Playing DOOM On An ATM

DOOM ATM

There aren’t too many details available about this hack, but we still thought it was interesting enough to share. YouTube user [Aussie50] seems to have figured out a way to install DOOM on an automated teller machine (ATM). Not only is the system running the software, it also appears that they are using the ATM’s built-in buttons to control the action in-game.

Many ATM’s today are simply computers that run a version of Windows, so one would assume it shouldn’t be too difficult to get an older game like DOOM running on the hardware. Towards the beginning of the video, you can quickly get a glimpse of what appears to be a default Windows XP background screen. You can see later in the video that [Aussie50] drops to what appears to be an MS-DOS command line. It stands to reason then that this particular model of ATM does run on Windows XP, but that [Aussie50] may have had to install MS-DOS emulation software such as DOSBOX as well.

At one point in the video, the camera man mentions they are using an I-PAC2. Some research will show you that this little PCB is designed to do USB keyboard emulation for arcade games. It looks like you can just hook up some simple momentary switches and the I-PAC2 will translate that into USB keyboard commands. It is therefore likely that [Aussie50] has hooked up the ATM’s buttons directly to this I-PAC2 board and bypassed the original button controller circuit altogether.

It is also mentioned in the video that [Aussie50] was able to get the receipt printer working. It would be interesting to somehow incorporate this into the DOOM game. Imagine receiving a receipt with your high score printed on it. This also gets us thinking about other possibilities of gaming on ATM hardware. Can you configure the game to require a deposit before being able to play? Can you configure it to dispense cash if you beat the high score? What if you modified the multiplayer deathmatch mode so all players must pay an entry fee and the winner takes all? What creative ideas can you come up with for gaming on ATM hardware?

[Thanks Charlie]

30 thoughts on “Playing DOOM On An ATM

  1. How about a high tech piggy bank for the kids? Allowances are issued electronically and each kid in the family has an ATM card for withdrawals. Pay them interest and offer a higher rate if they play 15 minutes of math games on the screen. The ATM also acts as a chore scheduler and ‘time clock’ to keep track of completed tasks. Heck, even offer credit with educational game scores determining the interest rate. It would be educational on many levels.

    1. Well if you want to watch his over videos related to the ATM, he has a lot of update videos from when he got it, to now where he’s got Doom on it. The ATM itself was $7 I believe bought from a surplus auction (just remember with those you have to be able to move and leave with it).

      1. ATMs can easily be found for free, lying around useless on city street corners. All you will need to gather them is a powerful car and a length of heavy gauge chain. Once you have that you can collect as many ATMs as you like!

      1. They typically run windows xp embedded, of which microsoft extended the support to IIRC 2016. Many ATM manufacturers were considering moving to linux so Microsoft had to act

  2. People should know that an ATM is unable to divide by zero and may just spit out the last amount with drawn!, Certain ATM’s had this bug about 10 years ago in Aus i told CBA however immediately walking inside and told them how much and left my details.

    If i ever find an ATM bug again i may consider not telling them.

  3. It quite clearly is windows xp. They even had control panel open at one point.
    They keep saying alt enter, which is the key command to put command prompt into full screen mode.

  4. Majority of ATMs use WindowsXP, so it is not really hard to install anything on them. However their chasis make them interesting arcade machines. You can even program some rewards into game, since you have unused money-transport system inside. :D

    1. It’s true that most modern ATMs run Windows, every model i have seen with a modern full color screen has been running windows, and i know this because they frequently crash and hang at the windows background, or pop up a windows error notice that steals focus from the ATM software, thus making input impossible since none of the accessible buttons are space, enter or escape…

      I guess the Windows XP ATMs will become nearly free soon since security support for XP has ended and many will not want to pay to get the software updated, or the old hardware might not even support an update.

    2. ATM Cash dispensers are often encrypted, I work at a scrap yard and we have got four different ATMs in lately (because of XP) and they all work … boot up, self test, do all kinds of things but the actual control software on the computer has been erased and without the encryption key you can get them to do anything …

      1. It should be fairly easy to get the hardware to dispense money and receipts even if there is internal encryption, one would only need to remove the secure data devices and drive the electromechanical devices directly.

        1. The idea is a good one … but all the moving pieces in all the right steps with all the right sensors .. I would love to talk to anyone that actually has the time and knowledge to make that work as reliably as OEM hardware

    3. I1ve been told that some ATM (probably the ones in the bank) don’t run the windows directly on then, but rather are conected on a network and the central computer is away of the atm… so people would have to break in the ATM network in orther to get it to play games…
      Someone told me this after a video of a guy running angry birds on a ATM (with touchscreen support ‘n stuff)

  5. These systems are running a special version of XP, which will continue to receive support from microsoft for quite some time yet. It’s “Windows Embedded POSReady 2009”. It’s basically a lean trimmed down version of XP that you install using an image building wizard which allows you to install only the components and drivers needed by your particular system. It has a few enhancements to make more suitable for embedded system, like a special write filter that makes it run better off flash type media, but otherwise looks and acts identical to XP.

  6. Pretty cool mod. In his other videos he mentions that the lock control wires and security board for the ATM’s fireproof strongbox were removed. This is a real pain, as I’m also in Australia and could almost justify the effort of lugging one of these away if I got a still-usable firebox and a cool arcade machine out of the deal.

  7. I’ve had some fun with parts from a cash register or till, which are easier to get hold of and transport than an ATM! The till display is a VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) and the receipt printer is a thermal printer. Both have serial (RS-232) interfaces. I use the display at Linux user group meetings, to help people find us, and at Maker Faires. And the receipt printer is fun for printing QR codes and fake receipts (e.g. spoofing the Colosseum scene in Life of Brian).

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