Author Topic: Gamemaker 8000 - Mains saferam signature corrupted - need assistance (Read 7759 times)

vbtalent · « **on:** July 09, 2022, 02:40:05 PM »

I was helping a friend today try to erase and reset his Gamemaker 8000.

I replaced the P10 chip with the erase chip and set the dip switches to on.

I then powered on the machine, see video of screen output. https://youtu.be/yVqDZ3Xt9dM

It then went to the defaults screen.

I then set the defaults and saved it, powered off the machine and rebooted again.

The machine booted and gave me the same original error message… it seems like the settings didn’t get written to ram?? Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get around this problem??

Any help would be appreciated...

VB,

vbtalent · « **Reply #1 on:** July 11, 2022, 07:44:44 AM »

Its never good when a forum post doesn't get any reply's... ugh!

Since I'm new to repairing a video poker machine.. can anyone tell me what this message is actually telling me?? "Mains saferam signature corrupted"

I've not heard of the term saferam before... is that similar to pc ram?

VB,

shortrackskater · « **Reply #2 on:** July 11, 2022, 03:21:14 PM »

This is a great forum, but some of those who would have replied here, died.
Sometimes it takes a few days for the others to log back on. This is an entirely volunteer (no one is paid) forum.
Hang on...

shortrackskater · « **Reply #3 on:** July 11, 2022, 03:25:33 PM »

For starters, right here in this forum was the same question. I simply searched your terms in this forum - "Mains saferam signature corrupted."

Here's what I found so far.
https://newlifegames.com/nlg/index.php?topic=100.msg465#msg465

vbtalent · « **Reply #4 on:** July 11, 2022, 04:10:19 PM »

Thanks for the reply shorttrackskater. I certainly appreciate the link you gave and the amount of time it might take for other reply’s… a bit impatient on my behalf, I will adjust accordingly.

Just curious if you can shed some light on what the error message is saying in human speak?? And if you might be familiar with the process of running a clear chip?

I’m guessing that the clear chip is designed to totally clear the ram chip that stores the settings?? If that is the case, based on my screen shots does it appear to have completed that successfully, I don’t know what success looks like??

If it is clearing, then it seems like the problem is in the writing of the ram chip, guessing that it might be a dip switch problem or could the battery cause that???

Thanks for the discussion.

shortrackskater · « **Reply #5 on:** July 11, 2022, 06:34:56 PM »

To start, a few questions.
What happened that required his machine to be cleared? Did he do a game change?
And, after you put in the clear chip, did you set the dip switches back? I believe it's 6,7,8. And did you check the battery voltage?
I'm going to PM some members that have better brains than mine, right now.
Go ahead and reply to the first two questions and that will help them.

Badbaud · « **Reply #6 on:** July 11, 2022, 06:50:53 PM »

To clear the Safe Ram also turn on dip switches 6,7, and 8 after putting the clear chip into P10.

vbtalent · « **Reply #7 on:** July 12, 2022, 11:47:20 AM »

Quote from: shortrackskater on July 11, 2022, 06:34:56 PM

To start, a few questions.
What happened that required his machine to be cleared? Did he do a game change?
And, after you put in the clear chip, did you set the dip switches back? I believe it's 6,7,8. And did you check the battery voltage?
I'm going to PM some members that have better brains than mine, right now.
Go ahead and reply to the first two questions and that will help them.

I believe the problem arose from the game sitting.. no new chips/games have been added.
I think he replaced the battery also, I'll be taking a look at that. Should I see some stored voltage there? This battery is soldered in.
So, I set the dip switches (1-8) according the directions all 8 were set to "On".

Here is the process we used:
- Powered off the machine
- Set the dip switches to "ON"
- Insert the clear chip
- Powered the machine on (see video)
- Once completed we powered off the machine
- Set the dip switches to "OFF"
- Removed and replaced the Clear chip and the P10 chip
- Powered on the machine

Then the "Mains saferam signature corrupted" came right back..

Quote

And did you check the battery voltage?

I did not check the voltage. Should there be voltage when the machine is off or do I need to check it while the machine is on?

Thanks,

63mini · « **Reply #8 on:** July 12, 2022, 02:52:16 PM »

vbtalent,

You should check the battery with the power off. Remove the board for easier access.

vbtalent · « **Reply #9 on:** July 12, 2022, 04:39:15 PM »

I should expect to find voltage??

63mini · « **Reply #10 on:** July 12, 2022, 04:44:56 PM »

Quote from: vbtalent on July 12, 2022, 04:39:15 PM

I should expect to find voltage??

Yes, it should be 3.6v. You can double check that by the labeling on the battery.

Chris-socal · « **Reply #11 on:** July 12, 2022, 09:44:41 PM »

I don’t want to make this conversation complicated, you have two of the best people supporting you. I will just add that my Gamemaker went through a temperamental period where it would lose settings and boot to blue screen on a regular basis or get stuck in boot cycle. My game ended up having a driver chip problem and once replaced has behaved since.

If you are not sure the battery is good….replace it! If it is getting low and you get the game working you will have to do all this again. Battery is most likely your core issue. These machines were never intended to be in houses, used occasionally. The battery was intended to retain critical information should the machine fail on the casino floor or while being serviced.

Chris

vbtalent · « **Reply #12 on:** July 13, 2022, 03:44:19 AM »

Many thanks for the reply's.

I'll be taking another look today and from your suggestions I'll be honing in on the battery.

I'm assuming that the clear process appears to be working working correctly based on the screens and feedback I'm seeing. It seems like, even though the writing process also appears to be happening it isn't able to "Store" the data since the battery isn't functioning and on a reboot there are no settings to boot from, that seems logical to me.

I'll post back as soon as I can test it again.

VB,

63mini · « **Reply #13 on:** July 13, 2022, 08:03:12 AM »

vbtalent,

Also, if your third photo is after you set your parameters you may need to look at those as I think they may be incorrect. Does your machine not have either a coin acceptor or bill validator?

vbtalent · « **Reply #14 on:** July 14, 2022, 05:07:36 AM »

Last night we made some good progress... after pulling the board and re-inspecting it, I found that the battery was installed backwards, once fixed we were off to the races.

I re-inserted the clear chip after setting the dip switches to ON and it went through its clear process. We were then faced with setting the parameters. This seems to create the most uncertainty for us as we just don't know what some of the setting should be and their meanings. The following are the ones that seem to not be a logical choice and what we have chosen...

Jurisdiction - 5 "Default"
Primary Host - NONE
Secondary Host - NONE
SAS Version - NONE (The machine does appear to have a communication board in the top section with 2 LPT ports, wires are also cut. I assume this is what is being referred to??)
Coin Acceptor - NONE (There does not appear to be a coin mechanism. This was setup for Freeplay)
Bill Acceptor - NONE (There does not appear to be a bill acceptor mechanism,)
Printer Type - NONE (There is a printer but we were not asked to make a selection, based upon the Primary Host selection being NONE, I think)
Door Type - Mechanical (I assume this to be correct?)

We're also seeing a message after it boots on the screen about the Bill Acceptor and No Printer, is this normal?? (screen shot)

We're also having an issue with the machine thinking the door is open even though the door is locked and the switch is closed. If we close the door on the machine and lock it the machine is still registering the door open. If I open the door and manually hold in the door close switch the door open message goes off and it thinks it's closed. Maybe this is tied to the type of door type we selected???

The last thing were having an issue with is coining up credits? How is this normally done? Does the DIP switch need to be ON for "Autoplay"?

Hopefully these issues are all tied to the SafeRam settings...

We really appreciate your input and help with this.

VB,

Chris-socal · « **Reply #15 on:** July 14, 2022, 10:04:27 AM »

Great to hear, as we said battery was surely the core issue. Lol
A few things
Are you sure your door type is Mechanical and not optic?
I was told to use Jurisdiction 1. Maybe thats regional.
After you get the game set up you need to get it out of Demo mode.

Turn the key switch once
Go to Terminal ID
Type 11111111111111
Enter (cr)

Thats an excerpt from a setup document a friend gave me. I learned the hard way too, after clear chip the game goes to Demo mode. After that it should take credits. Not sure about the door closure issue. Let us know.

Chris

vbtalent · « **Reply #16 on:** July 20, 2022, 05:15:52 AM »

I’m not finding a way to get the machine out of demo mode I’m not seeing a place to enter the “Terminal ID”, ideas?

Chris-socal · « **Reply #17 on:** July 20, 2022, 05:38:50 AM »

I see the door open text on your screen. I think you have to close the door before to do system settings, should be under Configuration.

vbtalent · « **Reply #18 on:** July 20, 2022, 09:44:45 AM »

With the door closed or at least the button held in.. turning the key gives me the following menu… still nowhere to enter TerminalID?

Chris-socal · « **Reply #19 on:** July 20, 2022, 12:57:05 PM »

So sorry. I had that backwards.
It’s not in Config/host? The one on the far right?
I will look at mine when I get home from work tonight. I was going to do that but ran out of time this morning.

There are several posts on this, maybe I need to do a post where I list the steps and include the Demo mode issue. This almost always gets resolved in a post that is 3 miles long so it’s hard to find.

Chris

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Author Topic: Gamemaker 8000 - Mains saferam signature corrupted - need assistance (Read 7759 times)