New Life Games Tech Forums

Hi all, first time user of the forum, so please excuse my possible inappropriate use.

I have just recently purchased an old Aristocrat gaming machine that is titled "Brazil" and appears to be an early video gaming machine originally commissioned 1989.  It appears to be in full working order, however it's coming up with a tilt error and then the reference FF00, FF00FF etc.

Looking on the web, it appears that 'Tilt' error is just an error reference used for any number of error.  I also read a lot about Mk 1 and Mk 2 etc boards (I understand these are mother boards) but I can't actually see any reference to help me determine what board I have.

I also understand that a tilt error can also be as simple as a dead mother board memory management battery, but I can't find that.

And finally, I can find references to the more current "Brazil" games, but not one this old being only a single line.

Can anyone help me with assess to user manual, ways of working out what machine I have, or just help suggestions.  It's in good condition and fully powers up ok.  I in Sydney Australia, so possibly even a contact who I may be able to work with would be helpful.

Cheers Stu

Post some screen pics of the error, is this the one off Gumtree?

Yep,this is the gumtree one.  It's a nice machine in good condition, it would be great to make it more than a statue. 

I've attached a couple of pics and a couple more in the next post (size restriction).

Thanks for your interest.  Stu

These are a couple of other photo's. 

hope you can help, cheers again.  Stu

Here you go, machine just needs a ram clear, procedure attached.

Thanks heaps for this....... There are a couple of things that don't appear to make sense to me (how to short circuit), but I'm working away from home until Friday, so I'm hoping that it will make sense when I have the board out.

Very, very much appreciated though.  I'll let you know how I got on.  Cheers again, Stu.

Hi find4uto, sorry to disturb, but would you be able to help explain the step, (step 4), its the only one that I'm not really sure about.  How do I short circuit the decoupling cap.  Is the decoupling cap on the board or the machine?  Is there an easy way to determine if it's a Mk 2.5 or a 540 board?

4.     Power MUST be OFF. Short Circuit Decoupling Cap for 1/2 a second.
•        Mk2.5  C23 near U7
•        540      C104 near RAM  U74  or remove and replace RAM  U74

I not actually home, I just thinking about what I pulled out to day and the questions I might have when I am......

The instructions are otherwise clear, my fear is that there are wires that have been cut, I hope there are enough in place to affect the fix.

Can you get people to come out and service these things at home?

Stu

Hi Stu,

yours is a 2.5.
just use tweezers to bridge across terminals.
No wire have been cut otherwise your screen would not be up & the boards slot into place.   on a 540 you need to attach wiring plugs to the board & is only one large board where in the 2.5 it's boards with the red clips to remove the boards.

Again, thanks Find4uto, your help is great. 

Just as a note, the wires that are cut are associated with the key slots on the right side (re sets key barrels, jackpot and reset). The one closest to the front has been cut (2 wires, green black in colour).  It has also had the key barrel removed and bolts inserted to replace the key. The further back one is still in place, and turns using the key.

Nothing to worry about now, I'll follow you're excellent instructions and see how they go, I just have a level of skeptical excitement and I'm preparing to be let down due to the possibly that a couple of minor modifications have been introduced.

Hi find4uto

I followed your instructions, thanks for those.  It appeared to reset the machine, but a couple of things I noticed, on the mother board, The chip from U7 is missing, ref photo.

So after following the instructions the screen appeared to reset, but the machine didn't appear to return to splay mode.  The Reset button would reset and stop switching between the set up screens.  When I insert a coin, it registers as a credit and you can hear all the mechanical registers clicking over inside, so it must be so close to working. 

So, as I stated earlier, I fear that the wires that are cut from the reset buttons may be causing the problem, preventing me from resetting or saving the reset.  I've attached a couple of additional pics. One, shows the inside of the jackpot reset keys.  It shows that the key toward the back of the machine has been cut entirely.  The forward key does have wires attached, but the white lead goes up into the top of the machine where again the wires have been cut, but it appears that they were once attached to the mechanical counters, I can see two wires coming from the top that appear to Match the cut wires.  The mechanical counters have a ribbon that is attached to the mother board, and an additional white wire that comes down into the main body, on the wall next to the coin counter.  There is a small board with a couple of pins but nothing else attached.  It looks like a male plug that you might upload data through.

There are a couple of coloured wires that are coming out of the front reset key that also go down to the mother board.

Anyway, sorry for the long explanation, again any suggestions would be appreciated.  Cheers as always, Stu

These are the additional pics.

Just a couple of images of the reset screen.

Ok you have cleared the RAM as all the figures are on zero etc.
You can take the locks out & hang the wires through the lock holes & just bridge the wires as they wont short anything out.
Here in ACT there used to be a guy who modded machines for home use & he just put switches in the place of the lock/switches.
Your 99% there now

Hi find4uto

Just a quick note, I tried to email you directly, I was hoping to find a secure part of the forum to exchange phone numbers.  I think I'm close, as per your comment, but I just can't get it out of the audit mode and into the play mode.  Every time I press the reserve button, which remains lit, it scrolls through the 'last win' screen, the 'second last win' screen the audit screen and the settings screen.

I actually followed your suggestions and took the risk of re-attaching the wires to the mechanical meter in the top compartment (wires came from the front one of the side keys). But no luck.

Unfortunately I have no idea as to where the wires from the rear, side keys go to.  They are cut and I can't see any old cut wire sitting around, or leading else where in the machine.

Finally, I'm still assuming that a chip from the 'U7' may be missing, grrrr. But I'm not sure.

Is there anywhere I can get manuals for these things?  If it made things easier, I actually work in Canberra for a couple of days each week.  I wouldn't like to have to bring the machine down as it weights a ton, but if it helped you to show me something rather than try and explain it, I'm good with that.  I owe you a few beers by now.

Cheers Stu

Either the audit switch is stuck on, or something still isn't configured properly, but gathering by the photos that it's a NSW or NZ spec machine, it should exit and as soon as you do a memory reset and key out, showing a copyright message followed by INSERT A COIN OR TWO ! across the top.

Regarding U7, depending on the game, the Video Sound chip normally resides in U7, from what I've seen. U8 is normally reserved for a second game EPROM - although, going by MAME's source code, U7 is loaded into memory where the U8 chip would normally go on other games, so the former wouldn't apply here (seeing that your machine boots with Video Sound in the 'U8' socket proves that everything is loaded correctly, and this matches MAME's loading of Gone Troppo and Golden Poker).

Thanks heihachi,

Unfortunately, I just can't cross that final threshold.  It's definitely close.  Are there any technicians in the north Sydney area who would look at private machines?

Find4uto provided sensational support, but he was limited with trying to interpret my explanations, (as you would have also been).

Re the audit, the actual wires have been cut away from the two key switches.  I'm guessing that this is most likely where my problems lie, but I don't know what a healthy machine would look like and thus where the wires should go to.

Is it possible to get manuals for these thing?

Cheers for your help anyway.

Stu