Hi,

I am an electronics engineer and one of my hobbies are pinballs.
I live in Krakow, where there is a large Pinball Museum.
Sometimes I help with repairing and refurbishing machines.

I did a few pinball projects and I would like to present them on this forum.
These are not complicated projects but I think they are useful.
The first was: "Switch matrix & lamp matrix tester"
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/-switch-matrix-amp-lamp-matrix-tester

The time has come for another project, a bit more ambitious .
Project assumptions:
- security chip replacment for all Williams WPC-S/WPC-95 flippers
- end user programmable chip, game ID and serial number
- programming without specialist programmer, only PC with USB port
- PCB dimensions = IC size DIL28
- additional Reset button.

Project is based on ATMEGA8U2.
Despite the chip shortage, this chip is still available on the market.

In the first photos, the system is being tested in a real pinball machine.
sc1 (resized).jpgsc2 (resized).jpg

And a photo of the chip in all its glory
sc3 (resized).jpg sc5 (resized).jpg

Short PSC user manual:

1. Place the PSC (Programmable Security Chip) in the socket on the WPC-CPU board
2. Close jumper "Prog" on PSC
3. Power on flipper
4. Connect USB cable between PC and PSC
5. The driver for PC should install automatically (PSC use native USB HID driver). If the chip not recognized press RST switch on PSC.
6. Optional: You can check in the system whether the PSC has been recognized correctly, should be visible in Device Manager as a HID compliant device (VID =0x03EB PID = 0x2013)
7. Run security Chip Programmer (securitychip.exe)
8. Optional: Press "Find Chip" Button to test to check the presence of the PSC (picture 1.)
9. Select ID game
10. Enter the serial number (6 digits + 5 digits)
11. Press "Write Chip" Button to program PSC (picture 2)
12. Disconnect USB cable
13. Open jumper "Prog"
14. Press "RST" switch on PSC to reset PSC & flipper
15. Chip should be recognized by flipper.
sc6 (resized).jpg sc7 (resized).jpg

The PSC has been successfully tested by several users of the German pinball forum.
If bug are detected in the future, you can update the software yourself.

BR JarekC

PS. As I am new here, if I put the post in the wrong section please move.

Maybe I put the information in the wrong section.
I do not have a company and the project was created as a hobby.

The design uses an ATmega8U2 processor and the firmware not use any code from the original PIC processor.
I don't even have access to the original firmware
Information about the question-answer algorithm (CPU-security chip) can be easily found on the web.

The program on the PC is used only to enter the ID and serial number to the EEPROM of the processor.

At the moment I have no free PCB and so far I will not ship to the USA due to shipping costs, customs declarations and possible objections from WMS (although I do not use the original code, logos, TM, etc.)
Sorry.

Project is finished (tested by several users) and availiable mainly in Europe.
Program and firmware V1.01 are available for download from the flippermarkt.de forum.
The thread can be found via my nik (JarekC)
The processor has a preprogrammed bootloader that allows the firmware to be updated by the user.
The project is not open source.

Two versions are available:

V1 standard: current firmware V1.01
Firmware history:
V1.00 - inital version
V.101 - fixed bug related to timer function

V2 special : current firmware V2.00
Firmware history:
V2.00 - inital version

The special version allows the matrix state to be transmitted outside the chip via the USART port.
The matrix state is transmitted in packets of 8 bytes, which corresponds to the state of 64 switches.
The transmission parameters are 115200, n,8,2

In the new version, Jumper has a double role
- when it is closed, it puts the chip in the programming state
- when open, it works as a UART (Tx) port

The system in this version allows you to build modifications to the flipper that require information about the state of the switches.
The new PCB allows you to build versions 1.0x and 2.0x

BR JarekC

pscv2 (resized).jpg

1. I have never been able to find firmware for PIC processors
2. I use it when servicing WPC-S and WPC-95 boards, in a few seconds I have a security chip ready for the machine being repaired.
3. The END USER can adapt the chip to any pinball machine with any serial number at any time.
4. It is cheaper (22$) than Security Chip bought on Ebay (29,95$)

BR JarekC