Poll: How many S+ Chips Backed up and method of storage

[Goldfinger]

Poll: Who has the most S+ Chips backed up ?
1,2 and 3 coin count as separate games,
how many different SP chips do you have backed up?
What method do you use for holding your back up, ie: hard drive, CD ROM, DVD ROM. or other method.
How long have you been collecting?

this is an unofficial poll to see who has the mostus of the S+ game collection and how you have backed them up.
What are your favorite S+ games you have, Not want to have heheheh that could be a very long list.

Thanks in advance for all your imput.
Goldfinger

[jay]

I have 60 complete game kits, but I have managed to collect both the 9" and 16" top glass for each.
I think this only qualifies as 1 kit as I only have 1 set of reel strips and 1 belly glass for each.

Some games are actually clones of each other.
Ie 5 coin double diamond and 5 coin Gold Mountain.

I have Wild Cherry and Cartoon Wild Cherry which are clones also, I do however have 2 extra sets of chips for these which are the Tournament Chips.
Can't have a tournament with just one machine now can we .......

I also have most of the Royal Flush glass kits Jack, Queen, King but I am missing the elusive Ace kit.

My first game kit purchase was called Crazy Clawflish - its a haywire clone. Not paying close enough attention I only got the 16" top glass and strips.
I have been looking for the belly to this ever since I started this hobby. I have see other strips come up for sale but never any glass.
I would like a Belly and a 9" top glass ......

I have a chip box for all of my kits and have stored the info on my mirrored NAS storage drive. This takes up very little space <5mb. 

[Goldfinger]

Jay that is quite a few game kits you have. good idea about backing them up on your NAS, have you ever thought about backing them up to say CD or DVD disk? I have seen hard drives take a dump and every thing is gone.
And I know what you mean about the clones, I have a 5 Time Pay Kit and a Crystal Fives glass kit but even tho they use the same chips they are still different to play even if they do pay the same, I switch them back and forth once in a while for the change

Thanks for your reply, do you think any one on this list has more than 60?
Goldfinger

[jay]

Being a family of 4 with 7 computers I centralized all of our storage into one spot. If I didn't do it no one else was going to.
I Installed a NAS (network attached storage) which consists of 2 x 1tb (terabyte) drives mirrored.
I used to perodically backup important data between computers, as well as CDRW and DVD but I have also seen RWs fail to read.
The big issue was what was where and when.

The mirroring should prevent data loss in case one drive or the other fails.
I also use a Dell Service which backups up my NAS. In addition to the offsite nature of the backup the real benefit of this is that I have access to my data when I am away.

I am sure others have more games than I. Its not quantity that matters its what cool games you have. I still don't have a spin to you win theme.

  

[StatFreak]

I take a plead the 5^th.

I store what meger pickings I have similarly to Jay. I have two 500gb (half-terrabyte) drives which I keep mirrored. I also have some stuff on CD. Jay, I'll have to talk to you about online storage; I've been too mistrustful to try it.

[jaeckleint]

I am sure this is in the wrong place but, how do you back up your chips Eprom reader burner i guess but where does one start with this and what information/guidence do you offer to one whom wishes to take on this project

[a69mopar]

I have chips on my desk, chips in tubes, chips in drawers, chips in chip cases, about 2000 S-Plus SS chips, but some, probably many, are repeats.  Finding a specific chip among them is the hard part, one of these days, I'll make a rack and sort them better, and maybe I'll back them up while I do that.  The hardest to store are the ones that have the very tacky security tape on them from Canada, that stuff is like taffy, and usually pulls the writing off of the label if I try to remove it.

W

[jay]

Jaeckleint,

A eprom burner/reader is used to read chips.
The file size is 64k - 512k for the S+ which corresponds to the chip you use 27c64, 27c256, or 27c512.
When I buy blanks I only purchase 27c512s and write them using an offset. This allows me to purchase chips in bulk.
For the PE+ there are 5 graphic chips + the game and program chip and then the caprom. Caproms are obsolte so I use an adapter with a 27c512 chip.

It is not too hard to bend a pin when you are doing a game change and when you bend it back it often breaks. While there are a number of ways to solder it back on, use a socket to piggy back the chip with a short jumper of wire. For the $1.57 it costs for a blank I would rather just write it on a new one. Then there is the odd time when you put a chip in backwards and don't realize it until its too late and no amount of soldering is going to help you out.

In addition to taking a backup of the contents and writing it to a binary file 64-512k (depending on the chip) you often end up with unlabled chips, this either that the label has become browned due to heat/age/tobacco or like Wayne described - unreadable because the glue on the security tape has eaten it away. With the reader, you can view the binary contents and IGT has coded the chip numer in the header. You can also verify the validity of the chip by validating the checksum.   

[jaeckleint]

What equipment do you reccommend? I am computer savy and have a general knowlage of what needs to be done. Just have never done it before Just need to be pushed in the correct direction with guidence on what to look out for and stay away from.

[StatFreak]

Several of us went with the GQ-4X programmer. It's inexpensive and gets the job done for the home enthusiast. There are better programmers out there, of course.

Here are two old threads on the subject.
New Programmer baby born at my house...
New Eprom Programmer

[coorslight115]

Guess my question would fit here... What do you physically keep your chips in? I looked for the plastic tubes or cases on e-bay and came up blank. All mine are stuck to a piece of static foam in a drawer...there has to be a better method. 

[a69mopar]

I prefer keeping them in tubes.  I'm sure if you posted a WTB post, someone would have some to sell.   Way back when I needed some, I bought them from Happ for $1 ea.  The shipping was a surprise though.

Thanks,
Wayne

[KirkLasVegas]

I prefer keeping them in tubes.  I'm sure if you posted a WTB post, someone would have some to sell.   Way back when I needed some, I bought them from Happ for $1 ea.  The shipping was a surprise though.

Thanks,
Wayne

At $1 a piece its a deal, then the $50 shipping fee.......Typical HAPP
I keep back-stock in tubes, current stock in a plastic anti-static box with dividers.
The ones in the box are blank and ready to rock & roll, the ones on foam on the programming table.....WHO KNOWS.....
I keep a piece of foam with all the current clear chips out for use. Since they dont usually travel they are not in tubes.
When I approach a machine I sit down, touch machine, set foam inside metal cabinet on the bare metal. Then pull the shelf and work right there. I DO NOT get up and away until I am done (Lots of static in Vegas).I touch the MPU shelf to the metal cabinet,then remove the chip(s) of choice,setting them on the foam and install the new chips.


Kirk