absolutely!!!! Magnet holds the ball for a few seconds, shaking it. 1. Prepare to tap side. 2. Upon magnetic release TAP SIDE of cab.

Shazzzam. makeable shot.

also you can change the number of seconds that it will save the ball. sounds like yours is off or just for a few seconds.

The magnet is supposed to fling/shake the ball. Rarely does it go SDTM on mine.

In adjustments menu:
A.2 22 has the factory settings for it as Disabled- Should give the ball back if enabled. Is your machine keeping the adjustment?

Is is flinging the ball, or just locking the ball and releasing?

you gotta tap it after it lets go, near the top, where the slightest sideways nudge will dramatically change the trajectory. The timer is working while the ball is held, but TOTAN times seem short to me. Just don't tap while the ball is still held. wait for it to start rolling slowly, then.. nudge. You'll get it down. That secret is one of my tricks for kicking newbie butts on it... lol. So don't tell anyone.

So it does throb/pulse?

What ROM version. Version 1.4 is supposed to have a variable magnet setting. Magnet countdown goes from the time it grabs the ball.

Mine throbs too. Just occasionally goes to the side. At least half the time it throbs then let's it go sdtm. Sounds like exactly what dvandentop experiences.

That is probably it. It is also telling that they have a ball save for this. They knew when designing it that it would sometime do it, so it is not an uncommon problem.

Please do that. I never thought it might be something wrong, as it does fling it sometimes. Let me know.... meanwhile, I'll just keep tapping mine...

Correct on the firmware, I had that problem basically go away with the new firmware. Before it would just dribble down the middle, now if flings it good and almost never goes down the middle. In fact, I cannot even remember the last time it went down the middle from the magnet. The firmware fixed it good!

thanks, I'll do that! Appreciate the update.

Yea really made a difference on mine!! Glad it has improved, I think you will not be disappointed upgrading the Roms!

Hahaa now you got some work to do my friend. May the force be with you.

I had a weird thing happen on TOTAN last night. I was having an awesome game and I shot the ball at the Genie to start Final Battle. The magnet failed to grab the ball before lowering into the playfield, and the machine got confused. It shut off power to the flippers. I thought it would give me the ball back in the trough, but instead my ball ended. I was shocked that it didn't compensate. Is this a bug in the software?

never had that happen

I had the SDTM happen when I played totan the other weekend at a friends, but only once.....otherwise it would shake the ball around and throw it near the lamp. Glad to hear you guys figured it out! I liked the game a lot!!

1.4 version is the way to go. It fixed the magnet STDM problem on mine.

Well, it looks like my problem with the ball draining the other day wasn't a bug in the software after all. Nope, I'm afraid it's a bigger problem. I went to play a game last night, and none of the solenoids would fire. I'm guessing I may have blown a fuse.

Yea that makes sense Gweempose, anytime I have the magnet not grab the ball it does not start the multiball/final battle and the game continues, you must hit it again and the magnet has to grab it and drop it below for it to go.

I concur. The next software fixes it just find the right setting. I think mine is set to 2 and it never stdtm. I tried 1 and 3 and thinking 3 was the more powerfull but its just how it throws it not the power.

I have the 1.4 version, thanks to stangbat, , and rarely experience stdm's off the magnet. Setting is on "1". Tried 2 one time but it didnt seem to throb and fling. What I occassionally experience is a vanishing magnet error when I cannot detect any issues. Everything works like it should. Run thru tests and all appears fine. Credit dot goes away with next game played.

Mine does this as well. I can't tell if it's because a certain number of balls have been played without starting multiball, or if it's just some weird design flaw. I get a similar error for the Borg lock on STTNG, and it's definitely because it's such a hard shot to hit that the opto rarely gets triggered.

As for the throw setting, I never played around with it until this thread. Mine has always been set to the default (1), and I almost never get SDTM drains. Last night I tried the other two settings, but I actually prefer the default.