Patent ID: 8140796

Claim:
A gaming machine, comprising: a cabinet to house a plurality of gaming machine components; a control system housed within the cabinet, comprising: a mass storage device; a processor configured to generate at least one serial write command signal to the mass storage device via a serial communication link; a storage protector situated between the mass storage device and the processor and configured for communication with the processor and mass storage device, the storage protector configured to do the following: intercept the at least one serial write command signal generated by the processor for reception by the mass storage device; and determine whether the at least one serial write command signal comprises an authorized command signal or an unauthorized command signal, wherein determining the authorization of the command signal includes comparing the command signal to stored user write commands within a register; and a logic device as part of the storage protector configured to do the following: replicate the at least one serial write command signal to generate a first serial write command signal and a second serial write command signal; transmit the first serial write command signal to the mass storage device; de-serialize the second serial write command signal; and interpret the de-serialized write command signal using a comparator module; means for providing a wagering game; and means for receiving a wager to play the wagering game.