Send it rob at lock when lit, prior to that add a bunch of heat transfer goop to the processor and a new fan and adjust jumpers to claw back the power supply its set to at factory. Amps=heat=premature failure, I'll post a link later about how to adjust the amp draw on the MB.

here's the link and i copy/pasted the jumper stuff.

http://www.pinball2000.de/techinfo.htm

Hints for a longer and safe operation of P2K motherboard and CPU:
All original P2K boards that I found so far were jumpered for 233 Mhz operation, that means a busclock of 33 Mhz and a multiplyer of 7. This was done, although many games I found used a 266 Mhz CPU. But is this speed really needed?
RFM works sufficent with 180 Mhz while SWE1 works fine with 200 Mhz. So it is a good idea to reduce the speed, which the causes board and CPU to stay cooler and longer alive. This can be done in the easiest way = reducing the busclock from 33 Mhz to 30 Mhz (that makes the CPU run with 7*30Mhz):
On the Board with version V2.0 inscript you have to change on JP4 from A0 B1 to A0 B0
On the Board named 586GXM-AV you have to change JP2 from 2-4 1-3 to 4-6 3-5
You could also reduce the multiplicator from 7 to 6, but I do not think that this is really necessary.
Cooooooler gets the CPU, when you reduce the CPU core voltage. Most of the used Media GX CPUs 'need' 2,9V, what is printed on the CPU. In the meantime I found 200 Mhz CPUs, that only need 2,2V. You may want to reduce the voltage to the lowest value, where the CPU still runs stable. Try it!
There are 4 voltage jumpers on the mainboard. They work very simple:
To a base voltage of 2V the jumper adds 0,1V (=V1 or 1-2) ; 0,2V (=V2 or 3-4); 0,4V (=V3 or 5-6) and 0,8V (=V4 or 7-8).
So the lowest voltage you can have is 2,0V when all jumpers are open and 3,5V when all are set. If you set e.g. V1 and V8, which is the default, you get 2,9V. Have fun with your trial. Addon: When your P2K date no longer runs for shure, replace that CR2035 battery on your motherboard (just 1$).

My research into this, which I just did because I looked into it prior to getting a RFM, is...

Don't listen to those people. Pin2k boards don't frequently just "fail". Perhaps the biggest reason for failure is obvious... the fan on the CPU/GPU thing breaks and it overheats. When you get an RFM, put a new fan in it. Don't worry about it for years afterwards.

Technically I'm sure that if you have a failure, there are less solutions out there. But there are solutions on pinball ninja and Rob from where ever he is fixes these things, I believe. You can also buy "pulled" replacement CPUs on eBay.

NuCore may come back some day. There is apparently some other solution out there also.

Just my 2 cents. I'd like to hear what others say.

A spare ATX power supply, Cyrix CPU and CPU fan are all I need to sleep well at night.

Could someone post links to fan and power supply ? Thanks.

Just got ours up and running again tonight, so posting a pic and then playing for a bit. Basically, if you know how to work on computers, you can keep a P2K running. Ours was freezing up then wouldnt boot, and 30 minutes later of my husband resetting things in the computer it fired right up.

image.jpg

if someone could post a pic of how the lower spotlights beside the saucers on the ramps tie into the harness next time they are under the hood i would greatly appreciate it!

ls1chris:
I'll try and take photos of the spot lights for you this evening. curse you for grabbing that last pf from pps. I emailed rick ages ago about it and he never got back to me. instead, it appears that they just listed as stock on their webstore (which I missed) :/

here are the promised pics. without going through the lamp tests, I'm not sure which of the 4-pin molex connector bundles (purple-yellow or red-yellow) are the ones for the spot lights. if you can't figure it out, let me know and I'll pull the connectors and put it in lamp test.

left side
IMG_0489.JPG
IMG_0490.JPG
IMG_0492.JPG

right side
IMG_0488.JPG
IMG_0493.JPG
IMG_0494.JPG

For those worried about over heating issues, I had a couple parties at my house over the summer, so I knew my RFM was going to be on for a long stretch. What I did was I removed the back panel then put a double oscillating fan I bought back there to softly blow cool air in the back of it all day.

I doubt there would've been a problem anyway, but just to be safe and extra sure, I opened the panel which helps a great deal to let air in and dissipate heat. Then I set the fan up on low to move cool air all around. I've had NO issues whatsoever with my RFM and I absolutely love it!

The spotlights are supposed to point at the nearest jumping alien.

thanks! i dont have those connectors under my pf for those in the error reports it showed them as being out , and last night i was having a switch issue with the drop and when i did the test again it showed no spot errors??.

spot errors are back im going to have to wait for my manual and trace it back to the main connector and work my way forward. i cannot find connector, or the wires ( it shows them in the test report what the colors are) nothing , nada, zip! i can't even find any loose wires that were used for a hack or a mod.
on another note, there is what looks to be a light board controller in the center of the PF, it has a red led on it and i think a bunch of diodes on it, mine has nothing plugged into the j-4 , is this the same for you guys?

correct. J4 is an extra, unpopulated connector on the light board. I'm currently using it for the rgb saucer mod

thanks J_M , i have some extra light cannons from my wozmods kit im not using and im going to tap +12 from there until my manuals and parts come int to correctly add the spots.

I'm loving RFM... Just played it for about an hour. While I'll admit it's still new, it's my favorite pin!

A buddy of mine (swampfire) mentioned a couple of settings I should change right before I got my RFM. I only now changed them... I liked the game before, but it's 10x better with these changes!

Change "Capture M.B. Light Lock Loops" to On
Change "Loop Dead Scene Shots" on On

These allow the ball to zip around the orbits in many situations, giving more flow. As the martin in the "Mars Kneads Women" says, "I really like it!"

I've only played an hour with these enabled, but I think they have the following behavior:

Capture M.B. Light Lock Loops: If the multi-ball capture isn't active, the ball will come out the left orbit (rather than stop and fall down the roll over lane)

Loop Dead Scene Shots: If the orbit isn't used by the mode, or you have achieve that orbit goal, the ball will continue around and exit the other orbit side. This is opposed to falling down into the roll over lane.

Are other RFM owners using these settings? I highly recommend it!

Also, if I don't have the description quite right... let me know!

... Altan

Yes, I read about those settings back when I first got my machine and upgraded the software (I think they were introduced in v1.3, same time they added ball save, and my machine had v1.2 on it when I got it). Definitely adds some flow.

I'll need to try that one out. I generally like ball saves but they can make a game too easy sometimes...

When I get one I am going to use these settings. Along with putting lightning flippers on it

IIRC, the ball save time is adjustable. IMO, it's nice to have a little ball save.

I am troubleshooting my RFM that I just got and have a few questions.

1. What is the purpose of the roll-over lanes? I see the lights above them but they dont light when the ball rolls down the in or out lanes? I have tested the switches, just curious if I am missing something.
2. What should happen when ball goes around the left orbit? Even when the Arrow and Missle inserts are lit during a mode, nothing seems to happen here. Should the ball complete the loop or stop and return to the jets.

The roll-over lanes should light up when the ball goes over them in the in/out lanes. I have superbright UVs in there that do light up when the ball goes over them. I did that because I play in pitch dark, and that's the only available light during Hypno-beam so I made sure they lit up the flipper area as a tiny consolation prize if I did drain a ball.

Hitting the left orbit should trigger a missle if the insert is lit. I believe that based on the mode it will either loop or stop/drop on mine, but I haven't done the settings that someone mentioned here that gives it more flow and opens up the loop more.

I had the same problem with a number of switches on my RFM. They would work most of the time in test mode but not during play. At first I thought it was a bad connector but replacing the switches solved the problem. I had 4 bad switches. It's a pretty easy fix with the playfield up. Just make sure to take a photo of the switch before cutting the wires, it's easy to wire the switch backwards if not careful.

Thanks! added a pile of switches to my pending pbl order.

Just got my RFM today and having lots of fun with it. Hooked up a sub to it and it really makes a difference. Where's the club, I'd like to sign up?

This is the club.....

OK great, funny title though.

Might be a good idea to change the tagline to be less...topical.

Check out http://www.gamesurge.com/arcade/pinball_games/revenge_from_mars/quotes.shtml.

My candidates:
"15th president wins"
"Nice work, soldier!"
"I like big weapons!"
"Take that, broccoli head!"
"A drink for my ugly green buddy"
"We will bake you cookies!"
"We will pummel you with fruit!""

"16th president wins" is one of my favorites!

Loving RFM...

The Hilary line is pretty funny also. My parents were in town last week and my mother laughed each time that line came up!

Where does it say on the game which monitor is in it? I have the vid amp and would like to put it in.

On mine, which was the WG, you can easily tell by looking at the monitor from where the translite is located. There wasn't much that was easily visible when viewed from the back cabinet head door.

I've added info about the video amp to my web site. Maybe that will assist you.

epic fail. your punishment is to go back to school and serve a 1 hour detention for the next 5 school days. abe lincoln was the 16th president, not the 15th one.

Thanks, what's your site again.

www.aaarpinball.com (or www.aaarpinball.com/RFM/RFM.htm for Revenge from Mars)

Funny I just checked Pinside 17 seconds after you posted!

Did you guys see this yet?

Greg Freres, who did the artwork for Revenge from Mars (and lots of others!), will be at SFGE? I really like the art on this game! Looking forward to SFGE and seeing Greg.

Greg is SUPER nice.

Be sure to take your Translite and a silver Sharpie

Greg1.jpg
RFMTL1.jpg
RFMTL2.jpg

I just ordered one for my new RFM. It really helps to read all the old posts when you buy a new game.

I know this is an old thread but I have an amp/eg lying around and was wondering where you got the 12v from.

I never know when it's best to post in this thread or create a new one.

Pro for this thread: RFM owners see it.
Cons for this thread: Anyone else probably doesn't

With that assumption, I created a new thread stating I find RFM fun to play even without the video. This is easily done by removing the glass. I also created a video of RFM without video. Check out the thread if you are interested in this topic...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rfm-is-fun-even-without-video-video-included

Or, feel free to discuss here...

I don't know where the original poster got it, but the unused 4-pin connectors from the power supply output 12v (as well as 5v).

... Altan

Very nice!

Did you guys know that WMS is still using the AFM / RFM branding on slot machines?

http://www.wms.com/Games/SensoryImmersionGaming/Pages/AttackFromMarsRevengefromMars.aspx

... Altan

Yes, they have Addams Family as well. Sad to see them when you know they were the downfall of the pins

Chris

Love my RFM! now with new rubbers, CPU fan/power supply, sf update and a good tear down and cleaning of the playfield its amazing. Added LEDs and LED translate kit, also upgraded the speakers and the limited edition laserrific topper. Under cab strobing color changing strip for effect too. Just rec'd last RFM NOS playfield PPS had for future - only problem its a prototype pf with some different art (figure I can live with that though.....)

Post pics please

Can do after work, the mode names are in different spots on a couple and different name for secret weapon

Yeah, I was telling a friend about the game and he said he saw a slot machine like that. Crazy.

Cool, you going to clear the pf?

Has anyone posted a simple way to navigate menus with the glass off?

This vid shows how-to very simply.

Would love to know if this unlisted vid is useless (common sense), or worth posting (good idea)