Hello,

I have a problem to update IO-Board 1 to version 0.9.
I'm not the only one in that situation.
Is there a hidden procedure or a trick to update IO-Board 1?
All the other boards are already updated to version 0.9, but IO-Board 1 still shows version 0.8.

I tried to swap the IO-Board 1 to the place on the powerdriver but also no success.
What can I do to update this IO-Board?

I have 2 issues with my new Alien pin that some experts maybe have some advise on:

1-The xenomorph head never eats the ball full, but gets stuck. When in the menu doing calibrate, it extends fully but does not retract fully (about 2 cm is left).
If I press HOME it does go fully back until the switch clicks.

2-The game continuously adds a ball without stop when the ball has drained. I don't know if it has to do with the 1.3 code I tried.
It is not possible to play a game this way. I don't know where to look.

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1: Look at other alien posts in forums. Adjust the small screw on the xeno board with jewelers screwdriver and/or you may need to tilt the head back to clear the targets. Need a better down the gullet picture to be sure.

2. Check the the trough connectors. Take the balls out and one by one switch test. If that is fine then put all the balls in the trough and wiggle the connectors. See if it wigs out on you. (realized you probably can't do this second thing because of the issue you are having)

I'm working on the Xeno-mechanic right know and I did some tests.
In my opinion the lever from the jaw to the servo is the problem.
The bracket where the servo is mounted in has a notch where the lever should move in, but it doesn't do.
Often the lever is stuck in the edge of the bracket and the construction is working clumsy.
That's bad for the original servo and can disturb the entire gameplay and obviously damage the jaw or the servo!
I did some improvement to the bracket and enlarged the notch.
Then the lever has enough space and the servo can turn without inference to open and close the jaw properly.

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Thanks for the advice.
I notice that the stepper motor gets really hot and makes always noise (even when not supposed to do anything).
I unplugged it for now and will have a look later.
I'll browse through the thread to find some info. I guess I broke it now.
For me the ' calibrate' feature is unclear. Why does it not move fully to home position?
Looks like it is not ' strong enough'.

I do have a complete spare xenomorph head and I can swap it, and a spare servo board.

Averell, I don't understand exactly your explanation, can you elaborate?

The ball through issue:
moved back to software 1.2 and problem gone. Interesting.
I will re upgrade to 1.3 and see if it appears again.

Minor thing: the right flipper gives a squeeky noise when pressed (and hold). Normal?
Looks it comes from somewhere around the coil, but can't really pinpoint the exact location.

The jaw of the ALIEN-Xeno is not working properly due to a bad linkage on the servo.
I'm working on this but I also have to renew the threads in the bracket.
The original used scews are too small and the threads are damaged and partly useless.
I will drill in new M3 threads and use stainless steel screws with loctite.

Found my error log in the audits. Remember I had regular “IO-board 1” failures for 3 months. Since I removed the usb cable from lying around the silver amplifier in the cabinet two weeks ago I have no more “IO-board 1” failures. Have played at least 50 games without errors. Could the solution really be this simple?

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Yes

Reassembled the XENO-Assy today and it works fine.
Did new adjustment for the servo and lever and use washer between bolt and frame to calibrate the jaw.
Xeno-Head is also finished with a bit more authentic look and is really badass.

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That crazy cool!

Great work!
I replaced my complete Xenomorph assembly last week(I had a spare) and noticed they were completely different in build.
If someone's interested I can post pictures. Looks like they changed this assembly design and materials during production. The replacement is much more solid.

Yes, the later production is different to the early ones.
The main problem is the adjustment of the servo and the lever.
The servo should be replaced with a metal gear version, sooner or later the plastic crap will brake down.
And of course, the magnet must be replaced and screwed trough the gear rack.
Another problem is the heat sink of the Xeno-board. It should be glued to the board to prevent a short circuit.

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On mine the tooth are really fragiles. Some were were broken with jumping ball.

A reset in the post....recommend visiting:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/weyland-yutani-dedicated-to-keeping-3-alien-specimens-alive

This was linked some time back, but looks like a great time to have it resurface for those that didn't live through the pain back then.

There were (are) brilliant innovators there that covered the game to a granular level, and goes over many of the challenges some are revisiting now (all mechs, CPU, I/O, Xeno, power supplies, etc.)

I'd be cautious on modifying the Xeno head too much beyond a bloody green airbrush, as it gets hit alot during gameplay ( there was a pinsider that airbrushed a few..looked great)

Badass is right! That looks awesome!!!

After 1 year of owning my Blue LE i got this call-out for the first time after losing a mission - 'Bishop, do you read me' from Hicks!!
Astonished as I have never heard this before during 1 year of playing!! This game is so damn good!

Thanks, very useful!

I have another strange issue that is not that bad: When I turn on my machine it gives a very short peak in power, then does nothing.
I turn the switch to off (bottom cabinet), wait 2 secs and try again.
I need to repeat this cycle 2-5 times and then all of a sudden it starts to power up and keeps working.

My guess is that inrush current (surge) is too high or something and causes the power supply to shut off due to overcurrent protection; anyone has experienced the same or has any tips? Maybe it's somethine else.

I have had a similar issue. It's pretty rare and I only need to turn it off/on once and it works. When it does happen it turns on and I can see some lights are getting power. The PC does not seem to boot up. Turning the pinball machine off/on has always fixed it though.

That’s common, had it with 1.2 some times and also with 1.3. PC seems not to boot fully, it stays at „ booting kernel“ ...
It happens rarely and just switch of, waiting for 5 seconds and switch on will solve that.
Pat

so I played a game with the latest code (1.3) in a comp last night and I wrote my score down and it was witnessed. But then when the score went in I knew it wasn't right. Can you just check maybe a bug where the P1 score after the game is displayed is the current GC score?

With some contemplation, downsizing and a trade, I am excited to report that I am back in the club!
This game is so great and I have wanted one ever since I let my last one go.
Picked up an SE and its playing great! ...has some neat little toys scattered around, little beacons on the pf and even has Averell's clear speaker panel set (which looks really sharp!).
Yup, Im stoked!!

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Figured out and got past my first Alien issue with the new game....ah, Alien issues...

Playing a game and thought I smelt smoke, simultaneously noticed the right upper flipper wasn't working, so I powered down and lifed the playfield.

Right upper flipper coil was hot as hell, so hot it bubbled the coil sleeve and the plunger couldn't even move. Noticed the right upper flipper coil was a newer American-style coil (but had been playing fine for last guy and me for at least 30 games) so I didn't think that would be the issue. Also noticed the 3rd 6.3V fuse on the board at the base of the cab had blown. Replaced the fuse and powered on and smoke and hot again. Thought maybe the crimped connectors on the wires to the coil were bad, as they were dark inside, so I snipped them off and did the traditional hard solder to a brand new coil (which the game came with two replacements of the coil that was installed)...same thing, immediate smoke and hot as hell coil and another blown fuse.
So I disconnected the wires to the coil altogether and powered on. Nothing funny, no smoke. Touched the wires to the coil and noticed that when touching/connected, the right upper flipper would immediately fire. Damn, there's unbridled power coursing through these wires! Grabbed the volt meter...there was straight 65v of steady power running through those wires! Checked the resistors and diodes on the boards at the floor of the cabinet, first at the area of the blown fuse and all the others....everything checked out fine. Checked the physical nature of wires themselves, they were fine...checked the molex connector that the wires went to and all looked ok. Started examining the I/O board and I could tell it had been messed with in the past as I could see some evidence of prior work, and also noticed that one of the chips was lifting and looked a bit burnt underneath. So then I started thinking that maybe there was no I/O communication with the aspect relating to the right upper flipper power. Fortunately for me, the gentleman I got the game from had a spare I/O board that the game came with, so I swapped out the current board for the new board. Re-tested the wires and on game turn on there was no immediate steady current at the wires anymore. Ok, good start. So I re-soldered the wires back onto the new coil and powered on...waited, waited, ok, no smoke, pressed start game...no smoke, hit the flipper buttons...and, I'm back in action

Let me ask the group a question.
First, does anything ne have any extra extra I/O boards that they would sell (obviously don't need one now, but to have as a spare)?
Also,
I see that Pinball Life has the high- and low-powered coils for sale. I went ahead and picked a couple extra of each. Does anyone see any reason that I should immediately change the current coil for the Heighway specific coil (again, the current American-style coil had worked well for the last fella and for me for at least 30 games, and now seems to again be working perfectly fine), or just leave the current coil in place? If I were to change out, I assume, at least by the current size of coil and in looking at available under-the-pf pics of other Alien pins, that it would be the high-powered coil. Any confirmation on that??

Please can you take a picture of the burned area of the damaged IO-Board?
I'm interested in, if the power protection SMDs (4 upside and 4 downside) had already been bridged with a wire jumper for zero ohm measurement, or not.

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It's also useful to know, what software version this damaged IO-Board had... 0.8 or 0.9.
As Brian mentioned it's uninteresting if the IO-Board used on the Powerdriver is 0.8 or non bridged, but the three boards beneath the playfield should have the bridged SMDs and the latest software version 0.9.
The different between 0.8 and 0.9 is the setting against ghosting LED, but the bridged SMDs should protect the high power source of the coils to prevent damage to Q6 and other parts.

https://www.free-play.se/en/electronics/circuit-boards/alien-full-throttle-io-board-v14b.html

It seems to be out of stock at free-play.se, but apparently from here you can still get them:

ebay.com link: Alien Heighway Pinball Original Genuine IO Board 1 4B NOS

In my opinion too expensive and you have to ensure first, do these boards have the bridged SMDs?
On this picture they don't!
We still really don't know why the transistors explode and burne the coils!

I'm also looking for a I/O board, if someone has one for sale for a reasonable price, contact me.

Yes, I will definitely check and take a picture and post.

Interestingly, when I got the game, which was recently, there was a sticker on the other I/O boards (placed over the taller capacitors, probably best place to put it) that had a big "check mark". The one that I exchanged did not.
Curious about this bridged area???
Also interesting is that the larger black board that the I/O fastens to, there was a small bridged component just an inch up and to the left of the I/O board hook-up. A component that caught my eye and wasn't present on the backup larger black board that also came with the game.

The I/O board that was removed was reportedly updated to 0.9. I dare not put back in now to check as it was a potential fire starter. One thing is for sure, with the new I/O board, there is no longer any inappropriate power surging through any wires. All appears cool and quiet.

In light of everything seeming to work perfectly fine right now, should I absolutely update my system to ensure this new board is 0.9? I did play several games since changing the board, the games went/played fine, no obvious issues, and after the games I lifted the pf to check everything out and all seemed normal, cool, quiet, etc. Not one issue to find.

To be honest, i've never had to update this game (have now lucked out twice to have the game with newest code installed already). Is that a fairly easy update? I suppose download newest code from a website to a FAT32 thumb drive and place in an available USB? Anyone have a link to the 1.2 / 0.9 code and a brief fail-safe tutorial for downloading and uploading the code.
Thanks!!

Also, any consensus on whether for not it's imperative to have the Heighway specific coils on the game? As opposed to not. ...and if so, the right upper flipper should be a Heighway high-power coil, correct? I do have some of them coming to me from Pinball Life website that I'll have available to me soon, if needed.

For my own future knowledge, would you be willing to take a picture of your I/O board? I'd love to know if they are supposed to be bridged, and how that's supposed to look, if so.
Thanks!!

As I understood from Brian, the code from IO board 0.8 to 0.9 is nothing more than an attempt to remove LED flickering, which did not help (I asked in the 1.3 code what it does). So I don't think there is a reason to update the IO board to 0.9. I did not touch mine either.

What is the purpose of this bridge and is it good or not if it is there?
EDIT: I see Averell answered this.
Can someone add a picture of how the bridge should look like?

I will do a preventive check on my Alien.

I see now the "bridged" area that Averell was speaking about (can see in the pics).
I took pictures of the board (front and back) that was causing the trouble. You can see the bringing area Averall was referring to on front and back. In the pics you can also see a close-up of the component/chip that was burnt-appearing and lifting (near the small capacitors). The SMD area with the "bridging" looks ok.
I also took a pic of the new I/O board which is now installed. Looks like the bridging across those SMDs is in place. Sounds like that is a good thing to find! (thank you Averell for bringing that up, as I assume there must be some out there without that).
Interestingly, I also showed the small component on the bigger black board just above and left of the I/O board. Says JP201. Has some solder bridging on top as you can see. Interesting. Also interesting is that this component is NOT present on the "spare board" that came along "NIB" with the game. Wonder what this part is and what it's for???

Faust Thanks for your reply. I don't seem to have a flicker problem, which is great, so ill leave the updating alone for now. Again, I appreciate you response.

I will keep the old board and try and repair this burnt-appearing area. Anyone know exactly what part/piece that is that looks bad?
Chip
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I'm really upset with the fact that all the IO-Board could be damaged, whatever brigded or not!
As you see, it's Q1 that's toasted and destroyed the IO-Board completely.
In my ALIEN all IO-Boards have Software 0.9 and bridged SMDs.
The update is easy if you have already installed Software 1.2 for the game - then 0.9 can be seleceted in the menu "Test" to update the IO-Boards - you just have to toggle in the menu and press Enter.
J201 is missing on the big PCB, it's a replacement part from Pinball Brothers.
Coil should be used as recommended, so use a Heighway Coil like in the other Flipper-Assys.

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To me it looks like a mosfet that is fried.

I’ve had in the past in a project (nothing to do with pinballs) also mosfets that blew up after a while. After a long investigation it had to do with the applied switching voltage which did not have sharp edges between on-off. The result; too long time in between of-off voltages that cause the transistor not to be fully on, not fully off. After random time of use they blew up.

It may be fully unrelated, but could be an explanation; bad board design in controlling those mosfets. Maybe peak voltages or who knows what. I’ve heard more people with blown boards.

Thanks for your reply. I wonder what the role of that replacement part is (JP201), and what the outcome would be if it was not installed, like on the newer larger PCB boards.
I do have 1.2 installed, so I guess if I wanted to it's all I/O board updated from the coindoor selection buttons, am I understanding you correct on that?
Thank you for the coil recommendation. I had figured as much. I noticed that the two lower flippers use the larger, high power coil, or so it looks, on my game, there appears to be a smaller lower power coil for the upper left flipper and a larger sized coil on the right upper flipper (the one in question). I assume that it is going to be a larger, Heighway-brand high-power coil replacement on the right upper flipper (same as lower flippers) am I correct?

This is correct. 0.9 only changes the timing of when the coils are turned on relative to when the LEDs are refreshed, to minimize the possibility of noise between the two circuits.

Some time ago, I published the following documentation which describes the functionality and components of the I/O board:
https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ao2CbfOvs38FoTiS5es_TYa7KBCl

The burned transistor Q12 on your board is switching the current for the Coil 2 Output. It is a n-channel MOSFET PSMN039-100YS (100V, 28A). Unfortunately these transistors shorten when they melt, causing constant current at 70V through the attached coil - which is not healthy.

As the general 70V coil power is supplied by the transistor Q1 (an FQB22P10TM p-channel MOSFET), this one also becomes (too) hot and melts.

I saw (and replaced) some melted coil transistors on I/O boards. Sometimes the protection diode (here D18) is also dead/shortened.

The cause is unknown - due to the circuit design, various options are possible:
- Shortend output, i.e. the wiring from the board to the coils is damaged
- Unsuitable transistor, there are similar models which can manage higher currents and voltages
- Bad control circuit, leading to unhealthy transitions during on/off switching (which happens a lot as the coils are pulsed by PWM), see post above.
- My guess is the fact, that the transistors are fully controlled by the I/O board CPU, so finally by software. If the I/O board code stops working as intended (for whatever reason) the transistor may be switched on too long. There are different security mechanisms to prevent this, like a "whatchdog" which restarts the CPU if the program code freezes.

And there are hardware overcurrent protections for the coil transistors and also for the 70V general power implemented on the board. Both do not work as they should, as your board shows. Ironically the coil transistor protection was disabled with the bridging wires (and 0 Ohm resistors) - obviously it made things worse!

Lots of unnecessary/wrong components - what's so bad about good old fuses? There are even nice small SMD types, JJP pinballs are using a lot of them...

You often see a similar failure in other pinball machines. Usually replacing the drive transistor fixes the problem. Sometimes you need to replace the predrive transistor too. The problem can extend to the logic (digital drive integrated circuit) but it's rare. If the protection diode is bad or not soldered well the problem will soon happen again after the components are replaced.

Sometimes they put the protection diode on the coil itself. Not sure if that's the case with Heighway coils. I don't think it's a bad thing to have redundant protection though with a diode on the board and the coil.

Heighway coils have no diodes, all diodes are soldered on the powerdriver.
I have checked the coils for the flipperfingers, they're all the same type C010.

Per, that is an amazing write-up on the I/O boards.

ALIEN is prepared to be resurrected... waiting for Cliffy's ramp flaps, then it's done.

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I’m officially apart of the club! Just got an alien and I’m having problems with the APC drop targets. They are going up and down rapidly and aggressively. See video link. Thoughts?

Would have to look at mine but in most stand up target games that usually means the coil is not pulling the targets high enough to lock position which makes them fall and keep resetting. Would start with the lift bracket under the stand up targets to see if its slightly bent.

Thanks for thoughts, Did you see the video? It looks like the coil sleeve is in a very odd spot. Like hanging down. I’ve never screen that before. Could that be the issue?

Good catch. Yes it appears either the previous owner put in the wrong length coil sleeve or put it in with the flange on the wrong side and it slid out. That would be the issue. As I said something is keeping the coil from Fully pulling the targets to lock position. Good luck.

So sounds to good to be true but I got this pin new in box. It’s never been tampered with. It’s looks so weird though... the coil sleeve. Could someone take a look and see if theirs is like that as well? I can’t imagine it was that screwed up from the factory. It also only started doing it after about 2 games. Or about 10 knock down cycles. I opened the game 2 days ago.

Congrats on the new game!
Agree that the coil sleeves look to be in upside down, and thus they are falling/slipping down. I would disconnect the coils, take out the sleeves, put the sleeves back in so they're coming in from the top, reconnect the coils, test and report back.
I'll check my targets and their configuration tomorrow and take a pic if it's any different.

Thank you. Such a great game thus far. However I’ve only got like 3 games in before something else goes wrong. This game makes setting up pirates jjp look like a walk in the park. Haha. But, I have hope! Already ordered some shielded usb cables too. I’m pumped to get it working well but also understanding that I purchased a know game that needs TLC from time to time.

Remember when installing new USB cables, very important to execute good strain relief, retention, and cable management.

Secure cables just back from the connector, so that the connector can not come out, and in a way so that the connector is not under strain.

Also run cables, retained, and away from interference sources as much as possible.

Good example a little way back, where the USB cable running around the sound amplifier seemed to cause the game to malfunction.

*Also agree that the drop coil sleeve is installed backwards.

So I ended up purchasing audio quest shielded cables. While some
May say this is a waste of money @ $35 a cable I think it’s cheap insurance. Here is a cool report / comparison about 8 generic “shielded” cables. You can clearly see the difference in protection from interferences you discussed in your response. This is what ultimately led to my purchase decision.

https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/usb-cable-shield-resistance-technical-measurements.5662/