SAS Host controller DLL. What do you want to see?

[AndyP]

Thought I would start a new topic, leading on from here http://newlifegames.net/nlg/index.php?topic=1421.0

I refactored the DLL so now it can poll mutiple machines. I was surprised when it worked first go!

So far, I have implemended exeptions, ROM Signature and SAS Version and Serial Number polls. I will post up a pic of my demo app written in c# soon.

SAS has hundreds of meters and commands, and I am not going to implement them all. So what do you want to see included? There is a public doucment here http://www.doj.mt.gov/gaming/forms/sasimplementationguide.pdf that suggests some of the possibilities.

[knagl]

I haven't followed all of the discussion on the other thread, Andy, so please forgive me if I'm covering something that's already been discussed.

I know that as a home user I would love to have a working TITO system in my basement -- that is, I can hit "cash out" on one machine and it prints a ticket that I can then insert into a different machine and have the same number of credits that were cashed out added to the new machine.

I'd also be interested in being able to remotely add credits.  That is, from a computer be able to issue $10 in credits to "machine 4" in my basement.

It would also be neat to place a machine out of service or in service from a remote PC.

Thanks for your fantastic work on this -- it's great stuff!   

[AndyP]

When adding credits, there is several ways to do it over the lifetime of SAS, so it depends on what version SAS your machine supports.

[knagl]

Is there one that is older than another, which would still be compatible with newer machines?  A number of us have older S+ machines which supported SAS, as well as newer machines like the S2000 or Game King.

Do newer machines accept the older crediting commands?  If so, it would seem that developing a system that used the older commands would be more compatible with a wider variety of machines.

[AndyP]

I know the machine I have is configurable, so I can set it to use Legacy Bonusing or the newer Advanced Funds Transfer stuff. There is also some functions between the Legacy and AFT called EFT.

I am going to add in legacy bonus stuff and test it.

[knagl]

I believe that certain Game King software sets support AFT -or- EFT (depending on the set) -- maybe an option in the software to switch between which protocol you wish to use for a transaction?

This is great stuff.  I wish I knew more programming stuff to be able to help.  At least I'll be a big cheerleader.  Please let me/us know if there's anything we can do to help your project along.   

[AndyP]

I believe that certain Game King software sets support AFT -or- EFT (depending on the set) -- maybe an option in the software to switch between which protocol you wish to use for a transaction?

This is great stuff.  I wish I knew more programming stuff to be able to help.  At least I'll be a big cheerleader.  Please let me/us know if there's anything we can do to help your project along.   

It should still support Legacy Bonusing. That is the easiet way to add credits. I'll guess we shall find out in the near future!

[AndyP]

Ok, legacy bonus is in now and it works. I transferred credits to my machine.

I have a problem with my machine now. I think I have the wrong button panel for the software. Everytime the game is about to come online, the buton panel lights up and then it crashes with some button panel error. I cant do anymore testing till I get it fixed.

Picture shows what happens in exceptions! Notice the first exception is a legacy bonus!

[knagl]

Awesome!

[jay]

Way cool - what is the physical interface between the PC and the Slot ?

[AndyP]

I have an RS232 card in the gaming machine, so its straight RS232 from the PC. If you want to connect it via rs485 you will need an adaptor. It wont work for fibre (hp versalink) because the data you send out comes back into the recieve line. I can make it work with fibre, but will require a bit to much work right now.

This probably wont work with most USB adaptors. You will either need a physical rs232 port on the computer, or a 16550 compatible rs232 card in the PC.

[jay]

I have a rs485 to rs232 convertor. My Slot PC is a older dell laptop with a real 9pinD running W98. I use it for programming W98

[AndyP]

Forgot to add, will need windwows XP or greater.

[knagl]

That works out for me -- I have an old WinXP laptop I use for programming Mikohn stuff that has a serial port on it.

[jay]

I have a couple of old dell Desktops that I can dedicate to this purpose (with 2gb Ram and XP). Good thing I am a pack rat.......

Getting back to the topic of the thread - what would I like to see ?

I know you said at one point you had no intention of writing an App but It would be great to get a .NET shell that uses your DLL that can read the game statistics from each slot.
And of course use the EFT function to put credits on the game.

We (the NLG community) can then start building subsequent modules until we had a more robust program.

What I would really like is to be able to insert a coupon into the bill validator - which when it cannot be validated by the DBV software then sends data via SAS to the CMS (your program) which has the option of validating and applying credits or sending back a reject.

[stayouttadabunker]

How is the RS232 card you have,  connected to the machine's MPU?

[AndyP]

I'll work on an installer for the demo app soon. IGT is going to fix my machine, not sure when though, so I'll do a few more tests and make it available.

BTW, whats DBV software?

[AndyP]

How is the RS232 card you have,  connected to the machine's MPU?

The RS232 card plugs into the backplane of the IGT AVP machine. it has a 5 pin connector that IGT supplied a lead for. I have connected this directly to my PC.

I also have an fibre optic comms card, and australian specific comms card.

Can post up a photo if you wish

[stayouttadabunker]

That would be great to see a pic of that but I'll tell you right now -
I don't know of any homeowner of slots that would have an AVP machine.
We're talking S+'s, and S2000's, an PE+'s...lol  
AVP's are primarily still in action in casinos.

[AndyP]

That would be great to see a pic of that but I'll tell you right now -
I don't know of any homeowner of slots that would have an AVP machine.
We're talking S+'s, and S2000's, an PE+'s...lol 
AVP's are primarily still in action in casinos.

Ha ha, thats why you lot are my friends! I dont have access to the older slots, and I need you all to help me get this stuff working! Nothing is free in this world. I have a commercial interest in this, you have hobby interest, it becomes a mutual relationship!

The protocol is the same for the older games, the only difference being that some of the newwer functions like AFT are not supported. But thats ok, cause you can use the older functions too. The DLL simply abstracts the low level crap away that no one needs to know about, and what IGT does not want you to know about.

[stayouttadabunker]

Earlier you were asking about DBV software.
What that is basically is the software that's in dollar bill validators...otherwise known as bill acceptors...
The guys here in the States love to screw with our minds and abbreviate every word in sight.

[brichter]

The guys here in the States love to screw with our minds and abbreviate every word in sight.

You know what's the worst? In high tech, we use the same acronyms across different technologies, so  it's easy to get confused about what you're discussing. You should hear the conversations when nerds hit up happy hour... 

[jay]

DBV = Dollar Bill Validator
The oldest slosts had primarily DBV145. These were made obsolete by the first colored (US) money.
The slightly later vintage had DBV200. These were better because they had 4 way bill acceptance vs the 145 which only had 2 way and more memory for more bill variations.
These will be obsolte across all platforms with the new $100 bill that uses magnetic validation not spported by the dbv series.

In the IGT world these were also obsolte when IGT decided not to release the code for the colored $5, other platforms like Bally, Williams etc continued support.
There were also CBA (Canadian) bill acceptors and various European versions for the Franc, Marc, Lira etc.

The WBA series (World bill acceptor) came out and unified the acceptor world as you could simply change code and the device could handle different bill widths and lengths including support for the Euro.
While the head was universal the transport and cash cans were still country specific.

All of these however support coupon functions assuming the game chips do.

[Forrhouse]

More SAS documentation here:
http://www.doj.mt.gov/gaming/forms/NewVGMModificationRequirements.pdf

[AndyP]

I remember when slots had no bill validators in them.

If you visit the regulators office in Queensland they have the very first Aristocrat video slot. IT was a pretty basic device!