was unreadable. So i played with it a fair bit and now although it still powers up I can't seem to get any picture display or sound. As it appears complete I just thought I would ask if there is anyway to trouble shoot it and possibly get it working. I was told it is an Australian machine and as such it will never work as it needs to be connected to a "server", is this correct? If I purchased a replacement main board like this one (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Aristocrat-MKV-Mk5-MVP-Main-Board-with-Simm-410461-/263921900782?oid=252965240134) from the US would it plug in and play with my machine? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I can take photos or try different things if it will help. Cheers!

shortrackskater · « **Reply #1 on:** November 21, 2018, 10:11:20 AM »

Hopefully a member here will reply on this eventually. These games don't pop up too often here anymore.
For starters, read this thread and then poke through our old site in that section (Newlifegames.net)
Please post a picture of the machine, and then one with the door open to show the inside.

http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=7746.0

Heihachi_73 · « **Reply #2 on:** November 24, 2018, 10:48:53 PM »

540s (MKIV/MK4) shouldn't need to be connected to a server in order to be played, that's for later systems (unless the Jubilee ones are different - in Victoria we had Jubilee MK4s until the 2000s but no idea about those aside from the graphics looking better than regular MK4s). And yes, the more photos the better. Door open, game board, wiring/connectors etc.

If you are in Australia, I would probably not bother with a MKV (MK5) board from the US as they are not compatible with Australian chips or other parts.

Edit: Apparently some MK4s (e.g. Queensland) actually do require comms (probably QCOM like the later games) and will not be playable without a site controller unless the EPROMs are swapped with NSW versions. Likewise, if you are thinking of upgrading it to a MK5/MK6, you will also need a NSW board/chips and all the appropriate fittings (e.g. LAB comms board).

sutts71 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 30, 2018, 08:03:24 PM »

having issues with uploading pics but I think I got it to work

sutts71 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 30, 2018, 08:04:43 PM »

some more

sutts71 · « **Reply #5 on:** November 30, 2018, 08:06:07 PM »

I took a heap but I forgot to turn resolution down so have had to resize some.
Please have a look and feel free to dispense advice

Heihachi_73 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 02, 2018, 05:05:46 PM »

Would you be able to get a shot of the chip labels? I can't quite make them out in the photo. The chips at the front of the board (bottom of third photo) are especially intriguing to me as regular MK4 games usually only have 2 program chips at U86 and U87 while yours has a lot more in that area (I'm guessing it might actually be a Jubilee MK4 game but I've never seen the guts of one). Which region is the game from?

sutts71 · « **Reply #7 on:** December 04, 2018, 02:58:20 AM »

some more pics

sutts71 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 04, 2018, 02:59:14 AM »

and some more

sutts71 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 04, 2018, 03:00:00 AM »

and more

sutts71 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 04, 2018, 03:02:16 AM »

Hope these pics help. I really have no idea what I am doing and have just poked around in it for a few years and probably made things worse but I am pretty sure that the power supply works and the monitor too so hopefully that just leaves some other stuff that I can possibly swap out???

Paul · « **Reply #11 on:** December 04, 2018, 07:24:27 AM »

I have the operators manual and service manual if that will help.
PM me your email if you need them.

sutts71 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 07, 2018, 03:17:05 PM »

Thanks for the Manual. Not sure how much use it will be to me but thanks anyway. I purchased the machine in South Australia so I am presuming it is from that region but have no idea what that means as to if it has NSW or Qld chips. Also have no idea if its a mark 4/IV or a mark 5 and what parts are compatible in it and what parts are not. Basically I have no idea what to do. Should I invest in trying to get someone to re-solder a battery to the board or is this just throwing away money on something that will not work? Has it got NSW chips so if I ever do get it working it will not require a server or is from Qld so no mater what I do even if I get it going it will never work without having to be connected to a server? Is it possible to source NSW boards to swap into it and will this work?

Paul · « **Reply #13 on:** December 07, 2018, 03:40:52 PM »

You have a MK4 with New South Wales software.
If you look right above the white label on the mainboard
you will see the MK IV on it.
The Mk5 has boards that slide into a cage like the MK6.
It will work as a stand-alone machine.

sutts71 · « **Reply #14 on:** December 07, 2018, 10:05:25 PM »

Cheers Paul, Ok so now I know at least that it will work stand alone it makes me a little more receptive to possibly spending a few bucks trying to get it working again. Thanks again!.. anyone out there know where I might possibly source another mark IV mainboard?? or should I try to get someone to try re-soldering a battery onto mine and then go from there?

Hondaz5o · « **Reply #15 on:** December 13, 2018, 06:12:37 AM »

Hi Mate, where are you located? I also have just started getting a Black Rhino machine going also, I am just trying to find a monitor for it at the moment as the board is fried, I am located in QLD

sutts71 · « **Reply #16 on:** December 14, 2018, 03:24:10 PM »

G'day mate. I am in Adelaide unfortunately. I have actually just realised i have a friend who is an avionics electronic something or other so I asked him what he is like at soldering and tracing faults on boards and he said he could have a look at my board so hopefully after he has looked at it and re-soldered on the battery I might have more of an idea with mine. I actually purchased mine sort of not working.. it used to fire up but get a rolling message on the screen that I couldnt read because the vertical hold was soo far out and I couldnt adjust it back to stop. I basically kept playing with it and trying different things and eventually it stopped showing any message at all ... oops... so then I thought this might indicate a monitor fault so I got the caps redone on the monitor chasis so now I am pretty sure that even though I still get nothing on the screen the issue is not in teh power supply or the monitor so I am figuring the main board???.... or maybe another board? Anyway hopefully once my mate has had a look at the board I might know more. If worst comes to worst I will just gut it and run MAME and a jukebox in it... which is actually what I originally purchased it for but I just cant bear to do it until I have explored all avenues trying to get it going again. Anyway best of luck with your machine.. maybe an old computer monitor might work.. but if the board is fried whats the point?

Heihachi_73 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 15, 2018, 02:19:52 AM »

If it is the monitor, there should still be tons of those still around, those cabinets (MK5 series 1) are compatible with MK4, MK5 and MK6. Usually the monitor on these is a plain old Ceronix CRT which are (or used to be) easy to find, LCD conversions are even possible with those machines.

Hondaz5o · « **Reply #18 on:** December 17, 2018, 02:58:45 AM »

Sorry just seen your reply, I dropped the monitor off to a place that repairs arcade machines, I told them I was happy to buy a new monitor rather than muck around with the old one as it does have some burning on the screen, yes there are plenty of monitors with the slot machine company's but they are not allowed to sell to general public only venues that have machines.
I also have a Mk 2.5 machine I am working on which I am waiting for a game board to arrive for it, the guy I got the board through might be able to help you get another board for yours if needed so keep me up dated on your progress as if you do decide to go in the juke box direction I might be interested in some of your old parts, cheers Simon

sutts71 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 28, 2019, 02:34:52 AM »

Well I got my board back today with the battery re-soldered and he also gave the board a bit of a quick clean up but unfortunately it's still dicky! When I power the machine up it emmits a series of beeps and then all the light light up. Then after a while the monitor warms up and I get a "flicking" screen which almost looks like it has a message on it but it is scrolling out of horizontal or vertical hold too quick to be able to decipher. No amount of mucking around with the dials under the monitor can make the text readable although I can make it less readable by playing with them (scrolls faster, whole screen goes darker, etc.) there are 2 red lights on the game board (it doesn't have a led for external battery) If i try to pull drawer teh game board is on out while it is powered up it beeps loudly at me.. so it must realise that this is an issue. But there are so many things that could be wrong I dont know where to start. For example it no longer has a key switch on the side so the wires that would go to this key switch are just inside the machine i think. There is also what looks like a couple of magnets from a magnetic door switch which are stuck together however the other end has a plug labeled "cash box" I think and I can't figure out where this plugs into the machine anywhere? Love to get it working again but just scared about spending a heap of money on a replacement board only to find out that the board wasn't the issue or that it has other issues which I can't fix. Grrrr. If I could get a replacement main board at the right price I might be prepared to take a punt but obviously don't want to spend a heap on something that may not fix it anyway.

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Author Topic: Aristocrat 540 Black Rhino (Read 4753 times)