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SOLVED - No knocker in test menu TZ

Andy B

Andy B

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1 10 Years
Joined
Oct 6, 2014
Messages
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Location
Hull. England.
Bit of a strange one. Noticed knocker in my newly acquired TZ was not working, even though it is connected up, so figured previous owner must have switched it off but no knocker on/off option in standard or feature adjustments and the coil doesn't even show up in tests. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Andy
 
Sgt GrizZ said:
I'm running 9.4H ROM and its def in the solenoid tests.

Other settings that may change things mentioned here ....... https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tz-knocker-solenoid-wont-fire
Click to expand...

I'm on 9.4H ROM also. That article suggests I have to mess about with the jumpers on the CPU board and set it up to US and then the option will be there. Manual doesn't seem to cover jumper setting for different countries though. Also, don't know if I can be bothered taking the board out and cutting and soldering jumpers to enable this feature (where I ever to find the jumper settings). Shame as I do like the knocker working on games if only to s**t people up when they get a match!
 
Oh do you know when you wished you hadn't bothered with something!

That article said set jumper setting to US and the option would be available. I found on Pinside a thread that showed jumper settings for US. So...I cut W17 and W18 jumpers.

Now the thing has gone mental. The clock is not resetting properly and I am getting a bucket full of switch error messages in test menu!

Should have just left it as is :-(
 
Andy B said:
Oh do you know when you wished you hadn't bothered with something!

That article said set jumper setting to US and the option would be available. I found on Pinside a thread that showed jumper settings for US. So...I cut W17 and W18 jumpers.

Now the thing has gone mental. The clock is not resetting properly and I am getting a bucket full of switch error messages in test menu!

Should have just left it as is :-(
Click to expand...

Uh oh o_O

 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
There you go
Click to expand...


Cheers for that Chris - appreciate it - Sgt GrizZ who is running 9.4H ROM same as mine sent me a photo of how he has his jumpered. He has W13, W14, W16 and W18 in. When I went back to the board to jumper it like that I noticed that it looks like I cut through one of the traces on the surface of the board when I was snipping the old jumpers out. I guess that's what is causing the clock and the switch error issues - Doh!

I was looking for an excuse to buy the RocketCPU from Pinsound but not at the expense of a perfectly good working board 😢🤬
 
When I restored my STTNG I had a similar question @Jay Walker responded with the solution. I decided against enabling it. I suspect as its a Williams of the same era that the issue was the same.


cmrl9 said:
Noticed the "Special" coil top left is not connected, any ideas where this is suppossed to go?

Hello,

That coil in the top left corner is the 'Knocker' solenoid. It looks like your machine is using the drive circuit for it to operate a coin meter instead. I spy the matching connector for it in the picture, peeping from behind the edge of the display panel. The production line would connect that plug into the knocker or the meter socket as required. Assuming that you wish to use the knocker, separate the connector as it is and plug it into the wiring of the knocker. Be thankful the knocker is still present; it's the same assembly (bar a return spring) as the left outlane kick-back.

However, the driver circuit will still need to be set to use the knocker. The quickest way to do this is to establish 'usa' settings, which have it pre-set. If the cpu board had an 8-way switch unit instead of those White zero-ohm jumpers (in a row next to the ribbon cable at the l/h side) you could set usa easily by altering which switches were On*, but with jumpers it's awkward. I've heard that having more than one removed/cut (equivalent to switches being Off) also sets usa, but can't vouch for this. In any case, altering the pattern causes a complete reset of the machines' settings and totals, highest scores, etc.

I unpacked games of this age new, and used to set knocker use while installing works' pricing scheme. The specific adjustment for knocker or meter is in the Pricing Adjustments, A.3., though it may be hidden unless a 'Custom' scheme/door is selected. It's called "Coin Meter Units", and is at the very end of the A.3 adjustment items. For the u.k. production (which this machine seems to be) it'll be '0.10'. It has to be Off to use the knocker.

* as I recall, the usa pattern is all switches ON/all jumpers installed (one's missing on this board)
 
The Solenoid Test having a gap where the knocker ought to be is a sign of it being used for a meter drive. If the coin acceptor(s) is/are working, inserting coins should operate the knocker, as it's connected.

Thanks to @cmrl9. I thought I'd have to write all that again, or link to it.
 
Last edited:
Well after lots of fun and games fixing the traces I ruined snipping the jumpers off I got the game fully operational again.

In terms of the jumper settings I have just W13 and W14 in with the rest removed (so set to USA 2 I believe). This gives me the knocker option in the settings AND...

A whole bunch of new feature adjustments (34 to 51) that I don't remember being available when I was checking the adjustments when I first got the machine (to decrease the default HSTDs of course :)).

I am guessing these are unique to the 9.4H ROM. There's some interesting stuff in there including ""Muse and Pause OK" and "Litz cheat OK". Wonder if these features are only available when machine is set to USA 2 as I don't remember them being available before.
 
Should have ball save too, played mine for ages without. Much better with it on, you can also have the game paused with right flipper up and ball cradled with a button push. Tried it once and it works😂

Glad you sorted it👍
 
M4carp said:
Should have ball save too, played mine for ages without. Much better with it on, you can also have the game paused with right flipper up and ball cradled with a button push. Tried it once and it works😂

Glad you sorted it👍
Click to expand...
Cheers.

I also started the LITZ cheat by accident after holding down the Buy In button for 4 seconds. Scared me to death thought the switch matrix had gone wonky again 😊

Switched that feature off. Well it’s just cheating…
 
Andy B said:
Well after lots of fun and games fixing the traces I ruined snipping the jumpers off I got the game fully operational again.

In terms of the jumper settings I have just W13 and W14 in with the rest removed (so set to USA 2 I believe). This gives me the knocker option in the settings AND...

A whole bunch of new feature adjustments (34 to 51) that I don't remember being available when I was checking the adjustments when I first got the machine (to decrease the default HSTDs of course :)).

I am guessing these are unique to the 9.4H ROM. There's some interesting stuff in there including ""Muse and Pause OK" and "Litz cheat OK". Wonder if these features are only available when machine is set to USA 2 as I don't remember them being available before.
Click to expand...
Good stuff, love a proper knocker 👍
 
I think the LITZ cheat let’s you play LITZ but doesn’t award you the score. Good if you never get LITZ so you can see how good it is!
 
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