BB3 issues with setting up

[ThirdGenAmusement]

I got a blade that has a weird issue.  The machine clears fine.  I put the operating system and game game cards in with the dongle, power on.  It starts to load the game sometimes making it to the point where I can start to set up the game settings.  Without rhyme or reason, call attendant pops but and I can't get rid of it.  During the loading of the game if it pops up the window in the main screen pretty much scrolls the same error. It'll list if I open the door or press the attendant button but will continue scrolling the same error. 

When I can begin setting up the game the screen will flicker then call attendant pops up.  In this scenario, the machine becomes unresponsive. 

Batteries are good. I've reseated the CPU a few times. Anyone have this happen? Pictures attached.  Top picture is the call attendant popping up while game is loading.  The bottom picture is when it happens as I'm trying to set the game up.

[idesign]

What game is this and have you tried a different game?

[ThirdGenAmusement]

So far I've tried 3 factory game sets.  Life of luxury, reel rainbows and Willy Wonka.  The machine is running a 3.2.  I'm wondering if it could be a power supply issue.  I've read these cpu's had video cards that were recalled but I don't think this is a video card issue.  I appreciate act ideas.

[ThirdGenAmusement]

I did try to reload a game this morning and made it through the set up process. I was just about to insert money to play and the screens 'blipped' and Call Attendant pops up.  At this point there is no response from opening and closing doors or pushing the service switch.  Picture attached.  I powered down the machine and restarted to see if it would load and play but it failed after connecting to game manager.  In the box in the main screen the only thing that registers and shows up in the box is when I press the service button.  No response from door switches.  At this point it seems like I have to clear and reload again.   

[sccarlso]

Might be a longshot, but on the green label of your video card, is it an AMD RAD E6760 or an E4690?  The NXT 3.2 CPU can run either one.

if you have an E4690 video card in your 3.2 CPU and not the E6760 video card, that could be the issue.  Wonka for example loaded and ran flawlessly for me on an NXT 3.2 CPU in BB2E machine that had an E6760 video card in it.  Gamefield xD machines which use the same NXT 3.2 CPU and backplane, but they require the older E4690 video card in the CPU for the games to load and run properly.  Big 32" touchscreen on them and a different touch controller in them than a BB3/Blade machine.

But it's "possible" that your 3.2 CPU might have an E4690 video card in it, perhaps it came from a different donor cabinet?  Pretty sure I recall older posts on NLG about many BB3/Blade games not loading properly, really odd behavior, unless they have the E6760 video card in them.  But the NXT 3.2 CPU's out there can come from different donor cabinets, and will run with either.  But specific game compatibility isn't a guarantee.  So there might be game compatibility issues with BB3/Blade machines if they have an E4690 video card in them.

I had error messages similar to the ones in your screenshot after converting mine to a Gamefield as the CPU had the E6760 video card so Wonka and other BB3/Blade games loaded/ran just fine, but it wouldn't load Gamefield titles after I converted my machine with a Gamefield touchscreen.  It would fail to load with somewhat similar errors that you're seeing, until I replaced the video card with an E4690 that Gamefield game titles require which completely fixed the problem.

Have a look if you don't know already.  It's a big guess, but if it has an E4690 video card in it, that just might be the issue.  But if an E6760 is in there, I know that card works fine with Wonka and other BB3/Blade titles so that won't be the problem.  But I can't say it also loads/runs Wonka properly if it has an E4690 video card in it.  Worth checking if you haven't already.  The behavior you report isn't what the video card recall was due to.  Which was only on E4690 video cards.  E6760's had no recall that I'm aware of.

[ThirdGenAmusement]

Thank you Scott.  I'll check into the video card later today.  I'm getting the idea it may be the video card.  If not then potentially a power problem.  It's strange it'll sometimes fail to load not long after the connecting to game manager pops on the screen when loading the game and then will allow me to set the game up to the point I had to grab my wallet to grab money to put in the machine.  I almost had it in the bv when the screen 'blipped' and the call attendant popped up.   

I've only tried to load Wonka once.  Most other times I've been trying to load Reel Rainbows. 

I'll report back once I confirm which video card it's running.

[sccarlso]

Would be good if it does have an E4690 card.  That would certainly be something different than most BB3/Blade machines.  The NXT2 and NXT 3.2 CPU's in BB2/BB3's are generally pretty reliable.

Almost positive I got error messages just like that when loading a Gamefield game that didn't like the video card.  And since the NXT 3.2 was put in several cabinet variants.  When a machine is restored, or refurbished by slot parts/refurb shops for resale, it's not unheard of when repairing a machine where the CPU box is dead and it's an NXT 3.2, to just take a working/tested NXT 3.2 CPU from "the pile" of working CPU boxes from stripped machines, and putting it in without looking at the video card model.  Or not even being aware that it matters.

When it happened to me, it made no sense, and no mention of anything about the video card or anything in the error messages like yours.  Sometimes it would get to the game manager and setup screen, sometimes not.  But I was doing a pretty big conversion by changing the cabinet ID and replacing both screens with the big Gamefield screens.  So I had to look at lots of different things it "could" be.   Spent weeks troubleshooting and trying all sorts of goofy things.   

Then I just happened to find a doc that clearly specified that Gamefield machines had an E4690 card.   Luckily I found one for a reasonable price. 

I got it from Ellary Gaming which also explains that this can totally happen.   I called looking for one and they were just about to ship out a half dozen working NXT 3.2 CPU's.   So I asked if any of them had an E4690 video card in them.  He took at look and said, ya, there's one here!  The rest all have E6760's in them.  I can sell you the E4690 card out of this one, and I'll just put a E6760 to replace it since I'm shipping them out and they'll all have the same video card.

So it could have happened right there.  If they had shipped those 3.2's out and all but one had E6760 video cards.  That one with the E4690 might have not worked like the others.  Maybe that one CPU could have been stripped from a Gamefield machine?  But they are all 3.2 boxes and look the same otherwise.  So if you strip lots of machines, really can't say NXT 3.2 CPU's are all the same when there's two possible video cards that can be in them.  It's just not as common to get NXT 3.2's with the E4690 card.

Got the card a few days later.  Easy to remove and replace in like 5 mins.  Did a clear, and the Gamefield title loaded up the first time with none of those errors and has been working great since.

A stretch guess, but it seems logical.  After I replaced mine with the E4690 and it fixed the problem, it was already Gamefield converted, so I had no reason to load non Gamefield titles on it.   If I had a reason to do that, I'd be able to tell you for sure if that caused problems loading BB3/Blade games like Wonka with the E4690 card.

If by chance your CPU does have an E6760, it could still be the video card at fault.  Since my issues were all due to the video card, but the errors seen were exactly like that which didn't really point to the video card as the true issue at all, and the other odd behavior was similar as well.  If it is an E6760 in there, you said you reseated the CPU, but if you didn't reseat the video card, I'd certainly do that.  Just because it's easy, and one pin not making good contact can do pretty strange things.  The OS is linux based, so I'm pretty sure those PID messages are the machine basically crashing.  Just not crashing hard enough to cause it to reboot.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out.  If you have a local slot shop, and they had an E6760 card they'd probably let ya borrow it just to test.  But there aren't a lot of retail slot shops around you can just walk into.  I'm lucky to have one locally!   Good luck!

[idesign]

So what messages appear on the blue when you turn the reset key?

[ThirdGenAmusement]

So the video card in my 3.2 is a 4690.  I can see how to remove it and clean all the connectors which I plan to do.  The mpu looks like its held in by 6 screws.  Is this correct?  Usually with igt brain boxes I will remove all the heat sinks, clean then reapply some heat sink paste.  I would assume that would be between the mpu  and the heat sink once I remove the screws?

As far as the 4690, I am aware of recalls.  Is there a series known to be recalled?  It would be my luck this is one lol. Though I think Scott mentioned the issues i am having isn't part of the issues related to the recall. 

idesign: I didn't know using that key would further the explanation of the error.  I will try that when I reinstall the cpu and give it another whirl.  Thank you for mentioning that!

[ThirdGenAmusement]

So I took the CPU apart and cleaned everything including the edge connectors on the video card and ram.  Put it back together.  It cleared fine and loaded the game.  I was about half through set up and the screen blipped again and call attendant popped up.  I turned the attendant key and took a picture of what the screen displayed.  It's attached. 

[idesign]

OK, so look like the SSD is failing in the CPU.  Replace it and I bet it will be fine.  The SSD is located behind that bar under where the cards are inserted

[ThirdGenAmusement]

That would be great!  Ok.  I'll give that a whirl.  Is that what the drm is?  I was just googling that lol. 

Any parameters I need to stay within when buying another SSD?  I may run to best buy and grab one.  I want to see this thing run! 

[sccarlso]

Almost any 2.5 SSD will work.  But the smaller ones like 128GB can cost more than a 256GB one just since there's a lot less demand for those small SSD's.

So even if you end up getting one that's larger, if it's cheaper, works just as well. 

I have used these Kingston 240GB ones on all my AVP's and WMS machines without issue for years.   

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5IB20Q

The price has creeped up, used to be about $22, likely dang tariffs.

But they work great, and usually ship same day if you're in a large city.   If they're on sale for a good price I snag a few if I don't have any on hand.   

[ThirdGenAmusement]

Thank you!  I do actually have a 2.5 SSD on hand.  I use them in the AVP also.  It's on the left. The one that was on the machine is on the right.  Do you use a sata extender with the 2.5 SSD?  I've seen this mentioned in some of the posts I came across.  At least the SSD I have on hand won't fit as is.  Also, just connecting it to the connector on the board. If it would fit. Would not allow me to use the hinged door.  So using a SSD extended cable must be how I need to connect this?

I do appreciate you and Idesigns help!

[sccarlso]

A short 2.5 SATA extension cable will work.   Just ensure it's male on one end and female on the other.     And ensure the ends aren't too wide to connect to the board's SSD connector.  They're usually smaller than the width of a 2.5 SSD, but the original SSD in there is very narrow.  Don't want to find out something blocks you from conneting a short extension cable to the board itself.

When things don't fit perfectly, I usually use adhesive 1" velcro squares as it's light if there's a flat surface it can be stuck to just to hold the SSD in place somewhere.  If the extension is a little longer, you might be able to velcro stick it to the inside of the CPU door if there's enough space.

[ThirdGenAmusement]

Just ordered the extension.  I bought the 22 pin style.  Looks like it should fit. 

https://a.co/d/1YswB54

I'll report back once the cable arrives and I'm able to get this reassembled.

You guys rock! 

[idesign]

BTW, the error could be RAM too but most likely the SSD.

[ThirdGenAmusement]

I found an extension that will be here tomorrow so we should know soon if it was the hd or if it's the ram.  With any luck it was just the hard drive.  I'm really happy it wasn't the video card!  Hopefully I didn't just jinx it lol.

[Pinaddicted]

You could also split open the case on your 2.5 and extract the half slim inside.

[ThirdGenAmusement]

You could also split open the case on your 2.5 and extract the half slim inside.

I was wondering about that.   I have a few bad ones I could use to see what is the safest way to open them.  Thank you!