FAQ

Ultimate MPU Board

What are the part numbers that the Ultimate MPU Board is a direct compatible replacement for?

The part numbers compatible with the Ultimate MPU Board are listed here. Please understand there may be more that aren't listed, so if you have any questions feel free to ask. This is our up-to-date compiled list. Also, if you see the name of the game on the MPU Board product page list, it will work.

AS-2518-17	AS-2518-35	AS-2518-133
MPU-100	MPU-200	AS-3241-1
AS-3241-2	A084-91638-AB42	A084-19494-A371
A084-19494-A000	A084-91624-AA17	A084-91624-A000
A084-91624-A391	A084-91624-AA44	A084-91624-A390
A084-91638-AA40	A084-91494-A369	AS-2887-1
AS-2887-2	AS-2887-3	AS-2887-4
AS-2887-5	AS-2887-6	AS-2887-7
AS-2887-8	AS-2887-9	AS-2962-1
AS-2962-2	AS-2962-3	AS-2962-4
AS-2962-5	AS-2962-6	AS-2962-7
AS-2962-8	AS-2962-9	AS-2962-10
AS-2962-11	AS-2962-12	AS-2962-13
AS-2962-14	AS-2962-15	AS-2962-16
AS-2962-17	AS-2962-18	AS-2962-19
AS-2962-20	AS-2962-21	AS-2962-22
AS-2962-23	AS-2962-24	AS-2962-25
AS-2962-26	AS-2962-27	AS-2962-28
AS-2962-29	AS-2962-30	AS-2962-31
AS-2962-32	AS-2962-33	AS-2962-34
AS-2962-35	AS-2962-36	AS-2962-37
AS-2962-38	AS-2517-35

What is the purpose of The Ultimate MPU Board? Is The Ultimate MPU a direct replacement for the original?

We set out to make The Ultimate MPU Board fit several needs. Our first goal was to produce a MPU board that could handle all the different versions of MPU series boards (yes, a direct replacement) that both Bally and Stern manufactured between 1975 and 1984. Another important goal was for all the games, including free play Bally versions to be installed on one board eliminating EPROM changing. We wanted the new MPU board to have a dipswitch for easy switching between the different games and to eliminate any complicated jumper system. Just think every older game built into one chip on one board.

An additional goal was to make a board that would satisfy the replacement needs of both operators and homeowners/collectors. The consideration for the operator is that they need a MPU board that is rugged enough to run 24/7. The need for the homeowner/collector is a board that can be easily installed and set up and then can be used for years to come without concern. How else could we offer a lifetime warranty no matter if you’re using our board for business or pleasure. And that’s on top of the dozen other improvements like no batteries, overvoltage protection, LED diagnostics, and lots more. Take a look at our products page for more details on each and every feature.

Finally, one of our goals was pricing. Make a board that can sell for under $200 with all of the features that no other product offers.

We believe that we have accomplished all the above goals.

How do I mount the Ultimate MPU Board? Why is the board half the size of the original board?

The size of the original board was based upon mid 70's manufacturing techniques and then available components. We chose to make the board as small as possible without requiring any modifications for mounting. The mounting rails have 6 holes, one in each corner and 2 in the middle. What we chose to do was use the lower four holes. The existing cables reach without any strain. Please notice that there are 3 plastic stubs and one screw. Please don't try and put screws in place of the plastic stubs. This could cause a short to some traces. If you need to replace your mounting hardware we sell that on our products page.

Why did you use a Programmable Logic Device Chip (PLD)?

By using a PLD chip, we could make the switching of different games as easy as using a dipswitch. This will allow anyone that is not comfortable with electronics to be able to change to any one of over 90 preprogrammed different games plus free play. The PLD contains complex logic that eliminates the need for jumpers and reduces the overall component count. Better yet, no more changing of jumpers or unsoldering wires to change a MPU board from one game to another. Plug and Play at its best.

Why do you provide a selectable clock speed jumper?

This jumper will allow you to switch from a 500 kHz clock rate to a 1 MHz clock rate that is used only for the Stern's MPU 200 series. So, you only need to move the clock speed jumpers to the left if you're going to be using the new Ultimate MPU in place of a Stern MPU 200 board.

This is the setting for just about all of the installed games. All of the Bally and the Stern MPU 100's games should have the jumpers set to the right.

This is the jumper setting for just the Stern MPU 200's. If you have a Stern MPU 200 game selected you will move the jumpers to the left.

How do you plan on documenting/supporting your products?

We feel very strongly about making this an open product. That is why we have posted on this website the schematics, board layouts, manuals and pictures of our products, free of charge. We will continue to update our documentation and support as needed. As for support, you can contact us by either phone or email. We understand that you might have other questions about your game even after purchasing our boards. We pride ourselves on having the best after product support and warranty.

How do you switch to free play mode for Bally games?

This is accomplished with 2 steps. For simplicity, the free play mode is the same as the regular mode except SW1 (leftmost) on the Game Select dip switch goes up or on. Once the free play mode is enabled, turning off the credit display feature will activate this feature. See our specific game manual to find which of the 32 feature switches is used to turn off the credit display. Use the following steps:

Step 1 – To put your Bally game into free play mode put Switch 1 up on Game Select Switch.

Step 2 – Use the game select dipswitch to pick your game remembering to leave switch 1 on.

Remember the free play setting only works for Bally game.

This example is set for Free Play Mode for the game "Freedom".

Step 3 – Grab your game manual and find the section that talks about setting your feature switches. Find out what switch is used to turn off the credit display. It's different on each game but generally either 16, 20, or 27.

(Notice the switches are read 1 to 32, with 1 being at the bottom)

How do you switch to on-board diagnostics so you can use the Ultimate MPU Test Card?

On-board diagnostics are enabled when the SW1 and SW2 of the Game Select dip switch are on or in the up position. This will allow you to use the features of the Ultimate MPU Test Card. Then consult the Ultimate MPU Test Card manual for instructions on running the different test.

Remember if you didn't purchase The Ultimate MPU Test Card you still have the built in self-test diagnostics using the push button on the door or the switch built into the new MPU board

Will the Ultimate MPU work with a "Baby Pac-Man" or "Granny and the Gators"?

YES, these games used a -133 MPU board. In these games the zero-crossing signal is derived from the GI buss rather than the solenoid bus. The Ultimate MPU works with both versions automatically making it universal.

What is a correct Self-Test light sequence look like?

When you turn on the game the Self-Test light will flash twice, than you will see a pause, and then it will finish up with 6 more flashes, at which point the self-test light will remain on but very dim.

Just a note, Baby Pacman has a little bit of a different Self-Test sequence.

How do I do a Memory Clear function and why?

Here are several reasons to do a memory clear. This is a software routine that we wrote to completely clear out any bad data recorded in the memory registers. So when do you want to do a memory clear; if you have some strange things going on with the displays, switches, or even the solenoids. Easy to do and quick

Step 1: Put the game select switch as shown and then turn on the game. After about 2 secs everything is erased including your bookkeeping scores.

Step 2: Reprogram the game select switch to your desired game including free play.

Step 3: Reprogram your bookkeeping high scores and in some cases sound settings.

Is there free play for the Stern games?

No, at this time we don't have free play settings for Stern games.

Where are the Test Points on the Ultimate MPU Board?

The test points are located in the lower left corner of the board.

What is the correct way to test the +5vdc on the Ultimate MPU board?

When you need to measure the voltage on the Ultimate MPU Board you have some very useful test points that make this very easy to accomplish. TP1 (5v IN) is for the red lead, positive voltage. TP3 (Gnd) is for the black lead or ground. Notice in the picture below not to use the ground strap for the black lead. The reason for this is if your ground is bad on your MPU connector you won't catch it if you use the ground strap. Any 5v reading of 4.85vdc or less is something that needs to be repaired.

One other thing to check while you are doing this test is to check your AC voltage leakage. What can happen on the old original Solenoid Driver boards is the main capacitor or the regulator can go bad. Keeping the leads of your voltmeter on the same test points that you just measured, switch your meter to AC mode. If that voltage is over 100mv AC then consider replacing the Solenoid Driver board

How do you set the 32 Feature Switches?

The feature switches on the old MPU are the same as the switches on the Ultimate MPU Board. If you have your old board you can make them the same if you don't plan on making any changes. The numbers read from 1 to 32 from bottom to top. You can see that there are numbers on the right side of the 4 dipswitches for your convenience.

I want to replace my old MPU board with the Ultimate MPU board. Do I need to tell you want game this board is being installed in?

NO, you don't need to worry about that ever again when you purchase the Ultimate MPU Board. As long as your game is on the list of supporting games every game on that list is already programmed into your board. You will never need to purchase new programing chips, have to wait for them to show up, and then have to install them.

What does the overvoltage protection circuit do on the Ultimate MPU Board?

The overvoltage protection circuit keeps watch of the +5vdc at all times. If something goes wrong or you have a voltage spike the circuit will protect the microprocessor and support chips from being damaged. Once this circuit turns on you must turn the game off and then on to reset it. If it continues you need to do some more troubleshooting to figure out what is causing the fault.

What you want to do is check the +5vdc test point. See the FAQ on “What is the correct way to test the +5vdc on the Ultimate MPU bord”.

Other things about this circuit are if the +5vdc is too low or there is a high amount of AC voltage leakage from the original Solenoid Driver board. Another possibility is the +12vdc is missing on the MPU board which comes in to J4 pin 12.

What games will the Ultimate MPU Board work in?

Works in the Following Bally Games:

Baby Pac
Black Jack
Black Pyramid
BMX
Centaur
Centaur II
Cybernaut
Dolly Parton
Eight Ball
Eight Ball Deluxe
Eight Ball Deluxe Ltd
Elektra
Embryon
Evil Knievel
Fathom
Fireball II
Fireball Classic
Flash Gordon
Freedom

Frontier
Future Spa
Gold Ball
Grand Slam
Granny and the Gators
Harlem Globe Trotters
Hotdoggin
Kiss
Kings of Steel
Lost World
Mata Hari
Medusa
Mr. & Ms Pacman
Mystic
Night Rider
Nitro Ground Shaker
Paragon
Playboy

Power Play
Rapid Fire
Rolling Stone
Silverball Mania
Six Million Dollar Man
Skate Ball
Space Invaders
Speakeasy 2 & 4 Player
Spectrum
Spy Hunter
Star Trek
Strikes and Spares
Super Sonic
Vector
Viking
Voltan
X's and O's
Xenon

Works in the Following Stern Games:

Ali
Big Game
Catacomb
Cheetah
Cosmic Princess
Dracula
Dragonfist
Flight 2000
Freefall
Galaxy
Hot Hand

Iron Maiden
Lazer Lord
Lectrnamo
Lightning
Magic
Memory Lane
Meteor
Nine Ball
Nugent
Orbitor 1

Pinball
Quicksilver
Seawitch
Split Second
Star Gazer
Stars
Stingray
Trident
Viper
Wild Fyre

Works in the Following Other Games:

Black Sheep Squadron
New Fathom
New Vector

Sexy Girl
Big Ball Bowling
Big Bat Baseball

Black Beauty Shuffle
Genesis Puck Bowler

How do I wire up the J5 connector to the sound board?

The best way to wire up the Stern Sound Board to the J5 connector is find pin 1 of the connector on the sound board and plug that into Pin 1 of the MPU board. Than repeat this process for the next connector which will be pin 17 to pin 17 on the MPU board. When your completed, you will have 2 spare pins on the far left on J5 MPU board which are used on some very rare games.

LED/Lamp Driver Board

Will the Lamp/LED Driver Board work with both LED's and #44/47 bulbs meaning a mixture of both?

Yes, you can use a combination of LED's or old style filament bulbs. Just remember if your using any LED's you will need to connect the jumper wire.

Will the Lamp/LED Driver Board solve my Flicker problem because I'm using LED's?

Yes, that's the main reason people purchase the board is to solve the flicker issue. Another issue that the board resolves is if the LED's are not turning off.

How do I attach the jumper wire for the LED/Lamp Driver or Aux Lamp Driver Boards? And why do I need this wire connected?

First off you only need to connect the jumper wire if you are planning on using LED bulbs. If you're not switching over to LED bulbs just put the jumper wire to the side for future use and install the new board.

If you are going to use LED's, the reason you need to use the jumper wire is the SCR's have a higher turn on voltage because they were designed to work with the older filament light bulbs. LED's have a very low turn on voltage which can make the LED's look like there flickering or staying on if used on an older style lamp driver board. Your new board and the jumper will fix this issue.

You want to identify a control lamp on the back box. The easiest way is to put the game into self-test mode. Make sure your lamp driver board is connected up and turn on the game. Go ahead and push the self-test button. Just push the button once. The lamps should start flashing on and off. Identify one of the lamps on the back box that's flashing on and off. This is a control lamp. Now that you have identified a control lamp you now need to attach the bare end of the jumper wire. Turn the game off again.

So looking at the lamp socket that you have identified, it should look something like the picture below. Look for a fat solid color wire and a smaller striped wire. Take the wire that you just installed on TP13 on the LED/Lamp Driver Board and let's attach the other end of the wire which has already been stripped for your convenience. Wrap the bare wire around the braided wire that is attached to the fatter solid wire side. Now that you have the one side attached to the braided wire go ahead at this time and insert the terminal side of the jumper wire on TP13. You're done.

What games will the LED/Lamp Driver Board work in?