Smaug has stopped moving his mouth on my Smaug Edition. Running the mouth test doesn't produce any results and the connectors are seated fine (from what I can reach under the playfield). Has anyone experienced anything similar and if so did you have anything you might share to get him going again? He rotates just fine but his mouth is stuck in the open position.

Really enjoying the game so far otherwise.

Look at your settings - there are two numbers that represent the range that his mouth can open. These two numbers should be no more than 20 numbers apart (e.g. 100 and 120). See if his mouth moves in test step by step number by number. If it does, set the jaws open number 5 or 6 less than what it is now. On early Hobbits the ideal numbers are written in black on the bottom of the motor assembly. These numbers are entered into the settings in the factory but if the software was updated they could have reset.

Thanks for the reply. I've tried a bunch of settings for min and max of mouth and unfortunately nothing has worked. He was working fine up until last night and I haven't updated or changed any settings that may have introduced a variable and caused him to stop moving his mouth.

Is there a connector that isn't accessible from under the playfield? Something that may have come loose from within the Smaug head enclosure that could have contributed to stopping his mouth from moving?

Servo connector is on the back edge not accessible from below - 3 pin connector back edge that runs the jaw motor

Thank you. Do you know if it is accessible from the top side of playfield? Am I disassembling or removing Smaug?

Officially you have to remove Smaug but look along the rear edge see if you can reach it.

Well before I could attempt to check for that servo connector Smaug started smoking in test mode (body rotation test). Called JJP support and was offered a discounted exchange for a new replacement Smaug (I am the second owner so 1 year warranty no longer applies to me). I appreciate that they were willing to work with me and not charge me full price. I do have to send my malfunctioning Smaug in once I receive the replacement.

My Smaug stopped 'talking' as well, but it did rotate properly. I found that it was an issue with the motor inside that moved the mouth up and down. I ended up having to replace it as well. Now that I have a new one I am thinking maybe I should keep the min and max closer together (not 20 apart, but more like 15 or so). I wonder if it can be turned off completely in a future update, or if setting the min and max to 100 would work? Also, JJP may need to provide just the motor to replace if it goes bad - a whole Smuag replacement is too expensive.

I'm getting an entirely new/complete Smaug unit. I'm being charged an "exchange fee" plus tax and shipping as I have to send my old one back. It comes to almost $200. Better than full price though. I wish it was covered under the 1 year warranty as my build date is March 2016. I realize now that the warranty is for the original owner only. I'm just grateful JJP didn't charge me the full $500 for a new Smaug.

That's funny because I had the opposite idea... I would of got the laser cut if I had the gold coloured pin.
Ha! I love mine... It sort of reflects light nicely at you when you play reminding you of the button.

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Are you guys removing the JJP sticker first? Or just putting this on over the top? If you are removing the sticker, does it come off easy, or is there a trick to do it without too much scraping off?

I spoke to the seller and he recommended removing the original sticker

I am out of town working but I received mine yesterday and plan to install the mod on Saturday

I ordered mine today! Also, has anyone installed the LED lighted flipper buttons? Is there a place to plug them in?

Love the ring button mod but not the font or the weird curvature of the letters. I know this is just like what came from the factory on the sticker but I don't like that version either. Seems like this is just crying out for something better.

I removed the sticker... Came off relatively easy, but need to use some Goo Be Gone to remove the residue. My sticker had a scratch from the factory, so I was happy to be rid of it.

This metal plate is sooooo awesome, way better than the sticker!

Got sound working in recordings now. This is all done in the machine itself.

Edit : and now the copyright strikes start coming in. Do streamers get the same marks because of the audio?

Excellent ! Just excellent!

Wow.. "Superb!" .. And from just a couple minutes of watching so far, it sounds like it captured all the sound mix glitching that bugs me all the time too. I sure wish they'd address that. I know my WoZ has a similar issue going as well.

While you're at it, color in the underside of what would be the... brow of his eyes? I'm not liking the fact that more than just his eye bleeds light >___<

Audio is just a recording of "what you hear" so anything a player would hear will be recorded.

Played with "in-machine" generated streaming tonight.

Got it working but results aren't great. Limited by my dad's very old webcam (ms lifecam vx-7000) frame rate and resolution makes it look much worse than what is probably possible. Didn't figure out how to turn down the brightness on the webcam either so its a little bright. Lost audio aswell but that would be due to me not having a clue about the command line options required to keep it!

Best solution would probably be to have 3 streams directly out to an encoder as the little celeron cpu in this machine can't take what i'm trying to do (not unexpected). Webcam stuck in via the coin door and into the usb "update" port.

Here is an earlier 5 second test without rotation and downscaling. The layout is totally wrong for streaming but does show that it could record fine without local advanced filters applied.

Twitch used to erroneously mute all copyrighted audio. They got better at detecting what was in a game and what wasn't, but they'll sometimes get it wrong still.

They have an agreement somehow that if the audio is IN the game being played, you can get muted sections unmuted. And regardless they don't flat out tear your video down. YouTube has started really sucking regarding this for the last couple years.

Anyone hear anything about when the next code update will be officially released? The last official release was over 3 months ago and the last news from Keith about a code update on Thanksgiving.

Hope we get another update soon. I wonder if JJP is just waiting until an upcoming show to release code?

I have no idea but I'm definitely itching for some new code. The current code contains all the promised features of the game but it could definitely use a lot of tweaks and polish.

And hopefully someday we get an ultimate wizard mode too.

Ahh. I'll have a look at the settings and see if there is a seperate music audio option.

This copyright stuff is just getting nuts. I got another for a sia song that was playing in the background of my car during an accident my dashcam caught.

I pulled the sticker. It comes off clean.

First stream with the c920. Choppy as hell but hoping I can figure it out. :\

Man. I keep thinking "Hobbit is fun to play on location but I definitely don't need one."

And then I keep coming to this thread and looking at all the beautiful pictures. Always a mistake. I want one every time.

Its much better in a home environment where you can hear whats going on and appreciate it more.

Which version of the code enables power to the topper plug? I'm running 1.94 and its lit, but wondering if the latest officially released code, 1.90 enables it too. Thx

Picked up a Hobbit Black Arrow in a trade this weekend. I was underwhelmed last year at TPF but decided to give it a chance in my lineup. I am very pleased so far. In a home environment the sound quality is very impressive, so hard to really appreciate on route or a show. My initial thoughts were the same as many others that the playfield seems "empty" but after playing a couple dozen games it really is just a perception. The pop-ups are challenging to avoid if the situation/strategy calls for that and fun to shoot when it doesn't. I'm still trying to comprehend the rules and find the time to look at the screen when it seems to constantly be in a multiball
I'm struggling with getting the right flipper power settings to be able to shoot the ramps without jumping off the wireform tracks ... too little and the ball just gets to the top and rolls back to the playfield via the adjoining ramp but so far a big thumbs up

AFAIK it's 1.94 that enables topper support.

Thanks. Do you or anyone else know when 1.94 is due out? Its on my game and came with it when i got it from previous owner.

I hope the long wait, by JJP standards (lol), means that a larger update is coming for The Hobbit. The game is good but definitely needs a few more substantial code updates.

And how are people coming across 1.94?

Laseriffic was selling toppers back in October, but without the topper plug powered, its a paperweight. Yet, i never see anyone complaining about the topper plug not being powered.

Keith posted a link on the WOZ forum as a Happy Thanksgiving present.

LTG : )

Thanks Lloyd!

Appears 1.91 enables the topper power plug too, cant find much on that release. As best i can tell, 1.90.does not.

I was super stoked to get these delivered today ^____^ ... then I took a closer look. The ring flipper buttons (from the guy making the very sexy ring button steel plates) all had bits from where they were broken off of the sheets they were molded from. This one I can sort of forgive... they're cheap plastic, I get it. I'm not saying don't buy the ring button lock bar kit, cuz the thing is awesome no doubt... just know what to expect.

I've edited this after speaking to the folks that made the shooter rod and the ring button lock bar kit. The shooter rod was 100% perfect but what I thought to be scratches was just excess resin that was removable with just my thumb nail.

Sorry for jumping to conclusions

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Which connector is for the topper? Is it the one with two blue wires?

Yes, 2 pin connector with blue wires, left side toward back of cabinet. 1.90 is supposed to have it enabled according to JJP.

Each piece has been hand painted, modified and detailed to ensure proper fit in the playfield without obstructing the ball. Custom brackets have been created to allow these characters to fit just right, while maintaining clearances. The placement of these are situated with the corresponding artwork on the playfield.
Visit our site for details: www.modfatherpinball.com
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I found the 1.94P update. Is it worth installing it over the official 1.90? What kind of new features does it offer?

Kickback settings are adjustable. Helped my game by making sure the up post at the kickback didnt miss the ball which it was doing alot.

More choreography and such for BoFA also

I wonder how common this issue is?

My Smaug mouth has stopped moving as well. He still rotates perfectly, but no talkie.

I know 4 locations of Hobbit machines, 3 have this issue (after a few months of intense play). At least one machine with this problem is early production.
(This does NOT say that 75% of the machines have this problem obviously since I only know 4 machines.)

I diagnosed one of these, it seems the Smaug jaw servo motor has overheated and is damaged. I opened one of the Smaugs, with the motor running free during test mode it tries to move in one direction but gets stuck immediately.
I don't know much about servo motors but I guess that either the servo is being driven incorrectly or that the mouth open/closed positions are wrong, causing too much stress on the mechanism. The servo motor eventually overheats and melts. It has the typical burning plastic smell so that's obviously not good.

If your Smaug does not work (test it!), disconnect your Smaug and order a new one under warranty. The game plays fine with Smaug disconnected. I hope JJP investigates this issue and comes up with an explanation and solution.

The most recent manual has instructions on how to calibrate this motor. I assume the motor is calibrated in the factory so the settings are preserved during incremental software updates. It is a good idea to follow these calibration instructions after performing a clean install of your machine.

When I received my replacement Smaug last week I called to ask about mouth open and close parameter settings and was told I did not have to worry about that any longer.

My smaug's mouth does not move either. I need to look under the pf to see what's going on before I contact JJP. What's the warranty period? I'm March 2016.