Aristocrat Microstar 2.5 Caribbean Gold II First Look Questions

[bogan]

I finally had time today to work on this machine.


Re-cap on the monitor board and replaced 63 - PN222A and 65 MPSA64 both available from Mouser.


Note about re-cap.  191 call for a 220 uF 35V, I pulled a 470 uF 50V from the board.  It looked to be original. I put the 220 uF 35 V in.


Came to life for the first time.


The Logic Door Switch is off ....... I had to wedge a piece of wood there to keep the switch closed.  I assume I can take a needle nose and bend that out more.


I get the pictures below, can some help me with that?  Anyone have a manual that would work for this game?

Needs a ram clear by the looks of it. You might be able to find the procedure in the NLG file system, if not, I'll have a look as I think I might have it somewhere.

[Heihachi_73]

Here are the board pics.  The battery has not leaked.  Does someone have manual for this (MK 2.5).  Especially the power supply as I will be taking that apart next and will have questions.  Will a MK 5 board work in this machine?  Thanks

Is there any chance you could reupload the PCB photos at a higher resolution? They seem to have been saved at only 640x480 which makes them difficult to see in detail.

[Arkansaw]

Here is 1

[Arkansaw]

And the next

[Arkansaw]

From your earlier Post last May 1, 2019:

"Looks like it just needs a RAM clear (assuming the coin fault isn't pointing to anything bad). Go into the audit menu and turn on the jackpot key and (assuming your board has these) press the first 3 red buttons on the board (Robot Test, AUX1 and Memory Reset) at the same time and it should reset to factory default. I honestly don't know what to do if the board doesn't have the reset/test buttons though."

Does that seem logical?  Once again, doesn't someone have a manual for these machines?  I have looked everywhere.


It appears my characters are off a bit as well.

[Heihachi_73]

Thanks a million for the PCB photos!

[Arkansaw]

No problem.  How do you get into the audit menu?  I tried the three red button reset but was not in the audit menu.......... Therefore, nothing changed.


I sent this message on the Aristocrat web site today:

"I have nothing to lose with this request.  So I am COVID-19 hold up in my basement in the states.  I have a 1994 MK 2.5 gambling machine called Caribbean Gold II.  No one in the states seems to have a manual for the operation of this machine.  I almost have it working but no manual.  Can you please, please ask an old staffer there for a pdf file of a manual for this machine?  Again, I have nothing to lose with this request.  Please send this to a veteran staff member that may have it in his/her heart to help me out.  Thanks."

It doesn't hurt to ask.

[Heihachi_73]

Is the door open? AFAIK you can't enter the audit menu if the main door is open (or cash box/bill acceptor/logic door etc.), or if there is any other error on the screen, not including metering error ("TILT" doesn't actually count as an error). I am currently having a look at the game from inside the MAME emulator. According to MAME you also can't enter the menu either if the 5201-5 switch is off, whatever that translates to on a real PCB (5201 is the program memory location (hexadecimal) so it probably isn't that helpful).

[Arkansaw]

Yup, door open............ 

[Arkansaw]

This is from the MK 2.5 Stepper Manual.

Seems close.  I did not have a key for the "Audit Meter Key Switch" so I took the top class off and shorted across.  Worked for a while and now that does not work.  I hope I did not screw that up?  Of course found the following after it quit working.

[Arkansaw]

Anyone know if these screens should look like this?

[bogan]

All meters should be 0 if the ram reset has been successful.

[Heihachi_73]

Those screenshots are typical of corrupted backup data, once cleared it should all reset to 0 as bogan has mentioned. Glad you could finally get into the menu!

Note that if you want to change the denomination (e.g. 5c or 25c or $1 or even $100!) you will have to set the dip switches before you clear the memory otherwise the denomination will remain locked to the previous amount.

[Arkansaw]

Thanks all..........  I will give it a try coming up.