Pincoder Test ROMs

Custom ROMs for your Williams System 3-7 Pinball Machine

Pincoder Test ROMs

HEY THERE!

Welcome to the Pincoder website, where you can get Pincoder ROM images and the Pincoder Adapter (which comes preloaded with Pincoder ROM images) to test your Williams System 3-7 pinball machines.

This version supports the following Williams games:

  • System 7: Barracora, Black Knight, Cosmic Gunfight, Defender Pinball, Firepower II, Hyperball*, Joust Pinball, Jungle Lord, Laser Cue, Pharoah, Solar Fire, Time Fantasy, Varkon, Warlok
  • System 6a: Algar, Alien Poker
  • System 6: Tri Zone, Time Warp, Gorgar, Laser Ball, FirePower, Blackout, Scorpion
  • System 4: Pokerino, Phoenix, Flash, Stellar Wars
  • System 3: Hot Tip, Lucky Seven, World Cup, Contact, Disco Fever

NOTE: Support for Hyperball is now available in the latest beta version. Please download from the main menu.

DISCLAIMER

By downloading these ROM images, and/or installing them on your machine you assume all liability related to the use of these ROMs. I can not be held responsible for any damages arising from use, whether direct, indirect, or consequential.

These ROMs were developed with the intention of making it easier to troubleshoot hardware problems on Williams System 3-7 pinball machines. THEY WILL NOT WORK IN ANY OTHER GAMES.

WHAT DO I NEED TO USE THESE IMAGES?

Using these ROMs is pretty simple and you now have two choices:

  1. You can purchase the new Pincoder Adapter. This is the recommended option. The adapter comes with the Pincoder software already installed and is ready to go straight out of the box. You do not need to find and program any chips with this option as the adapter comes with a large enough chip to hold all of the pincoder images at once. You would only need a chip programmer if you would like upgrade the adapter itself when a new version of pincoder images become available.
  2. You can use a chip programmer, and at least one EEPROM chip to copy the ROM images to. Ideally, you’d have multiple chips, one for each ROM image, but you can get away with using just one. Finding compatible EEPROMs for your game is difficult, as they are no longer being produced. You also have to buy a chip programmer to write to the chips. If you are starting from scratch this is not the best option. For System 3-6a you will need a 2716 or 2816 EPROM chip. For System 7 you will need a 2532/2732 EPROM chip.

Diagnosing any problems will require the use of a logic probe, and a bit of familiarity of your machine. Schematics and the related documentation (ie lamp and switch matrix tables) for your machine are great for that! You might find schematics and original documentation for your game on arcade-museum.com

The current version includes “2K-adapter.bin” and “4K-adapter.bin” which are a concatenation of all test ROM images for a given system.

HOW DO I USE THESE ROM IMAGES?

These ROMs should be used in numerical order. The first ROM is very basic, and will show you if your CPU is working in the most basic capacity. ROMs that follow it are increasingly more sophisticated and utilize more of the circuitry on the CPU and Driver board, and thus allow you to diagnose problems with your entire machine.

To use one of these test ROM images:

  1. Power down your game and READ THE NOTES for each ROM ie: “01a-LEDs.txt”
  2. Remove IC17 and then ONE of the following:
    1. Pincoder Adapter users: Insert the Adapter into the IC17 socket (ensure jumpers and DIP switches are set for the test you want to run).
    2. Chip programmer users: Write the corresponding .bin file (ie: “01-LEDs.bin”) to an appropriate EEPROM and insert the new chip into the IC17 socket.
  3. You do not need to remove any other ROM chips.
  4. Power up your game and follow the instructions in the notes on how to use each ROM.

Along the way you will learn much about what your pinball machine is doing, and will be better able to isolate particular problems.

NOTE: Please see the README.txt file for the full instructions.

DISPLAY FLICKER – DONT PANIC!

The ROMs that use the DISPLAYs (Player 1 – Player 4 scores, Match, Credits) may flicker. Some ROMs more than others. This is NORMAL and is a product of how the ROMs were built. I may fix this in a future version, but for now they’ll still get the job done.

HOW DO I GO BACK TO PLAYING THE GAME?

Some of the tests require writing to the CMOS chip. When you are ready to go back to the GREEN 2 FLIPPER ROM, you can either:

  • Remove and replace the batteries on the motherboard, or
  • Install and run the “clear_cmos.bin” ROM – with the coin door open! Power this one up, wait a few seconds, and then power down. Proceed to install the GREEN 2 FLIPPER ROM and your game settings will be back to factory numbers. I prefer to use this option as it guarantees that all stored values in the CMOS chip are cleared out.

There is also “init_cmos.bin” which when run, will write valid (Gorgar or Black knight) settings into the CMOS chip. After running that for two seconds, power down and install your original GREEN 2 FLIPPER ROM and power up your game – it will go straight into Attract Mode. See the “init_cmos.txt” file for more information on what settings are different than factory. Note that non-gorgar machines may not have the same “game specific” user-changeable settings and so may not behave correctly with this ROM. I built this ROM for my Gorgar machine so I didn’t have to keep clearing the CMOS and powering on the defaults as I developed the rest of these ROMs.

SOFTWARE LICENSE

The Pincoder software (“software”) is trademarked and owned by Pincoder Diagnostics Inc. (“Pincoder”) and is provided for use at your own risk. By downloading, copying, distributing, and/or using this software you agree to be bound by the following license terms:

  1. Pincoder is not responsible for any damages arising from the use of this software, whether direct, indirect, or consequential.
  2. You may utilize, copy, and distribute this software free of charge provided the following conditions are met:
    • You may not charge a fee for copies of the software.
    • You may not charge a fee for distributing the software.
    • Copies that you make and/or distribute must be in their original and unmodifed form.
    • You must pass along information about how to obtain the latest version directly from Pincoder Diagnostics. Currently this is https://pincoder.ca
  3. You may charge your usual fee, if any, for utilizing the ROMs in the process of diagnosing your clients machine. You are under no obligation to pay Pincoder a royalty fee as long as all of the above conditions in (2) are met.
  4. The software is available only in compiled (“binary”) form. The source code is not available to the public.

QUESTIONS + COMMENTS

The official discussion thread for these ROMs can be found here: pinside.com. I check the site for new messages quite often so please post your technical questions and comments there.

If you’re a pinside member, you can also message me privately (@pincoder).

MAKE A DONATION (OPTIONAL)

The ROM images I’ve created are free to use. Creating and maintaining them is something I enjoy and I hope you find them useful. If you’d like to make a donation toward future developments that would be greatly appreciated, Thank you!