I would suggest you go the 10.02 route with the PAL chip, as it doesn't cost much more and gives you the flexibility to add a shaker motor - which is very good on this pin.

Whitestar can't be updated via USB. You have to swap out ROMs. Action Pinball has them and Ray is great to work with.

I guess I would have figured that out when I went to find the usb connection. Thx for that heads up. I just bought both the eproms. So all I have to do is take out the old ones out, put in new ones and reboot.

Yep, try to not damage/break any pins while taking out the old ones. Use a flat head screw driver to carefully lift them up. Also pay attention to the notch at both roms and replace the new ones with the same orientation as the old ones.

Yep, that's it! Just be sure to do it with the Power off and that you orient the ROMs in the right direction. I'd recommend using a chip puller, but careful usage of a small flatblade screwdriver also works.

K. I'll spring for a chip puller. Thx for all the help on this guys. Can't wait to get her up to date.

This is the one you want. Don't get one of those things that has the arms to grab the chip. Gently slide this under each end of the chip and twist/rock it to lift the chip out without bending the pins.

https://www.amazon.com/Wiha-26810-5-7-Inch-Precision-Lifter/dp/B00433SJB2/ref=sr_1_1

chip puller (resized).jpg

That's a nice tool.

I would also recommend removing the boards and installing the chips with your boards on your workbench; installing these with the board still in the machine is not a good idea.

Ok I'll try it.

I'm in middle of a house renovation. I haven't seen the top of my work bench in months.

You don't need to take the boards off. Upgrade to 10.02, follow the directions in this thread but you can wait on the shaker.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-install-shaker-motor-in-lotr-standard-edition

When is the shaker activated?

I'm guessing at least:
* Balrog comes out and balrog hits
* selectively in DTR?
* When Barad Dur leans

Debating putting one in my LE but have never played one with a shaker in it

Another question. I noticed that my tt multiball somethime counted some tume it didnt. Noticed this discounnected wire on the wirw ramp. Can anyone tell me what part of the switch it is supposed to be comnected to

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I see a small hole on tbe back of the rail ramp exit switch. Is this where the wires go.

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It goes on the switch.

pasted_image (resized).png

Yup. I actually noticed only a few days ago that the exact same wire had broken off of my game as well.

very good. thx. time to learn how to solder. I wasn't sure if it got attached because there was no solder on the wires. they must have just wrapped the wires around the connection.

They didn't wrap it... it was soldered... but the wire broke between the solder and the insulation. If you look closely at the solder on the switch leg (attached to the diode) you should see some broken strands of wire still there.

my eyes are what they used to be. Any suggestions for a soldering gun

If you search the forum, you'll find several threads on this. I'd say the general opinion is that you can't go wrong with Hakko (see e.g. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/best-soldering-tool-for-pinballs).

You also need good solder, like Kester 44 rosin core solder 66/44

It activates with quite a few things. Very well integrated into the game, and I am very glad I put one in. Thumbs up from me.

You may like to give 110%, but Kester 44 is 63/37 or 60/40 as it can only do 100%.

personally I use 60/40, just because I always have; besides, that extra 3% lead aint killed me yet.

For playfield coils and switches I use a cheap portable Weller like this one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/19281561
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AS28UC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1

This should be all you need for now.

I would not put the standard shaker in, it’s very limited. We offer a shaker setup made by Pinshakers where you can choose your own triggers and set the intensity. You can choose up to 16 triggers (8 at one time) based on flashers or solenoids. No extra chips or software upgrade needed and it runs off its own power supply. I have one in my tspp, works great.

https://lermods.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fwilliamsbally-wpc-full-shaker-motor-kit

You can see the triggers here: http://www.pinshakers.com/docs/sterndipsettings.pdf

The standard shaker is perfect IMO.

I had the standard in my game and it was good, it's just a bit of work to gather it all up, and there was no other choice. This new kit is much easier, works better, doesn't draw power from the game and is more customizable. And service from Pinshakers is top notch.

Today I got into ring frenzy and realized, for the first time, how that mode works. So I actually hit each ring shot 3 times to get the max bonus. Once I hit the center, I got 10 million AND lit extra ball. After perusing the rules, I don't see anything about extra ball being a reward for that mode. So how did I get the extra ball? It lit as soon as I got the center ring shot to complete ring frenzy.

The only other ways I can think of to light extra ball are through gifts and barad-dur. This instance was not the gift. The only other way I can see this happening was if I hit barad-dur (for the 7th time) during ring frenzy, and it delayed the extra ball until after I completed the mode. Is this how it works?

Scoring will award you extra balls at certain intervals.

What he said.

I recall In a papa video on getting to valinor there was live stream commentary and Keefer Johnson said there was an extra ball in ring frenzy"with 3 shots",I think what he meant and you confirmed was"3 shots to all 4 of the flashing shots"

I gave up on trying to get the eb on ring frenzyon 3 shots seeing it as just a points mini wizard but to get to valinor I will need all the ebs I can get!!

I think you can get an eb as a random mystery award at the shire as well

I might pull the glass off tomorrow and see if it works. Gonna need to squeeze every EB for valinor, like you said

Just pulled the glass off. Confirmed, having a perfect super ring frenzy (hit each ring shot 3 times before hitting the center) lights extra ball.

Nice although not easy to do as it is a timed mode I think.also the way I play I only have so many of those 4 shots in me before bricking so I might have to save them for ROTK mb!

I have the shaker from pinball life. It uses the exact same setup as the LOTR LE. Aka game code based. I don't see much point of using anything else in a game it was literally designed for and works perfectly. My .02

I can’t recall, but what are the code-based triggers? Balrog hits I believe, what else?

You need to achieve only two ring shots three times and then the ring to get an extra ball light on. If you have all ring shots three times you get 10 m additionally to the extra ball.

Oh, awesome. Doesn't sound too hard.

It's timed but the clock is reset every time you hit a shot. Not too hard to keep the mode alive IMO.

2 of the flashing shots 3 times then the ring or 4 flashing 3 times then the ring? , i will gladly take the eb for 6 shots and a ring shot!!!!!!!!
maybe a setting in the menu?

The Barad-dur shot and the multiball starts trigger the shaker for instance.

As for the pinshaker kits, I just feel that those are best utilized on games that were not designed to accept shakers. I plan on getting either those or the new pinsound shaker kits for my BSD and Shadow. Stick with the intended setup for games that have the shaker coded in IMO.

This thread is amazing! I’ve learned so much about LOTR, mods, etc. Thanks to all the folks much more knowledgeable than me.
I’m now in the market for one, preferably a huo LOTR. I’m in the Boston area, but frequently go up to northern Maine, as well as down to Maryland to visit the folks. Have pickup, can travel!
Thanks,
John

For EB 2 of the flashing shots 3 times, then the ring, if you achieve all flashing 3 times and then th ring, you get additional 10 m , at least in my factory settings.

Totally fair point. It can be intimidating for some people to replace microchips on circuit boards and punching wires into connectors, which is required for nonLE lotr games. For those people, a Pinshaker might be a good option.

That's a good point. It's a great product and I'm glad the option is there for sure.

I'm finally in the club! Picked up a game over the weekend, got it set up and playing with some tweaks. I've played in on location before but it's a completely different game at home, in a GREAT way.

I installed the PBL LOTR special coils for the flippers, and man, it rockets the ball around. One issue is that a left ramp shot will often send the ball flying, sometimes into the shire, sometimes into the left outlane. Any remedies to this?

Otherwise, I'm going to clean it up and get some new rings installed. It came with a set of Cliffys uninstalled, but I'm going to install them when the topside is torn down, unless there's a reason I shouldn't. Anything else that is a "must have" for this game before I place my parts order? Going to get an LCD OCD board as it has LEDs in it. It also already has FF speakers, ColorDMD, and speaker light kit with the acrylic rings.

I had installed those on my game and took them out after a few days. I found them to be way too strong. I felt like I was launching a wrecking ball at my playfield. I went with the medium strength coils and I think they're perfect - no issues.

Do you remember which part number?

Bought them from APB_Enterprises (Andrew) a couple of years ago I believe. Send him a PM. They were selling on ebay as well but not sure if you can find them there now.

Edit: Here they are -

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1065-apb-enterprises/01414-new-stern-pinball-medium-power-coil-lord-of-the-rings-gnr

Agreed: the PBL coils are WAY too strong. The apb coils referenced above are perfect for the LOTR.

I saw the link to his ebay post in another thread. I'll reinstall the original coils for now, and look into getting these some time down the road since it appears that he's away per his ebay posting.

Slightly loosening the screws that support the middle of the ramp gives it a little wobble/flex, which absorbs some of the speed and helps somewhat.