Bad Dongle?

[Greg Lockhart]

Hello,
I just bought my first 2 modern Pachinko's... Sankyo (Victory) Janken Battle... and Taiyo (Maturi) Gachinko 7.
There was only one "Standard" Dongle with the machines and I'm wondering if it is defective in some way.
Both machines power up... but I can't get either machine to shoot balls with this Dongle attached.
On the Janken: If I drop a ball into a pocket... music and voices play... balls are payed out... the hand moves... but balls do not shoot and there is nothing on the video screen (other than vertical lines). I get an error code 8 which I believe is the card reader connection.
On the Gachinko 7: If I drop a ball in a pocket: music plays... balls are payed out... and the LED screen does it's thing. But balls won't shoot. I removed the ball shooter motor to see if anything looked wrong. The arm is (and stays) in the down position.

Does this sound like the Dongle I have may be bad? I planned on getting one of Daverob's units... but I wanted to make sure these machines worked before I put any more money into them.
Also, what could be the problem with the video screen on Janken?

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Thanks,
Greg

[MrGneiss]

Since its both not shooting balls I would say its probably the dongle..

As for the screen, the Sankyo Victory (and Lumina) Frame is know to have a start up problem on some machines..I have 2 that do it..It will cause the screen to not work right..Usually turning on the machine for a while and then off and on again will make it work right..

Of course it could also just be a loose cable..

[Drunkenclam]

Ditto above.

Leave the sankyo on for 30 minutes. Then turn it off. Count to 10 and turn it back on again. Then drop a ball in the start pocket.

You can build your own basic dongle if your good with a soldering iron. Also worth checking the fuse on the CR board.

[Greg Lockhart]

Thanks guys,
I'm going to order one of Daverob's dongles today... when I get these machines working I know I'll want the added features it provides.
Is the problem with the Sankyo screens something you have to deal with every time you turn the machine on?
Should the ball shoot motor/arm be in this down position when it's not powered? (I'm used to seeing the shooter on vintage machines that have a spring to keep them up)
Thanks again,
Greg

[jodini]

I defiantly would say the dongles bad.

The ball shooter is going to be in the last position it was in when it was shut off...so yes, it's possible that the shooter was in the "cocked back" position when it was shut down.

Don't know if this video problem is like the same as the warm up on "Starwars" but it's also a Sankyo machine...so possible.

Let us know what happens with the new dongle!
Joe

[Drunkenclam]

Worst I had was a freezing cold studio in North London where it took 45 minutes to warm up. That was my Sankyo Hot springs (Lumina Frame)

[daverob]

The symptoms are that of a faulty dongle, but check the fuses first. A faulty dongle will often blow the fuses, and then the replacement won't work either.

On the Janken Battle the fuseholder is just above and to the right of the connector the dongle plugs into. If you can't see where the fuse is, then download the Victory frame manual from my website, and check page 20 where it describes error code 8, and has a picture of the fuseholder.

The display problems could be the Sankyo warm up problem. Janken Battle does use the 'Samurai Force' graphics chip that is the source of these problems, but I haven't ever seen it on my Janken Battle machine (although it has occurred on all my other Sankyo's with the same chip). Follow the advice to allow it to warm up, and that should let you know if it is this or a different problem.

[Greg Lockhart]

I decided to take a second look inside this dongle and found that one of the soldered joints had broke loose.
I re-soldered it and now it works in both machines.
I still have the video screen problem with Janken. Letting it warm up then restarting it did not help. None of the cables I can see are loose. Guess I'll go in a little deeper to where the LCD is and see if I can find any obvious problem. If it turns out that this one is bad, what are the chances of finding a replacement? This looks like it would be a fun and interesting machine... if it had the video. I hope it's not a lost cause.
Thanks for your help,
Greg

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[PachiPachi]

Daverob's dongle is a necessity! Make sure you get one

[Greg Lockhart]

I've already ordered one of his dongles... I know it will make a big difference.

I still haven't found the problem with the video screen on the Janken. The warm up doesn't help. I disconnected / reconnected all of the cables to the LCD but it didn't help. Any ideas?