Mephisto stuck in error mode

[RaguORagula]

Longshot here, but worth a try. My Mephisto machine unfortunately took a pretty bad fall due to an irresponsible family member. There was no physical damage to the exterior, and the only problem I could find on the inside was the coin mech being slightly askew, which I fixed. Upon turning on the machine, I was greeted with an E-5 error code, which I understand to be a memory error. Pressing the reset button cleared the error and it appeared to work fine for a few minutes, but then the game suddenly went into error mode again, this time without any code at all. Despite performing a full reset of the machine (power off, turn key, etc.), the game continues to go into error mode (indicated by the Tetra reel turning to LOST and the machine playing some really eerie music which isn't part of normal gameplay) about 10 seconds after powering on every time, still with no code.

The weird part about it is the game is playable while in this state. Though the error music continues to play, the game will accept tokens and play as normal with the usual payouts, however the Tetra reel never spins and no features ever start. I can only assume this is some sort of test mode? There is nothing wrong with the Tetra reel itself, as it does light up and spin to indicate its error state. I have to assume there has been some sort of physical damage to the machine to cause this problem, but I can't find anything that is obviously broken or disconnected. I'm also guessing because of the lack of error code that the problem is something the machine's diagnostics don't cover, which will make it very difficult to narrow down the cause. Still, if anyone has any experience with Yamasa machines and has heard of something like this, I'd appreciate any help possible. This is one of my favorite machines and it took many years to finally track one down, so I'd be very upset to see it in an irreparable state.

[RaguORagula]

Correction: The error code was E-4 when it first started up, not E-5.

[RaguORagula]

More info: The control unit (with the volume switch) underneath the power box is flashing an LED labeled "Monitor 2" on the plastic housing. I can't find any sort of info on what this would mean let alone how to fix it. My working knowledge of Japanese is enough to read the original operator's manual, but finding it seems to be a problem. I'm trying to generalize my searches to Yamasa machines, since I'd assume models around the same year (2003) should have similar internals.

[Card Shark]

I wish I could be more help. You might try sending a PM to Wayne-Ooo, he is very knowledgeable with these machines and has been a huge help to me.

[Wayne-Ooo]

Well, life has taught us, you drop something it has a pretty good chance of breaking. I'am assuming this is what has happened.

With no technical information or schematics available, for these machines, it's just kind of a guess.

The E-4 error code is a Ram Error. To reset this normally you would push the Red button on the power supply. If that didn't clear it a Hard reset of the machine would be next. But of course the machine was dropped and something could of come loose or maybe even grounded out. So I'd reset every connection in the machine by unplugging them and plugging them back in. The trouble with the reel could be something loose also. There are sensors inside the reels and maybe it's come loose. As far as the led on your box below the power supply, I really don't know. Do you remember if this led is normally on? Some led's light up in normal operation of the game. Maybe something inside the box has come loose or grounded out.

As you can tell from my response, There is no "cut and dry" answer. It may turn out to be something simple or you may end up having a parts machine. "I don't know".

Here's some general information and how to do a Reset of the machine.


Yamasa Manual.jpgYamasa Manual 001.jpgYamasa Manual 002.jpgYamasa Manual 003.jpgYamasa Manual 004.jpgYamasa power supplys.jpgYamasa Manual 005.jpgYamasa Manual 006.jpg

[RaguORagula]

As I said, the error code cleared out by pressing the reset button, but the game continues in error state without a code. All of the reels, lights, and sounds are apparently functional, and the game even goes into a partial play mode without features. The blinking LED inside doesn't appear to be normal, and since it's labeled "monitor" I assume this means something it is supposed to be checking is out of whack.

One thing I did notice is that quite a few tokens had been scattered around inside the machine, which I cleared out. Perhaps one of these caused a short somewhere. I did reseat as many connections as possible, though a number of them are apparently glued in.

At this point I can only hope to find an original manual and hope it has info about the flashing LED. I do appreciate the input so far, and would love if anyone knew where I might be able to find a manual.

[yose]

on my mephisto the left led on the bottom by the volume switch only blinks about every 30 seconds and it's a quick flash. the only other led's that stay on are on the main board and they are D,H,and one by the big circuit chip towards the mid right of the main board.It acts as if a connection to the 4th reel has come loose and not getting the signals,so it errors.Maybe there is no code for that kind of error so no display code.

[RaguORagula]

Finally got it fixed. There were still some tokens wedged in along the side of the volume controller, so I removed those and reseated all of the connections. It was apparently a sound issue, though this was throwing me off since error music was playing. Everything seems to be in working order again, so I'll have to consider myself lucky that no other damage was done. Now to bolt this thing to the wall so no one feels tempted to try and move it again.