New Life Games Tech Forums

i have a vision machine. a few months ago i upgraded the top lcd and the vfd board and the chips to 380 so i can get the split screen( thanks to idesign).
well it worked a few times, now when i put on the machine it keeps saying the nexplex is down. i changed to power supply and it says the same.
dont know which way to go. thanks to all that can help.john

It's more than likely your mpu board. If you have a spare try swapping them.

Seems like the common problems are.  power supply(behind reels), VFD driver board,  

Hi Bill.   glad to see you back on the board :88- :88-

RR94...
I remember a setting in that power supply behind the reels something like "SENS" or that if not adjusted correctly the NETPLEX doesnt like it...
I'm having a CRS or Senior "moment"

Kirk

It's good to be back   :88-  :88-  and I hope to get back into the swing of things.

Kirk, news to me on that but have my problems with a runaway hopper.

Do you know the pinout jumper settings on the comparator harness to make it coinless?

To get this topic back on track, jrsyjohn, which power supply did you replace?
It seems like they're talking about a separate power supply behind the reels?

yes.i replaced the power supply behind the reels and changer the vfd control board.i took out the chips and reseated them.it still says netplex is down.
do you think the 380 gm chips could be bad or do i need another mother board?

looking at some old posts,you can try booting up with the BV,printer disconnected and see what it does.

Do you have a spare MPU board? Are you tried resetting the one in the machine?

how do you reset the one in the machine?

Turn the machine off and for safety sake unplug the power and pull the MPU out and re insert it.

Not to be misunderstood, just in case you don't know which is the MPU board, it's the one in the lower left hand corner of the machine. You should see some LED lights (or lights) in the button you push to make changes on the machine. It plugs into the mother board.

No.... the MPU plugs into the BACKPLANE..not the "Motherboard". This is a 502 or 504 MPU and the "CPU" sits in a socket on the MPU board....
There are NO lights * IN * the pushbutton, but rather the little pushbutton sits in the same line as a row of STATUS indicators and they are LED's....not lights.

My mistake sorry for the confusion. I think I said LED just trying to help.

Kirk,

IGT is a little different than what most people would expect things to be called. IGT actually calls the backplane a Mother Board in their technical documention, even though this is somewhat counterintuitive if you are into computers at all. Also the MPU board is sometime called the CPU board since the cpu plugs into it like you say. Most people find that Backplane and Mother Board are interchangeable in slot terms, same idea goes for CPU Board and MPU board and Processor Board. But the official terms according to IGT are Mother Board which is bolted into the rear of the cabinet and Processor Board, which is secured into the tray and it slides into the Mother Board.

CH :95-

well i want to thank everyone of you guys for all your help on this issue im having.im going to change the motherboard on sat and lets see what happens.
to all my NLG friends happy holidays!!

  I truly hope the MPU board is not the problem. I can tell you from experience it's good to have a spare.

I totally agree with this line of thinking because with an extra board (Doesn't really matter what platform) -
one can very easily do a swap between board to help eliminate what may be good or bad.

I'd like to add more confusion to the IGT terms, if I may (LOL)...
Many machines including Bally has their motherboards or backplane boards fastened
to the very back of their cabinets...(Smart ! ) the S+, on the other-hand, fastens their motherboard to the floor of the machine.

I've always considered that extremely dumb because it's a prime location for
loose hopper coins to fall right onto or under the board to cause shorts!!! :30- :30- :30- :30-
That's akin to placing valuable, important papers on the damp floor of a basement in the springtime!
God bless IGT designers...how they could ever retain their engineering positions is beyond me. :97-

John,  Good luck on that working.  As just black-box techniques it may or may not.  Always start with the "least Intrusive" componets from your diagnostics.  Is that the only error code you get-Net-plex down-?.  Or is there any more codes?.  Since you have a s****o bonus game Other problems may be occuring as well. If you had on hand did you switch out the i/o's cab and door with same known and known working ones?  (one at a time and re-boot)?.  Did you re-store this game back to it's orginal configuration prior to messing with it for the split screen denom table?.   The back-plane (mother-board) may be the culprit but work easy then hard in your diag. -parts swapping.  B.  Merry X-mas   :226-.

A quote from an older post on netplex not saying it cant be your MPU or backplane but you might want to check these first.




"also on an S2000 the netplex components are your Bill Validator, Thermal Printer, VFD, 7 Seg, and Spectrum Display.  a problem with either of these can take netplex down.

that being said, probably 95% of our 'netplex link down' errors in the past 3 years have been due to the DC switching power supply behind the reels.  we have been repairing them for probably 2 years by shotgunning electrolytic caps with a 85-90% repair rate.

edit:  the value on the surface mount cap for the VFD driver board is 4.7uf, 16V"

RailRoad did you change your Avatir again?  :5-

yep, was thinking of changing name and everything but that will do for now  :200-

Well if you "hide out" tooooo well, we won't be able to give you good karma!  :5-

John,  Also as a note,  The processor to back-plane interface takes place via male/female pins/receptacles.  The more sliding in/out etc. the more wear-esp. on the back plane portion.  A lot of times a failure is identified to a board or componet but no explantion why.  This is because it is not cost effective even for igt etc. to compenet level repair such parts depending on the part.  Easier and cheaper to replace and keep on chugging.  A back plane (mother board) to igt is a piss in the bucket -so no bench repair there.  A lot of times it is just as I said a "usage" movement/connection thing but they fail the componet. I had to repair/troubleshoot some simiular problems in the past and some were due to the "pockets" -receptacles in the back-plane contacts being elongated due to heavy in/out/usage/abuse/etc.   As a note these days from what I have seen a lot of the items on newer stuff are exchange now from what I Heard.  Here is my .1/2 cent,  Back-planes in s-2000's/vision fail as anything else over time but it is not a common failure.  It is worth a shot in your case as they are not that expensive.  It will cost you more time than anything to change it and find out-- :96-.  B.

 :212- I agree 100%... It seems to me that the receptor female pins start to oxidize
 and "loosen" up over time giving intermittent pin connection.

There are two solutions that can only help...one is to spray the pins (Both male and females)
with some type of de-oxidizer spray stuff in a can that can be found at places like radio shack.
The stuff in the spray has chemicals that help take off the oxidization from the pins.
I think the shelf name is "electronic contact cleaner".
Just don't turn the can upside down or sideways as too much fluid will come out and
take forever to dry out.
Always hold the can's nozzle upright and turn the board and connectors with your other hand.

Two: the hard way but makes the board like new...replace all the pins...
do both the headers and the connectors...I didn't say it was easy! LOL

The receptor sockets on these have come a long way since the pins on say a 80's pac man or 70's electro pin.  These are much tougher.  I do not see a high oxidation problem with these here.  That could be different in other climates or,  If your board came from the titanic (I use that term with respect).  The sockets get "wallerd out" from repeat in/out and improper installation/"english" used on the install.  B.

Any updates on this?

Thanks,
Wayne

well wcw1223 you guessed right!! it was the mpu board. last week i changed it and i was up and running in no time.again thanks to all on NLG. you guy's are the best!!

I sorry to hear it was the the board OUCH  :138-  but I glade you got it running.  :244- :244-

please don't be sorry, im glad you told me this.you saved me alot of time.thanks again!