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Author Topic: Linux Powered Pinball  (Read 7965 times)

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Ixliam

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Linux Powered Pinball
« on: October 16, 2005, 02:16:28 pm »
In the November 2005 issue of Linux Journal at http://new.linuxjournal.com/article/8476 there is an article on an Evil Knievel pinball that had no backboard/scoreboard, but was just the playfield. The person built a PC interface to control the machine and provide a scoring system. Might be an interesting option to look at for getting old machine with no scoreboard up and running.

SirPeale

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2005, 03:44:55 pm »
Thanks for the subscriber only link.  :D

stratjakt

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #2 on: October 16, 2005, 10:22:21 pm »
Be pretty easy for an EM game like Evel Kneivel was (IIRC), but I'd like to see them build an interface for something more complicated/intricate, like Addams Family, Twilight Zone, or Terminator 2.

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2005, 02:49:31 am »
This is already out and has been out for quite some time.  Some guys hacked visual pinmame to work with a custom i/o board that hooks to the parallel port.  They used it to do various things, including using pinmame to emulate the video portion of baby pacman and control all the lights/ect. 

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2005, 11:23:02 am »
Im all for saving game machines, but a pinball without the head area is just lame.
NO MORE!!

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2005, 01:05:48 pm »

I would be very appreciative if you could get that article and maybe send it to me, or post the contents here.

Ixliam

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #6 on: October 17, 2005, 05:15:10 pm »
It's not visual pinmame, he reverse engineered the AS2518 MPU, then wrote a custom program for it. This program is on sourceforge and other links below.

Here is his thesis wrote on it. There is a PDF file with more info that the article along with pictures.
http://www.ohiolink.edu/etd/view.cgi?bgsu1120167127

Here is the software - Pinball Machine Reverse Engineering Kit.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pmrek

Personally, I'm with you on the not having a backboard being lame. But if its all you have to work with, it might be an idea. It also might be possible to build a PC for testing that you could hook up alligator clips to test with. He took it to the "Pinball at the Zoo" in Kalamazoo, MI in April 2005, and the PC collected info as people played it to a MYSQL database, and he used that data in his thesis as well.

BTW, I'm not a subscriber either - I got a free copy, just so happened that the month that showed up was with a pinball machine on the cover.. must have been fate.
« Last Edit: October 17, 2005, 05:25:25 pm by Ixliam »

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #7 on: October 17, 2005, 05:34:02 pm »

Yeep... heavy reading, and I usually enjoy heavy reading.

Is it possible to get the article?  I'd like to read that too.

Ixliam

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #8 on: October 17, 2005, 07:10:20 pm »
I'll see if I can't scan it someway or take hi-res pics of the pages.

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #9 on: October 17, 2005, 07:45:42 pm »

Photocopies would work.  I'm simple.   :)

2600

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #10 on: October 17, 2005, 10:01:10 pm »
If he can't, let me know and I'll get you a copy when I get back to the office at the end of the week.

Haven't finished the article myself, and it's good effort on the guys part, but headless is odd. 

I do like what the pinmame-hw guys have done myself.  It's definitely worth reading what they have done as well.

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #11 on: October 17, 2005, 10:37:20 pm »

Who says it has to be headless?  Can't you put the PC in the head?

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #12 on: October 18, 2005, 07:04:32 am »
Not so much that it has to be headless, more that the pictures in the article the writer did not have the head connected.  Like I said I haven't finished the article, but maybe he had a good reason such as not actually having it.  I dunno.  The PC should definitely be able to control it.

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #13 on: October 18, 2005, 09:44:38 am »

My main question is stuff like the score LEDs... does it emulate those, or does it control real ones?

There is a huge difference between simply emulating the MPU while driving the score displays, and emulating the score displays too.

Ixliam

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #14 on: October 19, 2005, 11:32:56 am »
It doesn't emulate those, but it probably could. It's basically an interface to drive some of the "moving" items, and count score, keep track of balls in play, etc. The display is purely on the monitor, but you "play" on the actual table.

What one person could do, is lets say there was no display nor could one ever be found. You could build a display, then setup LED scoring. This is pretty similar to what I did with my DIY skeeball, as my PC drives an actual skeeball display.

BTW, I don't have access to a scanner so if the other fellow above can post the articles, I'm sure those who wanted it would be appreciative. Or for a SASE I will mail you a copy.

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #15 on: October 19, 2005, 11:43:11 am »

Seeing as how I just fried the driver board and maybe MPU of my Laser Cue, maybe I should do this.   :-[

RayB

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #16 on: October 19, 2005, 12:45:02 pm »
Ah, the guy did what I once wanted to do. I wanted to build my own pinball table, but handle all the logic and score display through my Commodore 64.  :-D
NO MORE!!

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #17 on: October 22, 2005, 12:59:39 pm »
A picture of it can be found here.

The scoring (and other) info is displayed on the monitor on the left.

(And who *is* that handsome guy playing it?  Could that *really* be scooter?)   ;D
« Last Edit: October 22, 2005, 01:05:21 pm by scooter »
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ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #18 on: October 22, 2005, 01:29:34 pm »

That does present some interesting scenarios, if someone wanted to slap an LCD in place of a backglass and code up a nice front end display.

Howard_Casto

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #19 on: October 27, 2005, 02:50:11 am »
I'm not sure what you guys found... but what I was referring to was indeed pinmame hacked to run a real machine via the parallel port and a tad bit of circuitry. 

All pinmame replaced was the dmd display and the electronics required to handle the electronics on the table as well as the audio.  The system was by no means "headless"  it just made it possible to restore a gutted table without the need to purchase the pcbs and dmd display.  Which btw, is exactly how some people use mame (myself included) when repairing cabinets with rare pcbs. 

ChadTower

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Re: Linux Powered Pinball
« Reply #20 on: October 27, 2005, 09:41:09 am »

Except you're not replacing the monitor, you're just replacing the PCB.

You can't replace a DMD with pinmame.  You'd have to put a monitor into the game somehow, the DMDs are integral to play.