Pyramid S600 Bill Validator not working in serial mode

[rescue161]

I can make it work with pulse mode, but it is prone to causing the POG to give a lockout message that I have to keep resetting, so I'd like to move it to serial operation.  I called Pyramid to verify that I had to correct 12V wiring harness, so that is good.  He insisted that I use the DIP switches on the S600, but that doesn't seem right to me, as the switches only reference pulse mode.  He said that I should turn on 1-5 and leave 6-8 off.  Doing that results in the DVA not working at all.  If I turn all of the switches off, the DVA comes to life and accepts bills, but they are not recognized at all.  I have checked and double checked the wiring harnesses for the POG and the DBA and all appears to be right.  I initially used the programming cards to set the S600 to pulse mode, so I tried to use one to program it for serial, but I am not 100% sure which blocks to shade in.  I have tried RS-232, Serial/Pulse, Always Enabled and none of those work.  When I shaded in Serial/Pulse, I made sure to select NONE under the pulse section.  I really would like to put this behind me as it has been wasting too much of my time lately.  Any help is greatly appreciate.

[rescue161]

DVA should read DBA.  I have no idea what I was thinking...

[Stayouttadabunker]

It sounds like they were originally working fine, set to pulse.
Then, after some time, they weren't...
If your POG is locking up, check the thermal paste under the heatsink and fans.
Shouldn't be hard and cracked.
The video graphics processor chip could be overheating, causing the lock down to preserve itself.
Are your fans older than dirt?

All POG's I've ever seen, have all used pulse signals - set at 4 pulses per dollar.
Wish I could help you with the serial set ups, but I've never had to use it.
As far as DBV's, I've only worked with MEI's and JCM's.
Hopefully someone more familiar with your setup will chime in.

[rescue161]

The game itself is not locking up, it is just throwing a "lockout" error, because it thinks it is being cheated by the amount of pulses that it is receiving.  It only does it when I throw a $100 bill at it and it doesn't do it every time, but it is very frustrating.  It will sometimes fault with a $20, but not near as often as with the $100 bills.  I guess it knows that it should not be receiving that many pulses in the given amount of time.  I did set the bill acceptor to "fast" pulses.  I guess I could use the "slow" setting to see if that makes it any better.

[rescue161]

After talking with Pyramid, their tech kept stating that I needed to flip the DIP switches on the bottom of the validator to 1-5 ON and 6-8 OFF.  He said they have done tons like this and they all work.  This made no sense to me, because those DIP switches are for pulse mode configuration.  It states that on the bottom label and in the manual.  I told the tech that and he told me to ignore the manual...  WTF over?  Anyway, after putting the DIP switches to what he told me, it did not work.  After inserting a bill, I could hear it sending pulses, which reinforces what the manual and the sticker on the bottom were correct; that the switches are for pulse mode only.  I don't understand how a company can make, market and sell a product that they do not understand.  The tech either does not understand how serial communication works or he is just plain confused and thinks that pulse mode is serial mode.

Either way, I did get it to work.  I will note that the pin-out in the first post is wrong and should not be used!!!  I corrected the pin-out in this post and it does work just fine.

I used the configuration cards and set it to Serial, No Pulses and the bills/orientation that I wanted to accept.  The key was to only power up the DBA, but not connect it to the POG board.  When it was connected, it would not finish initializing.  So, I only connected 12VDC and then pressed the diagnostic button for 10 seconds, until it started blinking white.  Then I fed the card marked for serial and no pulses into the DBA.  Once it accepted, it returned the card and flashed a series of flashes.  Then, I was able to connect the DBA to the POG using either the 12VDC or the 120VAC serial cable.  While the POG is in the config screens, the DBA will not work.  It must be in game mode.  Now, serial operation works like a champ.  No more pulses, no more locking up the game, because the pulses we counted incorrectly or because the machine thought it was being cheated by too many pulses within a given time allotment.  I was able to replicate this on two setups.  To reiterate, I was not able to get these to program with the cards while connected to the game.  I had to remove the serial communication cable and only power the DBV/DBA.  The first one I did by applying 120VAC to the 9-pin connector.  I did the second applying 12VDC to the 18-pin connector.  Both worked fine.  I hope this helps.

[Stayouttadabunker]

You know more than that Pyramid tech....lol
Thanks for posting your fix. 
Certainly, it will help someone in the future.