well, had these similar probs on some occasion, and never think about that solution :/
almost now i know... (but OF is gone)

Welp, as of Friday, I'm in the Club! Gonna keep it at home a month or two, and then will probably be putting it on location for a little while. Most of our local pinheads haven't really gotten to play an Oktoberfest, or really American Pinball games yet.

IMG_20210129_191626 (resized).jpg

IMG_20210129_191718 (resized).jpg

You’ll love it the more you play it. Great pin.

Playfield Wear

Noticed this weekend I have playfield wear behind the scoop (tent entrance). Has anyone used Cliffy’s protectors? Does it include a vinyl protector for behind the hole?

Open for suggestions on best way to protect if not Cliffy’s.

Machine has 250 plays - I’m little surprised I have an issue. Anyone else have same issue?

Thx

Cliffys protectors in second photo

2DA47EAB-6664-4823-8DB5-3F1C8D9183DA (resized).jpeg

F32063D4-F803-4B26-BB89-E9EB72E80EC3 (resized).png

It does now. I recently worked with cliffy to add this piece specifically.
https://www.passionforpinball.com/Oktoberfest/OKT-complete.jpg

Just ordered a set today - that scoop area can take a lickin'.

Hey, looking for some help before I contact American Pinball Tech Support. My corkscrew ramp/locks are acting weird. I keep getting phantom locks, where the game thinks I've shot a ball up the left ramp, even when I haven't. This will often cause a ball to release from either the shooter lane or the corkscrew lock itself, depending on the game state.

After this happens, the game often loses track of how many balls are in play, and I get all sorts of weird behavior.

What could be the problem, and what should I do to fix it? My first step was going to be to do a code update, I'm on the one just prior to the latest release, but the only change was the no-match screen reboot bug if I recall. Second, if I still am encountering this issue, I was going to turn on membrane switch compensation, and see if that helped.

I noticed that this behavior only seems to occur once I've got at least one ball locked in the corkscrew. I don't seem to get phantom registers/locks until after one ball is all ready up there. Also, are there any optos on the corkscrew ramp, or is the only way for the game to tell if you've hit the ramp once a membrane switch triggers?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm planning on putting my Oktoberfest on route in a few weeks, so I need it running at 100% reliability. There aren't really any AP games in our area, so I know a lot of our local players are looking forward to getting their hands on one.

I do see that there is a ramp opto. So you'd think between the ramp opto and the membrane switches, the game would be able to figure out whether or not I hit a ball up there. As it's basically impossible for a ball to get into the corkscrew lock without going up the ramp. So even if a lock switch triggered, the game should ignore it if the opto didn't trigger. And if the ramp opto triggered but no membrane switch did, then the game should treat it as though the ball failed to make it all the way to the top.

Anyway, updating code now, hopefully that'll clear the issue. I'll report back later.

try setting Service > Settings > Features > Lock Switch Compensation to Yes

Will do.

Hmm, updated to latest code, and also set Lock Switch Compensation to Yes. Still got improper corkscrew releases.

Had two balls locked and then a ball released for no reason. So I got a short MB before one of the balls drained. Back to single ball play, and everything was fine, and then about 15 seconds later, the remaining ball released. Same situation. Not sure what to do at this point, I guess I'll contact tech support.

I'm also gonna check for game levelness just in case. Not sure that would have any effect, but I'm on carpet, so sometimes my games' pitch and levelness will shift over time.

Try visiting Service > Tests > Switches and see if any of the lock switches are firing unexpectedly, including if you jostle the playfield (e.g. try thumping the playfield lightly with your hand) ... both with and without ball(s) in the lock.

Next time it acts up, I will try that; or the next time my motivation is higher. Also, is there an option to disable the physical locking of balls in the Corkscrew completely? Most pinball machines I've owned let you disable various mechs or physical ball locks, as an operator or playability aid. Since I'm putting it on route, it'd be nice to not even have to worry about this issue popping up again. Plus, balls being up in the corkscrew doesn't really add a whole lot to the gameplay in my opinion. It's still fun just having one of your pinballs roll down the coaster, and not having the lock up there would eliminate several potential failpoints for a game on location.

Since last posting, I replaced the balls with fresh ones, and I re-leveled the game. Did a bunch of test games, and so far it hasn't acted up again. I did previously have the game set to hold corkscrew locks between games, but I changed it back to the default of releasing them between games. Since I was getting frustrated with this issue, I decided that the less often balls are held in the lock, the less likely it will be to act up, and the less likely I will be to pull my hair out!

After changing the settings, I did intentionally leave a couple balls in the corkscrew several times during games, and start modes and do other things, just to give the game a chance to act up and release balls that it shouldn't and it didn't release any.

So we'll see. I'll see how it does over the next couple weeks.

Did you reboot after making the Lock Switch Compensation change? I remember reading changing this setting requires a game restart to take effect.

If you lock switch is still acting up, there are replacements available here: https://store.american-pinball.com/products/membrane-switch

Looking for a nice Oktoberfest for sale somewhere near Md/Va/Dc. Thanks! Mìke

Still having problems, so I did submit a service ticket tonight. My problem right now is that I have no idea where to even begin to continue troubleshooting. I am pretty familiar with Bally/Williams and DE/Stern, but this AP platform is very foreign to me.

Thanks, the problem has widened unfortunately beyond just the corkscrew. Tonight I had the game release a pinball into play, while my current ball was still active, putting me into MB when I shouldn't have been. When one of the two pinballs drained, it ended my ball, even though I still had my original pinball in play.

I did try what you suggested, but I just shook the game, didn't actually thump it. If that would make a difference, I can try testing again but with "thumping". No switches triggered that shouldn't have though.

Yep, have restarted several times. Thanks though!

Have you checked for magnetized balls?

Dupe

I checked the pinballs that were in the game when the problem first popped up and they seemed fine, no noticeable magnetism. But I did go ahead and replace them with fresh ones anyway, just in case. I appreciate the help though.

Keeps a usb stick handy, next time you get this issue immediately open the coin door and pull logs send them to [email protected]

Will do. Thanks!

Not sure if this will help but I was having similar issues starting with my corkscrew ball lock and then later the beer barrel lock...what I did was take a micro-fiber cloth and clean the surface of the membrane switches...there was some ball track/soot build up. Also, by doing that, the pressure of cleaning the switch surface flattened out the three contacts on the membrane switch (I think it is just a sticker)...anyway, I haven't had an issue since...quick and easy, worth a try.

So just bought Oktoberfest today. Super excited. Got it all set up. Turned it on and it won’t get past this boot menu.

Updated the software, that worked fine. Still same thing. Any tips?

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Congratulations! It is a awesome game with tons of different things to try for.

(I just turned mine off a few minutes ago).

Anyway, sorry I can not help, my game has never done that.

I have not had any issues in a long time with this game, but when I did just turning the game off and back on fixed every problem I had.

The folks at AP are super awesome, I am sure they will get you fixed very soon.

I would open a ticket with them, and also keep posting here and checking back.

They normally respond pretty fast on here.

Looks like the code update failed.

Make sure the usb stick is formatted fat32 and try again

This sounds like the problem I have had if a ball gets stuck going to the barrel. It has to be placed back on the playfield or the game gets confused. A problem for a tournament or location pin.

Yeah, no luck. It powered on first time with that screen. I checked the formatting before I loaded the update. ran an update 4 times, each time got the green update complete screen.

Just to be sure I reformatted the usb again and tried again. Still no joy.

Any other ideas?

How long is the update taking?
Is anything being put on the usb stick after the update?

Update takes about 5 minutes. Yes it is adding logs to the USB.

Send me everything it put on there
[email protected]

Sent. Thanks so much for looking into this!

I have had this happen on many of my updates on different pins. When you rewrite on the usb, most will never work for the updates. You need a brand new formatted usb. Put the new code on and I bet it will work. Has worked every time for me. Hope this helps. By the way, you guys at American Pinball have Great customer help!!!

did you say GREAT !?

Yes! In my opinion, I believe they have GREAT customer service. They have answered every question I have had very promptly and helpful!

you missundertood me as of course they are !!!

Btw, for those following along, this was resolved, the logs showed the computer was not seeing the control system, issue was a USB cable that must have come loose in shipping.

This game just gave me the ultimate middle finger. I have been trying to get to Flipper Meister for a few weeks, just focusing on completing the modes and timing them out after they turn green. Got them all completed with no extra balls left and I'm cradled up on my right flipper with the Wizard Mode shot ready. I normally backhand the tent scoop but post passing on this game is real sketchy so I go for the scoop and right off the standup target straight down the middle goes the fucking ball.....uuuuuggggggghhhhh!!! Probably be another month before I attempt that again lol.

Rosh are you guys still making these?

Several distributors still have them NIB so no real incentive for AP to make more I would guess.

I am in Toronto. The one and only distributor does not have any.

We were out of stock, but they built a bunch in January. I think they ran out of 'toys' part way through the run, and are waiting on those, but pretty sure some games were completed and are in stock.

FWIW, you don't have to "beat" tents (turn them green / get the confetti celebration) to qualify Flipper Meister... though certainly Meister scoring (and end of ball bonus) is much more valuable if you do.

Sorry for the tough drain, though. Done that more times than I care to mention...

Yeah I only played them enough to turn them green and then timed them out. Couldn't imagine having to truly finish each one lol.

Oktoberfest is in stock and available to order.

We continue to sell Oktoberfest as there is plenty of demand.

That's great to hear and well deserved.

I love this game. My whole family Plays it everyday. I was finally able to get a high score above 1 million! (1.3). Long way to go. Still so much I feel like I need to achieve and figure out.

American Pinball made a really great pin here. I took my kids to an arcade to pick the game they wanted and they picked this one. They’ll be making a lot of fun memories with it!

Huge thanks to Rosh for trawling the forums at night and helping me get it set up on day 1!

Quick question with hopefully a quick answer! I am trying to an install ICT Bill Acceptor. It's a 12v DC validator, but it's default 9-pin wiring is different from what Oktoberfest comes with from the factory. I found the pinout for the Okt 9-pin DBA connector in the manual, but it's not entirely clear what all the pins actually are. The terminology is different from what I've seen before.

Default OKT DBA (resized).jpg

The default Okt/AP Coin-Door DBA wiring is:
Pin 5 = DC Ground (Power)
Pin 7 = 12v DC Hot (Power)

Makes sense, but then Pins 8 and 9 are less clear to me...
Pin 8 = Black, Coin Ground
Pin 9 = Pink/Red

Is Pin 8 the same as CRED/VEND/Pulse- [Common]?
Is Pin 9 the Normally Open CRED/VEND/Pulse+?

Pink/Red isn't a very informative label!

Here's the pinout for my ICT Bill Acceptor

ICT A6 Pinout (resized).jpg

I also saw that there is a service bulletin for some Oktoberfests and Hot Wheels here:

http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2020-7/Dollar-Bill-Acceptor_connector-fix--7-15-2020.pdf

Mine has the incorrect wiring from the bulletin. So maybe all I need to do is make the change indicated in the bulletin? Although, it sseems like the pinouts might still be different even after the change.

Thanks-Mike

Excellent. A friend of mine will be ordering one later this year.

Got my DBA working. I did have to move the pins in the connector, although I actually needed slightly different positioning than the service bulletin. But it's working good now. Ready to go on route here soon!