So on Quora there is an author named Franklin Veaux. He writes answers and comments on a lot of different topics and generally seems to have a good head on his shoulders and knows what he is talking about. One such topic that came up was the future of computer architectures with regard to system memory and offline storage. Today’s modern computer systems utilize smaller amounts of primary RAM for system storage, which is fast but volatile; and larger amounts of slow but persistent storage via magnetic rotational or solid state drives (i.e. hard drives).
As we make advancements in memory technologies, it is conceivable that we will eventually end up with a memory device that is dense (as in density, not intelligence), fast, robust, and persistent. When this happens, the differentiation between system RAM and persistent storage may start to blur, or go away entirely.
So I was thinking about a logging system I implemented almost 15 years ago to replace an existing one that lacked a standard way of presenting context and information. I drew from how the VAX/VMS DCL interface returned status messages. Some examples:
%DECnet-W-ZEROLEN, length of file i zero -- SYS$SYSROOT:[SYSEXE]NET$CONFIG.DAT
%SMP-I-CPUTRN, CPU #1 has joined the active set.
%STARTUP-E-NOPAGFIL, No page files have been successfully installed.
But the first part was replaced with the app/service name, each line was prefixed with the current date and time: 2024-05-28 02:09:42, and the last token was a facility code.
Looking back, I think I should have followed the DCL format a little more closely, using a format more like: SUBSYSTEM-e-FACILITY, where “e” is a single character severity code (in increasing order of security): Debug, Info, Warning, Error, and Fatal, with the addition of an Always level. This allows for filtering and configuring the verbosity level of the logging system with the exception that the Always level is always written to the log/console regardless of the configured logging level. The time format would also be changed slightly to what’s log in UTC make it consistent with standard formats: 2024-05-28T02:09:42Z.
This yields a format that can easily be scanned visually or parsed by a tool for offline analysis.
I am seeing something across multiple classic Bally pins that makes me think it is an actual bug in the firmware. It has to do with the LATCH signals for the displays. Specifically the Credit/Match/Ball (CMB) display.
“We just have a difference of opinion” – remember that? We heard that a lot during the pandemic, usually from someone that is talking out of their ass and comparing their opinion to something stated by a doctor, scientist, researcher, or in a published article. This person is often comparatively uneducated, and inexperienced with the topic at hand. Sure, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but no one is entitled to have their opinions valued the same as anyone else’s, or even heard for that matter. Continue reading We Just Have a Difference of Opinion…→
?So the official unofficial pizza rules have been around for more than 20 years, created by some other devs and I to help estimate how much pizza should be purchased and in what varieties. The rules are simple:
Estimate a minimum of three (3) slices per person
Follow the KISS philosophy, and stick to the basics (at least 25% of the pizzas should be plain, the rest can be pepperoni, mushroom, etc.)
If anyone wants a specialty order, like a vegetarian supreme with anchovies, that speciality pizza must be exhausted before they can have any other pizza
Rule 1 is a good starting point and you should never go below this value. Everyone loves pizza day. But if you only get a slice or two, wanting more ruins the whole pizza experience. Continue reading Pizza Rules and Calculator→
…is the method used by mechanical mice, trackballs, and spinners like those used on Tempest and Arkanoid. It works by attaching a movement axis to a slotted wheel and placing the slots in between two optoisolators or optos. When talking about Quadrature Encoding, the two signals from the optos are sometimes referred to as Clockand Data.
So I have a stand-alone Mata Hari headboard that is used for testing purposes.
I previously had a AlltekUltimate Solenoid Driver Board (USDB) in it that was powering an Alltek MPU board. That USDB was pulled because it was needed for another purpose and I later received a new USDB as a replacement. However, after connecting this one up it only lit up its +43 VDC LED. (Actually, it also lit up its 180 VDC LED, but that has nothing to do with this post.)
We all love our vids and pins. And for those of us that repair and/or restore older games, most of us are proud in what we have done to return them working again and bring them back to their former glory. And we might like the idea of sharing them with others at an event like Free Play Florida (FPF) where we can proudly display our games to others and let them enjoy them as much we we do. But if you are gonna contribute games to a Free Play event, there are some things to keep in mind.
(Note: I am strictly speaking for myself here, and not as anyone that is affiliated with FPF. These are my own opinions and experiences.)
So I was helping a friend with his Haunted House (HH) pin. The bottom playfield stopped kicking the ball back onto the main playfield, and the two right score displays and the center credit/ball display would distort on a cyclic basis – they would show all segments in a flash-flash-pause, flash-flash-pause pattern, and this happened when the game was in attract mode, test mode, or being played.
The playfield problem was from the three connectors for the bottom playfield not being routed correctly and he accidentally unplugged them when lifting the main playfield – two of the three of them were disconnected. We routed them through the little slot at the back of the bottom playfield, connected everything up and it all started working again. Continue reading Odd Display Issue in Gottlieb Haunted House pin→
So a site I work with has had two GamePro monitors go down. One of them was from an odd power issue that ended up smoking one of the Zeners on its control board, and the other was just a loose power connector. These boards use a lot of smaller SMT components that I am not equipped to repair
I went searching for a replacement board for the monitor and found some on SH’s web site here (be sure to have a good look at the example image they show). The boards had the same markings, so I bought 3 of them so I could have some spares JIC. Continue reading Got Screwed by Suzo-Happ→
Information is this document is from personal experience with these beasts and some was stole^H^H^H^H^H… um, I mean… inspired… from many sources including official Atari docs (wiring diagrams, schematics) and Internet-based sources from authors that are far smarter than I, including:
Some of the information in this document may be incorrect!!!
The reader (um, that means YOU) assumes all risk of using or misusing this information. I am not responsible if the information in this document results in damage to your AR-II, damages your game, burns your house down, gets your sister pregnant, kills your dog, causes you to get divorced, etc. By continuing to read this document and/or apply the information contained within, you acknowledge the above and assume all risks of using the information provided.
We Will Start by Just Getting This Out of the Way…
The notorious SENSE mod. The arcade community seems split on this one. Not exactly a 50/50 split, but more people seem to recommend performing the mod. The rest vote for keeping the SENSE circuit intact, and “simply” performing proper maintenance and/or other mods on the game to alleviate the connectors heating up and burning, which is the primary reason for suggesting that one should disable the SENSE circuit.
Personally, I prefer to learn from history – suggesting that one correctly maintain their game and keep their edge connectors clean is great. But we all know that people just do not do it. So personally, I suggest performing the mod, and directions for doing so are included in this document. Besides, I think it is better to find out that your connectors are going bad by a voltage drop causing the game to stop working, not by your connectors getting too hot and deteriorating further.
That said, you will see people talk about “bulletproofing” an AR-II, and then they simply go about describing the SENSE mod.
THIS IS NOT BULLETPROOFING!
Anyone that says that simply performing the SENSE mod is bulletproofing1 an A/R-II is lying to you or just does not know any better. Why? Because if the +5V regulation fails it is still possible to end up with more than +5V over the +5V line, which could damage any board connected to it. What kind of “bulletproofing” is that? (Shameless plug: that is why I designed a PCB with an adjustable crowbar circuit – THAT is how you bulletproof an A/R-II!) Anyway – rant over… information on an easy way to perform the SENSE mod is shown below where I document connector J7.
Meet the Atari Regulator/Audio II (mod -02)
This component, affectionally referred to as the A/R-II (“A Are Two” even though calling it the R/A-II would be more correct) was used in many of Atari’s games from the ‘70s and ‘80s. It exists in various forms, from the original Regulator/Audio board used in early B/W games like Asteroids and Atari Football, to the Regulator/Audio II used in many different color games to about the mid ‘80s (e.g. Centipede, Dig Dug, Kangaroo, Missile Command, Pole Position, Tempest, etc.), to the Regulator/Audio III.
Its primary purpose was to supply necessary voltages for the game (logic, audio, and sometimes things like the odd voltages required to erase an EAROM), as well as provide audio amplification. Different versions of the board provided different features like different voltages, more amperage, etc. The image below shows a -02 version.
Figure 1 – AR-II Sections
The board can be roughly divided into 3 areas that are shaded purple, green, and bluein the above image. The middle and upper-left areas are +5V regulation, the lower-left is audio amplification, and the right side is secondary voltages (-5V, +12V, and +/-22V). It is worth mentioning that both “halves” of the board are logically separate. You can apply power to only the left side and get your +5V and audio amps. And you can apply power to only the right side and get your secondary voltages. Both sides do not have to be powered up at the same time.
The connectors are consistent between other versions and revisions of the board, so it may be possible to substitute one for the other depending on the voltages and/or features required. For example, a -03 can usually be used to replace a -02.
Connectors
We will go through the connectors in order of their designations.
J6 – Main Power Input
Figure 2 – AR-II Connector J6
This connector supplies the power required to produce the regulated +5V and audio amps. Note that the +10.3VDC input is unregulated and may normally measure a couple of volts higher when not loaded, such as if you meter it directly on the power brick.
J7 – Main Power Output and Audio Input
Figure 3 – AR-II Connector J7
This connector supplies the regulated +5V as well as the SENSE lines. It also is where unamplified audio comes into the board.
SENSE Circuit Description and the SENSE Mod
So, how about we stop here for a second to talk about SENSE. You may have heard of the infamous SENSE circuit on these boards, but what does it really do? Well, it is supposed to detect a voltage drop between the power supply and the game’s board. On the game’s PCB the +5V is routed to +SENSE, and GND (the +5Vreturn) is connected to -SENSE. The A/R board uses the voltage coming back on the SENSE lines to determine if it needs to bump up the voltage to compensate for any voltage drop that occurred on the way to the game’s PCB. Sounds like a good idea at first, right?
Well, now throw in a failing +5V connection to the board – like a dirty connection or a physically failing one. As more and more voltage is lost, the SENSE circuit will keep boosting the voltage, which can lead to overheating and exacerbate the failing connection. Remember that the +5V and +SENSEare connected on the game board? Well, if the +5V connection fails badly enough, the game might try to draw current over the +SENSEline. This is the cause of the infamous smoking of R30 (and sometimes R29) – the game is trying to draw multiple amps across that poor little ¼ or ½ watt resistor.
So, the SENSE mod tricks the SENSE circuit into always seeing exactly what the A/R board is putting out. This is done by connecting +5V and +SENSEtogether, and GND and -SENSEtogether, on the A/R board itself. The easiest(?) way to do this is to turn the A/R board over and solder a jumper between pins 1 and 2, and another one between 3 and 6 on connector J7. Note that after doing this, you may have to manually adjust the +5V pot to get a solid +5V at the game board.
It is also worth noting that if you ever need to bench test the board or adjust the voltage using the pot at R8, make sure that the +SENSEline is connected back to the +5V line either via the mod or by connecting-up a game board. The +SENSEline is what is connected to the feedback input on the +5V regulator and and this feedback circuit is necessary for the board to work correctly.
J8 – Speaker (Amplified Audio) Output
Figure 4 – AR-II Connector J8
This is the amplified audio (Speaker) connection. If you are used to seeing positive and negative speaker signals, consider the SPKR1 and SPKR2 signals to be the positive ones, and the GND to be the negative ones.
J9 – Secondary Power Input
Figure 5 – AR-II Connector J9
This connector provides the 36VAC (note – AC,not DC like on J6) input voltage to the board which is necessary to generate the additional +12, +/-22, +/-15, and -5 voltages. Not all A/R boards are stuffed to produce all the secondary voltages. On the board shown in this document, the area that would be used to produce the +/-15V is unpopulated.
J10 – Secondary Voltage Output
Figure 6 – AR-II Connector J10
This connector provides the additional voltages produced from the 36VAC provided on connector J9. (Pins 7 and 10 would be the +/-15V if it was present on this board.) Also note that the +/-22Vis unregulated and directly connected to the bridge’s filtered output, so do not be surprised if you see a higher voltage when unloaded.
Operation
Here I will try to describe how this A/R board works.
Primary +5V Supply
The primary +5V supply derives from the +10.3VDC input to the left side of the board. This uses a LM305 regulator marked Q1 and transistors Q2 and Q3 to boost the output current. Q2 (a TIP32) acts as a driver for the larger Q3 (a 2N3055).
Excessive voltage or no voltage on the +5V line may be caused by a failed 2N3055 or a failed LM305. Suspect the 2N3055 if you have +5V present, but it drops when you load the +5V line. If you have no +5V output and the audio amps also appear to not be working, verify the +10.3VDC input voltage from the powerbrick.
Figure 7 – AR-II Primary Voltage Area
Audio Amplifiers
Audio amplification is provided by the two TDA2002(AV) amplifiers.
If you are having problems with distorted sound, I would start with the two larger output coupling caps, C9 (SPKR1) and C10 (SPKR2) before looking at the amplifiers themselves.
Figure 8 – AR-II Amplifier Area
Secondary Voltages
The secondary voltages derive from the 36VAC input to the right side of the board. This AC goes through a traditional full-wave bridge rectifier constructed using four discrete diodes (CR5, CR6, CR7 and CR8) with the two large smoothing caps C18 and C19. Its output is used to produce all the secondary voltages. If you notice excessive ripple on any of the secondary voltages, especially the +/-22Vones, check C18 and C19.
If you notice a sudden voltage drop on the secondary voltages, or a complete loss of one of the polarities, check for failed diodes in the rectifier (i.e. the full-wave rectifier may have become a half-wave rectifier).
+/-22V Unregulated Supply
This is directly connected to the post-smoothed rectifier output. If the incoming 36VAC is good and all the rectification and filtering is working correctly, you should see these voltages. These outputs might be the best ones to look at to help spot rectification and filtering issues. Remember this is an unregulated output so you may see a higher voltage here when unloaded.
Figure 9 – AR-II Secondary Voltage Input
+/-15V Supply (Not present on this board.)
These voltages are produced by two regulators that use the unregulated +/-22V as inputs. The positive regulator is a 7815 and is connected to the positive side of the unregulated +/-22V, and the negative one is a 7915 that is connected to the negative side of the unregulated +/-22V.
Figure 10 – +/-15V Voltage Area
+12V Supply
This voltage is produced by a 7812 regulator connected to the positive side of the unregulated +/-22V.
Figure 11 – +12V Supply
– 5V Supply
This voltage is produced by a 7905 regulator connected to the negative side of the unregulated +/-22V.
Figure 12 – -5V Supply
Troubleshooting
This section covers a few things that might help with troubleshooting and repair of an A/R-II.
First is a good adjustable power supply to produce the +10.3V for the primary side and either a transformer that will output ~36VAC or a variable one for the 36VAC for the secondary side. I recommend working with one side at a time.
Next is to get a good quality 2-ohm, 20 W cermet resistor. When briefly connected between +5V and GND it will pull 2.5 amps and I believe this is a suitable load to test the +5V line with.
If testing on a bench, be sure to either have the sense mod performed or jumper together the +SENSE and +5V pins, and the -SENSE and GND pins.
Problem/Symptom
Possible Cause(s)
+5V is present and seems stable when measured while unloaded but drops to a much lower voltage when loaded.
1. The 5V regulator may have failed.
2. The 5V regulator is working, but the board cannot provide the additional current that would normally be provided via Q2 and/or Q3, so one or both may have failed (likely just Q3).
No +5V present, audio amplification seems to be working.
1. This could mean that the 5V regulator has failed.
2. This could mean that the 5V regulator is working, but the board cannot provide the additional current that would normally be provided via Q2 and/or Q3, so one or both may have failed (likely just Q3).
No +5V and no audio amplification.
Check 10.3VDC input and fuses on power brick.
One or more audio channels is not working.
The amplifier for that audio channel may have failed – the TDA2002 at Q5 for SPKR1 and/or the one at Q7 for SPKR2.
One or more audio channels are distorted.
The output coupling cap for that audio channel may be leaky and need to be replaced – C9 for SPKR1 and/or C10 for SPKR2.
+5V has excessive ripple present or the game is experiencing excessive crashes, resets, visual artifacts, odd behaviors, etc. Sometimes an audio hum can also be heard.
Check the large filtering capacitor (the “Big Blue”) on the power brick.
Secondary voltages have excessive ripple present (especially noticeable on the +/-22V).
Check the two large filtering capacitors on the right side of the board – C18 and C19.
Secondary voltages are missing a polarity or a reduction in output is voltage is present
One or more of the diodes that comprise the full-wave bridge rectifier on the right side of the board may have failed – CR5, CR6, CR7 or CR8.
Missing one or more of the regulated secondary voltages.
The regulator for the associated voltage may have failed – the 7905 for the-5, or the 7812 for the +12.
Pulling too much current on the 36VAC (blown fuses).
One or more diodes in the bridge may have shorted – CR5, CR6, CR7 or CR8.
Component Layout and Parts List
The following is a redrawn parts layout for this A/R-II board. Location may not be precise or exact down to a millimeter but should allow you to locate and identify components of interest. A parts list is also included.
Figure 13 – AR-II Layout and Parts List (Click for full size image)
Modifications
Converting a -02 to -03
The version -03 of the AR-II is almost identical to the -02 but with a few changes for the increased current demands of Missile Command (and Monte Carlo?). The differences are:
R25 – a 4 ohm 5W resistor, is replaced with a jumper (or you might see a black zero-ohm resistor)
R31 – a 22 ohm 10W resistor is replaced with a 15 ohm resistor
This also means that you should be able to safely substitute a -03 for an -02 if necessary.
[1] You do not wear a bulletproof vest to prevent things from going wrong, you wear one for when things do go wrong. If you are not able to completely prevent or robustly handle a catastrophic failure, I would suggest that you are notbulletproofing.
I finally got around to working on a Galaga board for AM and I got it up and running and was leaving it on for a 24-hour test when it crapped out showing a error on ROM 39 (which does not exist). This eventually degraded into a state where it did not display any errors at all, and just seem to hang up at the nonvolatile memory test (NVM OK), and started playing random sounds.
Theory of Operation of the Shaq 27722-1 (A23) LED Display Board (4-player score board).Theory of Operation of the Shaq 27722-1 (A23) LED Display Board (4-player score board).
Theory of Operation
This is a brief technical introduction to the operation of the 27722-1 (A23) board. It will cover inputs and behavior of the board.
Inputs
This board accepts the following three control inputs:
Master Reset (/MR)
8-Bit Data (DX0–DX7 – pulled up to +5v/VCC)
Enable/Strobe for the latches (AX4)
It also accepts +5, common GND, +12 and the +12V GND (both GNDs are connected together).
The incoming 8-bit data is split into two 4-bit words with the low word (DX0–DX3) used for specifying the value to display on a particular LED digit via the ‘4511 (BCD to 7-segment latch/decoder/driver), with DX0, DX1, DX2 and DX3 connected to inputs A, B, C and D (or D1, D2, D3, and D4), respectively. The high word (DX4–DX7) is used for digit selection via the ‘4514 (4 to 16-Line Latch/Decoder/Demultiplexer), with DX4, DX5, DX6 and DX7 connected to inputs A, B, C and D, respectively.
Latches for the corresponding chips are controlled via the AX4 signal, which is directly connected to the 4511’s /LE input and also goes through an inverter whose output is connected to the 4514’s LE.
The /MR signal is connected to the 4511’s /BI signal, which is used to blank the displays whenever the game is in reset.
So I was working on a Pac board for a friend that was dying at boot with symptoms of bad VRAM. I swapped out all of the RAMs only to have the problem persist. Continue reading Pac-Man With Strange RAM Issue→
Anytime remember when memes used to be used strictly as form of entertainment? Those of us that have been around remember favorites like the Zero Wing “All Your Base Are Belong to Us,”Ermahgerd, Overly Attached Girlfriend, etc. Sites like 4Chan were never-ending sources of new and old material (usually old). But everyone was in on the joke – we all knew it was meant to be funny, not facts.
At the time if this writing, we are in the middle of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic where the Delta variant is kicking our collective asses. Vaccines and measures like masking and distancing are available, but anti-vax and anti-mask mentality is higher than it should be, and much of it can be traced back to some meme as the source.
One of the signs of reliable information sources is when someone is not afraid to cite them (PubMed, Justia, FindLaw, Google Scholar, CDC, WHO, JISC/CORE, Statista, etc.) But when someone’s source is/was a meme on a questionable site somewhere, they are often unwilling to cite that source, change the subject, or disparage other sources: “lol you trust the data coming from the cdc?“
Today memes are dangerous weapons of misinformation and/disinformation. Meaningful discussion about things like SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, vaccines, variants, your immune system, etc., requires using science-y words that might sound scary and the topics involved may not be well understood by everyone. (You may find that those that talk about not living in fear, are actually living in fear of science.)
Sometimes the complexity of scientific topics is in itself a problem and can lead to misunderstandings. That is another reason memes are so dangerous – they are bite-sized pieces of information (often wrong) that are written using simple language and/or use simple pictures, which makes them easier to understand by less educated and/or lesser skilled people, and are surprisingly easy to share on social media.
After all, it is easier to share an image than to compose a post that makes cogent arguments and/or clearly expresses your point of view on something. Why go through the trouble of writing about your doubts regarding the efficacy of masking when you take into account the different types of masks available and that people do not know how to don/doff them correctly, when instead you can just repost gems like this:
Idiot’s mindset
(Oh, and BTW, your “friend” is an idiot – the disease is called “COVID-19,” not “covid.”)
George Carlin famously said:
“Never Underestimate The Power Of Stupid People In Large Groups.”
We have the dangerous combination of the above mentioned large groups combined with the abundance of simplistic memes out there.
So I able to successfully elicit a predictable response pattern, albeit inadvertently, while responding to a video on TikTok that shows a woman in a pool wearing what appears to be a surgical mask. I had no idea why she was wearing the mask, nor did anyone else in the thread and it was obvious they did not care to (that was the first sign). And while there was no proof of her putting the mask into the water or the mask being wet (the astute observer will notice the mask retains its shape without sagging), comments included such gems like “waterbording herself.” Gotta love it.
So this question came up from a Deaf creator that I follow on TikTok. She wondered why (hearing) people might judge others based on the noises they make. The specific context here is noise made during communication (ASL production), but can be expanded to any noise that deaf people may be making unbeknownst to them.
As a hearing person that went though the experience in question (long before I starting learning ASL and learning about the Deaf World) and the things listed below, I believe I am qualified to provide an answer to this.
As hearing people, we are exposed to sounds and noise all the time, even while in the womb(!). What some deaf people may not initially realize is that just about everythingthat moves makes noise! And I am talking about an understanding that goes far beyond that moment where you first learned that farts made a noise! 😛 Continue reading Why do Deaf Noises Make Some Hearies Uncomfortable?→
The quickest way to spot misinformation is to check the wording used. The first tip is if they cannot tell the difference between the virus (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease (COVID-19) – if you get that wrong, you likely got everything else wrong, too. Anyone that cannot spell vaccine correctly and refers to it as the jab or the poke, is likely spreading vaccine misinformation. Likewise, anyone that cannot spell COVID-19 correctly and calls it the coof, flu or a cold, should have any information they provide be immediately suspect.
So if you came here because you were directed to, you likely were spouting off some nonsense that you either made up or were mindlessly and/or sheepishly repeating from a meme somewhere, and failed to provide actual sources even though you claimed to have done your own “research.” Here is some information, backed by actual and generally reputable sources. Facts will be linked, and different words may point to different sources. Be sure to check them all out – you might learn something. Now, it is easy for the idiots out there to say something like “the CDC? You trust the CDC!?“or PubMed or NCBI, or the WHO, or <insert name here>, but before you listen to them, makes sure you know their sources. Was it from someplace reputable, or a meme from Gab, MeWe, Rumble, etc. or a video from BitChute?
Lastly, another red flag is anyone that touts an incorrect survival/recovery rate of 99.xxxx%. First, that rate is wrong, and second, survival/recovery is a low bar to reach – ask them about who survives and thrives with no long-term issues as opposed to those that survive but end up having so-called “long covid.” If they cannot answer that question, they only possess part of the information and thus cannot have an informed opinion.
The so-called vaccine inserts and ingredient lists are not hidden from anyone, and are easily found for Moderna, Pfizer, and Janssen (J&J)if you actually look. Anyone that says they are being hidden is a fool or is lying to you and using you to promote their agenda – do not be their sheep. By the way, why are people worried about the ingredients? Most of you do not know what 2-hydroxypropyl-?-cyclodextrin is and if it is dangerous or not, so stop fooling yourselves into believing that your knowing the ingredient list actually changes anything.
Oh, that so-called “inventor of mRNA vaccines,” who supposedly told everyone not to get the vaccine? He got vaccinated, but only because he was forced to, right?
Long-term effects of vaccines are mostly a made-up thing. (Try searching yourself and you will find actual studies scarce and usually when someone was trying to link vaccines to autism, and failed to do so.) Vaccines are not drugs – learn the difference.
So I was taking with someone about the Arcade1Up units and admitted that I really liked the Capcom fighter ones (upright and cocktail) ones because they included the original Street Fighter. He said they he hated it because of the “lag” in Street Fighter, and how he does not like most multiboards because of the same thing. But what he is calling lag, is not really lag!
Hey, wanna learn how to assert your rights to your Constitutional 1st Amendment rights of free speech on platforms you do not own or have any rights to like Facebook? I have the answer! Lean in close so you do not miss the secret… you ready?Continue reading Free Speech and Facebook! (Or Twitter, or…)→
So I dug back into my work pile and pulled out a Konami Kicker board. Was tagged with “graphics issues.” Powered it up to see that it would produce a whole lot of stuck pixels horizontally across the screen.
Also noticed problems with scrolling – parts of the screen that should not scroll horizontally, like the very top of the screen where player scores, high score and lives are shown, would scroll sometimes while parts that should scroll would not. Sometimes, this would also cause a complete absence of all sprites, and all you get is background and text. Pushing on the large custom near the center of the board seem to change the behavior so I replaced the socket.
So I got into a unnecessary discussion with someone about the correct usage of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 – they were using them interchangeably (and actually also confused COVID-19 and the earlier virus name of 2019-nCoV) and also using them to refer to things that were prior to when the official names were coined by the WHO.
They went on to explain how they were receiving “daily training” on this topic and implying that I must be mistaken (and also that the CDC is engaging in fear-mongering WRT COVID-19). Now, I can understand receiving 3-minute daily briefings on the topic, but calling that “training” is stretching things quite a bit. Anyone can provide a briefing – all you have to do is read from a page. Training requires a certain depth of knowledge that not everyone has, and is usually an interactive, time-consuming experience. If this so-called “trainer” is confusing COVID-19 (the disease) with SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes the disease), they need to step down from their position, immediately.
Given the tone of this person’s responses, the hubris demonstrated, how they keep saying that they work for a “government employer,” and touting their so-called “training,” I am guessing some form of town, city, county or state law enforcement. Which is good – more power to them – we need law enforcement, especially in times like these.
But if this person does indeed work for local law enforcement – that’s cute.
Especially when you consider that some people may work in National Defense (which, BTW, is a Critical Infrastructure Industry as defined by the DHS). And that they have the responsibility and privilege of helping maintain the safety and security of not just a town, city, county or state, but for the entire country, its war-fighters, and even its foreign allies.
And that some of them might even be cleared employees that, when they receive actual training or briefings, may receive information that is not available to the general non-cleared public (which usually includes town/city/county/state LEAs), and you can be certain this training did not originate from something that someone copied from a group email somewhere.
Always follow the universal assumption – that the other person may known something that you do not (especially when you are ignorant of the other’s position/job).
There is an old cross reference list archived on Spies and replicated by a few arcade-related sites. I took this list and reformatted it, removed empty entries and made some items clickable for easy searching.
I have long since observed a predictable and rather consistent set of behaviors with the anti-mask, anti-vax, anti-whateverbullshittheycomeupwith crowd that keeps popping up during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Lemme know if you spot anything familiar:
They misspell vaccine as jab or poke
They claim the vaccine is poison
They claim there will be long-term effects of it (completely misunderstanding how vaccines are different from drugs, and being ignorant of the history of vaccines)
Call everyone that disagrees with them sheep
Confusion between masks and muzzles or “face diapers” (which do not actually exist – so they must also believe in fairy tales)
Like to talk about my freedoms, my rights, but could not name any of them other than what is provided by the the 1st and 2nd amendments without doing a Google search
And my personal favorite: I refuse to live in fear! (When the only fear present is their fear of science.)
…not all right-leaning or self-describing republicans are idiots, But recently there seems to be in influx of them that are making their presence known on Social Media sites, even though I do not recall anyone really asking for them. Combine that with a MAGA hat, which they often cannot see beyond the sweaty brim of, and you have the perfect storm required for to produce an Idiot Republican.
I am sure you know the type:
Anyone that believes differently or just is a sheep
Anyone that cares about something they do not or disagrees is a snowflake
They freely quote sources like Fox News, NewsMax, Parler (and more recently OANN, Rumble, MeWe, Clapper, etc.)
Call everyone that disagrees with them sheep
Treat repeatedly getting into Facebook Jail as a badge of honor instead of really thinking about why it is happening
Confuse the Virginia Battle Flag with the Confederate Flag and proudly display it without really knowing what it means
Respond to serious questions or invitations to debate with a laughing emoji
So recently there have been these different versions of PBs becoming available that are very popular with those little self-contained panels that house a two-player setup with a game board and a speaker inside the panel. These used to come with the “real” PBs that used a JAMMA connector:
But now they use these newer “Family” versions:
These Family versions should really be called “Home” versions because they have very little to do with an arcade cabinet:
They do not use a game’s existing JAMMA harness – causing you to either buy another adaptor or rewire your cabinet
They do not use a game’s existing power supply – so you have to wire another AC power supply into your cabinet
They do not output the same audio levels (and usually only mono, not stereo), so you might not get the same audio experience or might have to add an external amplifier
They do not output CGA-compatible video, just VGA and/or HDMI, so you may have to replace the monitor in your cabinet or get a downscaler to convert HDMI or VGA to CGA
If you run “home edition” and “family edition” into a translator, you get the same output ? (actually, “home” and “family” sometimes produce the same translation depending on the context)
It seems like these Family versions were practically invented for those little self-contained panels. Some of them can run without a harness connected, just a TV, power brick, and some USB controllers! Not exactly “arcade” style, huh? No, these were made for the home market, and should be left as such. Continue reading Family and Arcade Versions of Pandora’s Boxes→
I just sent a message to Stern Pinball asking about the possibility of adding some kind of WiFi support to their pins. Not for player-related things, but for maintenance and servicing.
For example, I think it would be a good idea for a connected pin to be able to asynchronously notify you if something goes wrong. It could emit a SNMP message each time a BIT fails or when it goes into ball-search mode, or even each time a game is started, when a game completes (including duration information). This kind of information could make a location more responsive to issues and help them with their periodic maintenance.
Even if they decided to use a proprietary protocol and their own monitoring app (but why do the extra work?) I think it would be useful. Slot machines and video poker-type games have had server-based gaming for more than a decade now. I think it is time the rest of the amusement industry catches up.
This seems like something that should be relatively easy to implement, and WiFI adapters are pretty cheap these days.
So another debate about machine pin sockets vs. standard (dual-wipe) sockets came up on one of the arcade repair-related groups I am a member of. And it, like just about every other older discussion about them, centered around not knowing our understanding what they are really supposed to be used for, and without fail, someone brings up the old “square peg in a round hole” argument. Continue reading Machine Pin Sockets – What Are They REALLY Good For?→
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But now they use these newer “Family” versions: