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Dr Pinball dmd extender software

BigIan

BigIan

Registered
10 Years
Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
4,515
Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland
ok

I bought a dmd extender with apron screen from a forum member a week or so ago. I've reconfigured the os to use the hdmi/Devi port rather than the component output for the apron screen.

I'm having some issues with it which I've got the point where I think the software is maybe corrupt on the memory card. I can read it in my PC but I don't think it's booting in the pi
So basically has anyone rebuilt the software on the memory card or know how to do it ? Does it need a boot partition etc or does it just read the so from a fat/nt format etc

I'm fairly sure there is a problem with the sd card as I'm getting no image on a computer monitor connected to the pi with the dmd extender plugged into it and all the cables etc plugged in. If I plug an 8gb sd card into the pi that has pi is on it the monitor displays ok, but if i switch off and replace the sd card with the dr pinball one and reboot nothing appears on the screen, although it does react to the pi being switched on and off so it's getting some sort of signal.

I'm having other problems with the lcd (laptop screen as replacement dmd) but I'll get to that once I have an output from the dr pinball os on the pi.

It's not going well tonight, I started with a flaky but working large sega dmd and a basically working led screen as a replacement dmd (working as in it lit up but no picture as yet) I now have a dmd with a crack the full length of it which does nothing now and a lcd that might be bust due to us faffing about with it and plugging the controller in the wrong way around
 
I had the same problem when replaced the DMD for LCD in my Frankenstein.

But it just started working after I put new earth wires to the Dmd and surrounding areas.
 
I have been trying to contact him regarding the Lcd controller he recommends for replacing large dmds as it does not appear to be available any more. l have asked if an alternative is available but this was several months ago now.he did answer my original enquiry about an extender and said these were still available though.
 
Arv said:
I had the same problem when replaced the DMD for LCD in my Frankenstein.

But it just started working after I put new earth wires to the Dmd and surrounding areas.
Click to expand...

We did try connecting all the units together from an earthing point of view to see if it was a potential difference, but no change.
I was kinda peed of by that stage though as the dmd had just cracked and stopped working so maybe when i get another look at it over the weekend ill re earth them all, probably doesnt help that im powering everything from plug psus rather than the pin to ensure voltages are high enough (was getting low readings for 5v on pin)

I must construct an email to Dr Pinball, the fact im getting no output on a monitor with his os but am with pi os suggests corruption or probblems, there is part of the sd card damaged also which doesnt help
 
Do you not even get the Dr Pinball logo? Maybe you should trash the config on the SD with the tool and put some default values in?

It might be setup for a different monitor and its causing your monitor to go out of bounds so to speak.
 
Ian, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with it :(, it was working fine running the apron screen.

I did upgrade the software once, after contacting David (Dr. Pinball), so I could change the background image. If it's any help I still have the email with the link to the software, version 0.10.1.

I'm not too hot on computer stuff, but I will help if I can.
 
Not your fault Mark, but yes a link to the software is what im after, i damaged the sd card (wee bit broke off) so i was looking to put it on another one to be sure

If you could pm or email me the link that would be great.
Cheers
Ian
Still feeling like a numpty after breaking everything last night
 
Ok, will do. I don't think you can use another SD card though, David told me they are encrypted or something so can't be copied, will only work on the original card sold.
 
or it could be tied to the device id of the card it was supplied on. I work with a product licensed like this right pain the *ss.
 
Its probably the formating of the card. I will try winimage over the weekend cheers

Must check i have a 2gb card now... the pi os one is a 8gb and i have a few 32gb ones from my camera
Cheers for the link Arv, i thought it must be on his site somewhere but couldnt find it

Oh an no not even the dr pinball logo when using a monitor with hdmi-dvi cable

Astyy Dr pinball doesnt supply the pi so it wornt be that, thanks though
 
Download link was taken down a few years ago, maybe due to bandwidth?
 
Ok I got an image of the software and wrote it to a 8gb card (the 4gb ones say they are to small) using win32 disk imager

Now the unit boots up with the Dr Pinball logo but displays the following error message
config0004 - unknown parameter name
caller : 0x0000B424

looking in the manual it says in Appendix B

config0004 - unknown parameter name. = The parameter name is not recognised as a valid parameter

I've tried running the dmdExtConfig and tried loads of different settings but still get this error message. I can rotate the image 180 degrees and i get the error message upside down but still get it

Any ideas ?

I emailed Dr pinball a couple of weeks ago but have not received an answer as yet. Might send him this message as my first one was about creating an image of the faulty sd card...
 
Hi guys - would be interested in an update on this thread. I tried to update the software on one of my extenders by formatting the old sd card, and dragging the updated software off a newer version onto the old card. It doesn't work now at all.

I've got 5 of these running in my sega games, and I could do with getting this back up and running, otherwise it's £90 down the drain :(
 
Hi Jamie

do you have the product keys still for the one you formatted ? that's the four 8 digit numbers in the four boxes when you run the dmdextender configurator on the sd card in a computer.

the smudged out bit below (dont know why they smudged them out)
www.subaudio.org_flipjuke_maverick_DMDExtender_DMD03.jpg
If you have these I can talk you through the process, if not I will send you the software to configure the sd card, you then need to email david for the license keys.

I would advise taking the cards out of all your machines and taking a note of the keys and storing it somewhere safe.
 
I have product keys in the working extenders (I assume - I never noticed these boxes before!).

I formatted the sd card on one of the extenders, with a view to update the software - but I think this is where I went wrong :(

Can I use your software update, and simply put your numbers in, or do these have to be specific??

Wish I'd never messed with it in the first place
 
The numbers are specific to the SD card. when you set up a default card it produces a number (from the card its on) you send this 32 digit number to David and he sends you 4 x 8 digit numbers that you enter into the boxes, you only get one go at entering the codes, so if you get them wrong you have to rebuild the default card and enter them again (same numbers the next time though thankfully)

This is really to protect Davids work as the interface card could be easily replicated.

ill pm you to confirm your email and send you the software
 
This was posted on Pinside within the last couple of weeks if its of any use

I reached out to David regarding some questions about support, here is his response. The best way to contact him from now on is through email.

First of all thanks for your continued support for the DMD Extender, I
really appreciate it.

The only issue with my personal life is getting time to do things with the
DMD Extender - I have a full time job, a family, and other projects on the
go! It's hard to fit it all in. However, my wife is now helping with the
administration and emails so I'm getting a lot more time to do the
manufacture and testing of the kits that are getting ordered. I'm
continually overwhelmed by the popularity of this thing.

With respect to the DRM, I completely agree with your comments and
sentiments. I have always been concerned about the ease of support for it,
and most of my support issues are about the SD Cards (although I must say
that I don't see many issues at all, considering the number of DMD Extenders
out there). I decided to add DRM because of the amount of work I'd put into
the project - I felt I owed it to myself and family to protect the software.
In terms of the support, I'm not going anywhere and I'll always help people
with issues they have - I don't want to leave anyone with a broken machine.

The DRM itself is based on the unique ID of each SD Card which is built into
the card itself. I really wanted to allow key management through the Windows
config application, but to date I have not found a way of reliably querying
the SD Card to extract the necessary information from within the Windows OS.
As you know, the current route to gaining a new set of keys involves a
replacement kernel file that displays a regeneration key on the screen, but
this is complex.

Also, if a user completely wipes the card, or needs to use a new card, then
the card must be formatted with a FAT16 primary partition of 1GB in size -
some users struggle to achieve this. I do supply the regeneration image that
is designed to do the necessary setup of the card.

So, I need to think about this whole process again. I don't want to remove
the DRM, but it must be easier to manage...
1. I'll write a guide to managing the SD Card so that people know not the
muck around with it.
2. I'll give detailed instructions on how to generate a new card
3. I'll provide a base image file that will do the basic setup
4. I'll amend the software so that the regen key is automatically written to
the SD Card if the current keys are invalid. That way, it's easy for me to
provide new keys - the user just sends me the regen key file, I'll provide
the new keys in a file, and the user can update their config using the
Windows config app.

This is all off the top of my head - I need to think a lot more about it,
but if you have any comments then feel free to get in touch.

I don't get chance to look at Pinside these days, so if you want to post
this response in a relevant thread then go for it.

Best wishes

David
 
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