Author Topic: Bally Alpha M9000 not accepting vouchers (Read 2596 times)

hotshot · « **on:** June 19, 2021, 05:42:19 PM »

My Bally Alpha is acting up. Printed vouchers keep getting rejected. I reset the tito board, cleaned the lenses on the reader, and restarted the machine. I have exceeded the read error limit and not sure how to reset that either. I hate to do a memory wipe and lose my playing history.

rickhunter · « **Reply #1 on:** June 20, 2021, 06:29:17 PM »

If you put in a bill, I think that will reset the error limit. Do your vouchers look like the TITO board vouchers, where the barcode number is basically the value of the ticket? I would examine the cable for broken wires by making sure all leads have continuity. If they do, you might have a backplane issue, the mpu is not inserted all the way, or you have a bad tito serial connection.

hotshot · « **Reply #2 on:** June 22, 2021, 02:57:09 PM »

This is still puzzling me. The reader will accept cash, but not vouchers. If I insert a voucher the display will briefly flash "Please Wait Voucher Inserted", but then it spits it back out. These are reused vouchers that it has accepted many times before (set for no expiration date). I checked all the cable connectors and everything feels solid. Seems like this is a software glitch and not hardware? I'm left with a memory wipe and restart unless someone has a better idea.

rickhunter · « **Reply #3 on:** June 22, 2021, 04:14:04 PM »

When you checked the cables, did you actually use a multimeter to make sure the cables are making good contact. Visual inspection is not enough in this case. Also make sure the mpu is inserted all the way. You can power down, slightly pull out the mpu and push it back in. If that still doesn't fix it, and you are sure the cable is good, then you might want to try another TITO device. The process of accepting a bill is a lot simpler than a ticket. A bill doesn't poll the TITO device for acceptance, so if that is not working, the machine will still take the bill. What happens if you cash out? Do you get a ticket or does it go to hand pay?

hotshot · « **Reply #4 on:** June 22, 2021, 05:32:08 PM »

I powered down and reinserted the MPU, no change. I then swapped tito boards with another machine that I know was working, no change. Swapped the tito boards back to original formation.

Then, I observed the leds on the tito boards and see a very different pattern between the machine that is problematic and two others that are working. On my two "good" machines, the tx and rx leds stay illuminated green all the time. On my "bad" machine, those leds seem to flicker on and off, go out completely for a few seconds, then flick on for a while. As I was observing this behavior, the rx and tx lights suddenly illuminated and seemed to stay lit solid; I quickly inserted a $500,000 voucher and it was accepted! That seems like a bad connection somewhere doesn't it?

rickhunter · « **Reply #5 on:** June 22, 2021, 09:23:58 PM »

At this point, I think you probably have a badserial port. You could try using a different com port. You would have to clear the machine and select COM II instead of COM I as the SAS Primary port.

hotshot · « **Reply #6 on:** July 17, 2021, 02:35:43 PM »

Been a way from this problem for a while, but ready to attack it again. Thank you rickhunter for your feedback regarding a possible bad serial port; I need some help setting that up. Currently the tito board is plugged into a port called Com1; there is another port next to that with the same pin configuration called Com7. I don't see any other ports with the same pin configuration other than these two. In the machine setup mode, the options that appear are COM I and COM II.

Do I use the Com7 port as the alternate? If so, what do I do during setup?

rickhunter · « **Reply #7 on:** July 17, 2021, 03:38:31 PM »

Do the exact same thing you do for COM I, but do it for COM II (leave COM I untouched), and yes use the plug labeled COM7.

hotshot · « **Reply #8 on:** July 17, 2021, 04:50:02 PM »

Made some progress. Using the COM7 port and COMII for configuration. Both Rx and Tx leds on the tito board are green, but the unit still does not accept vouchers. I wonder if I did something wrong in the com setup?

Please see if these settings make sense:
In PROTOCOL SELECT menu, I set Host ComII to SAS Primary, left ComI untouched.

In SAS SETUP menu, I set Validation to Standard.

In Device Owner Setup, I set everything to SAS Primary except for Voucher In. The default for Voucher In is "Not Set", if I try and change it the only other option is "Disabled".

sixcardmark · « **Reply #9 on:** July 17, 2021, 04:56:29 PM »

Set validation to system, this will also allow you to set voucher in to enabled.

hotshot · « **Reply #10 on:** July 17, 2021, 06:14:14 PM »

Thank you sixcardmark, setting validation to System was the final piece of the puzzle. Up and running again!

hotshot · « **Reply #11 on:** August 15, 2021, 07:19:25 PM »

Well after a month of delightful playing time, my Alpha is back to it's old tricks again: vouchers not accepted. LEDs on the tito board do not look like my other functional machine. And swapping tito boards and cables does not help.

Recall that I moved to a different com port last time to correct this issue, but now that seems to have failed me as well.

What is the next step here? New backplane board? Looking for good advice and parts sourcing if needed.

sixcardmark · « **Reply #12 on:** August 15, 2021, 08:57:33 PM »

Yes I would try a different backplane. Don't know anything about this seller: https://ebay.us/TOBVNf

hotshot · « **Reply #13 on:** August 16, 2021, 01:45:29 PM »

New backplane is on order. Is this something I can just power down and replace or will it require a ram clear?

rickhunter · « **Reply #14 on:** August 16, 2021, 02:34:05 PM »

Backplane is linked to mpu, you will need to clear it.

hotshot · « **Reply #15 on:** August 20, 2021, 12:50:20 PM »

New backplane arrived today. After install and machine boot, a red box appears on the screen with the message "Call Attendant". The game screen never appears. I toggled the service switch to restart and get the same result. I also checked the fit on all the plugs and re-inserted the CPU. Is there something I'm missing?

New board looks very similar to the old one with a few exceptions: plug connectors are the same, but some components are populated differently between the two boards.

sixcardmark · « **Reply #16 on:** August 20, 2021, 12:56:57 PM »

When you get to call attendant try pushing the white test button on MPU to see if it gives you more info on errors.

sixcardmark · « **Reply #17 on:** August 20, 2021, 01:11:41 PM »

Did you clear machine?

hotshot · « **Reply #18 on:** August 20, 2021, 01:19:05 PM »

I did a ram clear. Nothing happens when I push the white test button.

I have attached some photos that may offer clues.

The file labeled "Working" is from my good Alpha machine. The file labeled "Not Working" is the problem machine with the new backplane. The "Original" file is the old backplane that I replaced.

Notice that the backplane in my good Alpha is exactly like the new one I just received, but different than the one I took out of my problem machine. Interesting to me is the plug connector labeled ATX Power Select in the upper right. The good Alpha has a jumper configuration plugged into this space.

Maybe I have the wrong version of backplane?

sixcardmark · « **Reply #19 on:** August 20, 2021, 02:29:58 PM »

Did you put a new battery in the new backplane? There is nothing plugged into that atx connector on either of my machines, one is a S9E and the other is a transparent 9000. I can play M9000 games on either one.

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Author Topic: Bally Alpha M9000 not accepting vouchers (Read 2596 times)