New Life Games Tech Forums

Hello all, I'm new to the forum and just got my first machine. Ive got an older sigma .25 cent video draw poker machine model B-9. When I plug it in all the lights light up except the top call attendant and all the hold, deal/draw buttons.  The main problem I have is the screen is just blue 'snow' like a tv not on a viewable channel. I see the screen adjustments but I have not turned them for fear of making it worse.

I have no experience working on video machines/slots, but I have repaired many computers. I was expecting to see computer parts inside like a cd rom, memory etc. but this machine must be to old.

Any help appreciated, here are a couple pictures.

For some reason the other picture didn't post,,,,here is the front.

Any ideas? bad monitor? bad chip on board?

As a general rule, I would power the machine off, and maybe stick your head inside of the machine with a flashlight.  Ensure that all plugs are firmly seated to the board.  If the board comes out, ensure that all chips are firmly seated to the board...sometimes you might find that a chip has not been fully seated in the socket or a couple of the chip's metal legs are not in the socket. 

Do you get any sound?  If you drop a coin in, does it register with a 'ding?'

Just some things to get you started.  I'm sure others will chime in.

Thanks,
Jason

Welcome To our happy forum!!

I have a machine that looks a lot like yours, I think mine might be a little older. Well let me put it this way, if my machine came off a Cruise Ship that Ships name would have to be the Mayflower.

Enough BS  You say you just got the machine, which means it has been moved. Any time I move a machine that has the MPU board installed flat, before I turn on the power I remove the board and shake it just in case a screw, washer, nut, etc has fallen onto the board. While I have the board out I always try to check the battery. 9 times out of 10 the battery will be dead. With the board out take a look at all the pins where it plugs in for any bent or missing, make sure all the chips are nice and tight install the board and see what you have

Thanks for the replies. I took the top board out today (it lays flat) pulled all the proms and reseated them. In this picture there are places for 2 proms that are not there. Not sure if they are suppose to be. Left side middle, 2 blue slots. I looked for any loose hardware laying on the board, all looked good except dust. I don't see any battery like a big watch battery on a computer motherboard. I put the board back in and have the same results, lights on the front except deal, hold, bet buttons, the top exhaust fan comes on and "blue snow" on the screen.

There is another board mounted to the left side bottom of machine. I slid the coin catcher out, unplugged all the wires on that board and removed it also. There are no removable proms on it. Put it back in, plugged it in and "red snow" was on the screen and for the first time I heard sound. Just a BONG,,,,,BONG,,,,,BONG ever 3 seconds or so. I unplugged the power, plugged back in and no BONG sound and back to "blue snow" on screen, not red.

There is a big ribbon cable that connects to the smaller bottom board and goes up the back of machine and plugs into the top board. It was a smashed up in the back of machine and I'm wondering if it may have a broken wire in it. I have seen computers with bad ribbon cables where a hard drive wouldn't work.

What do you think?
Thanks.

Oh forgot to mention I was asked about a sound when a quarter was inserted. There is no sound and the quarter falls into the payout tray on the outside of machine. Only time I have heard any sound was today after I took the bottom board out and reinstalled it. But that sound quit after I unplugged it and plugged it back in.

Vegasmax,

I've never owned a Sigma machine, but I can tell you that I had a vintage CEI poker machine that I screwed up a few months ago.  I ended up sending a jolt of static electricity through the system that ended up popping a couple of resistors on the gameboard.  The results:

Blank screen
Fan, top and belly glass lights, and motherboard powered up
Little bit of monitor signal would come on
No button lights
Coins would fall to the tray.
No sound

I had to have some of the forum members help me understand what was going on with my predicament as well, and ultimately, I had to send my game board to be tested by dormi...CEI poker machine expert and member out here.  Once the resistors were repaired, my game was restored good as new.  The game board controls all of the button functions, coin functions, etc.

Anyway, I noticed that your board also has several dipswitches.  If these are similar to my old CEI, these may control number of coins bet, etc, but on mine there were a few that controlled video horizontal/vertical sync.  If those were messed with, I'd get a messed up screen.  I would see if somebody out here has a manual for a Sigma machine so that you can understand these functions.

Honestly though, I would guess your problem is with your gameboard somewhere, but maybe a Sigma guru will chime in.

Thanks,
Jason

I took a look at my board and it looks just like yours. Numbers to the left of ribbon cable are 6246B.    I am also missing those two eproms and my machine was working yesterday. Dip switch settings below at location JB are  There is another dip switch at SW 1 settings are Off ON ON   last one at   SW 2  OFF OFF OFF ON
#1  Off                 
#2  ON
#3  ON
#4  OFF
#5  ON
#6  OFF
#7  OFF
#8  ON
This machine I have is a nickel machine, anything else might change the dip switch settings. I'm pretty sure I have a extra set of game chips if you think yours are bad. But the glass won't match.

Somebody buy this man a beer!!  :)

I made a slight beverage correction for you, Buzz. :89-  :96-  :135- :135- :135- :135- :135- :135-

:31-

Thanks David   I did take a swallow of beer the 4th of July in honor of Joe (Thorr) he  couldn't be at the BBQ so I told him I would have a Beer for him.

Do you remember this Sigma machine I have? A fellow I know was trying to sell it to me ( I had never seen it and didn't even know what it was) long story I moved his Backhoe for him and took the machine for payment. When I first saw this thing I thought OH sh*t Sigma Japan, now not trying to piss off all you Sigma fans but doesn't the word Sigma sound like something that would need a shot of penicillin to get rid of !! like in  :244-  Well now I have this thing, had to drill the lock to get the door open, check out the machine and it didn't work I don't remember the error, so it's been setting for about 6 months. Yesterday when this thread started I plugged it in and the damn thing booted up and was playing, until I hit cash out, HOPPER ERROR. I've figured out what to do with it, Uniman has been wanting a Game King I'm going to pawn this thing off on him and tell him it's a Game King and the touch screen doesn't work and it has a hopper error.  We should have some fun with him with this one, hey Jim post Pic. Jim you probably need a key 17, Jim sorry the Devil made me do it.  :25- :25- :25-

Whoops...sorry about the "beer" comment Buzz...my bad.

Jason   No problem    I didn't always not drink. When I was in the Navy I drank too much, when I was in the Air Force I married a women that had 3 Kids, we then had 2 more kids. 5 Kids and a Wife, I couldn't afford to drink. Over the years I just never went back to it. Oh and another plus I never had to go to any meetings!!  :88- :88- :88- :3- :3-

Commendable my friend.  Good for you Buzz.  :)

Ok, so this is how you want to play now. A Sigma GameKing??  
I wasn't stupid enough to take an Aussie Uni, why do you think I'd take a Sigma?    :72- :72-

Σσς      Speak Greek or  :wtf1-        :72- :72- :72- :72-

I gotta give my JUNK a good home some where !!!!!   ( I hope you bought a BIG house cuzz I think your gonna need it ) can I talk you into a CDS reel deal or how about a P&M Coin ( good looking touch screen machine it should be a easy one to fix, it doesn't have any buttons to give you problems )

I thought they only took women? :128- :200-  :208- :208- :208-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_Sigma_Sigma (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma_Sigma_Sigma)

Maybe we could start a business selling them Σ slots for their dorm rooms!  :79-  :71-  :214-  :72-


Stat :31-


<ADD> They have a cool badge & logo

Oh, I get it now. You gotta get rid of your junk so a Universal owner would be the obvious choice. Nice, real nice.

Actually we just moved into our new home. I have one bedroom dedicated as my game room. Only about 12x12. My wife says that will keep me in check. Yeah, right!  :97-
Slots are collecting dust in the garage until new carpet. Room has been repainted and I added a ceiling fan. Going to look nice when it's done. And it has a 10' ceiling, so maybe a nice tall slot in my future! Thinking Bally Monte Carlo.
Sorry, no CDS. Do like a few Sigma video games though, but no poker. And P&M Coin, ahh don't think so.
Right now the house is a money pit! New flooring throughout, painting every room, landscaping, water heater, water softener, and the list goes on & on!  :25-
The joy of home ownership!  :72-

.

That's a good looking machine Buzz! And look, Uni used the blue vacuum display long before the S2000. Wonder where IGT got that idea?? Hmmmm?

Buzz, I think those Aussie Uni's had a Dallas key chip on the board. If it is missing, good luck!

Seeing as how I don't know what a Dallas Key chip is, you had better start looking for one now !!

Do you plan on putting that on my porch, ring my doorbell and then run?  :72-

Actually, let me know next time your going to Joey's. I'll take it.

I'll do that. I just sent you a couple of emails.  :59-

Thanks for reply. Yes the number on my board is the same as yours. I don't understand what  the dip switch is and where it is at, or how to check it. Can you explain it to me please?

Ok I googled dip switch and located them on the board. The JB 1 is the same, SW 1 has 4 settings, ON OFF ON OFF, and SW 2 is ON ON OFF OFF. Should I change them so they match yours even though it is a different game? If so what is SW 1 again as it has 4 settings and you only posted 3.

Thank you!

Sorry buzz I'm an idiot,,,,,,there are 4 dip switches on this board. Yes SW1 only has 3 but the settings are different than yours, they are all OFF.  There is an SW switch above SW2 about 1 1/2 inches up and left.

I guess I should wear my glass, your right I found the 4th one, it's marked  SW on off on off    SW 1 off on on     SW 2 off off off on  JB  off on on off on off off on
  If I was you I would write down all the settings you have before anything is changed. ( I always do this then forget where I wrote them down.) I hope someone else will jump in here, but I would think if you do change your setting to match my machine  and they are the wrong setting nothing could be harmed on your machine.

Now I know next to nothing about these machines. I can send you the extra set of chips I have and you can start working on your machine with a known good set of eproms. You can PM or email me your address and I can send them out tomorrow. Buzz

Buzz sent me a set of working proms so I put them in and it is still the same.

Today I pulled both boards out, dusted everything off, wiped inside out. The big ribbon cable that goes from top board to bottom board was all kinked up so I straightened it out. Just messing around, any way I put it all back together and plugged it in and the bell starting ringing, lights flashing, the hold buttons lit up for the first time and the top attendant light was flashing. Those never lit up before. I opened the machine door while it was going nuts and the coin hopper was turning like it was stuck on a jack pot pay out.

The monitor was flashing but still didn't have a picture on it. So after letting it do that for about 2 minutes I unplugged the power cord and then plugged it back in and it is back to the way it was,,,,blue snow, no sound, hold lights not lit, attendant light out.

Kind of weird huh? I tested my battery on the board and it reads just under 2 volts. Do you think the battery being low would cause all this, or should the monitor display a screen regardless of the battery volts?

Man, I have read some crazy stories on this site about batteries reviving all sorts of crazy circumstances.  When all else fails...why not?

Anyone have a manual for this or a link to download or view it?  Some guy had a few manuals online for sigma machines but not a model B-9.

I finally got around to replacing the battery on the board today but still have the same problems. Turned the reset key on, powered up but nothing on monitor except blue snow. I did here the speaker 'crack' one time but no picture.

Any ideas?

I have a Sigma B-9 as well as the manual.  How can I help?

What does the manual say about doing a reset? Are clear chips needed?

Also there are 5 red LED lights on the bottom board. Some are lit and some are not. Are they for troubleshooting?