Bonus streak by IGT

[stayouttadabunker]

I know there is a battery in the mpu in the top box of the barcrest machines, could this be the issue with this one also?

It's very possible cowboy! 
I'm sure that the voltage can be easily checked with a multimeter too!

[Buzz]

AD_KING   Just a word of CAUTION. At sometime your going to be removing the SS7742 and the SS1010 chips from your board. I think these two chips are extremely rare and urge you to be very carefull with them. If it were me and I didn't have a eprom programmer, I would take the board to someone that did and get a back up copy of the files before I did anything with them.

I'm not trying to scare you, well I guess I am. You have something that I don't think anyone else has and it's very easy to break a pin off of a chip. Your profile doesn't list your location, there is a outside chance one of our members that has a burner lives in the same town you do.

[knagl]

64-0 is, to the best of my recollection, a communication error on an S+ Barcrest machine, too.  With these add-on third-party topboxes (Barcrest Top Dollar, Anchor Coin Flip-Flop, this "Bonus Streak" game, etc.), the base machine is a basic, standard IGT S+, with some communication between the S+ and the topbox.

Before you go digging into the computer's battery and anything else, follow the clues that the machine is giving to you.  The S+ says "64-0" (or, "me and the top box aren't talking to each other"), and the top box says on the left side of the video screen, "COMM ERROR" (or, "me and the S+ aren't talking to each other.").  At this point, we don't know much more than that, but I'd start with the suggestions posted earlier to check the communication cable(s) between the top box computer and the S+ motherboard.

[stayouttadabunker]

Am I wrong to theorize that I believe that communication between the MPU's motherboard
and the auxiliary top-box Bonus unit is done by using an Interface communications board like this I've posted below?
Mine plugs into the motherboards' J4 and J9 headers.
Power to the Interface board (ASSY NO. 7542200) is derived from the two wires on the J9 connector
while Communication signals (Tx, Rx, -Tx, -Rx ) runs through the J4 motherboard header.
The 4-pin J2 black Amp connector on the Interface board goes to the top-box Auxiliary Bonus Unit?
We use this same board to communicate between a desktop computer and an S+. 
My guess is that if the top-box computer in his machine...is anything like the LCD computer
in a Vision machine, then this Interface board would be utilized?

If he has this in his machine, then we are now talking about two separate harnesses...
that needs to be checked out - as well as operation of the Interface board.
That little board has two LEDs ( red & green)
The Red one must be on at all times - it's for power.
The Green one flashes intermittently to show that transmission and receiving  signals are going
through the communication lines.

Note to self: If he has all of these components in his machine, that would mean that the Vision computer -
was first installed by IGT in the S+ platform BEFORE the S2000 Vision platform series came out!

Click on any photo to enlarge if needed...>>>

[cowboygames]

The reason I brought that up was because one of his original problems was ram related on the video screen and a low cmos battery can cause those types of problems. The barcrest mpu boards also have a reset button if I recall correctly. SO, if the battery isn't the problem or if it is and he replaces it, he may get lucky and only have to hit the reset to clear the communication error. Just a thought ...

[knagl]

I didn't mean to poo-poo any ideas, cowboygames -- I just think it's prudent to check for a communication wiring issue first since both sides of the machine are reporting a communication issue.

[cowboygames]

Lol, I know knagl, I just think people learn better when they know the reason behind what they're being asked to do. All part of the learning process

[AD_KING]

OK as I look through the machine. I came across a couple of wires that I have no idea what they lead to... If anything.
Heres a couple picks.

[stayouttadabunker]

Where's the other end going to?   

Remember, the more you can tell us - the better we can help you. 

[AD_KING]

Im pretty sure its just going to the card reader...

[AD_KING]

Am I wrong to theorize that I believe that communication between the MPU's motherboard
and the auxiliary top-box Bonus unit is done by using an Interface communications board like this I've posted below?
Mine plugs into the motherboards' J4 and J9 headers.
Power to the Interface board (ASSY NO. 7542200) is derived from the two wires on the J9 connector
while Communication signals (Tx, Rx, -Tx, -Rx ) runs through the J4 motherboard header.
The 4-pin J2 black Amp connector on the Interface board goes to the top-box Auxiliary Bonus Unit?
We use this same board to communicate between a desktop computer and an S+. 
My guess is that if the top-box computer in his machine...is anything like the LCD computer
in a Vision machine, then this Interface board would be utilized?

If he has this in his machine, then we are now talking about two separate harnesses...
that needs to be checked out - as well as operation of the Interface board.
That little board has two LEDs ( red & green)
The Red one must be on at all times - it's for power.
The Green one flashes intermittently to show that transmission and receiving  signals are going
through the communication lines.

Note to self: If he has all of these components in his machine, that would mean that the Vision computer -
was first installed by IGT in the S+ platform BEFORE the S2000 Vision platform series came out!

Click on any photo to enlarge if needed...>>>

The red and green light turn on for a quick second after I turn the machine on. But then they both turn off with no flashing at all...

[stayouttadabunker]

Cool! 
So that means you DO have an Interface board liked I pictured, installed in your machine!
If the other end is going to the player tracking system, then it's being used for that purpose.
The white 5-pin Molex goes down into the drop hole out to the casino's networking system-
it's not needed for home use.
However, somehow the top-box computer needs to communicate to the machine's motherboard.

Sooo...where is the harness from the top-box computer leading to the main cabinet below?

[AD_KING]

It all looks like its going right here... PIC

[stayouttadabunker]

Excellent photo!
I see you've bolted your machine to the wall of your home! 

Kidding aside...The two gray harnesses and the two black harnesses are going further down below under the reel shelf.
I suspect that they're going down to the MPU's motherboard or the Interface board or both?
You need to determine which harness is coming from the top-box computer and where it ends exactly.
When you locate both ends, gently remove them
and inspect them like I described in Reply #23.

[AD_KING]

Remember, the display WILL show the error even AFTER you close the door.
I wish you were more clear on whether or not the "Coin Played" display goes out briefly after closing the door.
I'm only assuming that the door optics are working when you say the auxiliary screen "resets".
At that point, you need to try a coin and see if the machine accepts it
and sends a credit to the display.
The sheet seems to say that you almost NEED to see the 64-1 code when communications are restored but questionable.

As we know from the sheet excerpt I posted, you are losing comm with the auxiliary unit computer for 6 seconds.
You need to check the connections to the computer from the motherboard.

Gently pull out the related Molex connections and check the pins.
Make sure none of them are pushed down into the housings.
The pins should all be "just-as-long" or even in height.

Also, from the back of the Molex housings, push all of the wires into the housings fully.
Gently pull back on them and feel if there's any internally, unseen broken wires.
If broken, you will feel the wire covering as loose and not as "solid" as the others.
If you find any of these non-solid wires, you need to verify with a multimeter set to wire continuity to check for the break.
At that point, it will be necessary to repair the break.

This digging around involves you checking the harness Molex housings and pins at both ends -
the top-box aux. unit end and the other end down at the motherboard.
I'm only guessing that the other end plugs into the motherboard as you haven't shown us yet.

An easier way is to completely remove the harness from the machine
and check the pins for continuity with the multimeter.
If all the pins check out okay on the harness, then you need to see if any pins are bent on the motherboard or at the topbox end.
You MUST verify the communication harness between the two systems is okay.

If the harness and pins at both ends check out okay, then we need to troubleshoot another area.

Finally, removing a harness is easy but you need to make sure that when snipping off the plastic ties - you don't cut into any wires.
Later on, you can tidy up the wiring by installing new plastic tie wraps onto the wire looms.

Also, we don't really know how the top box bonus unit is powered up
but I'm suspecting that is okay as you are seeing messages on the screen.
I would like to know if the power to that auxiliary bonus unit is separate or in the same loom as the communications cabling?

They are two different Power sources. The one thing that is getting to me now is when the top screen displays the game the reels spin once again. So im guessing there has to be some kind of communication between both of them. I will go over the harnesses right now to make sure they are all ok. I just want to thank everyone for the time! You are all being of great help to me!

[stayouttadabunker]

Just the fact that your getting your hands in there
and jiggling the harnesses around gave you back your top-box game display again.
I'm afraid the problem may come back soon though.

This intermittent communications connections is the result of oxidized pin contact.
If you lose communications for 6 seconds - the error will come back on your display screen.
Over time, the metal on the pins get oxidized and get progressively worse
due to the heat forming between the female receptor pins contacting the male pins.

You need to get some "De-Oxit" de-oxidizer contact spray
and spray the cleaner into the Molex connectors housings onto the pins.
It is available from your local Radio Schnack store.

[AD_KING]

Ok thanks! I will def. pick up a bottle of this! I was just messing around with the main harness of the top of the machine and i disconected it. Then I turned the machine back on and the error never came up just error code 21 after I put a coin in. Then I powered the machine off and connected it back in. Then the Comm error came up again.

[stayouttadabunker]

When you take the Molex connector back off, check all the pins very carefully.
Make sure they're all even in height.
Even when you plug it back in, make sure all the wires behind the housing are
fully inserted inside by pushing each wire into the housing as far as they will go.
That way you'll know for sure all the receptor pics are fully contacting and covering the male pins.

Error [21] is unrelated and concerns your coin-in optics under the coin comparator.
Might be just dusty, dirty optics.
A can of compressed air should fix that.

When you said you removed the harness and powered and didn't get the "NO COMM" error -
but the LCD computer screen was displaying the game?

This makes sense because the LCD computer doesn't need to be hooked up to the machine to come on.
In other words, it can display the game but won't be functional because without a communications harness between the top and bottom, the LCD computer will not get any input from the game in the lower cabinet.

Something is definitely wrong with that harness or the top-box computer's PCMCIA flash card is missing.
The data programmed into the PCMCIA card needs to "see" and verify the chips on the MPU in the lower cabinet.
Can you post of video clip link to here via youtube?
I would like to see the top-box LCD "Booting Up"after turning on the power switch.

Also, does your top-box Bonus unit computer look similar somewhat to this picture below?
This one doesn't have the metal cover on the back of it.
There would be a PCMCIA slot on top of it and on the side.
These pre-USB computers were capable of running without the newer Netplex systems as they had separate power connections,
keyboard & mouse connections, as well as separate COMM connection headers...>>>

[AD_KING]

I will take video tonight and post it after work.
Thank you!

[knagl]

Then I turned the machine back on and the error never came up just error code 21 after I put a coin in.

21 is a coin-in error (here's a list of most S+ errors: http://newlifegames.net/igterrors/ ).  That would indicate a problem with your coin-in optics, or there's a coin (or dirt or excess dust) jammed in there.

[AD_KING]

Thank you! I'll have to save that and print it out!

[AD_KING]

Does anyone have a PDF Manual file for this type of slot?

[AD_KING]

This is the board of the back of the upper LCD Screen. Would the battery that is in it have anything to do with the problem that im having? Also what does it do??

[cowboygames]

You'd have to check the voltage on it, but if it's low or dead it could absolutely cause issues.

[AD_KING]

heres the pic...