Quoted from nitrojcrawf:

Don’t use the sleep timer. I’ve had a long discussion with the board guys. I’ve got mine on a lamp timer. Also, try reseating your sd card.

Quoted from nitrojcrawf:

I was told it is buggy and to not use it. They were hoping to further developed it in the future. Mine would turn off but not back on unless I unplugged it. On timer now and working fine. Try it and report back.

Quoted from Irishbastard:

I'd try a new power supply, voltage may be right but I wonder if the amperage is...

Quoted from swinks:

I have had this clock for a little while and currently not working (turns off when it wants, doesn't turn on when it should, freezes mid image) but all roads seem to lead to reflashing the sd card but I am a mac user so how do I do this when it appears you need a windows machine to do this?

Quoted from pinballinreno:

drill out the mounting holes?
dremel is your friend on these custom clocks.

Quoted from ddebuss:

I'd ask the person you got the frame from which panels they used to design it. There's at least a chance you'd be able to find a match.

This frame appears to be ideal for a P5 display

Quoted from ddebuss:

Having built more than a couple of these looking at your measurements I'm thinking this frame was designed for a matrix style DMD (not SMD) due to the hole layouts. This means Red only or Red/Green/Yellow modules. Most of the vendors have stopped selling Matrix modules in favor of SMD RGB modules. Like someone else suggested you may want to drill your own holes.
P2.5 = 160 x 80 x2 = 320 x 80 display
P3.0 = 192 x 96 x 2 = 394 x 96 display
P4.0 = 256 x 128 x2 = 512 x 128 display
P5.0 = 320 x 160 x2 = 640 x 160 display
P6.0 = 192 x 192 x4 = 768 x 192 display
P7.62 = 244 x 244 x4 = 976 x 244 display

Quoted from ddebuss:

Not totally related but I felt this might be useful to the people interested in these displays. Key message is order extras/spares...

When you order 2 similarly sized panels at different times it's not a sure thing you will get the same thing. That's why when I order panels I order as many as I may want including spares... Here are a couple examples.

1. For different orders of the same part from the same vendor you may not get the same hole layout even though the panels are the same size. I ordered the same part from the same vendor 1 month apart and got panels that were physically the same sized but completely different hole layouts. 2 months later I again ordered the same part and ended up getting hole layouts that matched my first order.

2. You may not get the same LEDs. I've ordered a couple batches of panels over a year. Fortunately the holes lined up good but the LEDs were different so the white color was different on one type of panel compared to the other. I ended up with a spare module from each batch and built a display out of it only to find the white color on the left panel didn't match the right panel. For that reason one my personal displays is a "misfit". Most of the LED panel suppliers will actually tell you that they are not guaranteed to be the same and that you should order spares for future replacements at the same time.

Quoted from Pwedge:

Alright. Curiosity got the best of me. I have a few tools that I have been working on that have pretty much reverse engineered the Run-DMD image format and allow me to put my own raw, gif, or video clips into a RunDMD image. I have used these to create some of my own animations, and I plan on open sourcing them once I clean things up a bit more. The goal of these tools was to allow me to add some of the animations from games that I like to my personal clock that are missing from the B134 image that I have been using. This includes games like Party Zone, Safe Cracker, and Tommy. For reference, the B134 image is completely missing the following 90s Williams/Bally/Data East/Sega games that have 128x32 displays:
- Williams/Bally
- Gilligan's Island
- Safe Cracker
- SlugFest (questionable inclusion, but WPC-based)
- Tales of the Arabian Nights
- Party Zone
- Data East
- Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends
- Guns N' Roses
- Jurassic Park
- Last Action Hero (added in B237, see below)
- Star Wars
- Tales from the Crypt
- The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard
- WWF Royal Rumble
- Sega
- Apollo 13 (added in B237 image, see below)
- Godzilla
- Golden Cue
- Goldeneye
- Harley-Davidson
- Independence Day
- Lost In Space
- South Park
- Space Jam
- Starship Troopers
- The Lost World Jurassic Park
- The Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition
- The X Files
- Twister
- Viper Night Drivin
Sorry. I didn't dig in to see what is missing from the Stern games.
One of the tools that I wrote extracts all of the existing images from a Run-DMD image to easily readable JSON files. These are organized per game. I just used this to compare the B134 vs B237 image. The deltas that I see in the B134 image vs the B237 image are:
- Addition of Apollo 13 animations (10 animations)
- Addition of Last Action Hero animations (66 animations)
- Addition of one more Terminator 2 animation (just the animation of the T2 slamming together)
So, basically the B237 supersedes the B134 image in every way. I see absolutely *nothing* that is lost by using the B237 image.
For any of you programmer types that are skilled at UX design (not me!), here is a small snippet of the JSON format that my tools produces. If you want to discuss creating an animation editor for these files, please PM me:
{
"header": {
"global_id": 129,
"flags": "Enable",
"num_bitmaps": 14,
"frames_addr": 8950784,
"total_frames": 56,
"display_width": 128,
"display_height": 32,
"clock_type": "ClockBehind",
"intro_transition": "Disable",
"outro_transition": "Disable",
"clock_size": "ClockSmall",
"clock_position_x": 0,
"clock_position_y": 0,
"clock_start_frame": 0,
"clock_end_frame": 0,
"unknown_byte19": 0,
"name": "BIG_BANG_BAR_004"
},
"frames": [
{
"duration": 100,
"bitmap": [
"|00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa00111111111111000aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa001111111111111111100aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaaaaaa001111111111331113ff3110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaaaaa0111111113f310f303ffff3110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaaaa0111133311ffff0f303ff0ff1110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaaa011113fff110fff00f00f100111110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaaa01f311ffff310ffff0f10ff01f311110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaa03f3f30ff0ff30ff0fff303f101f111110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaaaaaa0f313f03f00f30ff00fff01ff01ff111110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaa00a01f003f03f03ff03f000ff303ff0f3111110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaa011001ff0f303fffff00ff000ff003ff301111110aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa0133f011fff000ff00f10ff100ff100000011111100000aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa03f0f0f0fff300f100ff03f10000100000111113333333000aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa03f00110f11f103f100f100010001113ffffffffffffffff300aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa01300110330ff00f100010013fffffffffffffffffffffffff10aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa0130ff110f1f30001111fffffffff1000000000000000111ff30aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa013f0f1103ff0000fffffff30000001333333333333333313f0aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaa03fff1100003ffffff3000013333333333333333333333310aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaa01ff301133ffff30001333333333311111111111000333310aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaaa000013ffff000113333333111111111111111110a033330aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaa0003ffff300133333331111111111111111111110033330aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaa0133fff0011333331111113ff01111f3011fff010013310aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aa033fff00133333111111111f00f011f0f011f00f0033100aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0a03fff1013333311111111113f03f01f30f01f001f03100aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|003fff1033331111111111111f0ff001f00f01f01f0a00aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|01fff1033330011111111111ff00f0fffff301fff0aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|00f31133330aa01111111111f001f01f00f00f00ff0aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0a01113333000a001111111f00ff00f001f01f0a0ff0aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aa00133333330110111111111111111111110aaa00aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|0aaaa00133333333300111111111111111100aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa0|",
"|00000000000000000000000111111111000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000|"
]
},
... (more items of {duration, bitmap} form here
]
}
Pinside's forum will likely crush the formatting above, but a JSON reader won't care.
In the "bitmap" above, value 0x0 through 0xf represent dot intensity for a 128x32 pixel image, except that 0xa represents transparency when clock_type in the header is "ClockBehind". In those cases, the time is shown through from all pixels that have a value of 0xa.
I have my own frame editor that I created to work with the JSON files from above (browser based, pure Javascript), but it is not as intuitive as I would like. I would love it if the community would create something better that all of us could benefit from and ultimately use to have a complete image with all DMD-based games. I will hopefully be open-sourcing my work within the next few weeks. I will not be providing any binary images or JSON files, but hopefully the larger community can find a way to create more comprehensive images and host them somewhere for the benefit of everyone.
Side note: When I was working on my tooling that created images I wasted a *month* trying to determine why my tool was creating an image that would work for a while and then show corrupt images. The short story is that there was nothing wrong with my tool. I was using a new SD card for testing (Microcenter 32GB micro SD) that was causing the issue. What is bizarre is that if I did a binary comparison on my computer of the micro SD card before and after corruption was seen on the RunDMD, there would be *zero* bytes different. Only after changing to a name brand, reliable card (Sandisk High Endurance 32GB micro SD), I have been running with my custom images for months now without a single issue. Lesson learned...a $3 price difference between cards is not work the potential headache. Go with a name brand, high reliability/endurance card and sleep easy!

Quoted from JStoltz:

Thought I remembered it always saying "RTC: OK" but I just fired it up for the first time in a while and it said "RTC: REPLACE BATTERY." I swapped it out with a fresh CR2032, still getting the "REPLACE BATTERY" message on boot.
Wondering now if it's always said "REPLACE BATTERY.. Maybe I need to reflow some solder around that battery holder?