Stuff happens. Same thing happened to my GB nib... PB will help you out..

I'm sure its been asked but be great to know some thoughts on limited vs ripley in terms of cost/benefit plus reliability of parts

should be better imo.. they know the issues from the previous runs.. shouldn't be using cheaper stuff on any game

I think you'll find it's still pretty much all the same and little difference in part or build quality.
For PB it's still a priority of getting the machines built, getting the money and them getting them out there.
Then worry about issues afterwards and try and offer good support to counter this.

Good to know

At this stage as well the limited is 3k more than the ripley, makes it a tough sell

Question.

To update to code 4.1.1 I also need to update the firmware to 0.72, correct?

Do you need to update the firmware before updating the code?

And the firmware update is really only 95.5KB?

Thanks in advance.

Agree

Code then firmware.

was 4.11.1 and .72 found to be stable? I thought people were having issues with it. Been patiently waiting for the followup version.

The only problem I've found with it is that it is missing some features that are specifically mentioned in the change log. Otherwise, it is fine.

There was enough shaky reports early on that i have not upgraded yet.

Tilt stuck closed - cabinet sw. disabled, check connection messages on boot.

I opened up the cabinet board to find this. I wish it was easy to find the marking code for that part. (U7)

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Or any schematics for that matter.

You don't need schematics. Look at the other 2 adjacent circuits, they're all using identical parts, so you can reasonably assume U7 is the same part as U6 and U8.

Just became a new member.

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As i said, that marking isn't easy to find. After looking up many FZY parts, none of them match the marking convention of this part. I could dig through the FZ markings, but that's a much bigger list.
I'll just need to get the part number from them.

Would I be correct in assuming that this is not a new machine? If it is, then I would get in touch with PB support; they would take care of it right away (I'd tell them about it even if it isn't a new machine anyway; they still might help you out).

I have reached out, but as a second owner the support level isn't great, the resolution will likely be to buy a new board at a discount. Hopefully I can get the part number though.

I just found a big hole in U9 as well.

Looking further into it, a mini fit crimp was under the board when I removed it. I see a scorch mark on pin 1 of the J1 shaker connector, so it looks the shaker power shorted to the U9 microcontroller.

Looking at this list, we see some with FZY markings, and then it's a matter of narrowing it down by package type. Looks like SOT-25 to me, so you have two possibilities.

If you google those part numbers and look at the data sheets, you can see that the last marking, M, just represents the lot number so it's not significant in determining the purpose or spec of the part. Otherwise, the two SOT-25 parts appear to be identical in spec.

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Yeah, thanks. I was looking at it last night and missed that. It should be a XC6122C528 or IXD5122C528

Poor little feller

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THAT RIGHT THERE may be much more of a problem. That's an ARM Cortex M0 MCU, and depending on how PBros use it, could come with code pre-loaded in flash.

You could replace it, but then still be out of luck because it doesn't have the necessary firmware loaded.

Oh! Good point!

I was just going to pull one from some old PF boards of theirs. I guess that might not work...

Well, hopefully if I can't repair it, I can at least get a discount on a new board as I operate the game in public.

Here's a shocker... Two weeks since PB told me it would be one to two weeks for my topper to ship and nothing.

I don't mind waiting, I get it some things take time. What I don't like is they sent us all invoices to be paid by cash, bank transfer whatever, no protection by using a credit card and the promise of delivery in two weeks and nothing but crickets since then. They should have waited to collect the final balance and I doubt anyone would be upset at that.

I got the 1-2 weeks e-mail today and then 2-3 days to ship out locally. Strangely enough I got contacted to pay for my Stranger Things Lab Mod that I didn't expect to get until end of summer today.

My apron also looked torn/chipped/jagged along the edges. It was particularly noticeable along the top, left and right sides of the decal and was worst in the top center. To me, it looked like the tool used to cut the decal wasn't sharp so it tore instead of cutting cleanly. The picture of the decal at www.pbusasales.com shows smooth edges/cuts.

I contacted PB support and they sent me a brand new decal. It has crisp edges and does not look weathered. PB support for the win!

I think that is a MCP1416T mosfet driver

A driver would make far more sense looking at the circuit, thanks!

I'll have to wait for support anyway. Hopefully I won't have to just buy a new board.

PB Beacon kit finally arrived!

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Have any pictures of the connector? For uh, science?

I didn’t know they were using off the shelf beacons and thought maybe they had done something proprietary. We offer very similar beacons for a lot less, plug and play.

My mini flasher kit has been lost somewhere in a local post office for the past 4 days

LED beacons just don't compare to real rotating beacons.

http://www.jkcosta.net/videos/Alien_Topper_Beacons.mp4

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I just received my shipping confirmation for the flasher kit, the Xeno head and the screen cover. Looks like they are making progress. I ordered about two months ago.

They're cool for sure, but I like having mine on in attract mode and the noise is a no-go for me. I'll say the LED ones used by PB look just find compared to the real rotating beacon on my TNA next to it. I needed the low profile due to ceiling height anyway so I didn't have a choice myself.

One thing's for sure, none of us who has ever worked under beacons all shift, all week has ever had a discussion about which beacon is cooler.

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Can someone please help me understand a couple of scoring questions before I reach out to PB for help?

First scoring question: Where does the egg count shown in the champion high scores come from and how does it relate to hitting the egg bumpers?

I know that hitting the egg bumpers repeatedly builds a score of "destroyed" eggs. During those egg hits, I can catch glimpses of a destroyed egg count on the screen. I've seen this count get as high as 15 or more.

What's confusing me are the champion high scores. For some reason, my Destroyed Egg count is displayed as 4 and I can't understand where this count comes from and how to increase it.

Second scoring question: When do the Weapons Icons on the score screen get lit? I have collected all of the available weapons during numerous games but I have yet to see any of the weapons icons light up.

TIA for any help.

I’ll snap a pic for ya once I install the mini beacon playfield kit! They just splice it into a molex connector that connects by the tilt bob, doesn’t seem like anything crazy at all….

I was pretty surprised to get some AliExpress beacons. At least take them out of the box before you ship them!

Ya, that irked me a little too. Obviously they re-wired them but at least make me feel like I’m not overpaying by 5x.

not a good practice or policy in my opinion.. my game had the hypersleep lock issue right out of the box.. they asked for videos, i sent them.. asked for more videos, i sent them.. wound up digging in and figuring out everything myself.. game is a ripleys and built 1 month ago.. the hypersleep has been an major issue for many years i believe and i thought by now it would have been revamped and fixed, guess i was wrong in that assumption.. kinda sad.

Yes, it is sad but true.
I've done the video stuff too but all to no avail.
I have also done much digging and figuring out for myself out of necessity.
PB should give me a QA job there as I've learnt so much due their lack of good QA.
I would at the very least teach them how to solder properly. Had another flipper solenoid wire drop off last night in the middle of a great game. (I resolded it while in game as didn't want to lose the score, LOL).

I just joined the Aliens LE club yesterday and wow this pin is blowing me away after only having a few chances to play it at shows and barely being able to hear it. Question on updating firmware - Is the USB connector inside the cabinet about a quarter of the way back on the left where there's a board there? Also my pin is currently on 3.2 firmware from July 2023 I believe, so what's the process of downloading the 4.1.1 latest code and installing? Thanks.

This should have most of your answers. USB inserts behind translite. Don't forget to update the firmware also! Separate download for the firmware.

Game Code here:

https://pinballbrothers.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/80001131820-alien-delta-game-update-4-1-1

Firmware here:

https://pinballbrothers.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/80001131843-firmware-update-0-72

Is there any kind of user/service manual that can be printed out?

I opened a ticket maybe 2 weeks ago, the link for the service manual is DOA. I just got a response that its unavailable ATM and my question would be forwarded to the tech team.

Kinda strange its not available at all....

I'm not aware there's ever been a service manual.

Making a certain number of pop bumpers destroys 1 egg. That counts as 1 towards the total. Then it takes a few more pops to destroy the next egg, and so on. The screen is telling you how many pops are needed in order to advance the total by 1 more.

Second scoring question: When do the Weapons Icons on the score screen get lit?

The screen icons should match the playfield inserts, telling you which weapons are available to use. You light a weapon by either collecting our 5 standups, from a mystery award, or winning a movie scene. Hit the launch button to use your currently selected weapon (if you have multiple lit at once - the flippers will change it), then it will be cleared.

Thanks any issues with .72 and the 4.1.1 that I should be aware of? I see I’m currently on .71. Also I think I read a post earlier in this thread that you have to update the firmware first and then the game code is that correct?