Long awaited update to the custom sound simm project.

[Retro tech repair]

Many years ago i started tinkering with sound simms after I found a simm burner in a box. http://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=4349.msg22863#msg22863 

Well i got board while at home taking care of a family member and decided I would give it another shot.
Done.
Figure out how to cut simms into separate tracks.
Convert those tracks into a format a computer understands (wav).
Substitute a track with something else (one reel sound sound for another from a different simm).
Get the the modified simm to pass crc check.

To do.
Learn how to edit and export raw pcm sound files that are compatible with with the ymz280b.
Replace stock tracks with custom ones.

I still have a lot of testing to do. So far if things don't match exactly it throws a nasty system error that i cant get out of without clearing the machine.

Its been a long time since I started this project if it breaks the laws of the form it can be deleted. Because of possible security concerns no i will not be telling anyone how to fix the crc Miss match. I don't know if moving one reel sound from one simm to another is breaking copy right laws so no I probably won't be releasing Simms using igts sounds. If i can get complete custom sounds working i may release them. Currently this is just a proof of concept.

[jakah440]

This would be great!! Even the best themes can get old after awhile. Count me in if you get it all figured out!!!

[DB26]

Exciting!

[jay]

There is no reason that this information cannot be shared on NLG.
We restrict the sharing of copyrighted bin files, creating new sound files sounds like a real cool thing to do.
I believe under the "right to repair" laws that are popping up even the CRC hack is fair game to share if your so inclined to do it.

Recently there was a suit by John-Deer where a farmer took his tractor in for repair, the shop said 4-6 months.
farmer got a hacked version of the software and repaired his own - JD took him to court and lost.

This is not the exact article I was looking for but its one similar also with JD.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-03-05/farmers-fight-john-deere-over-who-gets-to-fix-an-800-000-tractor

In the end the real issue comes down to the almighty dollar. IF IGT were going to lose revenue by you selling copyrighted sims (presumably to a casino) you would be afoul of the law.
Selling, teaching others to create third party parts is fair game.  Think of it like Fram selling you a air filter for your Buick vs buying the GM logo'ed one from the dealership.
Fram does not pay GM (or anyone else) a licensing fee.....

Hope this sets your mind at ease....
... and once again what a cool project.... can't wait to play pink panther with Ozzy's Crazy Train blasting..... 

[Retro tech repair]

There is no reason that this information cannot be shared on NLG.

Ok i was going by what was told to me by a moderator back when I first started the project on the old site. They were not sure if teaching people how to break the security was something they wanted on the site. That was back when s2000s were still found in basically every casino tho.

[DB26]

Maybe one day I can have my own voice come on and tell me about the offers awarded to me on Top Dollar. That would be a hoot.

[nglayton]

I too would love to be able to play around with custom sound simms for my machines.

Can't advise you either way on sharing what you've learned. But eventually, now that others know it can be done, more will figure it out. It's just a matter of how badly or how important it is to you to want/need the recognition of being the "one" who did it first.

I know that the computer industry in general, doesn't handle things like this the same as the automotive/farm industry.
Just ask Apple or Microsoft.

In the example above, you can bet your booty that GM would love to get a fee from Fram for every filter sold.


If you follow the computer industry you can probably remember Apple suing Google and Microsoft and winning huge settlements, with them both having to pay Apple a fee for every phone they sold. Or that fact that a company like Apple designs their devices to not function with non certified cables. You can bet Belkin, Amazon and a bunch of others all pay to have their cables certified by Apple, because if they reverse engineered it, Apple's legal team would come knocking.

I realize we are NOT talking about the same scale here, and I doubt anyone will come knocking over a few sound simms unless you start selling in bulk to the wholesale casino market and cut IGT out of the loop.

You might find this Wired magazine article fascinating in dealing with IGT and the casino industry.
It's a long read, but interesting.

https://www.wired.com/2011/07/ff-scammingslots/

[jay]

Great Article.

[Retro tech repair]

With any luck I should be able to run a test tomorrow i have the file created and the crc parched. Hopefully I didn’t mess up the file id system and everything goes well. Assuming i get this working is there any specific sb files i should test with.

[Retro tech repair]

This video will probably get flagged for copy right but i made a bit of progress.
https://youtu.be/2qIrBo1ScaA

[rickhunter]

Nice!!!! 

If the sound is played back too fast, then you need to lower the sampling rate.  I suspect that IGT plays the sound back at a specific sampling rate.  What sample rate did you use for your track?

[Stayouttadabunker]

haha.. "Crazy Train"?

Reminds me of something I did with Vision sounds....

[Retro tech repair]

Nice!!!! 

If the sound is played back too fast, then you need to lower the sampling rate.  I suspect that IGT plays the sound back at a specific sampling rate.  What sample rate did you use for your track?

The original sounds seem best at 16935hz (the frequency of the crystal on the multimedia board). The program i was using didn’t give the option to export raw data at specific sample rate. I may have to convert the mp3 to something else using that sample rate then export the raw data from that file.

[Retro tech repair]

Im getting very close to having something useful. I have figured out how to decode the list of tracks and where they are stored on the simm. I now have to figure out the correct sample rate then i can actually make a custom simm.

Im not sure where to take this from here. In my brain I fully understand what it is i am doing but i dont know the terminology used to explain what it is i am doing. I also don't know how to program to be able to create a program that does it for me. I have shared the info i have discovered with some people that may know what they are doing better than me.

[stlscott]

Im getting very close to having something useful. I have figured out how to decode the list of tracks and where they are stored on the simm. I now have to figure out the correct sample rate then i can actually make a custom simm.

Im not sure where to take this from here. In my brain I fully understand what it is i am doing but i dont know the terminology used to explain what it is i am doing. I also don’t know how to program to be able to create a program that does it for me. I have shared the info i have discovered with some people that may know what they are doing better than me.

Did this ever go anywhere?  Wondering if there is an update

[Retro tech repair]

Its fully functional but im no longer the one working on it. If you are on the s2000 facebook group there is an ozzy machine and a grease machine both running custom simms