PIN2DMD presents SysXDMD - a Dotmatrix controller for WPC Sys11 and DataEast alphanumeric machines

[lucky1]

Hello all,

 

the last couple of months I have been working on a add on board for Williams System11 and DataEast MPU3 using alphanumeric displays. It is called SYSXDMD and it allows you to display the text information of the two 16 digit alphanumeric displays on a PIN2DMD dotmatrix display. Together with the pin2dmd editor you can then replace text messages with graphics or even animations and upgrade the pinball experience that way.  Of course these colorizations can be shared with the VPIN community 

 

Here is a picture of the board 

 

and a video of it in action 

 

 

Here is a link to the shared PCB.

 

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/PIN2DMD_SysXDMD_A_DMD_controller_for_WPC_Sys11_and_DataEast_Alphanumeric_pinba_1e175d29.html

 

Firmware is on my github.

[lucky1]

New editor features have been added to support alphanumeric colorizations

https://vpuniverse.com/forums/topic/2268-pin2dmd-editor/page/39/#comments

[Terranigma]

Awesome news!

[dzorbas]

That's pretty interesting!

 

[darden78]

can i dump my real machines text with sysxdmd?

[lucky1]

You can dump the display content with the usb connection of the pin2dmd.

[darden78]

On 12/29/2022 at 6:35 PM, lucky1 said:

Hello all,

 

the last couple of months I have been working on a add on board for Williams System11 and DataEast MPU3 using alphanumeric displays. It is called SYSXDMD and it allows you to display the text information of the two 16 digit alphanumeric displays on a PIN2DMD dotmatrix display. Together with the pin2dmd editor you can then replace text messages with graphics or even animations and upgrade the pinball experience that way.  Of course these colorizations can be shared with the VPIN community 

 

Here is a picture of the board 

 

and a video of it in action 

 

 

Here is a link to the shared PCB.

 

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/PIN2DMD_SysXDMD_A_DMD_controller_for_WPC_Sys11_and_DataEast_Alphanumeric_pinba_1e175d29.html

 

Firmware is on my github.

in BOM of your shared project on pcbway it uses stm32f407vet6 chip and in the picture there is mounted the stm32f427vit6, do both of them work or there is an error?

and about the complete system, is it as the evo board and i can mount the panels directly on the pcb or i have to put any kind of frame?

[lucky1]

8 hours ago, darden78 said:

in BOM of your shared project on pcbway it uses stm32f407vet6 chip and in the picture there is mounted the stm32f427vit6, do both of them work or there is an error?

 

Both work !

 

8 hours ago, darden78 said:

and about the complete system, is it as the evo board and i can mount the panels directly on the pcb or i have to put any kind of frame?

 

The LED panels are mounted to the pin2dmd EVO board.

The pin2dmd needs to be connected to the SysXDMD using the connector named DMD on the upper left of the SysXDMD,

You need a space somewhere in the backbox to mount the SysXDMD pcb and connect is to the Sys11 CPU using J1, J2, J3 and J22

which are normally connected to the alphanumeric display in the speakerpanel. You need to make a new speakerpanel like e.g. WPC89

to mount the pin2dmd there and replace the alphanumeric displays.

 

[darden78]

ah, so you mean i need 2 boards, the pin2dmd evo one (or i think a normal nucleo based one), and the sysxdmd.

i didn't understand that, i thought the sysxdmd work by itself...

ok, thank you 

[darden78]

is there someone who still tryed the sysxdmd system?

does it work fine?

i'm waiting for the boards to put on my pinballs, in the meantime i want to start working on the files, is there anybody who can share with me rollergames and diner dumps?

i don't know if there are differences between the virtual or real versions, but i need them for real pinballs, thank you all

[darden78]

finally i got the board, now i have to flash the firmware on it, how can i do?

there is a usb connector but how can i give alimentation?

[lucky1]

Next to the USB is the power connector with 5V and GND pin. You need to power the board to program it using the same DFU method described on the pin2dmd website.

[darden78]

finally i did it work, now the problem is it does the opposite of what it has to do.

For example, in the picture, you can see in the second line everything enlightened except what it has to be.

”PRESS START” are the only parts turned off and all the other parts are turned on, how can i solve it?

[lucky1]

Sysxdmd has a onscreen menu just like pin2dmd where you can set the machine type to williams or dataeast.

Just hold one of the menu buttons and press reset to enter it.

[darden78]

it works!!! Now i have to start my long work and to do it i have to dump all the “animations” it shows, is there a guide to understand how to do it?

[lucky1]

19 minutes ago, darden78 said:

is there a guide to understand how to do it?

 

Install the 64bit or 32bit pin2dmd.exe tool on your pc and connect it to the pin2dmd usb port.

https://pin2dmd.com/tool/#1.3

Remove the glass and hit all triggers by rolling the ball by hand.

[darden78]

2 hours ago, lucky1 said:

 

Install the 64bit or 32bit pin2dmd.exe tool on your pc and connect it to the pin2dmd usb port.

https://pin2dmd.com/tool/#1.3

Remove the glass and hit all triggers by rolling the ball by hand.

i did exactly what you say and now i have files of some megabite to try, but when i go inside the editor and open the .raw file it shows me just the first frame and nothing more.

i think i don't know how to use it, is there a tread where i can check or a guide to follow?

[lucky1]

Could you zip the file and upload it somewhere ?

Is the PIN2DMD set to SysXDMD mode ?

[darden78]

10 hours ago, lucky1 said:

Could you zip the file and upload it somewhere ?

Is the PIN2DMD set to SysXDMD mode ?

sorry, it was just matter of refresh, as i changes scene and went back to it, i had everything i needed

[darden78]

10 hours ago, lucky1 said:

Could you zip the file and upload it somewhere ?

Is the PIN2DMD set to SysXDMD mode ?

sorry, it was just matter of refresh, as i changes scene and went back to it, i had everything i needed

[darden78]

these are the first try i did,

 

 

i think attract mode is done…

…is there a way to use a pin2dmdhd?

it should be amazing!!!

[TheFool]

This is very impressive. How are you triggering the animations? In the video the clips on the dmd look to have a fairly high frame rate. I would be interested learning how you accomplished this. I will look around the other forums to see if you have already discussed.  Very nice work. Thank you  for sharing the video. 

TheFool

[darden78]

6 hours ago, TheFool said:

This is very impressive. How are you triggering the animations? In the video the clips on the dmd look to have a fairly high frame rate. I would be interested learning how you accomplished this. I will look around the other forums to see if you have already discussed.  Very nice work. Thank you  for sharing the video. 

TheFool

i just started my work this morning and i didn't speak about it anywhere else, as soon as i'll have the animation done, i'll post here the result, i still don't know how to do it, but i'm learning

[TheFool]

Haha, sounds familiar. I am working on a similar project with a SAM and I still am figuring out things. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Thank you 

[darden78]

hi, in the last few months i used the cube programmer to flash the chip firmware,

today i wanted to flash a sysxdmd board and in my pc and now no other program works except for the cube programmer,

the problem is it just read the .bin files and for the sysxdmd there is only the .dfu inside the folders.

is there a way to have the .bin too?