I always have time for whiskey! I've never tried that one. I'm willing to wait for TPF but also willing to not wait!

Completely agree!

.

so just to understand if I have already installed 1.03 and I want to use the fantastic tim code, is it enough to switch the two sd cards? when I put the card with Tim's code, does the machine "recognize" version 1.02 directly? thanks for the clarification.

My understanding is that everything the game needs to run is on each SD card. If you swap the card, you swap the entire software. 100%. Each time the machine is powered on, it reads all of the games base software from the SDcard. In fact, it appears that throughout game play, the card is accessed continuously for audio/video data. (That why fast read Class-10 SD cards are a must). The only thing that is on the CPU board that 'stays with' the game post card swap are some NVRAM counters for things like high scores. (and those appear to be zero'd everytime a software version is changed).

Think of "installing the software" the same as "installing the SDcard". They appear to be exactly the same. Again, if you swap the card with software versions up or down, you swap the entire software and the machine is happy.

If the stock 1.03 applies node board updates (which i think it does) can you still swap between the Stern 1.03 and the custom 1.02 images? Are the node board updates stored on the node board firmware on the board itself, or off the sdcard?

My understanding is the 8GB software image that is stored on the SD card is the entire environment that gets loaded throughout the machine at each power up which is why you can swap software version numbers back and forth without worrying about code mis-match. I do NOT think there is any type of permanent code flashing for the cpu or other node boards. So when power it applied, the cpu board reads the operating system for the game, reads the node initializing code and sends each node boards their individual code, and the SD card then becomes the pool of audio/video images to be used throughout each game play. That card is the heart of the machine and loads EVERY piece of code during its lengthy boot-up process.

(Note: There is a slight chance it also reads the ~6GB of audio/video data into some type of CPU board on-board memory at power up, but based on looking at the board itself and seeing no large RAM memory chips, as well as the amount of time it takes to boot up which is a bit too fast if it were reading the entire operating system, node initialize blocks, and ~6GB of audio/video data. Either way, this does not affect my above comments)

I'm not sure this is the case - while the SD card does include the full software package (including system, node & game code including audio & video) I suspect the system and node software is held on the machine. When you change SD cards that have a different system or node version, the machine will install that code and has various messages on the screen. If you have the same system or node version, the boot up doesn't show those messages - this implies that the machine checks what version is installed to what is on the SD card and will only install it if they differ (this allows for both upgrades as well as downgrades). If the machine had to install the system and node software every time at power on then the boot process would be longer (similar to when it does an upgrade).

I had some node board issues when I went from 1.01 back to 1.0 for Tim's first version. I do believe that there is some flash memory component on at least some of the node boards. In my case, it was a node board 9 overcurrent. After going back to Tim's 1.01, and then on to 1.02, I've never recieved the warnings again.

That being said, not every update would appear to make that level of change. The release notes from Stern usually indicate when node board updates occur. I don't think these issues will damage a machine with a node software mismatch, but it will generate trouble codes because it causes things to be out of spec.

If you downgrade main firmware, node board firmware will also downgrade when applicable. JUST MAKE SURE YOUR COIN DOOR IS CLOSED OR SWITCH PULLED when powering up for the first time.

I've gone back and forth on multiple Spike 2 games for troubleshooting and chasing bugs.

Brian

wow, really excited to give this a shot. sounds great!! thank you!

Just got my JP today and it came with 1.03 installed. I was able to use the latest image without issue. I first saved my setting to a flash drive. Then installed the image to a spare SD card I had. I inserted the SD and turned the machine on. It started up and displayed 1.02 code and went through updating the node board and what not. I then reinserted my flash drive and restored my saved settings. Everything working without issue so far.

Oh thank god

how many files do i find once i unzip tim code file? 1 or 2? thanks

Should be a single .raw file

You then just need to follow the installation info that Tim would have sent you in the PM with the download link

Grazie amico mio ! I flashed the raw file on the sd card with win32diskimager and I'm waiting for tim to tell me that everything is ok and then I spend the evening playing, since from tomorrow we are lightly locked down

flashed the card using etcher 3 times now. still keep getting stuck in an endless "game restarting" loop.

Someone hasn't been following the very clear instructions that get re-published by Tim every 10 posts or so...

I'll keep it short.... Don't use etcher. This has been stated so many times.

after retrying w/ a new download & still getting stuck at the restarting game loop I switched to Win32DiskImager & everything worked out great!!

thanks, had already switched. was just downstairs playing a game to test it out. looks great

Grazie timlah79 very cool

72720CD7-AA0C-4DF5-B1D4-8D85A9F255CE.jpeg

Correct and also to clarify (this has been mentioned by others but I keep getting asked about it). It is normal after the flash is successful to only see two small files (which don’t add up to 8 GB) when you look at the Boot Stern named drive/SD in file explorer:

• stern-spike2.dtb
• zImage

This is a binary image so you don’t see the full picture.

A little confused... so I have my JP prem showing up Tuesday and I have tims sd card loaded up and ready. If my pin comes with the latest update, can I use tims card? Thanks!!

Look up the page a few posts: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-jurassic-park-2-custom-code-project/page/24#post-5945654

I'm in the same boat, and the custom code was literally what put me into the buy column on this pin. Mine isn't scheduled to arrive until last next week, but after I get a few games in just to experience it, I'm going straight to the custom code.

Yes, just open the backblass, pull the factory SD card, and put in Tim's code that you put on an SD card. Close it up and start playing!

Side note: I think this maybe confusing to people because they are trying to compare the Stern machine to what happens on a PC. On a PC, the operating system is supplied on some kind of media, and is installed to a local hard disk in the PC. THEN additional applications and features are ADDED to the PC's hard disk. If Windows needs an update, then portions are layered on top of what you already have. The PC's hard disk keeps everything. It's a clean, and supportable approach used by Microsoft for 30 years.

THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS WITH SPIKE2. As it was explained to me: The entire machine software and media is contained on the SDCARD. Pull the card and the machine won't boot or run. There is no hard disk or SSD on the CPU node board. The SDCARD *IS* the disk so to speak. What Tim does is use PinballBrowser (a binary editor that specifically understands the layout of Stern's binary images) to modify the binary system image that resides on the SDCARD and overwrites the stock audio and video clips which are located inside the binary image on the SDCARD where it remains. Each boot, it reads the SDCARD software portion of the image into RAM memory, initializes the various node components, and then from that point forward simply uses the SDCARD as the data source for audio/video clips (Thats why fast Class-10 SDcards are important because it is reading those mdeia clips from the SDCARD in real-time). Stern's software doesn't know the difference between their own clips and Tim's, it just plays an audio clip that it expects to find at location XXX, and which it believes has a duration of YYY seconds.

Ok thanks. I was worried I have to find a copy of 1.02 and install. Thanks!!

This is essentially what you are doing with Tim's file. But as Mark just mentioned, each SD card represents the totality of the OS.

Some folks are still struggling with these Mac Terminal app flashing instructions. I figured a picture speaks a thousand words, so here's a new example of all of the commands from within the Terminal app.

In this example...

• My SD card/drive came up as disk #2.
• I had the .zip file downloaded to my Desktop.
• I extracted the .raw file from the .zip file using Terminal instead of another tool (Added this step since some Mac users can't extract >4GB out of a .zip using the Mac UI's extracting utility. Skip this step if you already have the .raw file extracted.

Example - Flash code to SD card using Mac Terminal App.png

PSA: I can't believe I have to do this for now a 3rd time, but all private links have been disabled once again (at least temporarily).

Why?
Main Reason: Someone I shared the latest PRO version with on 11/6 or before, a person who agreed to the terms and conditions, has either been forwarding their private link to others or worse has posted it somewhere. I know this has been the case because...

• As of 11/6 I have been getting inundated with "requests for access" from multiple unknown email addresses for the PRO version and all are from a specific part of the world. My educated guess tells me that all of these people know each other as well as the pinsider in question.
• None of these new "unknowns" have responded to my simple reply (it's been over 4 days now and I've followed up at least twice with each person): "I'm sorry but I don't recognize your email address. Can you please PM me on pinside to request a private link? These links are not public and should not be shared for many reasons."
• One of these people had the nerve to send me a derogatory and downright disrespectful demand for access on his 3rd request today. It translates to "Give me access, you [insert derogatory remark here]." I also know exactly who this is on pinside. I hope he reads this.
• The biggest issue I uncovered today: One of the people this person has tried to share to is a Stern distributor. This distributor has even had the nerve to send me 12 or so request emails over and over again without responding to my replies. I know exactly who he is and what company. I will refrain from mentioning any more details (for now, in respect of pinside's community rules). I hope he reads this and PMs me very soon to clarify his intentions.

I'm a good person and I haven't had a chance to download from my private link. What should I do?
PM me and I will find a different way to share with you. I'm not trying to block good people. I just don't have any other choice but to blanket remove access for all for now. Thanks for understanding.

What does this mean moving forward?
I'm not sure yet. I need to explore other, more secure sharing options. Due to the lack of the ability to audit such bad behavior via Google Drive, I will be looking into a different, more secure sharing platform and more. This may cause more headaches for installation but this disrespectful behavior needs to stop. I will post again once I've sorted all of this out.

Are you going to report these people?
They've all had over 4 days to respond but I will give them 48 more hours. If I get nothing or especially another disrespectful request reply like I mentioned above, yes I will be reporting all of them to the moderators on pinside for sure. For the distributor, I will make an attempt to reach out to him via his website. Depending on the result of that effort, I'll make my own assessment on next steps.

What if I am the pinsider who caused this or one of the above so-called wrongdoers?
PM me ASAP to clarify your intent and make amends. Let me know why you can't simply respond to me or follow the rules in place. I am an amicable person. For now, until you prove otherwise I can only assume you are a bad person.

This sucks that you have to play police like that. Maybe there is a good reason but it for now......
Good luck trying to get these people on th eline, I think that will never work, people always ruin all that is beautiful.

Hope Pinball Browser manages to crack the code again, untill then I just stay with the latest 1.02 version which is really complete in my eyes.
Thanks for all the work. Hope you can get some rest now

Tim, I echo PeterG comments above. In my opinion you have gone above and beyond to make these people follow the simple rules. You should "out" them so the community can see them for what they are. There is no excuse for this, Tim isn't even selling this he is only asking for a donation, you don't have to if you don't want too. Sorry guys rant over... It just annoys me that some people try to spoil it for the rest of the good people. Tim and Delt's version truly make this game what it should have been from the start. I for one truly appreciate everything they have done and I agree, guys you deserve a rest after all the countless hours you have put in to this project

I can't believe someone would actually be a rude prick while asking for access to your work. Screw that guy.

I actually was going to warn someone on the JP owners thread who was pointed here by one of the other owners to be sure and organise access via Tim only. I will now make a habit of saying that if I see any mentions of the custom code anywhere else.

It was incredibly difficult and time consuming to update my code with timlah79 's pro version. I sent him a message on pinside, he replied within a day, I received my link, and in 10 minutes I was up in running.

Jokes aside, I wonder if drop box would work better?

seriously guys wtf.

Not cool!!

In more positive news... I have been using this ridiculously good code for a little bit of time now and can confirm it is an absolute game changer. Well done to Tim and Delt. The game is really elevated and I still hear lines that crack me up. 'Chilean Seabass' got me the other day hahaha. This code basically made my favourite game even better.

To Tim, dude I'm on 35TS. Is it worth me getting the new code? Can I write it straight over the top of the memory card I am using already? Does it need formatting a certain way etc.

... And this is why we can’t have anything nice!

Tim your to good of a guy, Distributor or not I would out these assholes, so everyone here knows who not to deal with. Stupid to act like this over code for a pinball machine.

I've asked Tim this. Yes, you can. He usually recommends to use a new one so that you can have both versions. This is incase you don't like the new one. No new formatting. Delete old image, put new image on.

If you liked the 35TS version, you'll love the most recent one!!!! Get ahold of Tim and see if you can gain access to it. It's a simple download, unzip, and then using Win32diskimager, just take a blank 16GB card, write the new version, and replace the card in your machine now, with the newly written one. Nothing else has to be touched. Everything goes with the card inserted, so you could keep multiple cards if you like, including stock 1.02, stock 1.03, and Tim's code. Swapping the card changes the whole machine.

In answer to your specific question, yes you can write the new image over the top of an existing card and you don't need to delete or reformat the card before writing the new image (this is because the tool, whether it be Win32diskimager or dd, is doing a raw disk write of the data blocks and the Spike2 image file is a raw disk image containing multiple partitions/file systems for the underlying Linux OS).

Having a couple of SD cards is beneficial in that you can switch between versions, however there is no technical reason why you can't reuse you existing card. Also note that if you want to keep your settings and high scores then you need a USB stick and you save the information (via the service menu) before removing the card and writing the new image, and then after installing the updated card you load the settings & high scores from the USB stick back onto the system (again via the service menu).

Owlnonymius was saying tonight that for Premium owners 1.03 fixed some big issues - esp with the T-Rex head actions. Because of this it wasn’t worth changing to the ultimate code from 1.03. I’m supposed to be getting my Prem soon - would be interested in your thoughts people.

The custom code (ie audio & video) is currently not possible on the 1.03 release. Changes are done using Pinball Browser (PB) however Stern make changes to each version that block the use of tools such as PB (most likely due to licensing agreements). So until PB can reverse engineer the 1.03 image, it is not possible for anyone to customise that version of the JP code. Hence you have a choice of running either Tim's custom code (which is based on 1.02) or using the latest Stern 1.03 release.

EDIT 11/12 5:20PM: I'm an idiot. I connected with Owlnonymous and realized my assumption that he was on 34TS was wrong. I based that due to seeing he had the old bonus screen video sequence. After looking closer at the file I sent him, that PRO 38TS version *is* in fact 38TS but it was missing a couple key video updates. If any other PRO owners are seeing the same bonus sequence and want the new one, please PM me. Other than that I can at least guarantee that all of the audio changes mentioned in these release notes made it into what you have. I checked all PREM/LE versions and they are good. Managing versions alone, especially PRO which I can't test locally is a chore in itself. Sorry for the misinformation.

37TS Release Notes: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-jurassic-park-2-custom-code-project/page/20#post-5914972
38TS Release Notes: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-jurassic-park-2-custom-code-project/page/23#post-5938888

Secondly, any T-Rex code fixes since 1.01 have been "mostly" band-aids for people with a T-Rex mounted wrong or not calibrated correctly, a faulty T-rex transmission, a bad node board/optos, or those without the new T-Rex ramp opto bracket. AKA we're talking code fixes to band-aid physical issues (for the most part, and I'm sure some of you will disagree). Believe me I speak from experience on this with all the physical T-Rex issues I've had. I cannot speak from experience to the single T-Rex code change in 1.03 (I'm not installing that, all I know is what's listed in the 1.03 release notes), but for someone to say they would go to 1.03 to ditch all of this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-jurassic-park-2-custom-code-project/page/23#post-5941835 for what's in the 1.03 release notes + go back to the stock experience is beyond me.

For historical perspective, it took months for the PB dev to overcome the blockers introduced in 1.01 and 1.02. This happened after I was about 8 months into working on 0.96, 0.97, etc. all the way up to 1.00. Very few people who I shared my 1.00 audio only version throughout that waiting period decided to upgrade, even though there were really strong T-Rex band-aids in those two versions that many of them needed. Additionally, with the mixing up of audio script locations that was done in 1.01 and 1.02, I took it upon myself to figure all of that out so all could have a 1.02 experience today. That took me a couple months IIRC to sort out. Months I could have used to continue my creativity. Yet even after all of that I've spent many more months improving the assets on top of all of that work and working with Delt. I strongly believe that we wouldn't have seen a 1.03 come out if the primary purpose wasn't to block Pinball Browser again, which it has.

Has anyone actually tested 1.03 vs. 1.02 T-Rex behavior and found a huge improvement or is this simply speculation based on release note statements and streams?

If you want to or need to go with 1.03, go for it. But I find it hard to believe someone would suggest its worth it, my biased opinion of course and all things considered. Just wanted to speak my piece here since you did ask for "thoughts." LOL

Thanks for the clarification timlah79. I am really looking forward to your version. Hope to get my Premium in the next few days. Thank you for all the hard work! Hope your supper was retained and delicious.

I have said multiple times that I think this code "makes the game". I think stern audio and video assets are done very well, but nothing beats the original assets. I was running the latest 38TS_D31 code on my pro. I have heard from numerous people that own the premium that 1.03 fixes a lot of issues they were having with their moving dino head. Is it worth upgrading to 1.03 and loosing all that this code offers? I would only do so if you have a premium/LE with dino issues.

Thanks again timlah79 for all that you have invested in this code.

Thanks dude, that's ideal

Got mine assembled today and played a few games with tims code. Unreal. I cant say how night and day different it is. Thanks Tim!!!!

sorry I got you in trouble owlnonymous! thanks for all the great streaming