37 replies to this topic

[JamesRay]

Hi everyone!

 

To inform you a bit of the context, I'm starting to try to get into arcade machine repair and maintenance as its one of the biggest tourist industries in my area. im hoping to try and get a job with my local arcade but i wanted a bit of experience under my belt first before i applied. As such i snapped myself up a few cabinets on eBay (a Cromptons Electric Rock penny pusher, an LAI stacker giant and an old Elaut dual claw machine) including the one that is the subject of this post.

 

All of the other machines are simple repairs that i can work out, however the Barcrest Rio Enhanced cabinet i got (which is Monty Python and the Holy Grail themed) has completely perplexed me so far.

 

When you power it on, the main lights (the florescent) come on as well as the computer booting up internally and the MPU5 receiving power, but rather than do anything normal the speakers will repeatedly shout "Hey, Let me down" (or some other phrase along those lines) until the cabinet is powered down again.

 

I have tried disconnecting all of the internal wiring and reconnecting it (taking pictures as i do so to ensure nothing is in the wrong place) and i have checked the hard drive of the computer over on my PC but of course without knowing what im looking out for i am not certain what to do.

 

I have ordered a RAM clear chip for the MPU5 as i have found that even with the computer completely disconnected it still makes the noise, leading me to believe it is a fault with the MPU and not with the PC.

 

However, even if that solves the issue the PC does not display an output to either of the monitors regardless of where i plug them in. i have even tried connecting a third monitor to the motherboard output of the computer to no avail.

 

Apparently, the thing that caused the fault is that it was working fine, but when they moved house it was dropped/knocked and it has been having this problem ever since. The guy i bought it off works as a scrapman who clears houses and apparently got it when he was clearing out a venue. he only ever used it as a cashbox in his house and has a collection of other machines so i doubt he has attempted to faff with it inside, but of course i could be mistaken.

 

Does anybody have any ideas what i might need to do to get it working again? I'm trying to fix it for the sake of learning how to fix faults rather than for profit or anything so if i need new parts i need new parts, even if that includes a new image for the HDD.

 

For a bit of context, the machine is an enhanced Rio in a Monty Python theme. it has a MPU5 with a mk5 PC and it was made in approximately 2007. i cant give any details about how up to date anything is for the same reason i'm asking about it on this forum in the first place - its a tad f'd. I do have backups of the hdd's error logs though which can be seen here, just in case there are any hints in there. There might be some files missing as I'm not sure if the upload was complete, but if you see anything major do give me a shout and i will check it on the actual HDD. There is also a video of the fault in that drive folder.

 

If anybody has any generic tips for fixing machines like this they would be greatly appreciated too! I'm looking to learn.

 

Will be very grateful for any answers and thank you for taking your time to read my essay of a post.

 

Cheers,

James

Edited by JamesRay, 27 March 2020 - 03:32 PM.

[JamesRay]

I've just realized i should have posted this in a sub-forum, but i cant see a way to delete it so i can repost it. If anyone knows how let me know and ill get it done.

[niallquinn]

Do you mean, it shouts, "hey check it out"?

 

NQ.

Edited by niallquinn, 28 March 2020 - 04:27 PM.

[JamesRay]

Do you mean, it shouts, "hey check it out"?

 

NQ.

 

It could be that. its hard to tell as its very high pitched.

[JamesRay]

Update:

 

I have inserted the RAM clear chip, booted it, removed the chip and booted it again with the Monty Python chip and it is still doing the sound effects with no display output. Its starting to look a lot like a PC problem from what i can tell but honestly with this being the first one I've even used i am (likely) mistaken. Any input would still be greatly appreciated.

[niallquinn]

When it shouts it out, does it show an error code on the bottom screen?

 

NQ,

[JamesRay]

When it shouts it out, does it show an error code on the bottom screen?

 

NQ,

Unfortunately the screens have no display. they simply both show the "self test" screen. I have tried the machine the way it came when i bought it, by changing the monitor ports and by adding a third monitor on the motherboard out to no avail. still no input on the displays.

 

I have ordered an IDE adapter so i can check the HDD over on my PC. i had looked before but it was difficult as it was on an older computer which id borrowed from a friend (as my laptop doesn't have an IDE hard drive). even connecting a keyboard to the PC directly has no affect including when attempting to boot into BIOS through F8.

There is a video of it booting up in the drive folder i shared in the first post if thats any help. :-)

[chasnbons]

Is the PC actually trying to boot?

If you unplug the speakers to get shut of the machine screaming, you will have a better chance of hearing whether it's doing anything or not.

Bear in mind that just because you can hear fans going it means nothing regarding the PC.

If nothing seems to be happening then try the rocker switch on the underside of the PC case.

It might then boot to an error which says something to the effect that settings have changed.

This might then mean that the bios battery in the PC is flat.

If any of this happens, I posted years ago how to sort it so try and find my post.

Hope this helps.

[fruitsnappa]

Don't these PC's have a button on to force the PC to boot if not booting?

[chasnbons]

It's a rocker switch not a button, which is what I said.

[JamesRay]

Is the PC actually trying to boot?

If you unplug the speakers to get shut of the machine screaming, you will have a better chance of hearing whether it's doing anything or not.

Bear in mind that just because you can hear fans going it means nothing regarding the PC.

If nothing seems to be happening then try the rocker switch on the underside of the PC case.

It might then boot to an error which says something to the effect that settings have changed.

This might then mean that the bios battery in the PC is flat.

If any of this happens, I posted years ago how to sort it so try and find my post.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the info!

 

Like i said in my earlier reply i have tried getting it to boot even in to bios but it hasn't done anything. rocker switch or mains supply it still does not display anything on the screens. the fans are indeed going but the computer itself doesnt make any noises. I will try removing it again later today and hooking it into a separate monitor on a desk before giving it a quick stripdown to check no connections have come loose.

 

But yeah, like i said its not doing anything when it comes to the current monitors, through either the graphics card out or through the motherboard out it isnt booting at all. just whizzing up the fans.

 

Ill see if i can get it to do anything externally and i will check over the hard drive again later today too as last time i checked it was keeping error logs (which can be seen on the google drive folder, though the date is incorrect from what i can see). Hopefully something will give an answer as to why its doing what its doing. ;-)

 

Cheers,

James

[JamesRay]

Update: I have tried to get the PC to display anything at all to no avail. Changing the battery, trying to boot to bios, removing the graphics card and going direct of the motherboard, disconnecting the HDD to try and force it to go into bios. All to no avail. The screen always blinks when the PC is turned on but thats about it in terms of any kind of reaction. I am yet to get any kind of output on the monitors.

[fruitnutter]

Hi James,

 

This could be one fault, or it could be two faults at the same time.

 

So, I need to know the following -:

 

1) When you turn the machine on, does the PC make a BEEP sound? Does it make a continuous beeping sound? Does it make NO beeping sound? Does the fan inside the PC case spin, and does it keep spinning or does it keep stopping and restarting?

 

2) When you turn the machine on, does the MPU5 (the circuit board that isn't inside of the PC) have any flashing lights? Are they all green? Are there red and green flashes? Is it solid red? Tell me whats happening, and how many of each light flashes. For example, you might get 4 green flashes, then two red flashes, then it will repeat itself.

 

The fact that the machine is saying "hey, check it out" means that you definitely have some MPU5 error, whether that is a flat battery, a connection to pc problem, a ram problem, or something else. You may or may not ALSO have a PC problem.

 

It's unlikely to be the hard drive on the PC that is at fault, the machine isn't getting far enough for that to be the issue.

 

Also, there is no need to boot to bios, changing things from what they're currently set at will generally cause a problem anyway, and for gods sake don't flash the bios because you'll brick the machine.

 

Don't bother to connect up the monitors to the onboard graphics output, if there is one, as this will definitely not work. The machine will want to see the each monitor cable plugged into a specific port (the ones on the graphics card).

[JamesRay]

Hi James,

 

This could be one fault, or it could be two faults at the same time.

 

So, I need to know the following -:

 

1) When you turn the machine on, does the PC make a BEEP sound? Does it make a continuous beeping sound? Does it make NO beeping sound? Does the fan inside the PC case spin, and does it keep spinning or does it keep stopping and restarting?

 

2) When you turn the machine on, does the MPU5 (the circuit board that isn't inside of the PC) have any flashing lights? Are they all green? Are there red and green flashes? Is it solid red? Tell me whats happening, and how many of each light flashes. For example, you might get 4 green flashes, then two red flashes, then it will repeat itself.

 

The fact that the machine is saying "hey, check it out" means that you definitely have some MPU5 error, whether that is a flat battery, a connection to pc problem, a ram problem, or something else. You may or may not ALSO have a PC problem.

 

It's unlikely to be the hard drive on the PC that is at fault, the machine isn't getting far enough for that to be the issue.

 

Also, there is no need to boot to bios, changing things from what they're currently set at will generally cause a problem anyway, and for gods sake don't flash the bios because you'll brick the machine.

 

Don't bother to connect up the monitors to the onboard graphics output, if there is one, as this will definitely not work. The machine will want to see the each monitor cable plugged into a specific port (the ones on the graphics card).

 

Hi Fruitnutter.

 

The PC does not make any noise when booting. I did notice upon opening it up that it didn't have a speaker inside so i transfered one from one of my other PC's to test it but still no beeps at all. The fans all go on with the powerpack fan making a grinding noise (though i imagine it is simply age rather than anything else with it being the PCU).

 

As for the MPU, (bottom to top) It has 4 solid green LEDS and then 1 blinking green LED (with about a 0.6 second interval between flashes). The red LED is off (Though in the past when i have booted the machine up i have seen it come on, but it didn't do it when i booted it again for this reply).

 

I have checked all of the batteries with a multimeter and i didnt see any that seemed out of charge, they both seemed okay. I replaced the batteries in both though to be on the safe side. I have also tried a RAM clear chip in the MPU to see if that did anything and while the clear chip was in, it made a more normal sounding boot-up tone, though as soon as i plugged back in the license chip for Monty Python, it went back to "Hey, Check it out!". 

 

As for the bios, i was just trying to get it to boot to that to be see if i could get any kind of output on the monitors, But your words are duly noted! last thing i need is to brick it any more than it is!

 

Let me know if there is any other data you need. I would normally just consult the manual but i just cant find one for this machine or any of its parts other than the motherboard.

[fruitnutter]

Hiya, thanks for the additional info.

 

From what you say, it appears that the MPU is working, so we could probably disregard that.

 

The PC fans come on, and stay on, but the PC does not POST (i.e. boot. In other words, show you technical details of the machine with text on screen).

 

Your machine is not showing typical symptoms of any one component being broken, in other words it is going to be very difficult to diagnose on a forum.

 

I will make a stab here and say that your machine needs a replacement PC. Unfortunately they're not particularly cheap, and bear in mind replacing the PC is not guaranteed to make the machine work.

 

If you could borrow a working E-RIO pc to put in your machine, to see if thats definitely the fault or not, that would be helpful.

 

If money is no object and you wanted to buy one just to see what happened, then this link will help you https://www.ebay.co....CgAAOSwG65dNEH8

 

Generally, a non-booting pc will give some signs as to what is wrong (i.e. fans start and then stop continuously means the graphics card isn't seated correctly, or pc beeping constantly upon turn on means the ram isn't seated properly, for example).

 

Try getting hold of a working e-rio pc, and seeing if that solves your problem. I think it will.

Edited by fruitnutter, 04 April 2020 - 01:05 AM.

[JamesRay]

Hiya, thanks for the additional info.

 

From what you say, it appears that the MPU is working, so we could probably disregard that.

 

The PC fans come on, and stay on, but the PC does not POST (i.e. boot. In other words, show you technical details of the machine with text on screen).

 

Your machine is not showing typical symptoms of any one component being broken, in other words it is going to be very difficult to diagnose on a forum.

 

I will make a stab here and say that your machine needs a replacement PC. Unfortunately they're not particularly cheap, and bear in mind replacing the PC is not guaranteed to make the machine work.

 

If you could borrow a working E-RIO pc to put in your machine, to see if thats definitely the fault or not, that would be helpful.

 

If money is no object and you wanted to buy one just to see what happened, then this link will help you https://www.ebay.co....CgAAOSwG65dNEH8

 

Generally, a non-booting pc will give some signs as to what is wrong (i.e. fans start and then stop continuously means the graphics card isn't seated correctly, or pc beeping constantly upon turn on means the ram isn't seated properly, for example).

 

Try getting hold of a working e-rio pc, and seeing if that solves your problem. I think it will.

 

Hi Fruitnutter.

 

Cheers for all the info! From what you've said it definitely sounds like more than a "the machine was dropped" problem!

 

Unfortunately i do not know anybody who has a fruit machine, let alone the same make and model, so i guess ill have to take a stab at buying a new one.

 

Considering the internal components are all generic parts could i just buy new motherboards and graphics cards to see if that would help since it would come out a fair bit cheaper than buying a new PC or are there custom settings on them i could not replicate? If the HDD is indeed working theoretically i could just transfer it to the new component machine?

 

As for signs i really wish i could give you more, but the machine is not giving any kind of faults whatsoever other than the self test displays on the monitors.

 

Ill have to look into that eBay link. Going to take a bit of saving with this corona-crud going around as I'm out of work so it will likely be a week or two before i can do anything unfortunately, but if i do come to purchasing a new PC i noticed the seller says you will receive a random model from their stock, so does it overly matter whether the PC is a mk 4,5 or 6?

 

Once again thanks so much for all of the information! hopefully my next comment here will be about my newly working fruit machine. :-D

 

Cheers,

James

[spa]

Dunno if it's been said, but plug in an mpu alpha to the mpu5 and boot. That will tell you your issue.

[JamesRay]

Dunno if it's been said, but plug in an mpu alpha to the mpu5 and boot. That will tell you your issue.

Unfortunately, i don't have one of them. Like i said this is my first machine so i don't really have much in the way of testing other than your standard electrical tools such as multimeters.

 

Cheers for the info anyway though, maybe if i end up doing this more regularly ill look at investing in one!

[JamesRay]

I've had a chat with the ebay seller you linked me to FruitNutter, and he said he could have a look at it for me for about £50, so I'll be sending it over to him within the week hopefully. would have loved to have been able to fix the bugger myself but i just don't have the resources or knowledge.

 

Also, i noticed your google drive link Spa and saw the MPU manual and barcrest stuff on there. Very useful and thankyou so much for uploading that stuff! subscribed to your YouTube and clicked a few ads as requested! ;-)

 

Will update here again once something has happened with the PC.

[chasnbons]

I seem to recognise that Ebay account.

My money is on the reply being something similar to....

PC is knackered but I can sell you a new one for £xxx if I can keep your old one.

Or maybe, just maybe after now that I've posted this, you might be treated fairly.

I really hope so, but I doubt it.