Lumina Frame Hum/ROM Screen

[StuTalon]

So I got the Dai Yamato 2 pachinko last night and checked all the wiring, then powered it up..... well at first the LCD was just displaying junk...random blocks of color and no sound - no lights from the frame. I thought it may be due to the temperature so I let it sit inside and placed it close to a heater to help it (not too close). After an hour I checked it again, this time it booted to a black screen with a series of ROM messages like:

ROM A1 OK to
ROM F2 OK

But then it just sat there - at the same time I started to notice a slight "hum" out of the speakers. Again I turned it off and let it sit near the heat. Another hour and I powered it back up and it started with the weird blocks again, but then tried to go thru the startup check where it rotates the guns and then it finally started up, but not to a Sankyo startup screen like Galaxy Railways, just to the slots. I can still hear a low audible hum from the speakers, though the sound does work. Is this a sign of a bad transformer? I hope it's just a simple fix.....

Thanks!

[luckydog]

check all your connections, most problems are poor contact somewhere.

have you treid a reset???

[hanabi]

I'm not sure about your Transformer issue....

But I had a problem with my Star Wars (Sankyo/Lumina) when I first received it

It would show the Rom Check Screen and a series of numbers / checking sequence??

It turned out a cable was unplugged at the back of the machine

Perhaps you have a loose Cable / Connection somewhere??

[StuTalon]

I did do a reset according to the frame manual. I will do a full sweep of the plugs tonight and re-seat all of them. I hope it was just the cold as it sat outside on a 30 degree day for probably 4 hours before I brought it inside. Oddly Galaxy Railways sat outside also, but never had any issues.

BTW, just so I know what to look for, does Yamato have a Sankyo and then a Yamato title screen at boot up like Galaxy Railways?

[fronzdan]

Stu...did you ever resolve this problem?

I just got a Star Wars and noticed there was a slight hum/noise from the speakers when it's supposed to be silent. This noise coinicides with the lights going off/on on the frame. I initially thought it might be a power/transformer issue (CF Exports uses crappy 4A ones) so I replaced it with a 7A and added a grounded cord. Noise still there.

Once I put in volume controls, it helped cut back on the noise a lot.

[StuTalon]

I did notice a bit of difference in the hum once I added the volume controls, but it's not totally gone. I wonder if adding a 3-prong and running the green wire to the ground would help? I also wondered if it could be the machine audio itself as well - I have 2 lumina frame games and the other, which has the same volume mods is crystal clear. In any case I want to upgrade the transformers when I get a chance as mine are CF pachis as well.

Thanks for the info!
-Stu

[daverob]

The audio amplifiers on the Lumina frame use the same power supply voltages as the case and cell LED lighting, and the ground connection and wiring harness is also shared with the filament lamps for the case. So it can be expected that there might be a little audio noise heard when there is a lot of lighting effects going on.

This kind of noise is likely to be more noticable if there are any inadequacies in the power supply, but I must admit that it's still there (though pretty quiet) on my machines and they are fed from a 12 amp transformer, which is good for powering two machines.

I've also noticed that the level of the hum changes with different cells in the same machine, so the issue could be as simple as a bit of inductive coupling in the speaker wires.

Remember that these machines are designed to be operated in a pachinko parlour, where the background noise is almost deafening. So the designers are probably more interested in overall volume, rather than being concerned with a low level of hum.

[fronzdan]

Yeah, my Indy in another frame is virtually silent...you really have to stick your ear right up to the driver to hear any noise. With the Star Wars, if the room is silent, you can hear the hum and it clearly changes pitch as the lights go off/on.

I was thinking maybe it was noise coupling with the audio wiring harnesses too...I might fiddle with them to see if it makes a difference. Of course once my Maharaja comes back on line (I'm finishing its cabinet at the moment) the sound of the disco ball motor would drown out all that noise anyway.

Stu, the grounded power cable didn't help with the noise, but you should upgrade the CF transformer. The 4A they use is pitifully underpowered and gets pretty hot. If you have the room to mount one in the cabinet or whatever you are using, you can pickup one of Lucky's 9A transformers. Just make sure it'll fit, they are beasts.

Pachislous.com also has 7A's that work well.