ML-1 discussion thread

[smartbomb2084]

ML-1's have a 3 year warranty... so it will just take a little longer to get screwed.

However, I do see your point....

What do we need to do to clone it?

Wouldn't I have to buy a 'MERIT' drive for it too work in the game?

If you wanted a copy for forensic purposes...wouldn't it need to be a MERIT drive too?

[mahkeymike]

ML-1's have a 3 year warranty... so it will just take a little longer to get screwed.

However, I do see your point....

What do we need to do to clone it?

Wouldn't I have to buy a 'MERIT' drive for it too work in the game?

If you wanted a copy for forensic purposes...wouldn't it need to be a MERIT drive too?

Ion 2014 software does not need "MERIT" hard drives to run. It does check, but only to trigger the non official hard drive warning. It will still install and run perfectly fine. Even better if your using a SSD hard drive.

I would assume the live software does not require a "MERIT" hard drive either.

If you want to clone the hard drive, the best way would be to remove it and connect it to a different computer as a slave drive and use a dos clone utility like ghost for linux (G4L). Im sure there are many others, its just one that ive used for years.

[smartbomb2084]

I am willing to try and copy the drive for the both of us but the new software is still being implemented and I would need to ' borrow' a game from a location to do it and would also need more info on how...so it will be some time before that happens.

Are you saying I can buy something like this and install it in an ION and have it run fine?

http://www.crucial.com/store/ssd.aspx?cm_mmc=bing-_-us-_-ssd-_-null&ef_id=UufVKAAABejKIo5c:20140228230602:s

[mahkeymike]

I am willing to try and copy the drive for the both of us but the new software is still being implemented and I would need to ' borrow' a game from a location to do it and would also need more info on how...so it will be some time before that happens.

Are you saying I can buy something like this and install it in an ION and have it run fine?

http://www.crucial.com/store/ssd.aspx?cm_mmc=bing-_-us-_-ssd-_-null&ef_id=UufVKAAABejKIo5c:20140228230602:s

Yes that hard drive will work with the ASUS and INTEL Motherboards. The purple ECS motherboard would need a IDE-SATA adapter.

Let me know when you are able to pull the hard drive on a ML-1 and i will step you through it.

[ed12]

or u could do it this way,which is even cheaper and a win win for you at the end run
usb to ide/sata stand alone harddrive duplicator
now before any one goes off on me note the :usb: part
that is so u can set the unit to copy to cdrom in your putter if u so wish,and or
to a .dir of your liking..
mfg is startech.com
the name is the model #
makes life a breeze

ed

[Ken Layton]

A friend just bought a brand new ML-1 to put on location and it has been updated (according to the distributor). Well after playing a few games on it I found some bugs in the new software.

When I went to select "Trivia Whiz" I got to the point where I push the 'start' button on screen and it locked up with just a white screen and a spinning circle. Could not do anything else. I let it sit there for 15 minutes and I still could not do anything. No response to touchscreen, credit switches ignored, simply locked up tight. So I had to power off the machine, wait a minute, then power on again. After what seems like forever (the boot up sequence takes a good ten minutes at least) it came back up fine.

Then my friend tried Tri-towers and Run 21 and they both locked up too. We did the same procedure of powering down and back up again then the machine played fine. I think there must be some bugs in the software.

[ed12]

well ken that kinda goes without saying 
but thk's for the heads up

ed

[smartbomb2084]

Thanks for the info.... I have purple boarded IONs with that dreaded IDE/SATA adapter.

According  to this MERIT bulletin the final ML-1 software version is to be 3.5.1 but I have noticed that a couple of ours have version 3.5.21.9505.  So what is the final 'final' version? 


http://www.accessmerit.com/General/Announcement%20Update_2.17.14.pdf

[mahkeymike]

They really should just release a f-ing final version iso image to download and burn onto dvd's. I havent seen a ML-1 but im sure you can connect a sata dvd drive to it.

Why care if someone download directly to machine or to disc. Makes no sense if they are jumping ship anyway.

EDIT: de-sailored per BYOAC rule #2 http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_message_rules.html

[ed12]

mahkeymike
where u are right in the fact they should just send out a iso,
and i do think they said as much in there news release.
u just have to rember anything that rowe ami gets there fingers in becomes
a cluster f- in 0 time flat..

ed

EDIT: de-sailored per BYOAC rule #2 http://arcadecontrols.com/arcade_message_rules.html

[pivheng]

Hi does anyone know how to clone the hard drive from Megatouch ML 1. I've updated to the final version. Now I want to clone the drive for future backup. The ML 1 used BITLOCKER to locked the drive and i wonder if you can bypass it.

Thanks in advance!

[mahkeymike]

Hi does anyone know how to clone the hard drive from Megatouch ML 1. I've updated to the final version. Now I want to clone the drive for future backup. The ML 1 used BITLOCKER to locked the drive and i wonder if you can bypass it.

Thanks in advance!

You need to connect the drive to a computer and use a hard drive clone utility like G4L (ghost 4 linux). It will copy bit for bit to a new hard drive. It doesnt matter if the data is encypted with bitlocker or any other encryption software. Bitlocker is just to prevent peeping tom's from snooping around the data on the hard drive.

[pivheng]

Hi does anyone know how to clone the hard drive from Megatouch ML 1. I've updated to the final version. Now I want to clone the drive for future backup. The ML 1 used BITLOCKER to locked the drive and i wonder if you can bypass it.

Thanks in advance!

You need to connect the drive to a computer and use a hard drive clone utility like G4L (ghost 4 linux). It will copy bit for bit to a new hard drive. It doesnt matter if the data is encypted with bitlocker or any other encryption software. Bitlocker is just to prevent peeping tom's from snooping around the data on the hard drive.

Thanks mahkeymike, sadly I don't have linux. I've connected to my Windows 8 and I see 6 partitions. 4 are Locked 1 for boot up and and for Recovery. Here is the screenshot

The Megatouch ML 1 come with Toshiba 320GB. I'm going to get 480GB SSD to clone it because the boot time for the Game took 6 mins and 20 sec .

http://postimg.org/image/tu9p9bzfn/

[Peja]

Unless I am mistaken, those partitions are all linux partitions.  That drive for your machine boots up in Linus as its OS.  If you get that program he was talking about, you can clone that drive on your windows machine and restore that clone onto a new drive for your backup.  That program should install in windows just fine.

If I am way off, forget everything I just said.

Hatz

[mahkeymike]

G4L is a stand alone cd bootable freeware utility. There may even be usb bootable versions now. I use an old copy i have on a cd to clone hard drives. Theres an option to clone from one drive to another on the fly. You would just need another drive the same size or larger. I would go for another that is slightly larger by a few gigs just to be safe.

And btw, damn 320gb. I wonder how much of that is used up and real data. I really wanted to get my hands on an image of the hard drive after the forever kit was installed.

[ed12]

it is native linux
to copy in windows u must move to master or slave
so u will never get the mbr
i d/l gl4 and its native linux + win32 bit,yes there is 1
it is called grub4dos and bootloader
these are the olny 3 programs u need in windows to run gl4
gl4 comes as an iso  which u can run from a usb stick..they even explain to do just that
thk-u mahkeymike
for the heads up on gl4
i need to add 1 more for a total of 4
winb2006.exe
these 4 will get u going in win32
for linux u olny need gl4/grubdos to run it in and the bootloader to format the usb stick
sorry if i confused u

ed

[pivheng]

Thanks for the info.

@

G4L is a stand alone cd bootable freeware utility. There may even be usb bootable versions now. I use an old copy i have on a cd to clone hard drives. Theres an option to clone from one drive to another on the fly. You would just need another drive the same size or larger. I would go for another that is slightly larger by a few gigs just to be safe.

And btw, damn 320gb. I wonder how much of that is used up and real data. I really wanted to get my hands on an image of the hard drive after the forever kit was installed.

@mahkeymike I think there is a glitch when i play around with the ML-1 System Menu. I can access all the drive see screenshot.

http://postimg.org/image/l9dzbylsj/
http://postimg.org/image/vi4axs0f7/
http://postimg.org/image/jydl1wcr7/

[lilshawn]

i've split off this thread as it's gone a little off track here. (announcing closure) 

here y'all go

[mahkeymike]

i've split off this thread as it's gone a little off track here. (announcing closure) 

here y'all go

When did the "MX-1" come out shawn?

[mahkeymike]

@mahkeymike I think there is a glitch when i play around with the ML-1 System Menu. I can access all the drive see screenshot.

http://postimg.org/image/l9dzbylsj/
http://postimg.org/image/vi4axs0f7/
http://postimg.org/image/jydl1wcr7/

Can you view the data on the partitions from the ML-1? Curious to see the data structure. I heard its windows based but ive yet to even see a ML-1 in person. No bars/sports bars...ect...ect have one. They are all still using force and ion machines.

[lilshawn]

oopsie fixed.    i'm tired and it's only...thursday?

ugh, thank god.  feels like monday.

[pivheng]

@mahkeymike I think there is a glitch when i play around with the ML-1 System Menu. I can access all the drive see screenshot.

http://postimg.org/image/l9dzbylsj/
http://postimg.org/image/vi4axs0f7/
http://postimg.org/image/jydl1wcr7/

Can you view the data on the partitions from the ML-1? Curious to see the data structure. I heard its windows based but ive yet to even see a ML-1 in person. No bars/sports bars...ect...ect have one. They are all still using force and ion machines.

Here is the video and screenshot for the data struture. The only drive I can not view is Content.  I try plug in a USB flash drive and it pop up. I can copy any files data from any of those drive except Content drive. I copy the Grimm Photo Hunt to the flash drive and plug it in my windows 8 computer. I double click the g_grimm_photo_hunt.exe and nothing happen. @mahkeymike if you want those file and test it out i can zip it and send it to you. 

http://postimg.org/image/je8xkd7mp/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ACwIH0kce4&feature=youtu.be

[mahkeymike]

If you could image those partitions including that "content" partition that would be awesome. I really want to check this system out since theres so much resources out there for windows then the force and ion software that is linux based. I know my way around linux but my day2day os of choice is windows 8.

[mahkeymike]

I double click the g_grimm_photo_hunt.exe and nothing happen. @mahkeymike if you want those file and test it out i can zip it and send it to you. 

Looks like it uses the Unity 3.2 engine. You need to copy over the "C:/DATA/WORK/Unity" folder data and you might be able to get it running.

[pivheng]

Now i managed to clone the ML-1 drive without any error but when i take the clone drive and plug it in the ML-1 game. During the boot up the ML-1 rendering the new hard drive and it loading to 98% then a screen pop up with errors. 

[mahkeymike]

Now i managed to clone the ML-1 drive without any error but when i take the clone drive and plug it in the ML-1 game. During the boot up the ML-1 rendering the new hard drive and it loading to 98% then a screen pop up with errors. 

What do the errors say?

[pivheng]

Here are the screenshot.

http://postimg.org/image/lf7gkuysp/

http://postimg.org/image/rsoubnihx/

http://postimg.org/image/e8lzzkdwx/

 

[mahkeymike]

I need to see  rest of the JIT debugging message in that last pic. Its possible that #1. they put hard drive checks back into there software. Or #2 some files got corrupted during cloneing.(rare but possible). Theres a few ways you could go about this. #1. try and clone it again. #2. Get a exact size/model hard drive and swap the circuit board on the bottom of the drive. (be very careful doing this) If you try the second option it will prove if theres hard drive checking in place or not. Also will prove if the cloneing was sucessful.

[ed12]

/r=root dose it not ?

ed

[smartbomb2084]

According to merit tech support a cloned ML-1 hard drive won't work in the game... Now they could be just saying that to discourage copying but after reading this thread it may be true...

[ed12]

nope
i am sure it brings us back to that layer i was on about..
it is a modified verision of linux..this much i am very sure of..
where on some of the merit's ion/etc i have done 1-1 with my stand alone cloner
but the drives had to be set in the same mode :cable select:,and within the same size range.
but i am yet to try your 00, 01, 02. range set u have talked about :id:.

ed

[mahkeymike]

nope
i am sure it brings us back to that layer i was on about..
it is a modified verision of linux..this much i am very sure of..
where on some of the merit's ion/etc i have done 1-1 with my stand alone cloner
but the drives had to be set in the same mode :cable select:,and within the same size range.
but i am yet to try your 00, 01, 02. range set u have talked about :id:.

ed

You can use any hard drive that is at least 80gb with all Ion software. It has hard drive checking, but does not prevent you from using a non official hard drivea as long as its 40gb (2009) 60gb (2010) 80gb (2011-2014).

As for the ML-1, if they put hard drive checking to prevent using non official hard drives then the easiest solution is to get the exact same brand/model/size hard drive and swap the circuit board underneath it. You could also clone the bios/rom/nand chip on the hard drives circuit board and problem solved.

[ed12]

yes
and u answered your own statment..
but for the noviecs it is a tad harder..
that said,if the rom is not bad on the donor drive ?
then a copy is all u really need
of the bios rom of course.
unless they have hard-coded into the bios of the machine,what drive's will and will not work,
by this it means :sector's: :"size of the parition:" and type of landing spot ">>sector 0<<
but from there yes the hard-drive control board can be swaped drive to drive
if u have bad sector's ?
i know it sounds tech..but please reread it a few time's
it will sink in..
to change the control board >the 1 under the hard drive for me is a cake walk<
i just do not want to see a novice try it willy nilly like..the nick would end up with 2 very bad drive's..
your idea of the sector control is bang on..please inculde insurctions for noviecs to linux
u know kernel/push/how to get to root/ etc etc

ed

[pivheng]

I'm really disappointed the ML-1. The machine cost more than $3000+ and yet they use all the cheap hardware, especially the hard drive. They could of add SSD to the ML-1. ML-1 came with Toshiba 320gb 5400RPM and it took more than 6 mins to boot up to the main screen. Some of the new HD game are really lag if you press it too fast. like, Tri Tower II, Tri Castle II, etc. 

i'm thinking of going back to the RX. 

[ed12]

pivheng
this is realy where it gets tec.. it comes down to the board and driver's etc..
u may have ssd port,but with out the proper driver's it will not look at it,at all.
it's about that simple
now we have beem chatting about walk around's
which work perfect
just need to find our way

ed

[mahkeymike]

I'm really disappointed the ML-1. The machine cost more than $3000+ and yet they use all the cheap hardware, especially the hard drive. They could of add SSD to the ML-1. ML-1 came with Toshiba 320gb 5400RPM and it took more than 6 mins to boot up to the main screen. Some of the new HD game are really lag if you press it too fast. like, Tri Tower II, Tri Castle II, etc. 

i'm thinking of going back to the RX. 

I would.

[pivheng]

mahkeymike
Here are the JIT debugging message screenshot i took.

pix 1-5  http://postimg.org/image/co3fk8spv/

pix 6-10  http://postimg.org/image/k5tvcbhfv/

[mahkeymike]

Can you copy over the "C:/Users/AMI/megatouch/tools" And "C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net" folders?
I could take a look at the files that were called with .Net Reflector and VBReformer.

[ed12]

Ken Layton
this is a very bad problem with there new :final: s/w
u MUST USE S/W 4 AND 8 to place it in recovery mode
it will get there and run with no hickup's

mahkeymike
once the harddrive is reged with merit
u cannot get a second copy >for that sa-key-serial#<
which is read out through the up-date >final<

the jit .net error is the server saying thank's but no thank's
as they remove it on there way out

it is akin to windows xp stuff/dos/windows3.1 etc

your walk around is to replace the file's >proul there< in question

ed

[pivheng]

Can you copy over the "C:/Users/AMI/megatouch/tools" And "C:/Windows/Microsoft.Net" folders?
I could take a look at the files that were called with .Net Reflector and VBReformer.

mahkeymike
what is your email i can send you all the file from the Tool and Microsoft .NetFrame Folders

Ed
I read the ML-1 manual on page 39 Swapping hard drive. it show when a new hard drive is detected on an ML-1 the system will recongnize the new hard drive during boot up and display the SYSTEM RESET MENU. I wonder if the new hard drive is from (MEGATOUCH)

http://www.megatouch.com/support/ml-1/ML1_Manual.pdf

[ed12]

this gets tech so bare with me
a colne is just that a colne..IT IS NOT  .img
u need the very first layer merit put on it
ie :sector 0/track 0/control cmd..a colne will NOT give u this
it is a mfg request,so as been pointed out to me
thk-u "mike" for that detail this is what we are looking for
00/01/02 etc
this is where the game will go to game mode
so as  i pointed out to u
u can clone till the end of time..but is still a clone
u want the exact image >img< to replace the drive..

as mike pointed out to u
if u are ok with swapping hard-drive boards ? then if the platter's are ok u are gold
if not u are at square 1..
.NET is the SERVER telling u go pack it
hence the reason they removed it from the list
its about that simple

mike please for the love of god make a walk around for linux /adm/root/>kernel<
if u want i will post it on our wiki site ?

then we can get some where
i am like u and have some time to go

ring the bell

ed

[mahkeymike]

mike please for the love of god make a walk around for linux /adm/root/>kernel<
if u want i will post it on our wiki site ?

then we can get some where
i am like u and have some time to go


ed

What do you mean ed12? Are you talking about force and ion? I already posted how to get root access to force and ion linux kernel. If you are talking about something else please rephrase the question.

[lilshawn]

i think the idea with the "Swapping harddrives" was that subsequent releases where going to be where you pull out the old hard drive with the 2013 software and pop in a new drive with 2014 software on it.

[ed12]

no mike i am very rusty in linux

shawn i thought 2014 was loaded on line
and the final vervision this year >correct me here<

ed

[lilshawn]

what was to happen was you sync'd the unit to the server...updated the drive, then reloaded the settings/sales/config/etc back to the system. That's wht they are talking about when they mention doing the drive reset.

basically the drive comes default config and you do the reset to reload the config from the "cloud"

 it wasn't exactly implemented though since now they've closed up shack.

[ed12]

from merit
the server will be off line for a "few more month's" as they clear out account's  ,so basilcy when u run into this problem
u kinda have to back door it..might as well get your feet wet now,
and cut your teeth on there os.
and btw do not blame merit,blame ami they are company f-u..'s
but do blame merit for not sharing 90% of there layer info before they switched to open drive like the ion's etc,but then again this would not have been there first thought
until the motherboard makers and harddrive mfg's said ah nope that wont work..

ed

[smartbomb2084]

Mike... sent you a PM...

[mahkeymike]

mike please for the love of god make a walk around for linux /adm/root/>kernel<
if u want i will post it on our wiki site ?

then we can get some where
i am like u and have some time to go

ring the bell

ed

There is a wiki?

Also, I have been bored lately so playing around with the linux based systems.
With the Force systems if you connect a keyboard and hold the "ALT" key in while booting it will take you to the LILO screen. From there you type: init=/bin/bash
This will get you to the command terminal in single user mode. If you type:
mount -o remount,rw / 
then type:
passwd
it will ask you to make a new password. So you type what you want it to be then type it in again to confirm. Now you have root access.

So then you type"
login
It will ask for login name and you type:
root
then you type your new password
Now you type mount -o remount,rw /
and then"
vi /etc/inittab
From here you can edit the initialization file so the system does not autologin
This can be done by commenting it out by adding a # sign before x:5:respawn:/usr/sbin/autologin
So now when you reboot you have all scripts loaded and have root access.
Anytime you want to load the game you just type:
su -c /usr/X11R6/bin/startx maxx
It will load the game as normal.
But now you have control and can do things like setting ulimit to unlimited so you can do core dumps, memory dumps....you can even run it from a debugger like gdb that is already built into the system.

There is one catch to this and hopefully someone can figure this out because im stumped...
Once you load into the game and see the "megatouch force logo" you cant use Ctrl+alt+Fx (f1-f6) this normally would allow you to switch terminals (command line screens)
This is helpful for running other tools along side the game.
The only way to exploit this is to keep pressing ctrl+alt+f2 as soon as you type "su -c /usr/X11R6/bin/startx maxx"
You will get to a new terminal where you can login to root and wait a bit to go to the game window that defaults to Ctrl+alt+f3
From there you can go back and forth to other terminals.

[PL1]

There is a wiki?

http://newwiki.arcadecontrols.com/


Scott

[mahkeymike]

So i finally got my hands on one of these POS ML1's. And i dont mean "point of sale". I have some questions for operators/owners. First question is about the touchscreen. Is there some sort of screen protector on the touchscreen, or is this some crap overlay? Iam not familar with Wacom (touchscreen brand used) so i dont know if they are matte or glossy, capacitive, or resistive. The second question is the hard drive. How often do these things die? The one im looking at was made in 2011 and looks to be refurbed twice. Once for V2.5 and again in 2013 for V3.5. Its loud as $hit and is going to die soon. Even the gameplay is lagging because of it, and i ran some diagnostics on it and it has bad sectors on the bitlocked partitions.

[dragonmasterx]

Does anyone here know how I can get into the ML-1 to alter the time? Since Merit cut everyone's access to the server, the time is no longer correct, allowing the adult content to display during the day when children can possibly see it. There appears to be nothing available in the ML settings to change this.

Any assistance is appreciated.
Thanks!

[mahkeymike]

I havent played with mine too much because the hard drive is about to fail but if it gets the time from the server, they must have redirected the server files to the hard drive where most likely those files are on the bitlocked parititions. Maybe now it gets the time from the motherboard bios? I havent tried to get into the bios yet but you could connect a keyboard and try pressing DEL or F1-F12 (skip F8 thats for safe mode) and see if you can change the date/time (if its not correct)

Also the cmos battery could need replacing aswell. But i would check date/time setting first.