19 replies to this topic

[Vlak6613]

Hello people, I have a problem with DOF in VPX.

 

I built a pinball machine myself and I built in as many toys as possible. Solenoids, addressable LEDs, gear motor, beacons and a shaker motor. This shaker is a problem.

 

I tested the configuration in pinscape. I can control the shaker via the outputs tester and I have configured the correct ports via the dofconfig tool.

All toys work perfectly with the pinball tables. I just can't get the shaker motor to work.

I have tried several pinball tables.

 

Does anyone have any tips or tricks to rule things out?

 

[digitalarts]

of course you need a table where shaker is in use.

then look at dof online config into the rom and what settings are given for shaker. maybe you have to lower (or higher ?) the intensity and/or time of the effect.

dont forget to save this as "private config", redownload the complete config and replace your old cfg files

[Vlak6613]

Hello digitalarts, of course I have tried tables that I know use a shaker ​ . Such as roadshow and twister.

The best part is that the gear motor works perfectly. without having done anything in the settings of the tables.

"maybe you have to lower (or higher ?) the intensity and/or time of the effect."

Where do i do this ?

[Vlak6613]

When I control the shaker from the Pinscape tool everything works fine. I have also done some searching online with the dofconfig tool. And I have tried different ports and I have also adjusted the min and max intensity. But nothing

[gtxjoe]

If you temporarily wire the gear in place of the shaker, does the gear turn on?

[Vlak6613]

I'll definitely try that. I'm going to try turning them over and see what that brings.

 

I only expect that the shaker is not controlled or not controlled properly from the pinball software.
​Where can I adjust this? do I do this in the script of the table or in the config of dof?

[Vlak6613]

I am looking for the settings of vam shaker, where can I find them.

 

1 <Shaker>

2  <Name>Name of Shaker</Name>

3  <OutputName>Name of Output</OutputName>

4  <FadingCurveName>Linear</FadingCurveName>

5  <MaxRunTimeMs>300000</MaxRunTimeMs>

6  <KickstartPower>255</KickstartPower>

7  <KickstartDurationMs>100</KickstartDurationMs>

8  <MinPower>1</MinPower>

9  <MaxPower>255</MaxPower>

10 </Shaker>

[fhjui]

would suggest to download the dof-test-table https://vpuniverse.c...test-table-vpx/

and test that part using the s-key on the keyboard

[digitalarts]

The settings of the shaker behavior is in the individual dof settings for the table Rom, in dof config tool.
The values are different for every table.
You can change the intensity, this are the "I32" for example.
Range of intensity is 0-48. So "I20" gives less rumble than "I48".
The intensity of course is only working if you have the shaker at a pwm port...
The length/duration of rumble is set with for example 600 (= fixed time of 600ms) or m600 (=minimum 600ms) or max600 (=maximum 600ms)

Edited by digitalarts, 13 December 2023 - 11:44 AM.

[Vlak6613]

would suggest to download the dof-test-table https://vpuniverse.c...test-table-vpx/
and test that part using the s-key on the keyboard

When i try the dof table tester de shaker works. But not when i play a normal table

[Zuxif]

Do you have the shaker wired to a PWM port? If so then you can have the minimum and maximum vary on the dofconfigtool settings. If it's not a PWM port, you should leave the minimum and maximum values the same number.

Also, in your VPX editor settings, for the DOF settings, do you have the shaker motor option selected as both, or dof only? Make sure it's not set on soundfx. Personally, I have a shaker motor and SSF but I like the shaker motor to only be controlled by DOF, not both. So it doesn't replicate the shaker sound with SSF, only the motor.

Since it's working with the output tester, and you said it also worked on the dof test table, it's definitely wired correctly. So it must be a software issue. I'm guessing it's one of those settings or something with dofconfigtool website. Hopefully any of this helps!

[Vlak6613]

Hi, it is not wired to a PWM port. What do you mean by leaving the min and max the same. Where do you mean ?

[Vlak6613]

Do you mean these numbers ? In dofconfigtool ?

 

Shaker Motor
Min Intensity:  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48  Max Intensity:  48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 

[Vlak6613]

hello Zuxif, by setting both values the same in the dofconfigtool en generate a new file , ​  my problem is solved.

 

Thanks for al the support.

[Zuxif]

Hey great to hear! I had a feeling that might be it. That was what I meant by min and max values yes, on dofconfigtool. Glad I could help you out I know it took me many months of trial and error as well to finally get all of my toys, LEDs, etc. working correctly with dof. So if I can pass on anything I learned on the way to help others, I gladly will! Have fun pinballing friend.

Happy holidays!

Zuxif

[chriss4198]

Hey all, having a similar problem. Switched over to new port, tested with dofconfig and it’s working perfectly. Not working on either the DOF test table or any of the other tables. Messed with intensity to no avail. Stumped..

[rockery]

I had the same problem, and the solution worked for me too!  My only difficulty was finding the place to change the min shaker motor intensity in the DOF Config Tool.  It is under the "Cabinet" options, "Variables".  Hope this helps other newbies like me.

 

Thanks to all of those who are so helpful in these forums!

[bverlander]

Hi everyone! Im having an odd issue with my shaker motor.

Essentially it's too powerfull at the moment and i feel like when its being triggered it's at max strength, despite having set a lower max value in the dof config tool.

Prior to updating the pinscape firmware to the latest build, it worked fine without issue and its speed/power was changing according to the values I set in the dof config tool.

Since updating the pinscape firmware, it's far too strong and updating the dof config tools max value for the shaker motor has no effect at all.

Here's the weird part, the pwm slider in the pinscape output tester still behaves as expected, allowing me to adjust the power.

Has anyone here experienced anything like this and knows a fix for it?

It's a real head scratcher.

Any advice appreciated! Thank you

[fhjui]

The part of output tester in pinscape tool controls the outputs directly, has nothing to do with DOF.

Have you checked the configuration in dof config tool in  variables for the shaker? default range is 1 min to 48 max. Reduce the max value to 15 or something smaller for test.

save the config, export the files an update them. save the old ones.

As mentioned above, download the dof test table. Attention, there is a 32bit DOF and a 64bit DOF (according appr. vpx version), I think the test table needs 32bit vpx.

Its often the case that the shaker motor is much too strong to run with 12V. And depending of the output mosfets' Ron value, the Fets with higher Ron don't like pwm, they blew up with magic smoke after a while.

I had used a buck stepdown regulator to reduce the motor voltage to app. 2V. (described in my documentation, link in the footer)

Edited by fhjui, 17 February 2026 - 09:55 PM.

[bverlander]

Thanks for your reply fhjui.
Lowering those values was the first thing i tried when i noticed my issue. I can confirm it's making no difference after generating and updating my config files.

I'll give the test table a try and see if it works there.

Thanks!