Just joined the club last night. Bought it from the original owner who bought it new in 99. It spent a year on route, but other than that, was home use only. Not perfect, but very nice. In the process of doing my usual shopping/cleaning. Monitor is original, bright and crisp. Software is 1.0. Owner never updated past the shipped software. Looking forward to exploring the new 2.23 update.

Can you turn off the dimming like in BSD and others? I also plan to use LEDs and I think the heat and power savings outweighs the dimming effects.

Hey gang. I replaced my original AT PSU with an ATX using this guide:

http://antelopearcade.com/forum/posts/t4-Pinball-2000-AT-to-ATX-Power-Supply-Replacement

Now, when I press the power button, the PS and CPU fans come on for just a moment and go off. You can also see a light come on and go out on the prism board.

Any ideas what I messed up?

Thanks, in advance.

Mine is almost ready for prime time. Topside shopped with Cliffy's added. Need to go back and put dimmer leds in the back or incandescents. Waiting on a new CPU fan as well. And lastly, changed all bottom side bulbs to leds and clean out the underside of the inserts.

Got mine all straightened out today. Only minor issue I'm seeing is during gameplay, the insert leds flicker. During attract mode, they look great. Using comet single smd retros. Do I need non ghosting for the inserts? Anyone have experience?

Mine has been doing this since updating the the 2.3 mypinballs code, too. I was thinking maybe it is physical, but it didn't happen on the factory software. Haven't opened the game up to look, yet. Interesting to hear that someone else is experiencing this.

Thanks for the suggestions. I kinda figured it would be physical. Just a coincidence that it happened after the software upgrade.

I did this tonight on top of cleaning the moving parts and installing a new sleeve. Plays great, now.

Quick scenario for any owners. I was playing the urge night and the left flipper stopped holding. Still would flip but wouldn't hold. Left flipper only. Turned the game off and figured I'd look into it later. Booted up today to look into it and it works fine again. Very new to pin2k so not sure if I should worry.

Question on the applejuice software. Each time a new mode starts, a ball saver comes on. I want to disable that, but can't seem to find it in the options. Is this possible? I like my games hard and tournament settings, no EBs and no ball save.

Anyone know about this? I tried moving some of the modes to hard setting from default medium and the ball save is still there.

applejuice is there a setting in the 2.3 software to turn off the ball saver that is active at the beginning of each new mode? I want to make the game harder for a tournament and I know it will play forever with this feature as is. I haven't been able to find a setting for this, unless I'm missing it.

Thanks. Love the software, just wanted to clarify.

Thank you for the response. Yeah, I have the ball save off, so at start of game no ball save at all, then when starting any subsequent mode, it gives a ball saver. Might that be something you would consider implementing in 2.4?

The new stuff looks great. Here's another request to give users an option to turn those extra mode ball savers off in the settings.

Experienced Midnight Madness for the first time last night. Was playing some pins late with my son and on my ball 3, boom, it starts up. Good thing I made sure to have the date/time settings correct. Looking forward to see what you come up with for this very cool game, next.

What does this do, Matt? Is it just a LAN card for the game? Only had my RFM a few months. It was on 1.0 code when I got it.

Proper replacement bulb is just a couple bucks. It also could be the starter that is the issue and not the bulb and that is also a couple bucks. If the ballast is bad, that could be about $20 or so. Had to replace the ballast in a recent Spiderman pick up.

Weird. So, even the EU export games had the stateside voltage parts. I use places like bulbtronics and 1000bulbs and order a bunch at a time. I have several from when I used to have a bunch of arcade games. And since my 2 new Stern additions used the 24 inch tubes, I bought a case of those too, lol.

I assume the replacement chip is the Intel in the pic. I don't have the tools or good eyesight needed for a surface mount chip. I'd happily pay for a chip swap on my prism if it means I can keep original hardware and still get applejuices next update.

applejuice Excited to see what you can pack into the extra space. Have you given any thought to being able to turn off the ball saver at the beginning of each new mode as an option? I would be interested in having a tournament mode that you could enable that has preset options like no EBs and no ball save at all and a set order on the stroke of luck awards or maybe just have it always give points like the AFM tournament mode rom. I'd be happy to help with anything I can. Testing, etc. I'm a big tournament person and would love to use RFM in my tournaments, but it plays too long with the ball save coming on each time a mode starts and then also getting ball save awarded by the scoop. Thanks and keep up the great work.

The skirt's pointed shaft is likely not centered in the spoon activator. Should be an adjustment to get it centered.

Very swift fix, sir.

I wonder how difficult it would be for you to add an option to turn off the ball saver at the beginning of each new mode you start? I apologize in advance if this is a bother. I know a few of my heavy tourney playing friends also would prefer that we can turn that off. The game isn't difficult, so good players can camp on it with a free ball saver with each new mode started. I'd be happy to send my prism card to be upgraded if that is needed for this type of detail.

Yes, sorry for the repetition. Glad to know you are looking into it. I appreciate your dedication to this game. Also, very interesting regarding the stealthy ball save built in from the factory.

Definitely is possible. Mine came with one and I just pulled it the other day and put in a coin door plate I got from pinball life. I believe it is a Mars. I can check model number later.

Here's the one I removed. It's Mars brand.

20220126_193641 (resized).jpg

It's broken. It's also leaning and could have lost structural integrity. I would want to replace it.

Breaking down and moving this game was an experience, for sure.

That seems like a trade that heavily favors the owner of the RFM. Not sure what Agent 777 is. Which arcade games? I'd say this game is going for $4K to $4500, presently, based on a few recent sales. Mine was on 1.0 when I got it. Guy was the original owner and never updated.

Perhaps tap into the spotlight that you wish to mirror. That way, they will turn on at the same time, if that is your desired effect.

Even better than the "just a fuse" fix. Boom!

I keep seeing people talk about a video amp. Are folks using this instead of rebuilding the monitor to get a better pic? Or would it amplify a perfectly good looking monitor as well?

I believe it is a bug that's been in the game the entire time, even on original code. I think it has been mentioned in this thread a few times.

Disassembly and cleaning, along with a new sleeve, fixed this issue on mine.

In my opinion, adding light to that area kills the effect of the graphics on the glass.

Cleaning and a new sleeve is all mine needed. File any burrs off the plunger.

I used this stuff, cut to fit, so the ball doesn't contact the metal edges of the tray.

https://www.michaels.com/9x12-adhesive-foam-sheet-by-creatology/M10032002.html

A super skill shot would be cool too, like it's big brother, AFM, has.

EDIT: Apparently, this is there, but my game doesn't send the ball all the way around if I hold the left flipper. Hmmm.

Pretty sure that is just because he's using one of those lighted frames and it may be on blue setting or even cool white could cause that. Regular tube in the game won't have that effect.

Mars/MEI AE2411U3 - 120V

I removed it and gave it to a friend. I believe it was just one plug and there was a corresponding one in the game harness.

The one thing I would do ASAP is use these in place of those cabinet protectors you have on there. Those will eventually cause decal wrinkling and these won't.

https://www.pinballlife.com/metal-cabinet-protectors-set-of-4.html

I've got a mix in mine. Anything about halfway up to the rear is incandescent along with all flashers. The rest is LED. LED in the back is too bright and washes out the graphics on the glass. Learned the hard way since I did all LED to start lol.

I need to open the game to adjust a couple switches, so I'll double check on that. I know at one point, I put all leds in.

Looked at my game tonight. As for inserts, the largest board under the playfield has all incandescent bulbs because LEDs flicker like crazy there. The rest LEDs.

The prism card has to be removed from the game and then the 2 pieces must be separated to get to the battery, so you won't be able to do that one with the game on.

I believe Canuck_pinhead is talking about this new piece from Brian Allen.

https://www.flylanddesigns.com/product/revenge-from-mars-alternate-translite/

Could this be why the Martian Bowling bug still exists? It's in those PROMS?

This is the video that I followed and it worked fine for me. I'm still on 2.24 and need to update to 2.5.

Just tried to update to 2.5 and I'm seeing some weirdness.

The software version shows as .80.

It remembers all my high scores. It's on free play but showing credit info.

And the weirdest thing is when I press start the game starts looking for pinballs. All 4 are in the trough.

I'm on original hardware and used fupdate. D:\>fupdate -fpin2000_50070_0250_ COM1

The game went through the flash and rebooted. I'm attaching a couple pics. I'm sure I must've messed something up.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

20230329_201315 (resized).jpg20230329_201706 (resized).jpg20230329_201723 (resized).jpg

Thanks. I'll give it another go tonight. I've done 3 updates with this cord. It's the one from Amazon that has been recommended here. I'll try direct to the PC this time. It tricked me since it went through the visual process of updating.

EDIT: Ended up having some extra time before work and did the direct connection. Update seemed to go through fine this time. Phew.

Got Martian Invaders for the first time ever in a test game. That's a neat mode.

My first thought would be to remove and reseat that mask rom. Maybe shoot some contact cleaner into the socket while it is out. I don't have direct experience on the prism card, but it has worked on other roms where they were not reading right due to a dirty or bad socket.

I would check with Dave at pinballrom.com. He likely knows what the EPROM equivalent would be, and should be able to program one for you.

I believe the proms are static and the flash takes the update, so new proms won't do anything.

I recommend getting a proper AT power supply. I tried an ATX replacement and it wouldn't boot. I followed the guide I found by googling, but it didn't work. I only had 250w ATX on hand but figured that should've been fine. I have a whole case because I used them for multicade builds back in the day.

No, it is plug and play. This is the one I got.

Athena Power AP-AT30 300W AT Power Supply 6Pin P8 6pin P9 Connector https://a.co/d/08UajFM

applejuice
Just wanted to check in to see if you had any luck looking into a way to disable all ball saves as an option. Thanks for the continued great work.

Coil should read ~3 ohms or higher. 2 or lower would indicate a short. If there is another identical coil under the playfield, measure it against the shooter coil.

If you or a friend has a CRT rejuvenator, that's what I'd try next. You may not have to remove the monitor to do it. Can't recall how much clearance there is in there.

The rejuvenator can test as well. Could identity a dead gun before you try to zap it. Had a dead green gun on a defender arcade game a couple years back.

That is awesome. I know you've mentioned this bug being a tricky one. Will this emulator also help be able to find a way to have an option to turn off the ball save that kicks in at the beginning of each new mode?

Are these amps I see mentioned something that helps as a stop gap instead of rebuilding the monitor with new caps and flyback (if needed)?

I have a WG in my game and don't see any issues with it. I know there were multiple brands used to keep up with production.

That's the route I would go as well.