Reel Touch /S2000 Hookup to PC (RS232)

[jdkmunch]

I just changed the address to 2 and
The app did respond 02:

[poppo]

I've never gotten past the [01:] report either with any machine using AndyP's Test App.
Poppo got it to work on the S+ only with his modified serial cable utilizing the MAX232.

I already sent you an e-mail about this, but just a data point.

The repaired factory SAS board does work on my S+ with the newer version program.

[stayouttadabunker]

Will it detect the change/service light button?
A lot easier than opening and closing the door... 
I hear your hinges squeaking from NY...

[jdkmunch]

What should the com port setting be
Bits per second
Data bits
Parity
Stop bits
Flow control



Jumped the wire now don't even get 02:

[poppo]

Will it detect the change/service light button?
A lot easier than opening and closing the door...  
I hear your hinges squeaking from NY...

No need to open and close the door. I have my door optics mounted here so I can work on stuff like this with the door open. But yes, it does detect the service button.

jdkmunch - Andy said the app sets the port settings so it will override anything you set.

[jdkmunch]

OK final test results of the day......

Tried cable both jumped and open with the exact same results - What gets reported is what looks like the sas address 01:

Tried the same setup on my I-Game+ and had exact same results -  01:

Sooo with the trouble that TZ was having The only thing I can do now is wait for the USB to serial adapter and try that on another computer.  

I will make a serial crossover cable and try that on the bluebird later.

[poppo]

OK final test results of the day......

Tried cable both jumped and open with the exact same results - What gets reported is what looks like the sas address 01:

Tried the same setup on my I-Game+ and had exact same results -  01:

Sooo with the trouble that TZ was having The only thing I can do now is wait for the USB to serial adapter and try that on another computer.   

I will make a serial crossover cable and try that on the bluebird later.

Just for grins, try this. Turn the slot off. Connect the cables. Reboot the computer. Start SASTest. Click initialize. Then turn on the slot machine. After it boots, open the door or press the service button and see if you have anything displayed.

I only suggest this because I have had things 'lock up' when fiddling around with cables and clicking on things that don't work (like the meters 10-15 on a S+).

[Tilt]

I finally had some time to play with this a little bit.  I made a serial cable from an old player tracking cable that had the right molex connector and wired the db-9 end to it per Bunker's photo (thanks!).  I picked up a refurbished laptop with WinXP professional and a real serial port.  After downloading C++ 2010 redistribution package and MS .net software the application runs fine.  I seem to be having the same issue as others though, I get a 01: and that's about it.  I have been able to send a legacy bonus to a S2000 a couple of times, but it takes repeated attempts.  I don't get the much in the way of comms from the machine at all.  None of the door open, door closed, game started, game ended etc messages like I would expect to see.   

So I hooked it up to my GameKing and get the same results with it as I did the S2000.   I set up the comm analyzer to SAS primary channel 3 so I could observe the communications between the laptop and the machine.  I sent two legacy bonus requests to the machine, one for 100 and the other for 200 and captured the comms in the attached photo.  The comms from the laptop are on the top line and it looks like it's communicating properly.  You can see where one request was for 100 and the other 200 in the data sent. 

I get the same thing from my other laptop with a USB -> serial converter cable too    Guess I didn't need a new old laptop after all    I don't know why it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.  Maybe AndyP will see something in the comm analyzer snapshot that isn't right?

[AndyP]

Nice work tilt. Interesting indeed. Its seeing the data, but not responding to it. Any idea what the blue means? Looks like it might be the packet data.

What you are seeing there first is a global poll, the 0x80, followed by the general poll to poll address 1, 0x81. If the EGM detects a global poll (0x80) it is supposed to stop chirping, which its not doing. Tilt, if you dont mind can you send me an email to my gmail account - > slotmon <- with gmail dot com on the back.

[Tilt]

I believe the data in blue is the packet data being sent by the test app and received by the machine.  If it sits idle the display looks like the bottom line.  The app sends a 80818081 then there is a pause of a second or two and the machine sends 01 01 01.... until the next 80818081 comes in then there's another pause, and it repeats.  Every once in awhile the machine will attempt to send something back, but it's apparently invalid, like 18: AC power was just lost but the machine is still on. 

 

[Foster]

The TestApp is seeing the S+ Door open and close codes and some of the stuff works with a S2000 as long as use a USB to Serial adapter.

Why does a standard Com port give us troubles and a USB to Serial Adapter works great.

[Tilt]

I'm getting the same results with my XP Pro laptop with a real serial port as I am with my Win 7 laptop with a USB ->serial adapter able. 

[jdkmunch]

That was a great idea!

Here's my com status on my I game with the test app hooked up.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/fRXViCAjPa0&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/fRXViCAjPa0&rel=0</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/jqDMyh-GSTM&rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/jqDMyh-GSTM&rel=0</a>

[AndyP]

That helps a lot. Still not sure what is going on but I'll stare at it for a bit longer.

Might have to start handling the chirps a little better.

[AndyP]

I have managed to replicate the issue to a degree. It appears its a timing issue with received data. I need to work on it, not 100% sure what I am going to do about just yet though.

What I find odd though, is looking at those comms traces, the machine should still be responding with a no activity exception which its not.

[stayouttadabunker]

I just changed the address to 2 and
The app did respond 02:

Munch,
What did you actually see on your screen before you installed the jumpers...just [02:] ?
Nothing else?
Could you send us a screenshot of it?

[AndyP]

The slowness of the USB devices I thought would be detrimental to the polling part, but looks like it may be benificial to the receiving side!

I am really stuck on this one. I have just been screwing around with timings and I can see whats going on now. I am yacht racing the next 4 days, so I will have a good think about it when I am lying in my bunk at night!

[stayouttadabunker]

I am yacht racing the next 4 days, so I will have a good think about it when I am lying in my bunk at night!

When doing long distance racing and doing rotations...you should be sleeping, not thinking...lol

Good luck to ya! What boat you on?

[TZtech]

Tilt and Munch

I did not even get any activity on the comms test so I dont think my serial port problem is the same as Yours. Comms coming into the machne seems good on Your test results.
I suspect the issues You guys are having is due to machine settings. Do you guys have blue/Grey or red menus and can you post some pics on your comms setup screens.

PS - Andy - Good luck with the races

Ian

[Tilt]

Tilt and Munch

I did not even get any activity on the comms test so I dont think my serial port problem is the same as Yours. Comms coming into the machne seems good on Your test results.
I suspect the issues You guys are having is due to machine settings. Do you guys have blue/Grey or red menus and can you post some pics on your comms setup screens.

PS - Andy - Good luck with the races

Ian

I've tried both with similar results.  Let me know what screen you want a picture of and I'll post it in the morning.

Ditto Andy, Good Luck in your races and have fun!

[jay]

Well feel free to bring along an Odsessy, Universal, or VLT. I hear all of these are considered boat-anchors......   

Seriously - thanks for all of the hard work you are putting into this project,  of the boats, enjoy your trip and feel free to give us an update on that too.

[Foster]

I was looking at the S2000 Comm board, it also has RS485 available.
That may make it easier to connect more than one machine to to one com port.

As far as USB being slower, not compared to normal RS232 speeds. yeah there is some that can do the 1.5 megabits per second I do not think SAS is that fast.
The Fiber Optics that IGT is using is limited to 40 kilobits per second.

[jdkmunch]

Here's the machine with SAS address 2.

Whatever address I change it to will show up -

[poppo]

As far as USB being slower, not compared to normal RS232 speeds. yeah there is some that can do the 1.5 megabits per second I do not think SAS is that fast.

The speed has never really been an issue. Even USB 1.0 could handle all common RS232 speeds.  Software for RS232 UARTS on PCs had been around for ever and is pretty straight forward. But the first USB to RS232 adapters were a bit buggy due to poorly written drivers and hardware, especially since USB is designed to share the line with other devices. Most modern adapters along with USB 2.0 will work well for just about anything. RS232 polling without hardware handshaking can be tricky in any case though, as timing becomes more critical.

One other option to try, is to turn off the FIFO setting on the advanced page of the com port. I have run into several devices that required this to be turned off to work reliably depending on the PC used. This was from a CNC RS232 software FAQ.

Q. After a while the data is garbage then OK then garbage again.
  
A. You need to either turn off your communication port receive FIFO buffer or reduce the receive value to its smallest level. You access these by going into Windows Control Panel, Device Manager, LPT & Com Ports. Select your com port and click the advanced tab. Then turn off the FIFO option. Reboot for changes to take affect.

Can't hurt to try it.
 

[jdkmunch]

I turned FIFO off with same result - I haven't however changed the receive value to the smallest levels.