Hi Everyone- picked up a EBD LE which looks to be a lot more of a project than I'd been hankering for, but I'm sure it will build my character real good.

And I'm pretty new at this, I am highly likely to annoy...

First effort was to find the reason for having no background sound- but to do this I need to have a working display to see the test audit info. So this is really about the display problems I'm having.

The display is semi functional- as it scrolls through the self-test though the segments are all wiggly-like, mis-displaying certain digits, apparently in the wrong order? The third digit (the hundreds digit) is missing. And at '8' and '9' the segments pretty much all disappear. Pics below to sort of indicate this.

The ball in play segment is the one I need to see the test audit number '18'. But after scrolling through the self-tests the displays all disappear though anyway so I can't tell if/when it gets to '18' which is what I need to reset the background sound.

I also hear the solenoid expander clicking intermittently (not consistently) as it progresses through the display test.
I reconnected the pins for the displays with some changes, but no real improvement.

Generally the game works: game boot-up seems fine with 7 LED flashes on MPU. S&T sound test seems fine for speech. Speech is fine during gameplay. I even hear that background sound at boot-up. But there is no background sound during gameplay, or other proper sounds. The display is jiggly though during gameplay, as the self-test might predict.

I have video showing this from '11111111' upward. Note '6's and '7's in the '2' and '3' spots respectively. Also, there is no '9' to show.

Thanks! For anything!

Thanks Quench, interesting and specific info.

Wiggling J1 didn't really produce any difference in performance. A quick look at both header and connectors for J1 didn't reveal anything obvious.
I will have a closer look at Pins 3 and 27 though, thanks.

Thanks for these guys- it's a catch-22 though with the Sound troubleshooting, in that my displays don't show properly. The '18' doesn't come up as a selection in the self-test. In fact, after the 'stuck switch' self-test (which I think comes with 5 hits on the red self-test switch), nothing displays at all. I've hit the red button a few dozen times to see if something comes further along, but no.

I have some Deoxit on order, when it comes I think I'll give some careful treatment to the related pins and see if things change, before I move on to other ideas. Unless someone has one for me now lol.

Actually noticing now that the lamp adjacent to the Solenoid Expander Board isn't lighting during any of the tests. I checked the lamp itself and it is still functional. I'm still not sure what the SEBs role is, but I wonder if this has anything to do with these problems.

I love that I have zero deadlines on any repair in this project. It's fun that way, not like real life lol.

Slochar- thanks for the suggestion in logical-order troubleshooting. I will follow this and start my analysis with a look at the rectifier board.

Rikoshay- yes, the SEB lamp is a standard 555 bulb incandescent. The boards all look original, including the lamp driver board. No LEDs in this game as it is still in its original (rough) condition.

Rikoshay- yes, thanks for that, I'll check that in the morning.