Name of game, manufacturer and year: Williams Alien Poker 1980

Did it ever work in your Possession?: Game is playable, never has had sound since I acquired it

Did You Run the Diagnostics?: Yes. Pressed the little button on the sound board until my finger hurt. Still sore actually.

Where did the game come from?: Minnesota. Was bought as is some 8-10 years ago. It's never had sound since I got the main game working.

Have needed MODS been done?: Not sure if it has any Needed Mods. I'll Check. So if it does, then no.

Are any aftermarket boards installed?: No aftermarket boards. All original boards as far as I know.

What was the last service you performed?: Not a clue, I've either been trying to fix it, or looking at it and wishing I had fixed it already.

Battery Corrosion: It had battery corrosion. A fellow I knew here in town helped me repair the board and install a "remote" battery pack.

LED or Incandescent lighting?: Incandescent (factory) lighting all around. Most even work.

Blown fuses: No blown fuses. All have been check and verified good.

Smell: Smells like old electronics, no burning or smoke smells.

Obvious Past Work Performed: A light bar under the playfield seems to have been replaced along with 2 solenoids, a lot of lights and 1 PIA on the driver board.

Do you have a Volt Meter?: Yes I do.

Can you solder?: Yes I can.

Location: Texas

Hello. I am new to this forum, so first off thanks for letting me be here.

I have had this Williams Alien Poker machine for a while, always planning to fix it, never taking the time to get it done. With the current state of the world I've found myself with the time I needed to see what could be done with it.

The short of it is I have the basic gaming working, takes credits, launches balls, keeps score - all the good stuff (minus a few playfield lights and what not, but those old IDC connectors and contacts are really something). The kids and I have gotten a few silent games played in the last few days (I even ordered a new rubber set for it just to make it a little more fun to play). Everything but the sound is working as expected right now.

I used a post I found on this forum ( https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-sound-board-repair ) directed to Williams Black Night (as far as I know is the same boards as Alien Poker) to trouble shot the sound issue. I got all the way to the end and hit a road block not sure where to go next:

1) I installed W1 and disconnected the speech board and set the dip switches (2=OFF, 1=OFF) which as far as I can tell is "No Speech Installed"
2) Used the volt meter, have all the voltages per the post available on the sound board.
3) Got the old logic probe out and followed thru all the checks. Made it all the way thru with YES,YES,YES until the end.
4) While Probing IC10 pins 26 thru 33 are pulsing like expected, IC10 pins 2 thru 9 are all HIGH. And that is my issue.

I replaced the IC10 PIA (as the author suggested) with 3 other 6821s and it's always the same, nothing I do changes anything. So I'm stuck in a loop at this point. Even with a known good 6821 PIA from the driver board, I still get the same results.

I hoping someone out there can point me to a possible solution. DAC? Memory? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Please let me know if you need any other information.

Thanks, MEV

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Thanks for the response.

We've been a bit busy of late, but I will try your suggestion ASAP.

I used a different 6821 the other day and got LOW on PINS 2 thru 9. When I pressed the diagnostic switch I could swear I heard a sound for a short second then all of the pins went to high and each with right at 5V present on each. I'm wondering now if it is shorting out my IC10 6821 when I press the switch.

Sadly, I am no longer in possession of a KNOWN good 6821 (except on my driver PWB and I hate to sacrifice that one if I'm right), so I'm going to order a few and start fresh when they arrive. While I'm at it I might get another 6810 just to have around for good luck.

That link you provided ( http://techniek.flipperwinkel.nl/wms37/index3.htm#sound) is something. Lost more to check. I'm going to start with the reset section.

Thanks again for the input, as soon as I take the time to give it another run I'll let you know what I found out.

Well, I got the sound working. (But I cheated)

I tried everything from every resource I could find to use on the internet.

I replaced memory, processor, DAC, memory and PIA multiple times.

But every time I press the test button the pins go from pulsing to high after making a very static filled chirp. Something is just not right and I couldn't seem to track it down.

So I did what everyone that wants their machine sound back, I ordered a Williams 6/7 Sound/Speech combo PWB from http://pinballpcb.com/.

Installed it and BAM! working like a champ. (That's the cheating part I mentioned)

And I got to say, in reference to pinballpcb, from the email contact, the packaging, the quality of the product and information package sent with the board, the experience was outstanding. (I was not paid for this endorsement and I hope it doesn't violate forum rules) But the service and the product was impressive even though availability caused a shipping delay (which was acceptable to me)

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions to help my cause, I would have rather fixed the original hardware (and maybe I'll keep working on it on the bench) but man it's nice to have the sound working again. Now, the displays need attention (does it ever end? HA)