In spite of the drastic game pitch, it looks like the ball cant quite go over the hump of the captive ball to drain out.

Ill have to check mine as it also rarely works.

i've tested the stage front eject with intentionally magnetized balls and it does something similar to what your video shows. Not saying that's your exact cause, but might be worth a look.

That’s a good point. With gravity and a non-magnetized ball, you would think that the ball in play would be sitting on the bottom side of the disappearing ball and not on the top (before attempted ejection).

still working very nice here, i stay on just 1 miss out of 20...

Worth a look but I'd be really surprised if that's the case as these are pretty new and are regular carbon-steel balls. I think it has more to do with where the magic ball sits at "capture" mode but I don't really have any evidence or way to test that theory.

This is my first post to Pinside’s Houdini threads, so please forgive me if I missed anything. What an amazing community this is!

Here’s my question: I bought a new Houdini pin in December, I absolutely love it, and I’m wondering if it has a battery that I will need to change; if so, where is it?

I don’t see any info about this in the owner’s manual...

let's admit i've never checked, but than, as it's a computer motherboard, shoud be a 2032...
but dont think about that now, you have more than time

and btw, welcome

Incorrect information redacted.

PINSIDE is back right in time, as i've just scored this :

55M (resized).jpg

Possibly dumb question... my Return From Beyond and Escape Death features don’t work when lit. The ball drains and that’s the end of the ball. Am I missing a setting or something?

Good Lord. I didn’t know the game could go that high. I’d need 20 balls and a sock stuffed in the out hole to score like that.
Hey - just noticed that what I said sounds like a prelude to a pretty bad and somewhat off-color limerick. Sorry.

Thank you everyone for your help!

Thank you so very much for your help!

than we are almost 2 !!! lol

you mean "not always" working, right !?
than already reported to Josh, i experienced that too, but while playing really hard to understand what is going on (of course considering the switches are 100% working)

This game has no subwoofer correct? How do you go about wiring an external?

I don’t think I’ve started either mode since the last code update. The insert is lit on both sides, I drain, and nothing. Weird.

yes no subwoofer - i bought a cheap passive car subwoofer which is now under the pin and driven by the amp in the backbox. You only need a long enough speakerwire.

You just alligator clip to the existing speakers?

I could never get a passive sub to work. I had to buy a small sub amp. Works great, but I needed an external amp for my sub speaker.
Seemed like a number of people liked the Polk subwoofer found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Polk-10-Inch-Powered-Subwoofer-Single/dp/B0002KVQBA

Also, search this thread for Polk and subwoofer and you’ll see lots of info.

well than, again, you're sure that switches are 100% working ?
if yes, than its strange, as OK, sometimes i also see these not reacting, but mainly they are

Keep in mind that if lit via the magic shop, and if you have not earned either one through its normal means, that it will move from outlane to outlane with the flippers. You also will not get them if ball save is active or in multiball.

If you have it occur were you are certain you should have gotten it, pull the logs and send to me. Please note date and time (and always good to make sure you game's clock is correct).

Both Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels run their subwoofer off that same amp. If the lower speakers are plugged into the sub-amp terminals, then move those to the standard speaker terminals.

Thanks, I’ll pop the hood to troubleshoot any easy stuff. If all checks out, I’ll send you my audits.

Get a pinnovators Master Audio Control, it has a sub out.

Anyone' know when they corrected the power supply issue? Got a build date of Mar 2018.

We’re now an Apple only family having relinquished our last PC following a job change. I tried to download the latest Houdini update, but couldn’t get it to work. I get an “Operation Failed” after several prompts to allow the download to continue. Apparently Apple will not allow (without giving permission halfway through the download) unless it is an Apple download or from a registered developer - or something like that.
Is this just my typical computer ineptitude, or is there an Apple thing?

When I have the lock lit and I hit the inner loop, sometimes it doesn’t go through to the lock. Instead, it either releases the ball like it does when the lock isn’t lit, or keeps it there and shoots another ball out of the scoop. This seems to happen maybe 1 out of 5 times I hit the lit lock. Is this a known issue? Or, maybe there’s some gameplay situation during which you can’t lock balls and I’m not realizing that? TIA for any help.

American Pinball software updates use the file extension .pkg, which is, unfortunately, the same extension that Macs use for installation packages for Mac software... so your computer may be trying to open/install this file itself after downloading it, which won't work.

Your browser may have a preference to auto-open files after downloading... for example, if you use Safari, go to Safari > Preferences on the menu bar, then click the General tab and turn off the "Open 'safe' files after downloading" option, and see if that helps things.

Additionally or alternatively, the downloaded update package should be left in your Downloads folder or, worst case, in the Trash, even if the Mac complains that it doesn't want to install the package.

Hope this helps!

If lock is lit, it should always go to the vuk/catapult sequence, with few exceptions (e..g some wizard modes may not let it go to the lock). When this happens does the 'Increase Jackpot' animation run when it goes past it to the VUK?

Possible the inner loop switch, the one closest to the VUK, is having issues, when lock is lit, that switch will then trigger the up-post to direct the ball into the VUK.

As Ferret said, it should be downloading it, it is just if you go to open it (or the Mac tries to on its own after downloading) it give you a hard time. Check downloads and then just copy to the USB Stick. If it is failing during download, then something else is going on, post an image of the error message.

I can confirm that these are working with the latest code. I got Return from Beyond last night but unfortunately I still wound up pushing up daisies...

Ditto, my RFTB and EFTD, in my case both were lit from their normal means, not from the Magic Shop award. However the latest Beta has a problem where you cannot light the final ESCAPE letter via the magic shop hole, I suspect this was to fix the problem of it awarding both the final letter and starting the Escape hurry-up when you hit the magic shop hole - have already reported this to Josh via e-mail while Pinside was down.

Thanks. I’ll check the easy stuff, probably I have the dumb.

So I have build date of Mar 2018 and I assume this doesn't have the upgraded power supply?
What was the other upgrade kit besides the psu?

20210413_140459 (resized).jpg

Doesn't look like it. https://store.american-pinball.com/products/houdini-power-supply-upgrade

Vegas9 , rosh , Ferret , would know better.

LTG : )

Did anyone have to adjust the shooter lane guide? Seems impossible to hit anything but the E.

There's a process to adjust it posted on their website and also discussed many times in this thread, although I agree it might be hard to find in here.

http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2018-5/Houdini-Skill-Shot-Fix.pdf

You do not have the upgrade for the power supply. They also have an upgrade kit for the coils. Both good to have.

You do not have the updated power supply. I believe they still offer the store credit. I recommend highly getting the power supply, shaker motor, upgrade kit for the coils. Game gets much more reliable after that while you are at it, get the EOS switches.

Thanks! Ordered the power supply and coil upgrades. Will use the store credit for a shaker and eos switches if they still offer it.

I have never needed the EOS switches, does everyone have them?

I've ordered the other upgrades but only installed the power supply. I like the way my game plays now so will leave it alone.

I installed them, and they work great. I had a few flipper collapses before and have had zero after installation.

I do not have the EOS switches. Never needed them.

Must just be us drummers!

I am sure it is a timing thing!