BKSOR PinBlade wait list announcement:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-clubmembers-only/page/37#post-5030462

I played BKSOR (both Pro and Premium) for the first time at the Rocky Mountain Pinball Showdown in May and absolutely loved it - lived up to all the hype IMO. This afternoon I played a BKSOR Premium for 2 hours straight at the TILT Arcade in Louisville, CO and it solidified my belief that I absolutely have to have this game. I have 5 pins already and room for 6, but no pinball funds at present. I'm seriously, seriously considering selling my Harley - when I think about how much I've ridden it over the last 2 years (4 or 5 times) vs. how much I'd be playing BKSOR (daily), it seems like a no-contest from a usage/enjoyment perspective.

That's actually part of the plan. Black Jack is totally apart at the moment - I'm in the middle of repairing and repainting the cabinet (more for gaining the experience in doing something like this vs. trying to increase the value on a not-all-that-valuable pin). I should have it done, back together, and ready for sale within a couple of months.

It's going to be a long 9 days....I just joined the club and purchased a NIB BKSOR Premium (with shaker motor). Delivery is Friday, November 29!! Obligatory unboxing photos to be posted shortly after arrival!

The wait is over....BKSOR is in the house as of this morning. Parked him right next to his grandfather.

IMG_7378 (resized).jpg

When updating the code (to v1.00) on my new BKSOR Premium, I ran into the situation that many others on this thread ran into a few months ago whereby BK would see the file on the USB key but when attempting to load, would error out with "invalid file". Through a little trial and error, I discovered that the .spk file must be the ONLY file on the USB key. I had the .spk file and the readme file in the root of the FAT32 USB key and I hit the "invalid file" issue. After I removed the readme file from the key, the update was successful.

IMG_7376 (resized).jpg

Does anyone have any practical experience using the Quiet Fan Mod?

https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-spike-system-plug-n-play-quiet-fan-kit.html

Just got my BKSOR Premium on Friday and boy, I now see (hear) what you guys are talking about in regards to loud fan noise. Curious to know if the above fan works well and since it's spinning a tad slower (and for longer periods) if there are any backbox temperature issues with it or premature burning out if it has to run longer.

There's some wiggle room for sure. My local distributor has a large showroom and 100 NIB pins in his warehouse. I've never bought anything there before. I walked in two weeks ago wanting to buy a BKSOR Premium and started playing the Pro, Prem, and LE machines in the showroom. When the sales guy came up to ask if he could help me with anything, I asked him if they'd discount the $7499 any if I paid in cash money. He said unfortunately no, and we continued to talk pins for a while. After a bit of chit-chat, he could tell I was serious and said he could come down to $7200 and he'd throw in a shaker motor. Sold. And he also knocked off $100 from the optional $199 delivery charge (for $99, it was worth it to have their two guys take it down to my basement without me and my 17yr old having to navigate the 3 corners down the narrow stairs). Brand NIB BKSOR Premium with shaker, delivered and set up for $8000 including sales tax.

The dealer installed the shaker onsite for me and I updated the .94 code to 1.00 before they left in case something went wrong.

The only downside (and it's no big deal) is that while it's NIB, it's an older manufacturing date (June) which means I need to do a few things:

- Install the Plastic Assembly #43 Replacement Kit for the upper playfield (actually did that this week)
- Install the missing washer in the upper flipper stack that causes the ball to occasionally get stuck on the ironing-board-looking-plastic (slated to do this weekend)
- Install a smaller rubber ring around the post to the right of the "R" at the top of the bottom playfield so slow balls don't get stuck there (slated to do this weekend)

As I understand it, all of the above have been corrected on the assembly line with the later machine builds.

EightBitWhit - I don't have that add-on cap harness installed on my Premium. I had read that post last month but I'm not experiencing any GI lighting or shield flailing issues (have about 70 games on the clock now). I figure I'll cross that bridge if/when I get to it.

Epic game (at least for me) last night....a new personal best after owning the machine for 2.5 weeks. Took about 40 minutes and along the way had at least 8 Catapult multiballs, 4 Triple Knights multiballs, and 2 retro multiballs (after spelling KNIGHT for the second time, I finally got to see that second retro Kings Ransom multiball!). And...I made it to Black Castle/Rage multiball only to drain everything in a few seconds. Playing 6-ball multiball for several minutes in a row sure does a number on the wrists & fingers!

Hi Score (resized).jpg

What strategies do you employ when playing multiball modes? For me, when it's 4 or more balls, I'm just trying to stay alive. I don't even look at anything beyond the slings....I'm just staring at the flippers and trying to keep the balls in play. If there's a second available to process during the melee, I'll try to hit out-of-vision targets based on ball position against the flipper without actually looking at the targets. Sometimes I'm able to spot a ball heading for a SDTM drain and I'll hit it out of the way with another ball. But the reality for me is to just keep flipping furiously to prevent the balls from draining.

When it's down to 2 or 3 balls, I'll hold 1 or 2 on one flipper while aiming and hitting specific targets with the other. After getting comfortable doing this with 2 balls, I'm starting to get the hang of that with 3.

How about you guys? When you're in a 4, 5, or 6 multiball frenzy, where are your eyes looking?

Update on the second issue above - I took apart the upper flipper stack last night and discovered that the washer is actually present on my system, but in the *wrong place*. The stack is supposed to go, from the top down, flipper bat==>plastic apron==>washer==>nylon bushing==>clear plastic spacer but on my machine it was flipper bat==>washer==>plastic apron==>nylon bushing==>clear plastic spacer. So the washer part was there, but in the wrong position in the stack (and in fact, pushing the plastic apron even further down under the upper playfield cut-out for the flipper). After I put the stack in the correct order, the ball no longer gets stuck in that spot behind the flipper.

As for the third issue above, it hasn't happened but once in the last two dozen games or so and when it did happen, all it took was a light nudge to get it unstuck. Since the upper playfield will have to be removed to get access to it, I think I'm going to put this one off until the first cleaning/waxing session.

One other thing - when I lifted the playfield to get access to the flipper stack, I heard the unmistakable sound of a screw rolling/falling to the top of the playfield and bouncing off into the cabinet. I found it, but I can't figure out where it goes. I spent the better part of 30 minutes combing over the topside of the playfield with my bifocals and a flashlight, but I still can't tell where it came from. There aren't any screws like this at all on the underside of the playfield, so I'm sure it came from topside. Here's a picture....does anyone know where this short, steel, philips head with a washer screw might go?

Loose Screw (resized).jpg

Thanx so much for going all-out with the annotated photo - much appreciated! I printed it out and will be going over my machine tonight after the family goes to bed.

I'll take a look - thanx for the clue. I've got a shaker in my machine as well and I know that has a tendency to loosen up some screws as well.

I've been all over the playfield with a bright light and I cannot find where that screw came from. Thanx again for your diagram...

I've got a new behavior 70 games into ownership - one side of the flail is touching the ramp when it spins. Neither the flail, the rod/axle, or the Black Knight himself appear loose and there is no play in the mechanism. I've examined it pretty closely....I was hoping that the "missing" screw mentioned in my previous post above was the culprit but all the screws on the Black Knight mechanism are present and tight.

Here's a video of what I'm talking about - the "tick tick tick" you're hearing is one of the flail balls touching the ramp as it spins. Is this happening to anyone else:

Thanx to @STDMinSTL, I think I may have this resolved. The two ramp screws forward of the flail and the two ramp screws behind the flail each had about a quarter turn...once all four were properly torqued down, the clicking went away. It's likely the shaker motor loosing up the screws...may add some locktite to them if it becomes chronic. When triaging this problem, I kept thinking "why is the flail lower?" as opposed to "could the ramp be higher?".

Pretty sure it's the same flipper plastic, but the shaft is indeed longer as it goes from the upper playfield all the way thru to the coil/bracket/etc on the underside of the lower playfield.

I had the same ball-getting-stuck-behind-the-upper-flipper issue on my Premium. There's a Stern service bulletin out on that....it affects early manufacturing builds. The good news is that there is an easy fix for it.

You may need Black Knight Sword of Rage Plastic Kit #43 - this will help "serve" the ball more directly to the flipper when going thru the loop. If you bought your pin from a distributor, they should supply it for free:
https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Black-Knight-Upper-Playfield-Kit-Instructions.pdf

If your distributor doesn't have it or you didn't buy it new, it's only $2 US plus shipping from Pinball Life:
https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=511-1942-43

I posted about my issue and resolution here if you're interested in reviewing:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/37#post-5367034

The ball is getting stuck behind the flipper because the little plastic piece shaped like an ironing board under the upper playfield is sitting too low due to a missing washer or (in my case) a washer in the wrong position in the flipper shaft stack.

Sorry but I can't comment on the two-balls-in-shooter-lane problem as I haven't seen it or heard about that yet. I've got about 250 plays on my NIB BKSOR Premium.

Updated to the new code on my Premium tonight - noticed a few new call outs and I actually like the new soundtrack. It's great to have that as an option, and I'll likely be toggling back and forth depending on mood. I also put in the external headphone jack/volume control kit tonight - the original soundtrack sounds AMAZING cranked up on my over-the-ear studio monitor headphones.

My wife appreciates the headphone mod as well, but for an entirely different reason.

This is a known issue with some machines. There is likely a missing washer in the upper flipper stack or, as was in my case, the washer was stacked in the wrong order causing plastic ironing board to sit too low below the upper playfield, thereby allowing a ball to get stuck in the cutout. See:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/36#post-5347008
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/37#post-5367034

The new replacement piece of plastic has a built in post that pushes the rubber outward a bit from behind. Without this, when the ball rolls down that rail it usually goes right to the lower playfield. With that post protruding the rubber slightly, there's more of a chance of the ball getting sent to the upper flipper more often when the ball rolls down that rail.

Stern distributors are sending them out for free to customers who purchased from them. If you're not the original owner, you can buy it from Pinball Life for $2:

https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=511-1942-43

I think I fall into the good player category - I'd probably collect more if I had the room and budget.

I went Premium for basically one thing (as mentioned in earlier posts) - multiball. I like multiball....the more the better. With the upper playfield, you can stack Catapult multiball with Triple Knights Threat multiball and get 6 ball action at once. That's the bomb.....to me, anyway.

Is this what you're looking for? https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/41#post-5416836

There was a service bulletin for one of the plastic pieces in the upper playfield, but I don't recall one specifically for the stacking order/missing washer for the upper playfield flipper. On my machine, the washer was there but stacked in the wrong order (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/37#post-5367034).

Here's some text from Steve Ritchie himself that someone posted earlier in this thread:

If a ball is stuck behind the upper right flipper on the white plastic “ironing board” shaped plastic, you are missing the metal washer in the “flipper stack” consisting of a 2” long clear small diameter spacer, a fat white nylon spacer, a metal washer between the fat spacer and the ironing board from bottom to top. Some games got out without the metal washer. Use a metal washer (with a ¼” inner diameter, and just about any outer diameter under ¾”) and insert into the stack on the flipper shaft between the fat nylon spacer and the ironing board. Here’s how to do it:

* You do not have to remove the plastic upper playfield.*

Remove all 6 balls from the lower trough. Carefully lift the playfield and stand it up against the backbox making sure that it is stable, (check the manual) then loosen the upper right flipper shaft clamping block (on the bottom of the wood playfield) with a 5/32” hex (Allen) wrench allowing a bit of rotational and up and down movement of the flipper shaft. Use your manual to locate assemblies if you don’t know the names of the parts I’m mentioning.

Lay the playfield back down on the playfield support brackets. Pull the playfield toward the front of the game until the round rubber feet on the playfield support brackets are securely in the hand protector trough. Carefully prop up the rear of the playfield with an 18” long piece of 2X4 or other prop using the cabinet floor and a blank spot on the bottom of the playfield so that the entire flipper stack is visible and within your reach from the right side of the game.

Slowly pull the loosened flipper shaft upward, freeing up the different parts of the flipper stack, and removing them carefully. Remove the flipper shaft pulling upward. When you have the flipper removed from the game, slide the ironing board on the shaft, then slide the new metal washer up the shaft under the ironing board, then the fat white nylon bushing, then the clear plastic bushing onto the shaft, and feed the lower tip of the flipper shaft through the plastic upper playfield and back into the flipper bushing on and through the lower wood playfield. Guide the ironing board into the flipper-shaped hole in the plastic upper playfield. Remove the playfield prop and lower the rear of the playfield onto the playfield cabinet rails. Carefully lift the playfield and stand it up against the backbox while holding the upper right flipper in place. Feed the flipper shaft through the flipper clamp block and tighten just enough so that you can still rotate and move the flipper up and down in the clamp block.

Next, the goal is to have zero up and down play in the upper right flipper assembly. Locate the plastic flipper body over the ironing board and aligned the flipper with it on all sides. Push down on the flipper and up on the clamping block until there is zero up and down movement of the flipper. Tighten the hex screw with the 5/32” Allen wrench lower the playfield back into the company and check for flipper alignment and up and down end play. The ball will no longer stay stuck behind the upper right flipper. There will still be enough up and down play due to the flexiblity and softness of the plastic parts in the stack.

Shocking news. I only had the need to speak with tech support once (last year) and it was Chas. Super friendly and professional.

Here's a tribute thread I found: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/chas-an-amazing-tech-support-engineer-at-stern-has-passed-away-

My STPro Vault shaker has started to squeak after a little more than a year/700 plays so I'm really interested to know if this is something I can service myself (I haven't cracked the shaker open yet to investigate). So far, my BKSOR Premium shaker is doing well after ~500 plays.

This is from Steve Ritchie (apologies...I don't remember the original poster in this thread - stacking order is in the third paragraph). I did this to mine and have not had a single ball stuck since (couple hundred games):

Remove all 6 balls from the lower trough. Carefully lift the playfield and stand it up against the backbox making sure that it is stable, (check the manual) then loosen the upper right flipper shaft clamping block (on the bottom of the wood playfield) with a 5/32” hex (Allen) wrench allowing a bit of rotational and up and down movement of the flipper shaft. Use your manual to locate assemblies if you don’t know the names of the parts I’m mentioning.

Lay the playfield back down on the playfield support brackets. Pull the playfield toward the front of the game until the round rubber feet on the playfield support brackets are securely in the hand protector trough. Carefully prop up the rear of the playfield with an 18” long piece of 2X4 or other prop using the cabinet floor and a blank spot on the bottom of the playfield so that the entire flipper stack is visible and within your reach from the right side of the game.

Slowly pull the loosened flipper shaft upward, freeing up the different parts of the flipper stack, and removing them carefully. Remove the flipper shaft pulling upward. When you have the flipper removed from the game, slide the ironing board on the shaft, then slide the new metal washer up the shaft under the ironing board, then the fat white nylon bushing, then the clear plastic bushing onto the shaft, and feed the lower tip of the flipper shaft through the plastic upper playfield and back into the flipper bushing on and through the lower wood playfield. Guide the ironing board into the flipper-shaped hole in the plastic upper playfield. Remove the playfield prop and lower the rear of the playfield onto the playfield cabinet rails. Carefully lift the playfield and stand it up against the backbox while holding the upper right flipper in place. Feed the flipper shaft through the flipper clamp block and tighten just enough so that you can still rotate and move the flipper up and down in the clamp block.

Next, the goal is to have zero up and down play in the upper right flipper assembly. Locate the plastic flipper body over the ironing board and aligned the flipper with it on all sides. Push down on the flipper and up on the clamping block until there is zero up and down movement of the flipper. Tighten the hex screw with the 5/32” Allen wrench lower the playfield back into the company and check for flipper alignment and up and down end play. The ball will no longer stay stuck behind the upper right flipper. There will still be enough up and down play due to the flexiblity and softness of the plastic parts in the stack.

Found this #-37 plastic in the shooter lane of my Premium this evening, wedged between the right rail and the ramp. I've got no idea where this goes - I've eyeballed the game a half dozen times and don't see anything missing, and the otherwise-really-nice manual doesn't have a layout guide for the plastic pieces (yet my older Star Trek Pro manual has a plastics layout guide, go figure).

Anyone know where this goes? Wherever it goes, I likely have 2 screws missing as well as there's no evidence that this piece has broken off of anything.

IMG_8843 (resized).jpg

I'm really getting tired of getting to Black Castle, draining quickly, and having to start over. Got to Black Castle today on Ball 2, hit two targets, then SDTM after hitting the third. Back to Square 1.

I've been getting to Black Castle about 1 out of every 30 games. I've yet to beat it!

It was there an hour ago (I grabbed it), now it's gone again.

In my case, the washer was there but was out of order in the stack: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/37#post-5367034

Double-check that the USB stick is formatted as FAT32. If the stick is >8GB in size, Windows defaults to exFAT or NTFS for the filesystem format.

Dang. I also updated to 1.02 from 1.01 and it went smoothly. You've probably done all of these but here's what I'd go thru if it were happening to me:

- Re-download the files from the Stern website
- Make sure the .SPK.002.000 & .SPK.002.001 files are the ONLY things on the stick and in the root directory (not a folder). Reformat the stick just to be sure.
- Try using both USB connectors on the motherboard in case one is messed up (would be really rare, tho).
- If the USB sticks were formatted on a Mac, try a Windows machine. I remember some reports of formatting issues on a Mac during last year's 1.01 update.

How many hits does it take to complete Black Castle? I'm getting there fairly regularly now (about one game every 5 or 6), but have yet to complete it in 350 plays since I bought the pin last year. Tonight I got 8 shots into Black Castle before draining, more than ever before for me, so I know the number is higher than that. So frustrating to have to start over.....but at least I got a personal best today:

HS (resized).jpg

Holy Crap. Two words for me....Play Better!

So there's a time out for Black Castle? Reached it again tonight and was doing battle pretty well with the Black Knight. Got about 15 hits in (most ever for me) and felt I was close, then all of a sudden a graphic on the screen said "Black Knight Survives" and the monster battle started over without losing a ball. I don't recall hearing any audio cues that time was running out, like on the other monster modes. Oh, well....PLAY BETTER!

FWIW, my flail started hitting the ramp about 6 months or so into ownership. Turned out to be the ramp itself....the screws securing it to the playfield had become slightly loose, enough that the ramp was starting to rise up a bit.

Has anyone on this thread successfully used the AliExpress LVDS to HDMI convertor board on their BKSOR to send the scoring screen output to a PC for streaming/recording? Mine mostly works but experiences a "blanking/glitching" issue for 1 to 2 seconds every once in a while (in a 10 minute video, there are usually 18-24 occurrences).

I got a quick response from the board vendor when I explained the symptoms, but I’m afraid it doesn’t do much good:

"That blank out is because the LVDS output signal of the motherboard is unstable and the frequency is not fixed, so please close the LVDS signal spreading function and turn on the FREERUN fixed frequency function on your motherboard."

So…that ain’t happening on a Stern MPU.

Details on how to install and configure the LVDS to HDMI convertor board is nicely documented by Hurryuppinball here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/direct-video-capture-tutorial-on-spike2-systems. I've added some posts to that thread with more details on the various capture cards I've tested along with the blanking problem.

Anybody else run into this on their BKSOR and overcome it?

Make sure the ramp is tightened down. Mine become loose after about 100 games, rose up slightly, and the mace started scraping against it. After torqueing down the ramp screws, I checked all of the other playfield screws and found several that had loosened. Loctite to the rescue.

While this is true, you don't always HAVE to keep the ball in the upper PF. I love the upper PF. Besides staying true to the dual level PF theme throughout the BK pin releases made popular by the original, it's very satisfying to me as a player to whack a ball up into the catapult. That being said, you don't always have to do it.

One of my scoring strategies is to launch to the upper PF to start the ball, then get 2 balls loaded in the catapult. Then LET the ball come down to the lower playfield and hit what's needed to start a monster mode which includes letting the ball come down to the lower playfield a second time to shoot the ball into the shield VUK for starting the monster mode. When the monster mode is started, then go back to the upper PF and initiate the catapult multiball by getting the third ball in. In a multiball frenzy, it's easier and faster to defeat the monster mode.

A similar strategy of loading up the catapult with 2 balls and letting a ball drop to the lower PF can be employed for hitting the lower targets to trigger Triple Knights Challenge. When Triple Knights Challenge is active, get a ball into the upper PF and shoot that last ball into the catapult for a stacked multiball 6-ball frenzy. That's really fun.

I've had my SOR Premium for more than a year now and still play it several times a week. I frequently get to Black Castle (every 3 or 4 games or so) but I've yet to defeat it. I've gotten so close...one time I had 17 hits in Black Castle before losing the ball. It's so frustrating....but it keeps me coming back for another game.

Start reading here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/59#post-5848498

Looks like it happens to everyone, eventually.

Scroll up 7 posts (6hrs ago).

After 2 years with BK and 1.5 years with BKSOR, my muscle memory still fails me often. On BKSOR, I will occasionally go for the it's-not-there magnasave button by the flippers and on BK I will occasionally go for the it's-not-there magnasave button on the lockdown bar. My son loves to tell me "Dad, it's not there" each time he sees me do it.

IMG_7378 (resized).jpg

Doing a second run of the topper would probably renew criticism of the lack (stoppage?) of code updates for this machine, something I'm sure Stern doesn't want to do. Now if they were REALLY smart, they would indeed do another run of the topper, with a slightly higher-than-original price point to make it worth their while, and coincide it with a MEANINGFUL code update that addresses the concerns and improvement ideas from their rabid customer base.

Same here. Started a few hours ago.

This kit is free from your Stern distributor. If your local distributor won't support you (if you didn't buy from them), you can buy the kit directly from Pinball Life. $3.

https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=511-1942-43

Yes - I put it in last year and it does make a difference. I'd say when coming down that rubber, the ball gets bumped/fed into the upper flipper about 50% more now.

I watched the video you referenced - I've not seen any of those other tweaks/enhancements around other than that upper plastic piece Kit #43 (it does not come with any metal plates).

Is the flail not spinning because it's touching the ramp? Several of us have had issues with the ramp rising up to the point where the flail hits it (fixed by tightening the screws down at the ramp entrance). If yours is raised up high enough, perhaps it's blocking it from spinning.

IIRC, I think they retailed for $500. Distributors early on were selling for $450 before prices started getting jacked upwards. I'm really regretting not picking one up when they came out....as much as I want one now, no way in hell will I pay these freaking prices. I was on the fence when they were $500 but would gladly pay that now.

That's the way the four 3-bank drop targets work on the original BK as well.

Can't beat Black Knight and Star Trek in the lineup!

IMG_7378 (resized).jpg

Welcome to BC Frustration. There is currently no setting to allow BC to continue after a drained ball. This is one of the most requested features (fixes?) I've seen in this thread for a newer BKSOR code drop that may never come.

I've owned my BKSOR for 18+ months now. I can reach BC every 5 or 6 games or so, but I've yet to complete it. Most hits I've had in BC is 18. I read somewhere that 22 hits completes it, but I don't know for sure.

Congrats, and welcome to the club! I prefer having the kit in myself and indeed it's only to give a little bump to the upper playfield flipper.

https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=511-1942-43

If that actually resolves the problem, $60 seems cheap to rid yourself of that frustration!

Dang - and I was feeling good about my 790B score tonight (HS #3 on my Premium) till I saw your post.

Got to Black Castle and just over 640B on my first ball. Black Castle was done after only 6 hits and then the monsters started over.

6 hits only? You trolling me? That center target is a bitch.....drain monster 75% of the time.

Farthest I've gotten is 16 hits on Black Castle before I drained, so thinking it's 20.

Aha, that makes more sense! Sad to say, in 15 or so months of ownership, I have YET to get past Black Castle. I can get there about 1 out of very 5 or 6 games, but I just can't get past it. I will eventually, tho!

Same here - happens to my Premium about 1 out of every 25 to 30 games. Most of the time, the automated ball search that activates all the coils usually shakes it loose in one direction or the other.

Saw this today....interesting!

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jersey-jack-pinball-announces-iconic-game-designer-steve-ritchie-as-newest-addition-to-the-team-301345308.html

7+ pages of thoughts and opinions on Steve Ritchie's move to JJP:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/steve-ritchie-leaving-stern-for-jjp

Your Stern distributor should have them for free. I got mine from Pinball Life as my distributor was out and had to order it and I was buying parts on PBL for other pin projects anyway - it's only a couple of bucks.

After more than a year since the last code update, and all the chatter and build-up since then, this is a bit underwhelming to me. Nice they added a ball save to Black Castle but this code drop is just being driven by the desire for Stern to add the Insider Connected feature and generate another revenue stream (with a couple of fixes and tweaks thrown in). The pessimist in me says that if it wasn't for the Stern Insider Connected feature, there wouldn't be a code update for SOR. Could you imagine the outrage if a new SOR code drop included ONLY the Stern Insider Connected feature?

Would love to be proven wrong....perhaps this is a restart of more regular SOR updates?

Despite a fervent fan base, I don't think it did well for Stern sales-wise. Distributors inventory was pretty plentiful when it was shipping, and I don't recall there ever being a "drought" so it was always easy to get. There's always at least a few low-mileage examples for sale on Pinside at any given time. Stern likely runs vault editions for pins that had high sale numbers and still has high demand.

Don't get me wrong. I love BKSOR....I've had a NIB Premium myself for the last couple of years. Doubt I'd ever part with it. In fact I wish Stern would re-run the topper for it and take my damn money.

For a mere $2100, you can have a used one. LOL

https://www.facebook.com/groups/630406413802349/permalink/2104231579753151/?sale_post_id=2104231579753151

topper (resized).jpg

This?

Upper Flipper Bat Assembly 2 (resized).jpg

More likely this....

Upper Playfield Assembly (resized).jpg

Make sure the ramp is torqued down really well. I had to locktite the ramp entrance screws to get my ramp to stay down consistently.....it was raised just enough for the flail to touch it making a "tick tick tick" sound as it spun.

Meh. "BKOR Stern Insider Update". Couldn't care less. Fix the damn game play bugs.

Check the alignment of the plunger with the ball. If you can take a video of the ball being plugged and watch it back in slow motion, ensure the plunger is hitting the ball squarely in the middle. If it's off to the side a bit, the ball may not have enough velocity to reach the upper playfield.

I have a BKSOR Premium as well, no IC. My machine is at 1.11.0 (I skipped 1.12.0) and I still have the "sword_of_rage_le-1_11_0.spk.zip" 2.2G binary file if you want it and have a place for me to upload to.

If you don't care about IC (and if you're on 1.01 you don't) 1.11.0 is as solid as any release.

Anyone grab the 1.14 release today? Yawn....Insider Connect only changes. Seriously doubting we'll ever see gameplay bug fixes.

LE v1.14 - September 20, 2022
==========================
Moved to System 3.22

- Corrected potential game reset issue.

- When entering a WiFi password, the previous characters will be displayed as an asterisk.
- The WiFi password will be displayed as all asterisk when entering the setup screens or scanning
- the WiFi setup QR code.

- Added Service Menu Tech Alert when weak signal strength is detected. The signal strength
- and SSID will be displayed. An average signal strength < 40 is considered weak. A weak
- WiFi signal may contribute to a slower or inconsistent connection which may effect the abilty
- to login or download software updates. Signal strength can be improved by the use of an
- inexpensive WiFi extender. A wired Ethernet connection can also be used in cases where WiFi
- signals are problematic.

- Added Standard Adjustment "ENABLE HOME TEAM IN COINPLAY", default value of NO.
- Setting this to YES will allow Insider Home Team to be available for machines not
- set to Free Play. Normally "USE INSIDER HOME TEAM" is only available in Free Play
- mode. Many home players, who choose to use their game in Coin Play, have requested
- the ability to enjoy Home Team! Setting this this adjustment to YES will default the Home
- Team Guest Retention to Never. If you wish a different setting you will have update that
- adjustment after enabling Home Team in CoinPlay. Home Team is not available for machines
- registered to a Pro account operating in a commercial environment.

- Added Standard Adjustment "REMOVE FRACTIONAL CREDITS". Values are:
- "NEVER" and "AFTER X MINUTES IDLE", where X is between 30 and 240.
- The default value is "NEVER". If the game is idle (no coin or flipper
- switch activity in attract mode) for X minutes, any fractional credits will
- be removed. Whole credits will NOT be removed.

- Added Standard Audit "FRACTIONAL CREDITS REMOVED", which will track the number of
- fractional credits that have been removed when the game was idle.

- Changed the default value for Insider Connected Software Update to "Install updates automatically".

I'm old, too (55+) but I still enjoy the default/original BKSOR soundtrack. Every once in a while, I'll put on the alternate soundtrack for a change of pace (this is a nice option), but I always go back to the original after a few days.

Sadly, after 3 years of ownership, I'm out of the club. I traded away my one owner HUO 450-play BKSoR Premium this weekend for a one owner HUO 400-play Mandalorian Premium with add-ons (animated Grogu, Mando side armor and shooter knob, quiet fan, and upgraded speakers).

I loved my BKSoR and it looked great next to my restored original 1980 Black Knight. The brutal-ness of BKSoR made me a better player. But the family has spoken. My wife, who normally just rolls her eyes at my pinball hobby (obsession), said she'd play Mandalorian (it's one of her favorite shows). And she wasn't wrong...she played Mandalorian for 2 hours straight after I set it up on Saturday night. That's more pinball than she's played total in 3 years of BKSoR ownership. Getting my family playing my pins was worth the trade alone.

I may get BKSoR again in the future, finances and space permitting. For now, au revoir!

01a (resized).jpg

I installed that a couple of years ago - Stern distributors were sending them out to BKSoR owners for free. Don't know if they're still doing that.

If you can't get it free from your distributor and don't mind spending $5 plus shipping, looks like PBL still stocks it:
https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=511-1942-43

Install PDF: https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Black-Knight-Upper-Playfield-Kit-Instructions.pdf

I briefly thought about getting a BK2K to complete the trilogy, but I can't get into that game as much as the OG and SoR. The limited pin space in my rec room is too valuable.

IMG_7378 (resized).jpg

IC support is not in 1.01 so that's not going to work. I believe IC support started in 1.10, and the current code level is 1.14 (I'm assuming your mention of 1.4 is a typo and you meant 1.14).

What does "failed to load" mean, i.e. be more specific with the failure symptom.

Is your thumb drive FAT32 formatted and is the ZIP file in the root folder of the thumb drive?

Yes - you do need to extract the ZIP...sorry for the confusion in my earlier post. Extract the ZIP on your computer and it will create a folder with the same name as the ZIP. Copy that folder over to the root of the FAT32 formatted thumb drive and give it another go. Good luck!

Premium and LE is the same ZIP/FW file, only the Pro is different.

It's happened to a lot of us. See this post: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-swords-of-rage-club-honourable-knights-only/page/38#post-5375647

It's just frustrating that despite BKSOR being "done" there have been several new code drops over the last couple of years, including today, that address a multitude of things few people care about. And now today, "various behind the scenes improvements for correctness and performance". So not quite stick-a-fork-in-it done but apparently done enough that they're unwilling to address any of the bugs or improvement suggestions substantially documented by the people who have spent an arm and a leg purchasing their machine.