Copy Protection via Security Key
(click to see 2Mb image)
The Great Disservice
(you may wish to scroll past this rant to the next heading.)
Merit Industries, makers of the MegaTouch line of video trivia and skill games, does a great disservice to their legitimate owners by including copy protection in their units. I understand piracy and bootlegs “cost” manufacturers and developers in potential revenue but he money spent trying to “securitize” their units always fails spectacularly. Like so many of these schemes the “pirates” can fix the problems caused by the security key for about $20 but the legitimate user faces an authorized technician’s hourly rate plus shipping when their security key fails.
When it fails you are in for the dreaded Merit Authorized Repair. Plan to evaluate your unit against the $250 cost of getting an authorized repair technician to give you a new key. Seeking help from the “pirates” will violate your covenant with Merit. Speaking of feeling violated, why Merit could not trust you without their Security Key Crutch I cannot begin to explain. As restoration goes you may find that Merit no longer supports your unit or the cost of the legal repair is more than the unit’s value.
MegaTouch IV
The CRT-260 Motherboard used in the MegaTouch IV has a security Key at U5. When this key gets loose or eventually fails, you will see this message on boot. Hopefully yours just slipped a bit and is not registering a KEY QUESTION. This means you need to reseat the key. The key in these unit does not look like a normal IC. If anything it look like an on board Battery.
Mine had a hot glue “back stop” in place to keep it from slipping. That failed after 17 years of shrinkage and bouncing on bartops. The key slides onto its connector horizontally. It does not “pull” up and out of a socket like a normal IC. Despite the appearance of being soldered in and not socketed the key does slip off the 5 pin connector. It is barely visible in this photograph but the 5 pin lead to a black plastic “dock” that can be seen peeking out under the key on the side farthest from J1 (the white thing on the other side of U5 marking). Slide the key back on the connector fully. This should fix your KEY QUESTION SET ERROR.
You may want to remove the hot glue and replace it with new glue, a small elastic band or one of those things your kids use to make bracelets for friends. You could also wait until it slips again and charge a service call to the owner, you pirate! Aaargh!
Later MegaTouch Keys
After the MegaTouch IV the keys look like those pictured above. Still like a battery but with a spoon around it. The socket is the same used for the CR-2032 batteries. a little clip holds it in place. Those clips get weak, snapped off or bent into useless angles and cause the same failure as the U5 battery of old.
The solution is also the same. Reseat the key if you can. If the holder is mangled use hot glue to prop it up. If you can get a battery holder and solder, you can replace the holder. The ultimate solution is to contact and Authorized Merit Technician. This series of MegaTouch is still supported, you will have a better experience with your service representative.