Stern S.A.M. System Repair

Note: This page is a work in progress. Please help get it to a completed state by adding any useful information to it.

1 Introduction

S.A.M. is the current board system used by Stern Pinball. The first full production game to use the S.A.M. Board Set was World Poker Tour in 2006. One of the features of the S.A.M. board set is that the software can be updated with a USB stick.

2 Games

• World Poker Tour
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Family Guy
• Spider Man
• Wheel of Fortune
• Shrek
• Indiana Jones 4
• Batman
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
• 24
• NBA
• Big Buck Hunter Pro
• Iron Man
• Avatar
• The Rolling Stones

3 Technical Info

3.1 System Overview

The S.A.M. System board set consists of three boards in back box. The I/O Power Driver Board, CPU/Sound Board, and the Display Power Supply.

3.2 USB Code Update

Note: this information can be found on the front inside cover of S.A.M. System Game Manuals.

Step 1) Open the Back Box
Step 2) On the CPU/Sound board set Dip Switch #8 to "ON".
Step 3) Press the white Reset Button (S1 RESET) or power cycle the game.
Step 4) The DMD should show the current software version installed. Press the "SELECT" button on the inside of the coin door to continue.
Step 5) Highlight the "UPDT" icon on the display and press "SELECT".
Step 6) The game will prompt you to insert the USB Memory Stick.
Step 7) Pick the correct file on the USB drive and press the "SELECT" Button.
Step 8) Follow the directions on the display.

5 References

SAM system schematics are available on the Stern Pinball website here: http://www.sternpinball.com/schematics.shtml

6 Game Specific Problems and Fixes

Example would be servo controller on Independence Day pinball

7 Repair Logs

Did you do a repair? Log it here as a possible solution for others.