G20 V1 vs V2 questions

[firehawk618]

Hi all.  I recently ended up with two G20 machines.  One is the early style and one the v2.  I have several questions and appreciate any input.  I'm thinking about swapping some parts to the V2 machine and keeping it.  I can only keep 1 of the machines in the end.  I do have the EKEY and several CPU boxes.

1.  V1 has the oled buttons.  I'd like to transfer those + the controller to the V2 machine.  Will this work?

2.  V2 I see where the pair of EEPROMS go on the board in the back.  The V1 I do not see any.  I'd like to have several CPU boxes loaded with different stuff and swap them + EEPROMS.  I'd imagine the V2 is a better setup to support this?

3.  V1 electronics vs V2.  Is one preferred over the other and why?  The V2 with the L board setup seems much easier to work on if needed.

Thanks all!

Early Version:  (Sorry, but you are not allowed to access the gallery)


V2 Version:  (Sorry, but you are not allowed to access the gallery)

[rickhunter]

The V2 has the controller on the pull out tray, there's an opening on the plastic face of the v2 pull out tray for the blackfin eeprom that has the firmware on it.  Have a look at your pull out tray to see if there's an chip in the socket there.  If not, you can just move the one from the v1's blackfin controller, then the OLEDs can be moved over to it.  The HDMI plug from the button deck connects to the backplane just above where the power supply plugs are located.  I believe the eeproms are SMD's on the G1's, I don't know where they are, but they would have to be there, so it is not practical to remove/install eeproms unless you install zif sockets where the eeproms are.  I have found that if you just wipe cabinet memory and then replace mpu's, you will get a green screen (or was it red) after booting telling you about the mismatch, but a turn of the reset key and the eeproms will be written with the info from the currently installed mpu and all your games and settings should be intact.  You could experiment just to be sure, but I've been able to do that for a friend who for some reason got his cabinet eeproms corrupted after a power failure.  We did a clear of the cabinet memory and the game booted into the screens where you twist the reset key and the game was up and running with his previous known configuration.  I prefer V1 hardware vs V2, because if your blackfin goes, it is easier to find and replace the blackfin on the v1's since it is just a separate device and lots of them floating around.  If the blackin goes on the v2, most likely you would have to find v2 cabinet controller assembly.

[firehawk618]

The V2 has the controller on the pull out tray, there's an opening on the plastic face of the v2 pull out tray for the blackfin eeprom that has the firmware on it.  Have a look at your pull out tray to see if there's an chip in the socket there.  If not, you can just move the one from the v1's blackfin controller, then the OLEDs can be moved over to it.  The HDMI plug from the button deck connects to the backplane just above where the power supply plugs are located.  I believe the eeproms are SMD's on the G1's, I don't know where they are, but they would have to be there, so it is not practical to remove/install eeproms unless you install zif sockets where the eeproms are.  I have found that if you just wipe cabinet memory and then replace mpu's, you will get a green screen (or was it red) after booting telling you about the mismatch, but a turn of the reset key and the eeproms will be written with the info from the currently installed mpu and all your games and settings should be intact.  You could experiment just to be sure, but I've been able to do that for a friend who for some reason got his cabinet eeproms corrupted after a power failure.  We did a clear of the cabinet memory and the game booted into the screens where you twist the reset key and the game was up and running with his previous known configuration.  I prefer V1 hardware vs V2, because if your blackfin goes, it is easier to find and replace the blackfin on the v1's since it is just a separate device and lots of them floating around.  If the blackin goes on the v2, most likely you would have to find v2 cabinet controller assembly.

Wow thanks for the thorough answer.  That makes a lot of sense.  The eeprom is not present on my v2 and I was wondering what went there.

It seems like V2 cabinet controllers aren't too tough to come by.  I prefer the v2 cabinet over the v1.

Question on the control panel buttons.  In addition to the HDMI there's a larger plug that also goes to that blackfin board.  On my V2 when I follow the control panel wiring back it goes to a similar but much larger plug on the backplane.  I'll have to poke around more and see if there's a place to plug in the smaller plug that my v1 uses.

[rickhunter]

It's for the 4 standard buttons on either side of the panel (2 on each side). They use the standard player switch and light backplane connectors, so you will have to wire those 4 as well.