Portals: The Sega/Stern Diagnostic Menu

"Portals" is the Sega/Stern pinball diagnostic menu. This diagnostic menu was first introduced on Batman Forever (1995), and is still being used by Stern on their current production pinball machines (renamed to "Service Menu" from "World Poker Tour" onwards).

How do I access the Portals Menu?

Good Question! To enter in to the menu, you must first open the Coin Door. Inside you will find some push-buttons (in the picture below there are 2 shown, but some machines have 3 and others 4).

The above picture shows the Coin Door in the open position. The Green button is for "Service Credits / Select" and the Black button is "Begin Test / Enter".

Once the door is open, you need to press the "Begin Test" button. This will take you into the Portals menu, regardless of the machine being in Game Mode or Attract Mode.

After the Begin Test button has been pressed, the Portals logo screen will be shown along with the machine playing a sound to indicate that you are entering Portals.

Using the Portals Menu

Now that you have entered Portals, you will be greeted with a screen giving you different options. Portals is a graphical menu, so each section has its own icon and each sub-section also has its own icon. This makes using the menu very easy.

The above picture shows the Main Menu screen. "Diagnostics" is highlighted, and the bottom half of the screen shows the various tests.

Use the Flipper Buttons to scroll through the menu and the Start Button to select the option you are after. Also, the Coin Door buttons can be used for this. The "Begin Test / Enter" button will select the option while the others will scroll through the menu. To select the Diagnostics Menu, make sure "DIAG" is highlighted and press the start button.

Diagnostic Tests

This is where you can test all of the pinball machine's functions. It covers the switches, solenoids (coils), controlled lamps and flashers. You can also use the "Ball Trough Clear" to remove the balls from the ball trough easily and there is a "Technician Alert" that will let you know of any problems with the switches.

To use the tests, first select the one you need, and then press the Start Button. This will take you into the sub-menu for each main test, so you can select the appropriate test for the problem you are trying to solve.

Testing Switches

Once you are in the Diagnostics Test, select Switch Test and press Start. This will now give you a couple of different tests you can perform: Test each swicth seperately and Test the currently active switches.

By selecting the Switch Test "TST" (highlighted in the picture above) you can now test each switch individually. With the playfield glass removed (follow the Opening a Pinball guide if you are unsure how to do this), press on each switch, target, bumper skirt, etc...

By using this test you can determine if you have a switch or switches that are not working.

When you press on a switch, the display (shown above) will show which switch has been pressed. It will also show you the switch matrix position, wiring, switch part number, circuit board plugs and transistors associated with the switch you are activating. If you use this test in association with the switch matrix chart for your machine, you can make sure that the switch you are activating corresponds correctly with the matrix chart.

The Active Switch Test "ACT" is similar to the Switch Test, but instead of you pressing the switches the machine goes through all the closed switches and displays them on the screen one at a time. This is helpful if you have a stuck switch. Be aware that some switches are meant to be closed (active) - the ball trough switches will be active if the balls are still in the trough for example.

Testing Solenoids (Coils)

From the main Diagnostics Menu select "COIL". This will take you into the Coils Test.

As with the switch test, there are 2 different tests you can use to test the solenoids. These tests will also allow you to test the Flashers seperately.

The Single Coil Test "TST" will allow you to test each coil (and flasher) one at a time. This is useful if you suspect a solenoid is not working. The display will show you the coil or flasher name and number, wiring, circuit board plugs and pins, and the coil type.

To use this test, use the "-" and "+" virtual buttons on the screen by using the flipper button to highlight the appropriate virtual button and press start. This will allow you to select the coil you want to test.

Once you have selected the coil to test, use the flipper buttons to select "RUN" and press start. The coil should now activate each time you press start. If it doesn't, you now know that there is a problem with this coil as the machine can not make it activate.

The other coil test is the Cycle Coils test "CYC". This will activate each coil (and flasher) in turn automatically. This test makes it easy to find groups of coils that may not be working, or just to test each one without having to manualy select each coil in turn.

Testing Lamps

When you are in the main Portals Diagnostics Menu, select "LAMP". Here you can test each of the controlled lamps on the pinball. The Portals system does not allow you to test the General Illumination from this test - you can test the General Illumination On/Off Relay in the Coil Test above.

There are 4 different Lamp Tests in this menu: "ONE" - single lamp test, "ALL" - all lamps test, "ROW" - row lamps test, and "COL" - column lamps test. The Row and Column lamp tests will turn on a complete row or column of lamps in the lamp matrix. This is useful for fault finding circuit boards and wiring problems.

The Single Lamp test (ONE) will test each individual lamp that you select using the "-" and "+" virtual buttons. This test will also give you the lamp matrix position, wiring information, lamp name and number, and circuit board information.

The All Lamps Test (ALL) is the most commonly used lamp test. This test will flash all of the controlled lamps on and off, making it easy to check for blown globes.

If you do have lamps that are not working, use this test to find them and follow the "Opening a Pinball" guide for instructions on how to lift up the playfield to replace any blown globes.

Testing Flashers

There are two ways to test the flashers: You can use the Coil Test (above) or select the Flashers Test "FLASH" from the Portals Diagnostic Menu. The Flashers test will cycle through all of the flashers in sequence, making it easy to find blown flasher globes.

Ball Trough Clear

Clearing the balls from the ball trough is important. If you are going to lift up the playfield and you do not clear the balls first, they are likely to fall out of the ball trough when the playfield is in the up position. This can sometimes cause damage to your machine.

Select "CLR" from the Diagnostics Menu to enter this test. The ball clear can serve two purposes: Clearing the balls from the trough and testing the ball trough switches. This can be very handy if you have more than one ball coming out into the Ball Launch when there should only be one at a time (except for multiball).

Select "RUN" and press the Start Button to eject one ball at a time into the Ball Shooter. If your pinball has an Auto-Launch, the ball will be automatically shot into the playfield area. If not, you can remove the ball by hand from the ball launch lane, or use the Ball Plunger to shoot the ball.

Technician Alerts

The Technician Alerts can be handy to find any switches that have not registered for 50+ games. This is a useful tool for finding problems that you may not have already noticed.

By selecting "TECH" from the main Diagnostics Menu, you can see if there are any switch problems that the machine has picked up on. In the case of the picture above there are no problems, this means that all switches have been activated at least once in the last 50 games.

If you have had switch faults, fixed them and used the Switch Test to verify this, then the Technician Alert will show the message above also.

Other Portals Functions

There are many more Portals functions and tests than the ones covered here, but these are the main ones used and needed.

There are some machine specific tests that can be performed such as the "Batwing Cannon" test for Batman Forever.

The other menu you may be interested in is the Adjustments Menu (ADJ). You should refer to your manual before making any changes to this. The usage of the Adjustments Menu is the same as the Diagnostics Menu.