Hi all - you might remember my post from about a year ago about my (cursed) Data East Star Wars; I'll save you the rambling version of the story, but the long and short of it is that it would take forever to boot up, *maybe* play correctly for a single round (if it fired the ball in the trough at all), and would light up. I had a tech in four times to try to address the issues (he replaced a few fuse clips on the flipper board and the PPB, but couldn't really tell me what the issue was/find any solution). So I bit the bullet and saved up for replacement boards.

I've since replaced the following boards:

- DMD Power Supply with Rottendog DPS004;
- Playfield Power Board with Rottendog PPB001;
- MPU/Drive Board with Rottendog MPU004; and
- Flipper Board with Rottendog FLP023

Now, the game will boot up immediately (as opposed to anywhere from 5-15 minutes), Obi-Wan says "May the Force be with You", the GI illuminates - and then shuts off, with nothing other than a few blips on the DMD for a split-second, then nothing.

There seems to be a humming/buzzing coming from the speakers, but nothing else (Obi-Wan is clear as day, so I'm not sure what's doing there...).

I was able to get a few pictures as the table booted - in the first, on the MPU004, the PIA light and the +5V light illuminate, then (in the 2nd pic) the PIA light turns off while the +5V remains. Immediately after, the Blank light illuminates (3rd pic), and the GI shuts off completely.

I also have the +50VDC light on the PPB001 illuminate.

I've checked and rechecked all of the connections, everything is where it is supposed to be and firmly clipped in. None of the fuses on any of the boards are blown, and I moved the two chips from the DE MPU to the Rottendog MPU004 (C5 Star Wars ROM, and the D3, both of which are in the same position they were on the original DE board).

Any thoughts/ideas/prayers/HELP would be immensely appreciated!! Thanks!!

#star-wars #help #lemon

DE SW - PIA, 5V (resized).jpg

DE SW - 5V (resized).jpg

DE SW - 5V, Blank (resized).jpg

DE SW - 50VDC (resized).jpg

Once I get home from work, I will check the CN1. I don't have a voltmeter accessible right now, but hopefully before the end of the week - once I do, I will post with voltages

I had no idea I had to do anything with the anyPinDMD+ NVRAM - the instructions from Rottendog only mentioned the C5 and the D3 from the original MPU. I will check what the anyPinDMD+ NVRAM is set to (again, once I get home from work) - thanks for the heads up!

To answer your question, the original boards weren't in fantastic shape (the previous owner had performed/had done for them some...less than stellar "fixes" - soldering fuses to the boards, etc), and I was getting frustrated with how much I was shelling out on board repairs, I thought simply replacing the boards would at least point be in a better direction than fighting 25 year old circuits and shoddy repairs in between - wishful thinking, I suppose

Thanks! I'll try swapping the original RAM to the Rottendog board - looks like the picture RD has on their site is an older version of the board (it also doesn't have the dip switch pictured).

If that doesn't work, I'll put the RAM back on the DE board, as well as the D3 and C5 and swap the old DE MPU back in...see if that does anything.

Will post an update either way - thanks so much guys!

Sorry for the delay, life got in the way....

The pins on CN1 appear fine to my eye, but the wiring connector seems a bit coloured (like a dirty-white, not burned, but not sharp either...in fact, most of the connectors seem to be this shade of "dirty-white").

I swapped the original RAM to the RD board - no change.

I then put the RAM, D3 and C5 back in the original DE board and swapped it for the RD board - no change. Both tries had the same start up ("May the Force be with you", GI illuminates while PIA and +5V on the MPU light, PIA turns off, BLANK turns on, GI turns off). Only change seems to be that when I shut the main power off, the GI briefly lights up again before going dark. The DMD doesn't display anything.

I've also changed the DMD board back to the original DE board.

When the GI goes out, the BLANK and +5V LEDs remain lit, but the game doesn't start, and the DMD is blank.

I've given the table about 2-3 minutes in this state, just in case, but nothing happens.

Okay, so the fuses themselves by the capacitor are okay, but the wiring looks...not great? Again, I'm no genius, but it looks like the wire has pulled away from the fuse holder (hopefully my picture helps).
I'm guessing I should replace the fuse holders and resolder the wires. Well, at least I'm learning along the bumpy road!
Also, I had seen a rectifier replacement on Marco's Specialties - is it worth replacing the old giant capacitor at this point, or if it ain't broke, don't fix it?

Thanks for all the help guys.

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Still learning the DMM, so bear with me (machine is off, but plugged in):
CN1= 6.1
CN2 = 0.5
CN3 = 1.5
CN4 = 0.0
CN5 = 0.0
CN6 = 1.4
CN7 = 0.0
CN8 = 0.5
CN9 = 0.2
Square fuses (?) above the blue capacitor:
Left= 1.5
Right = 6.4

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