I'm a semi-pro magician and I've just acquired a Houdini. Got it set up today and seems to be working great. But I do have a couple of questions.

1. There's a little bit of "play" in the front panel, even when it's locked into position. Is this normal?

2. I'm wondering about Attract mode. I have both Attract Sounds and Attract Music enabled, but I'm hearing almost nothing...no music, and a bit of speech maybe every 8-10 minutes or so. Is this normal?

I'm running the current version of the code -- v18.5.4.

Thanks for any information!

Josh

Eric,

Thank you so much for the quick response!

The play in the panel doesn't bother me much, I wouldn't necessarily put in tabs unless it might be necessary to reduce wear-and-tear.

Good to know that things are operating normally WRT the attract mode. I did do the update -- as you said, it was certainly easy. Kind of a pleasure, really.

I watched Josh on an episode of SDTM when I was trying to figure out which pin to get (although Houdini was really kind of a no-brainer for me). It's great to know he's on the board and participating in the thread!

Best regards,
Josh

Barry,

Ah, you must be the Barry on the receiving end of the support number. Glad to meet you and happy to see you're here.

I will adjust the screws as you suggest. Now that's the kind of fix a newbie like me can manage.

Best regards,
Josh

Hiya, Konjurer, nice to meet you. I was full-time back in the early/mid '80s, these days I mostly perform for friends and family, and teach magic extracurriculars in local schools for pocket money.

I have added some foam pieces along the inner sides of the plate -- it's still not snug, but at least I know it's protecting the finish on the sides. I may add some more to make it snugger. I also haven't finished adjusting the screws yet, I think they still need a few more turns.

Loving this pin!

Josh

Okay, it's been fewer than 24 hours and already I need some technical help. Understand that I'm a real newbie (or is it "noobie") when it comes to pinball machines, and I'm a magician, not a technician, so please be patient, or just direct me to a more appropriate place on the forum if need be.

Yesterday, all was in the green. Today, when I powered on the machine and accessed the menu, I saw "Switch error -> go to Tests -> Switch. Going to the Switch Test screen revealed four switches in red: Left Lock 1, Left Lock 2, Left Lock 3, and Tilt.

At this point, I'm a little lost. Do I pull the playfield up and try to find what I'm looking for to make sure nothing got unplugged? (This would be a new experience for me.) Do I call a technician?

What's the procedure?

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

Josh

Okay, never mind. I figured out how to test and clear these errors.

Took me awhile to figure it out, but I did. Thank you so much!

Josh

THANK YOU, everyone, for the advice and knowledge. Having only owned one other pin in my life -- a Simpsons Pinball Party, which we had a very short time and never needed any adjustment -- it was unclear to me how much upkeep and technical know-how might be necessary. For instance, I was unaware that simply not using a switch (like the tilt or various locks) for a period could result in a failed test.

I'm printing out and storing all this good advice for later reference. For the moment, everything's working fine. I found the Left Lock switches and simply rolling the ball down that lane cleared the errors, as did moving the plumb bob so that it touched the ring. (I almost never nudge in pinball.)

I'll keep the lifting of the playfield to a minimum. I do have the art blades -- which are wonderful! -- and I wouldn't want anything to happen to them, or to any of the other components under there.

Would someone be able to explain to me the functioning of the magnets?

I understand that the magnets beneath Houdini's hands activate briefly when the "magic" switches are hit, but isn't there a third magnet? If so, where is it and what activates it?

Thanks,
Josh

Is it my imagination, or does the voice completely mispronounce the word "metamorphosis"? It sounds like he says "Metamorphis" to me.

So I've had my Houdini for 2-3 weeks now, and I've noticed that the stand-up target that's the first E in "Escape" has started to get a little torqued. I suspect it's from the ball hitting it, at an angle, off the flippers.

So far, the switch is working just fine, but I wonder if this is something that needs to be corrected, or if it's just a cosmetic issue that I should learn to deal with. If it DOES need to be corrected, is it something that I can do easily from the top (with just the glass removed), or does it require something more involved?

Thanks for any know-how...

Josh

Stand-Up Target 01 (resized).jpg

Stand-Up Target 02 (resized).jpg

Thank you, LTG! I'm guessing I have to leave a hair's distance between the two switch nodes?

I can't help but wonder if I'm the only person with this issue.

Left and right flippers are set to 23 and 22, respectively. I've not toyed with this setting since receiving the machine. What would you recommend?

I'll make those adjustments...and do my best to straighten the switch.

Yep, I'm on the 18.5.4 software, and I believe my angle is 6.5...the factory setting with all the levelers screwed all the way in (and a level floor).

Thank you for all your help!

Adoring the update! The Custom Message feature is terrific and works perfectly.

You will need to create a .png file (you can do this with Photoshop or similar programs). Your image needs to be set to 72 dpi (this may actually show up as 72.009) and the image itself needs to be 1360 pixels by 768 pixels. It's important that you follow these guidelines.

Once you have the .png file, put it on a USB stick (best not to have any othe rfiles on that stick!). With the game powered on, plug in the USB stick. Once the file is transferred, you will need to power cycle the game.

Good luck!

Josh

So my Houdini has been making the trunk shot a good 90-95% of the time, for months. No problems, really.

Then, last night, five times in a row, it sent the ball careening wildly off to the right, missing the trunk shot by a mile.

Any ideas as to what might be causing this? I'm not a technician, so if it's something more complicated than loosening a few screws or adjusting something in the menu, I'll have to call a $90/hr technician.

Josh

I double-checked my machine today to see if a voltage variation last night had anything to do with the problem, but it didn't.

To my great relief, though, I was able to correct the error by turning down the coil a couple of notches, and now it makes the trunk shot reliably.

This is very odd because I haven't played with the coil settings for many weeks. I did update to the most recent code just a day ago, and I'm wondering if updating the code changed the coil setting for some reason. Regardless, color me relieved!

Thanks for everyone's help!