I know Dick made an upgrade for the BlackJack. A while before that I made a custom ROM for BlackJack that fixed a tilt bug, changed the rules so you could lose points when you were losing, and add a couple more tunes with the chimes. Made a big difference in game play.

80spit - I put @robotworkshop's ROM in my Black Jack as part of a restoration....it's very cool and adds a bit of complexity and strategy to an otherwise simple game. Here's some video I took of the new ROM's gameplay a couple years ago:

What are thoughts on using an original mpu200 versus an alltek MPU with the new code? At the moment, I have 2 working Meteors. One has an original MPU and one has an alltek MPU. I will be modding one of them with the new 2021 code then selling the other meteor.

The update should work fine with either MPU. My Meteor had an Alltek board in it when I bought the game. I was able to find and rebuild a clean original MPU-200 and am running that with the upgrade installed. I put a small switch in the vent under the head so I can switch between the original Meteor or in the other position the new Meteor 2021 code is running.

If you do the upgrade the REV 2 board with the Nano works well. I'd avoid the REV 1 for Meteor and just use the REV 1 for Early Stern machines with Chimes or Bally machines. The REV 2 is better for the later Stern sound card that plugs into that J5 connector.

Hi! I just bought Meteor with the 2021 Mods installed. Wow - what an amazing game. I’m having an odd problem and I’m wondering if anyone else is experiencing this. I have my Award Scores set to 600000, 800000 and 900000. I have the award selection set to 3 for Credit, Credit, Extra Ball. Tournament scoring is off. Game is in Free Play mode. When playing, I get a credit at the first award level but no award at either level2 or 3. I have changed the award selection and the problem is consistent. An award is given when crossing the first level but not level 2 or 3. Obviously not critical but would love to solve this if anyone has ideas. Machine is set to 5 ball play.

Another oddball issue, maybe this is just a code limitation, I can’t tell…
During missile command mode, the call outs about “2 METEORS REMAINING” often don’t match up to what happens. Sometimes I’ll clear a meteor, then get that call out, only to have Morpheus mode start up. It’s not a deal breaker but is confusing, especially to people who haven’t played before and you have to be “yeah, the code is weird, don’t worry about it.”

Seems there are other little bugs like that, I’ll have to play some games and take some notes…?

DickHamill -- any thoughts on my issue above? Easy to replicate. Thank you!!!

Thank

Thank you for this. Lots of great questions:
1) There are less than 20 credits on the machine
2) Great question regarding crossing both levels on the same ball. I don't think so, but I will test this. Considering that I've never seen the second award get triggered, I'd think this is not the case.
3) I have it set for "credit" "credit" "extra ball" so I don't think that is the issue (having previously earned an extra ball via another method).

But I do have a question (I used to be a FORTRAN and COBOL coder but those skills don't readily translate) -- this code seems to be for TournamentScoring and I do not have TournamentScoring set to on. Could that be the issue or am I reading it wrong?

Brian

I had to take screenshots when I did Galaxy to get around the indentation issue.

Bought a Meteor and want to install the new code. Read most of this thread to understand what I'm getting into. I can buy the complete ready to install Arduino set up here on Pinside. Looks like this is the popular amp:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y67PZB1/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1

I'm guessing a USB cord from the sound card goes to that amp? Does that amp need 120V for power? From there, I'll need speakers. I don't want a sound bar or anything mounted externally.

Not looking for high end sound, just simplicity to install. I see all kinds of posts of different set-ups. I am guessing a pair of small speakers in the lower cabinet would work.

I sell the kit and just added the adapter cable that connects to the games speaker. Thanks to SlapDrain for help with the cable! This would be the easiest way to get it set up .

https://troxelrepair.com/shop/
IMG_4369 (resized).JPG

So that kit does not require an amp and I can use the stock speaker or just a single upgraded speaker?

I made one of those when I had my Meteor. Works great. That way you can just utilize your cabinet speaker and don't need anything else. I think the instructions are on pinside somewhere.

Correct

That's correct. SlapDrain posted the how-to here if your want to make your own.

I use this cable. Couldn't have been easier.

Happy to help! This is absolutely the way to go if you want a quick and easy way to get audio working with the updated code. The price is right as well! Kudos to troxel for not charging an arm and a leg for any of his mods.

I want to give a shout out to Dick Hamill for his great work on Meteor 2021’s scoring code - he got the million point system working like a charm - we owe him a debt of gratitude for his contributions! I made a video showing it off:

After you mentioned that artifact that shows up in the first segment (as a 0) in the 7digit 2021 code. I have now noticed the issue on mine, along with the match sequence numbers that shift to the left.

I am running the latest code from github, and I still see the issue. Is there something I need to change to fix it?

Thanks in advance. Great job on the code Dick!

***Edit*** I uninstalled all the Arduino software on my PC. I then started with a clean install of everything. The 7digit artifact is gone, all is good now!

I had a similar false-load issue and wasted mine and Dick's time the same way - one has to really check the details!

Just wanted to pass along that I have a 15% off sale at my store for anyone looking to buy a premade kit (or audio cable).

15% off most items in my shop (NMP's drop target sensors are not included in the sale) along with free shipping with any purchase over $20.00.
Coupon expires after 11/28/2022.
Code: bf2022
https://troxelrepair.com/shop/

Hooked up my 2021 kit and the game plays fine, but my volume is super low coming out of 2 different sets of external speakers. I can hear everything, but even with speaker volume cranked all the way up, it's very low volume. Any ideas?

Are they amplified speakers? Did you use different audio cables with the different speakers. I have a sound bar sitting on top of the machine for running the new code. Internal speaker for original sounds.

Yes, external powered speakers with 2 different 3.5 cables

How is the WAVtrigger powered? Are the pads for power solder bridged on the WAVtrigger? Was the latest firmware put on the WAVtrigger? Double check the cable between the Arduino adapter board and the WAVtrigger.

So, the first set of speakers were not externally powered. The 2nd set, I had the speakers plugged into the wrong jack. It is now working great! Thanks for the help and Merry Christmas!! The sound package is amazing!!!

Getting back around to figuring out this project. I bought a Meteor back in July and have the Arduino kit, Amazon amp etc. I've never been able to get it to work. Out of frustration I put it down because I was having issues with the Meteor in general. Now I'm out of sorts as to how it should properly be hooked up. New Alltek board. I'm confused as to where the extra 2 pins going from the board to the sound board are supposed to be. Left middle or right? Meaning 2 pins are open but where should they be open? Or does it only matter when it comes to the sound.

Goal is to just get the Arduino up and running and then go from there.

Attached are pics to better give you an ideal of how I have everything currently plugged in.

20230111_161236 (resized).jpg

20230111_161254 (resized).jpg

20230111_161305 (resized).jpg

20230111_161309 (resized).jpg

20230111_161317 (resized).jpg

The 2 on the left need to be open. You have it correct on the mpu side, a14/irq. The sound board looks off and you have the opening in the middle? That is not correct. Yes, that is just the sound board, until you get stuff booting up you can disconnect it. If there are 34 pins on each connector, you go from pin 1 on the right, then the next connector goes right up against the first connector. The A14 and IRQ signal aren't used on the sb300 sound board.

Did you buy just the adapter board for the Arduino in kit form or did you get the whole set as a kit ready to install and use?? Big difference.

If you didn't buy ready to go you'll need to download the code and the Arduino tools to load the Meteor code onto the Arduino. With that it should just get you playing without sounds. As far as I am aware the original sound board (connected by those ribbon cables) is only used when the jumper on the Arduiono adapter board is open causing the original Meteor code to run.

When the Arduino takes over it uses the WAVtrigger for sounds.

For the WAVtrigger to work there are two pads that need to be solder bridged so it can be powered from the pinball machine. Also that WAVtrigger may also need the latest firmware installed. That requires connecting the WAVtrigger to a computer to upload the new code to that. Finally the soundset of WAV files needs to be copied onto the MicroSD card for the WAVtrigger to use.

Bought it ready to go from RoyGBiv. Supposed to be plug and play. When my Meteor was working, I couldn't tell if the adapter was working because I never got the sound working. Then Meteor stopped working in general so I am fixing that then moving to get the kit working as this was the sole reason I acquired the Meteor. I'll update progress once I get something working.

Even without the sound you'll know if the new code is running if you look at the attract light show on the playfield. Definitely different.

I am sending you a mounting kit overnight tomorrow. The kit was created with the assumption that the sound board would be mounted to the small surface above the MPU board. But with the Alltek, the ribbon cable doesn't reach that area. All sound boards now ship with four standoffs and screws.

I built, compiled, and installed my setup using the Rev 3 board with Robertsonics Wav Trigger and recommended SD card. It works, but no background sound. I hear the Match music, but no music during game play, just the switch triggers and mode callouts. Any ideas? I have the USE...1p3 defined in my code and recompiled/downloaded several times. Diag code 14 (music) can be set to 1,2,3 or 99. I tried them all. The documentation mentioned the possibility of 4 or 5 also if using the Wav Trigger. Was that implemented? I bought the Wav board neelw about a month ago, so I figured it was 1.30 or later FW. Thanks!

I don't know if the WAVtrigger ships with updated firmware. I had to update all of the ones I've used.

Appreciate the wisdom! I may go ahead and get the programming cable.

Updating the firmware fixed the issue. Thanks again!

I finally got this up and running on a Meteor I've been working on tonight! Thanks to DickHamill for all of his amazing work creating this and everyone else for all of the tips and videos. This machine is running on a Weebly MPU board as well and it works great.

I can't wait to share this with our local tournament crowd soon!

Does anyone know what format the SD card is in and if the audio files are stored in a folder or just on the SD card without directory? Considering changing the soundtrack on this but don't want to corrupt the current SD card. Would rather make a second option to try etc...

The WavTrigger manual is here: https://www.robertsonics.com/wav-trigger/

Basically, you cannot format to any size greater than 32 GB. Any file you use must be uncompressed .WAV format, and make sure the meta data is all blank. Most of us use Audacity for this.

Thanks

Meteor 2021 Rules-I'm having a difficult time finding a comprehensive rule listing for the new code...sometimes I'm hitting a meteor without any idea of what I did. Is there a link anywhere for a comprehensive rule list-maybe something comparable to what you on the Tilt forums??

thanks
mtt

I never finished this mod (and I just realized it's been over a year) - still working on my bench. I've got a powder-coated donor apron with the hole cut out for the screen, just need to find some time to finish.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/meteor-2021-new-code-for-stern-meteor-1979/page/6#post-6742784

That’s a great rundown of the rules - I forgot all about that mod. Really nice, I’ll be very interested to see that finished up. (In an ideal world, it would be cool to be able to go forward and back or pause, I found myself doing that watching your video. But also realize that creates a significant complication!

As an aside, I’m not usually a big fan of colored powdercoating on cabinets, but yours looks super classy. Very nice job

Split second would be a great one to redo the code for and add some background sound