New Life Games Tech Forums

Hey guys,

What would cause coins always being diverted into the chute instead of the hopper?  I have gone through this before, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out.  I checked credit settings, coin refill recall, etc and cannot get the coins to go into the hopper.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Jason

Jason, I have had this problem on 2 separate machines.  If the settings are correct, then check if your diverter is stuck, or bad.  On the other machine, I had to use a nylon zip tie to pull it (the whole coin mech) more snug to the machine.  Of course you could unplug the diverter???

i had a machine doing the same thing, and when i changed the hopper limit from 0 to something other than 0 then coins started going to hopper

I was going to say this -- if your hopper limit is set to zero (all cash-outs are handpays) then it will divert all coins in to the drop.

Also, not to state the obvious, but if your hopper probe is grounded then it will also divert.

This is a huge WTF.  I just disconnected the coin diverter and everything works great.  Not sure why the "lotta slots" version is doing this.  I even did a full E2/RAM zap with a Key 22 and 040 chip too.  I even went into diagnostics and ran a test on the diverter...clicks on and off fine, but for whatever reason, it's staying on as default.  

Not sure what is going on.  

Thanks,
Jason

Kevin, this must be something specific to the "lotta slots" version then.  4.3 and 5.3 never behaved this way.  Can't figure it out.  Hopper probe...got a photo?

Jason

Do a search  "Hopper Probe"

Ok.  I saw a video that Bunker made.  Take the hopper out, close the door, play a game, listen to the diverter open up again to go to the hopper after the game is played.  If I leave the hopper out, I can plunk coins in all day long, and they will go where the hopper is supposed to be, so it's functioning normal.  I can power off the machine, reboot it, still with the hopper out and play as normal plunking coins in and having them go to the hopper.

Now, I put the hopper back in and it plays fine.  UNTIL I power cycle it.  When I power cycle it, and it comes back up, I hear the diverter click again and it goes back to going down the chute instead of the hopper.  I even pulled out the hopper from my S2000 and the same thing occurs.

Am I missing something?

Jason

Update:  Just threw in my GK 4.3 software and ran through the same steps.  No problem.  To be continued.

Well, I'm stumped.  Disconnected the diverter.  4.3 is fine.  Maybe this is an early buggy version that I picked up. 

Kevin, a couple of questions:

What version are your chips?
What key chip do you use?

At this point I don't think it's a diverter problem since other software seems to work. 

What do y'all think?

Jason

Jason-

According to the screen, it's G0000619 (as seen here (http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=13682.msg118739#msg118739)) -- it's got every Game King-style slot except for "On The Prowl".  I'm not sure which keychip I have (I don't even know where my keychip is -- I haven't messed with my Game King since I moved last year).  It's not a function of the keychip, though.

What are your coin limits set to?  When you cash out, does it pay out through the hopper?

Kevin,

Attached are some photos:

Mine does have "On the Prowl."  I have up to $25.00 in coin payout with split pay enabled via ticket.

Jason

2 more photos:

Just a shot in the dark, but is there more than $25 on the credit meter?  Purely a guess, but perhaps the diverter kicks in once the hopper payout threshold has been reached?  It wouldn't make sense, but that's about my only guess left.

Interesting that you have On The Prowl.  I'll have to fire my machine up and see exactly what I do have and we should compare notes.

I'm just browsing this thread and know nothing about this smachine. But I have a curiosity question. That screenshot above for hopper fill is set to 9999 which is the max. What does that setting do? I ask because if it thinks the hopper is full, would it not then divert the coins? And if that is not it, is there not somewhere that it is counting the coins (and not using a probe), otherwise what purpose does that setting serve?

if you did  what magic  slots said you would  have saved writing 12 post and had it working right  in a home only place coins need to go is in the hopper ,

So check out the following pages that I attached.  I do get the "Operation cannot be performed : Verify that coin door or bill door (coin or bill drop box) is open.  Which doors do I need to open to do this?   :25-  This isn't for a slant top GK is it?  Mine is upright. 

Anyway, I wonder if clearing these meters would help...just not sure how to go about it.

Thanks,
Jason

So I'm going to revive this one just due to morbid curiosity.  My game is playing fine now with the deflector cable connector disconnected, so all is well.  Here is my curiosity...

When I originally bought my GK a little over a year ago, I had this same version of GK software (4.0) with the same list of games...don't remember the actual chip numbers though.  I had the cable connected and it worked fine.  I sold that game long ago, so I cannot compare with what I have now.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, if I load up my 4.3 game in this same machine with the deflector cable connected, I don't see the problem with the coins going to the chute.  They go to the hopper as normal.  So it can't be a hardware problem. 

Could it be possible that the software is developed for specific configuration requests?  Meaning, if a casino wanted a GK software bundle to work in machines that did not have hoppers, but just wanted all coins to go to the chute, can they be configured as such?  Were there configurations like this that didn't bother with hoppers, accepted coins which were deflected to the chute, and only paid out tickets? 

Just curious if my version has a funky configuration to it.  The strange thing is when I do a complete memory clear and reconfigure the game using the 4.0 software, it will actually work once set up.  When I power cycle the machine, the deflector kicks on at that point and is always on.  I can't find anything in the menus to change that behavior.  Again, if I load up 4.3 (and I would guess a 5.x game) it will work fine and deflect the coins to the hopper.

Thoughts?  Maybe it is just a buggier version than my original 4.0 software was when I bought it.

Thanks,
Jason

Just a thought here....

Have you tried starting fresh with a vanilla install and no special options like split pay, etc. etc. and see how it behaves??? It may tell you that one of the settings is doing what you don't want it to do???

CH :95-

agreed, clear it and see if that takes care of it.

It can be a setting like coin-less or limits, I don't remember which it would be off hand but always when that happens it's something in software of the setting type.

Ok, this is getting bizzare.  So I used my 22 Key chip and did a complete memory clear with my problematic 4.0 game.  Vanilla install.  As soon as it was power cycled, the diverter kicked on and into the chute the coins go, not the hopper.  I then did a complete wipe again with my 22 Key and installed 4.3.  Vanilla install...everything works fine even after a power cycle.  Coins go to the hopper.

Check this out...

I do another wipe with the Key 22 and put the problematic 4.0 game back in.  I powercycle, and coins get diverted back into the chute, not the hopper as always.  I take the hopper out and put in a plastic bowl.  I close the door, insert a coin, and presto, the coins fall into the plastic bowl and don't get diverted into the chute!  I emptied all coins out of the hopper and even tried the hopper out of my S2000.  Once I plug it back in, the diverter will redirect coins into the chute.  I'm stumped.  Is there something connected on the hoppers that is making this happen that this particular version of GK doesn't like?  Should I disconnect anything on the hopper?  Remember, this doesn't happen at all with 4.3, only 4.0.

I'm stumped!  Your help is most appreciated.

Jason

Sounds like software and it can also be the version that you got on the GME that is doing that.   It does not sound like a hopper issue or your setup.

Version 4.0 is fairly old too.

Ok.  So strange.  I wonder then if my original 4.0 software that did not have the problem was a patched or updated version of 4.0.  Maybe this one has a bug then.  Oh well not a biggie, although I wish I could get my hands on another chipset with the same games to rule this out.  Just out of curiosity, I noticed "FF" was showing beneath the key menu options.  If I ran the procedure twice, the "FF" wasn't there the second time.  Anyone know what that means?

Thanks,
Jason

Sorry I don't have any answers for you, Jason, but I missed this post by poppo the first time around and wanted to address it:


I believe that setting just specifies how many coins are in a standard hopper fill, likely for accounting purposes.  For example, if the casino folks would normally put a bag with $200 in quarters in the hopper when they'd do a fill, you'd set that value to 800 (and presumably tell the machine that you've made a fill when you do).  I don't think the machine would change the behavior of the hopper divertor based on anything in that entry.

Thanks for the help everybody.  Just another splinter in the mind.   The important thing is that the game is working fine with the diverter plug disconnected.  Strange thing though with the hopper out how the diverter shuts off and the coins go where the hopper should be.  I noticed that the hopper has a jumper on 3 pin connection on the PCB.  Does that control anything?

Jason

Thanks. I was just thinking that if it was set to the max (i.e. it thinks it's full), that maybe the next coin would be diverted.

Hard for me to let go, but I think I have lost this troubleshooting battle and am waving the white flag.  Curse you little diverter bastardo!

Jason

Success!!!  So I was digging through my S2000/Game King photos the other day and stumbled over a board shot of my machine when I bought it.  On this board I noticed that some of the GK EPROM versions that I had then were different from the GK versions that I have now.  Here's the breakdown:

Original chipset that came with my Game King that DID NOT exhibit the problem with the coin diverter kicking on:

Base chip:  M0000526
GME 1 and 2:  G0002214
SND 1 and 2:  SWC00030
PXL’s:  C0000351

Chipset that I have now that DOES exhibit the problem with the coin diverter kicking on:
Base chip: M0000526
GME 1 and 2:  G0001777
SND 1 and 2:  SWC00046
PXL’s:  C000351

I figured the sound chip probably wouldn't play into this problem, but I was very curious about the GME chips and if they could play into this problem.  Sure enough, I ordered a set of GME 1 and 2 G0002214 EPROM's from Jim @ Blueridge, ran a complete memory clear with my 22 keychip, set the game up the EXACT same way, and now the problem with the coin diverter has vanished! 

Unplugging the diverter, even though it worked ok, just grinds my troubleshooting gears, so I just had to dig deeper.  When the problem seems like it could be related to hardware, when in doubt, try a different revision of software.

;)

Thanks again for everybody's help!

Jason