updates

PROCEDURE FOR UPDATING GAMES

Background

A number of changes and improvements have been made to the game since its release. Updates are available which encompass all released changes. Click here to see a detailed list of changes.

Determining the Need for This Update

Take these steps to determine if your game needs this update:

1. open the coin door and press TEST
2. from the test menu, select "system info"
3. if the software revision (the second line) is less than 2.1.1 then this update is necessary

Update Process

The process can be broken into three steps (step I is only necessary for machines with version 0.1.14 code):

1. create the update directory (skip this step if current version is later than 0.1.14)
   

   Very early Rockin' Bowl-O-Rama games (version 0.1.14) have a problem which prevents the software update process from working correctly. The following step corrects the problem so that future updates are simpler and work correctly.

   1. Turn the game off
   2. Open the back door
   3. Plug a PS/2 keyboard into the keyboard (purple) connector on the game's motherboard
   4. Turn the game on
   5. After the game starts up, press "ALT-F1" on the keyboard (press F1 while holding the ALT key)
   6. A pulldown menu should appear. Use the down arrow to move down to "System Tools"
   7. Use the right arrow to move into the "System Tools" submenu
   8. Use the down arrow to move down to "Terminal"
   9. Press "Enter" to launch a terminal
   10. In the terminal, type the following commands:
               sudo mount -o remount -o rw /bowl
        mkdir /bowl/update
        sudo mount -o remount -o ro /bowl
        exit
After entering the first command the machine will prompt for a password. Enter this password: b0wl1n6* (lower case 'B', number zero, lower case 'W', lower case 'L', number one, lower case 'N', number six, asterisk). Watch carefully as you type. Since the game is consuming most of the machine's processing power it tends to misread or double-read the keyboard.
   11. Unplug the keyboard.
   
   
2. create the update USB flash drive
   The update is applied to the machine using a USB flash drive. Be sure the flash drive is large enough and has sufficient free space. The flash drive can be set up using a PC or a Mac. If your current software is older than 2.0.5 then you must apply both the 2.0.5 update then the current update. First follow these steps:
   1. Download the update: bor-2.0.5.zip
   2. Unzip the update by double clicking on it. Your browser may have done this automatically. The update contains two files, bor-2.0.5.00000.upd and bor-2.0.5.pak.
   3. Plug the USB flash drive into a USB socket on your computer. It should mount automatically.
   4. Create a directory called "update" (all lower case) at the top level of the USB flash drive
   5. Copy the two update files into this directory on the USB flash drive
   6. Unmount (eject) the USB flash drive, then unplug it
   
   Follow these steps to get the current update:
   1. Download the update: bor-2.1.1.00000.xpk
   2. Plug the USB flash drive into a USB socket on your computer. It should mount automatically.
   3. Copy the file anywhere onto the USB flash drive. Be sure the file name hasn't been modified by your computer. It should be bor-2.1.1.00000.xpk.
   4. Unmount (eject) the USB flash drive, then unplug it
   
   
3. apply the update
   This step reads the update from the USB flash drive and installs it into the game. When it is complete the game will quit, leaving a blank screen for a few seconds, then it will restart. Once it has restarted it will be running the updated version of the game.
   1. if it's not already on, turn the game on and wait for it to start running
   2. open the coin door and the back door of the game
   3. plug the USB flash drive into any available USB socket on the motherboard
   4. press the TEST button inside the coin door
   5. from the test menu select "software update"
   6. from the software update menu select the current update (if your current version is less than 2.0.5 select the 2.0.5 update first, then repeat this process for the current update)
   7. read the installation instructions
   8. press START to install the update
   9. once the installation completes the game will quit and restart
   10. remove the USB flash drive and close the coin door and back door