Looks better than the original art! Congrats

No, I have mainly been playing in normal mode in free play. I noticed my settings would be at $0.50 a game, do I not have the most up to date code?

Yeah, might have been different in older code.

V5.0 is the latest. It will show when you boot the machine. V5 ROMS are sold here on Pinside. Make sure to get both the game and DMD ROM, especially if you plan to get ColorDMD as that requires the latest DMD ROM.

Well, I am on V5.0 and just installed a ColorDMD LCD this weekend. I'm gonna test out getting Treehouse of Horror in other settings (easy, hard, extra hard) and see if it goes in the same order. I appreciate the help!

Finally getting around to trying to swap out the 26 pin connector to see if that resolves the random images received after my ColorDMD was installed. When trying to unplug the existing one from the head I noticed it’s stuck on with this glue adhesive. I was told this is common but is there a way to properly remove it? Do I just pry it off with my fingernails?

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That is hot glue and yes, fingernails.

New “Springfield Shooter” available!

Just sent these out to a few shooters to TSPP members. Made a life size donut this time too. I have a couple regular size shooters remaining. Let me know if you’d like one.

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I was able to confirm that my display and random images isn’t related to the ColorDMD as I get the same weird text when I put my original display back on. With that being eliminated does anyone know what may be causing the issue? Attached is a screenshot of what should say “Participate in local tournaments”.

When in play the display cycles through random gameplay images but when I hit a shot the correct image displays.

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You have a stuck bit in one of the data lines that goes from the CPU to the Whitestar display board. The text string isn't being received correctly because of the stuck bit.
T (ascii 0x54) is being received as P (ascii 0x50)
E (ascii 0x45) is being received as A (ascii 0x41)
L (ascii 0x4C) is being received as H (ascii 0x48)
..and so on

From this you can deduce that the data bit representing the hexadecimal value 0x04 (DATA[2], I think) is stuck low.

Check the output of the CPU board and input of the Whitestar display board to see if it's toggling. If it's not toggling at the output of the CPU board, the problem is on the CPU board (could be a damaged U201 or cold solder joint at the header).

Loved this post although I didnt fully understand the process.
Awesome

Thanks, I appreciate the insight even though I too don’t fully understand and don’t know how to diagnose/fix but hope to engage someone who can.

A little more explanation...

The CPU communicates with the display board over an 8-bit data bus. If you look at the schematic for the CPU (attached), the data bus comes into the right side of U201. The output (left side of U201) goes directly to the 26-pin ribbon cable header on the CPU board.

The eight wires that are highlighted represent the data bus D[7:0]. The CPU sends bytes over the data bus that are encoded as 8-bit hexadecimal numbers. The ASCII values in the previous email are the codes it sends for text characters. D2 is stuck at zero somewhere between the CPU and the display processor, so the 8-bit hexadecimal numbers are corrupted and received incorrectly.

For example T (ASCII 0x54) sends these data values on each wire
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 = 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0

But what was received and displayed was the letter P (ASCII 0x50) which looks like this
D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0 = 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0

So the data on D2 appears to be stuck at 0 for all the hexadecimal codes in that text string. P's are displayed properly (because D2=0) but when it tries to send a T (D2 = 1) it gets incorrectly received as a P due to the stuck bit. Instead of PARTICIPATE, the display board received PARPICIPAPA. (The E at the end was similarly received as an A due to the stuck bit.)

If you have a logic probe ($20 on Amazon), you can check to see if the data from D2 (U201, pin 7) and it's corresponding output (U201, pin 6) are toggling or stuck. Then you can continue to chase the connection to the header (CN8, pin 13) and through the ribbon cable to where it's received on the display board. As a general rule, you can just check each of the 8 data bits to make sure they are toggling. If you find one that's stuck you found the problem and just have to trace it back to the point in the chain where it stopped toggling.

You can track it down yourself or send both the CPU and display board to someone like ChrisHibler to find and correct the problem.

Hope this helps.

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If anyone is making shooter rods of any of the Simpsons family members, let me know. Thanks.

Good morning …my simpson

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Just joined this club yesterday but had been lurking around in here before.
Have not set up the game yet.

Couple of questions?

Is there any mandatory upgrades that would improve the game?
Anybody here selling armor for the cabinet? The one I got has flipper button wear on one side.

If no armor is sold, can anybody print a color decal the size of a flipper protector with the actual cabinet art so I can slap that on top.
If someone could print a mylar type material with a colour decal that would be awesome.

I have a pin2dmd screen laying around and was wondering if anybody tried the colour files? Wondering how glitxhy they are, often times these colourizations are not done right or completed so that is why I ask.

That is it for now thanks

I think matching art would be a cool replacement.
Maybe someone with a wand scanner, or just a good photo, and photoshop would be a solution.

Other than a color DMD, the game sits close to perfect, IMO, with not much to make it a better playing game.

Thanks.

I noticed there is q screw in the orbit, otto tour.

What is that for? Seems odd

I think the best two you can do are:
1. ColorDMD
2. LEDs with an LED OCD board

I would also review your shooter lane, Itchy/Scratchy hole, and most importantly the center ramp behind the garage door. If there's wear (or the ramp is broken on the bottom like most of them are go with some Cliffy's. In fact, if your ramp isn't broken I would still go with it because it eventually will wear down.

Outside of that it's usually aesthetics of specific mods that please each individual differently. I'm not really a mod person but the Mini TV is probably the best of the bunch.

I’ll add that as far as mods that actually add value, these are also the two that come to mind

I’m going to have a bash at printing one of these myself, would ABS or PLA be better to print with?

Looks awesome! Where did you get the armor?

Pinsound board

Thanks for this.
My game is a huo that I was lucky to find in the wild, as far i can tell although I cant confirm but due to its condition it appears to be huo.
all the ramps are like new, including the garage.
So I guess it is recommended to clifffy it all up regardless?

My shooter lane is also very much mint, and I am not sure the coil strenght can be regulated in a Sam game (my first sam) but I have added mylar to protect the lane like I do with all my pins.

I will look the mini tv mod you mention thank you.

Funny you say this, i find the original sound very fitting and great overall, is like nostalgia 101. Just need to be clearer that is all.

Are the callouts maintain with pinsound? I find all the callout to be absolutely perfect and would hate to pay $300 to lose this.

Have a few questions regarding dialing it in:

What is the correct setup When manually plunging at full power… example:
Should the ball go through the mini market and hit the bullies?

When I plunge at full power I am hitting the white target in front of the mini market. I presume this is incorrect?

2nd question,
when in attract mode I can hear ecstatic or buzzing through the speakers, and have not had a game with incandescent lights in my game room so I am comparing the noise of this game vs a very quiet modern LED game.
I presume the noise is generated by the incandescenta and the current drawn by the board, am I correct?
I obviously cant notice the noise/buzz when I play but wondering if there is something I need to correct here.

3rd question,
My backbox light is out.
Could someone send me a pointer or two to test all the components involving the light assuming the fluorescent bulb is kaput?
I am good at testing it if someone steers me in the right direction.

And last,
Would I find here or somewhere else, instructions or lessons learned when removing the upper pf? I have found the knobs that keep the pf attached but want to avoid any “accidents”.
I have actually tried taking it off and noticed it does, but just wondering what else other than the knobs needs to be taken off and in what order.
I figured I’d ask here first, as I am sure you guys have done this before.
I want to get back there to asses the situation, clean the orbit and ramps that are the only part of the game that are dirty now and inspect the ramps closely and just give this awesome game more love.

This game is absolutely amazing btw, and this is coming from someone that has played all the modern games. So happy !

Thanks in advance!
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Main things are watch for the bulbs on the back wall, easy to pop one hitting it with the upper play field. Make sure all your harness connections are labeled so you know how to put it all back together. The three thumb screws are the only thing holding it down.

It is very cool!
Does pinsound also offer the original sound but remastered?

Once the thumbscrews are removed, is there stuff under the pf that needs to be disconnected in order to take the pf off?

Regarding pinsound… in addition to above, and scandal’s sound package. The original will work as well.

Alternative sounds packages are great.

No, it just pulls right up after that. However the cables run under the main playfield and are pretty tightly zip tied together so there isn’t a ton of “give”. I actually snipped one of the ties to allow me to lift the upper playfield a little easier. Just follow the wires and you’ll find it pretty easily.

I would have though there must be a way of permanently removing the upper PF by disconnecting a few molex… no?

Just joined the club this weekend, too
It took me a long time to find one, after letting pass a few but I finally got myself a nice specimen. So happy as it is one (if not the one) of my favs.

I have been looking for a video of the LED colorDMD, but can only find LCD ones. Anyone have the LED version, and be kind enough to post a video link? Generally, I prefer the brightness and dot effect of LED over LCD, but I have no idea how it renders on TSPP.

I made myself a pin2dmd screen (made a few for other games) for a fraction of yhe cost of an lcd.
I am yet to find the colour files for it, but I have been told it is flawless.

My other post didnt get any answers maybe it was too long. Try again in pieces:

- what is the normal operation of the plunger when:
Plunging full power by hand
Plunging with autoplunger

Does the bal travel through yhe mini market at full power?
My auto plunger is inconsistent, and manual plunge at full power hit the white target in front (big square) of the mini market.

I presume that by design the ball must travel through the mini market? Or not?

True that's a cheaper option. I can find some videos of the pin2dmd for TSPP and it looks nice, but I'd would like to compare with the LED ColorDMD before making my choice.

I have seen the colour dmd, cant remember where, it looks ok but I generally prefer the dots.

I misunderstood what you were looking for. You can disconnect entirely if you want, but I didn’t have to go that far to clean or change to LEDs

I think a full plunge and auto-plunge are going to act differently on different games. I've never thought there was an exact place it was supposed to go. Making it through the market and hitting the bullies is one of the skill shots, so I don't think that's what's supposed to happen on a full plunge. However, I think you get a bigger score for soft plunging to Comic Book Guy's target. I like to try that one because if I miss, I can usually let the ball drain and keep trying, as long as I don't kill the ball save with the in-lane or pop switches.

By the way, I'm the one who makes and sells the mini TV that was mentioned. These have been out of stock since August while we re-configure the model to fit a new style display. I hope to have these available by the end of April.

As mbl1116 mentioned, depending on why you want to remove the mini pf, you can leave it connected to the harnesses and set on a towel or something on the pf while you change lamps, ramp protector, etc. Mine has enough slack to leave connected, so someone in the past must have cut the zipties mentioned. If you want to remove completely, you'll need to disconnect, but it's kind of a pain. I can't remember why I removed completely at some point, but I did. I've had the game for a while, so I don't remember the details.

A full plunge on mine send the ball fast thru the market shot and hard into the bully targets. The auto plunge sends it thru the market nicely but barley touches the bully targets with any force. Auto plunge is 100% consistent on mine and it always makes it thru the market. One skill shot it to do a light plunge and hit comic book guy target.

That makes sense, I presume the bullies is the lowest scoring skill shot, followed by the mini market and then comic guy the highest.
I have not been paying attention so I am just guessing really

The benefit of comic book guy is that it starts 2 hurry ups. Both skill shots can be maxed out for bonus points as well

You can set the color LCD DMD to display in dot form. So it has the option to look like the LED display.

dot xl mode looks great

I have a LED ColorDMD and love it.

Just to post, but TSPP uses the Whitestar system, not SAM.

Thanks for pointing that out, I thought it was Sam, I admit doing zero research on it.
I am building boards for wpc89 systems and I am comfortable around electronics so I will use your clarification as a segway to try to get some help on the following:

when in attract mode I can hear ecstatic or buzzing through the speakers, and have not had a game with incandescent lights in my game room so I am comparing the noise of this game vs a very quiet modern LED game.
I presume the noise is generated by the incandescenta and the current drawn by the board, am I correct?
I obviously cant notice the noise/buzz when I play but wondering if there is something I need to correct here.

Last question,
My backbox light is out.
Could someone send me a pointer or two to test all the components involving the light assuming the fluorescent bulb is kaput?
I am good at testing it if someone steers me in the right direction.

Pretty common issue. Refer to section 4.10.2 of this page for a potential (and reversible, if it doesn’t work) workaround: https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Sega/Stern_White_Star_Repair

There’s at least on thread here on Pinside about that same issue, as well.

Thanks for sharing that will take a look
Are these games completely quiet when in attract mode and running incandescents?

No. The problem is the sound board (over-)amplification. Here's the fix thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tspp-speaker-humbuzz-fixed

Thank you!
Will take a look at this and report back.