Playing sometimes custom images on Pinball machine i was wondering if it is possible to switch the image between custom images and original.
i want here to share my experience. Maybe it will help others or we can share ideas here.

Ideal would be multiboot with flipper buttons to chose, but this will be a dream.
So my ideas a circling between a SD-Card switcher.
or a cable that will move the sd-card slot to an more accesible place.

Switcher:
cons:
The switch is still on the device and to switch between images you need still to remove the backglas.
pro:
easy acces for two images
idea:
maybe the switch on the device can be soldered off and move out with longer cables

cable:
cons:
still clunky, lenght is limited
pro:
easy access, multiple images

the most common length of the cable seems to be 45cm, there seems to some out with 60cms.
they come in different flavors. SD-Card->mini SD-Card
SD-Card -> SD-Card
mini-SD-Card -> mini-SD-card

i purchase some of the cables and will/have tested them.

1. test was with mini-sdcard->mini-SDcard 45 cm
it seems to be working, i let it just hung down. You need only to turn the key and open the monitor, then you access card.
but only had time for 1-2 games. It switched on normal, i could not see any differnences. No lags, no haning, no reboots.
i will do more tests and report.

switcher (resized).JPG

cable (resized).JPG

cable2 (resized).JPG

cable3 (resized).JPG

Thanks for the idea of desoldering the switch, yes that would be a solution for this problem.

I have ordered a sd-switcher, but it will take some time until it arrives.
and i hope my skills are good enough to desolder the switch

Did several tests now with sd-extension cable.
On TMNT i tested several images, the 1984, the Scandell April mod, Original and my own creation. For this i needed to replace the SD-Card a lot.
It seems to be stable.
Easy access because it's dangling down and you need only to switch down the monitor. Just turn key flap down the monitor and you can switch the sd-card.
Will make life so much easier when changing between different images.
I did not notice any stuttering, hanging or anything else. I think i had around 10 games, with about 5 times sd-card switching in between.
i did use the mini-sd to mini sd.
In the mainboard is stucking a mini-sd to normal sd-card adapter. In this the cable is stuck. The Problem here is it will not secure. It holds good, but there is nothing to you have to do to release it. Like first pressing it down to release it as you do on sd-cards itself.
The other side where you stick in the mini-sd card is still big, but not as big as the one where you stick a big card in it.
here the sd-card is secured and you need to press it down first down to release it.

For me this looks like a good solution.
Having also a 9 feet usb cable routed from the backbox to the coin door i hope the situations to remove the backbox glass are getting less.

now waiting on the sd-card switchers.

the cables work fine, meanwhile i got the sd-card switcher but never came around to test it.
To much work at the moment and the cable version just worked so good.
It is dangling down and if you open the speaker panel you can just switch the sd-card.

The sd-card switchers are quite small, there are 3 solderpoints to the switch and it should be possible to move the switch out of the cabinet with longer cables.
But you are still restricted to 2 sd-cards. On TMNT it would be fine, to have for example the Vanilla Stern Game and the 1987 code on two sd-cards. As not much game updates are happing it will be fine. But if you need to change the sd-card you will still have to remove the backglas. with the cable version it's just opening the speaker panel and removing the sd-card. So both solutions have their flavor.

but i should kick me in the ass and just do the soldering
hope to again that i can do it in the next weeks.

hahaha great idea. life can be so easy. i have to admit i haven't thought about that. i feel a little dumb now
i am no pro in soldering, that's the reason i push it back from me, but this is something i could test very fast.
from technical perspective i would not know any reason it does not work, except signal quality with cable length and additional connectors, but for this i can give a feetback.

hope to test it maybe this evening, or over the weekend.

did a short test, but i got it not running.

it did not click right into the extension cable. It may need some fiddling to work.
Over the weekend i will try the switcher directly in the slot.

ok sad news. The sd-card switchers seems not to be working. I put it now with a sd-card adapter (mini-sd card to sd-card) directly in the sd-card slot of the pinball machine. But nothing happens. I had both slots occupied.
So at the moment the only version that is working are the extension cables.
Do you want to switch between a custom and a vanilla code with the same version numbers?
The extension cable is quite good and easy, but i am not sure if permanent card-switching will break it. On the other hand it's not too expensive.
But the card switcher would have been so nice, the two sd-cards installed in the machine and not to be afraid to lose the cards when they are lying around.

i haven't found any different sd-card switchers.
Too bad that it is not compatible. now i have two swtichers that are not working.
But the extension cable is still a good alternative, even with a little more manual work.

You can still have the 2 sd-cards available. And you just need to switch them in the extension cable. Not as comfy as a switcher would be.
For the settings and score movement i would leave a plugged usb stick in the machine to restore and load settings.

The ultimative version would be to have the two version in one sd-card and have the means to chose on boot up
but i don't think this is possible, but one can dream
The first part i could think of to work, but the chosing between the images i could not think of a way