Turn off the game then remove and reinstall the SD card. It that doesn’t work contact Stern.

My worst fear about Spike games is this happening.

I'd do some simple things first. Turn game off and remove SD card, reinsert and turn the game back on. If that didn't work, turn game off, reseat connectors including ethernet cables and turn back on. If still nothing after that I'd call your distributor first but probably a failed node board is my guess.

I had something similar happen to me when I first got it. Flashing a new SD card solved my issue.

I would reach out to Stern at [email protected]

Point out to them that https://sternpinball.com/support/ has no schematic for your Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium Edition) SPIKE CPU Node 509-1003-01
and the SPIKE system manual at https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SPIKE-System-Manual.pdf doesn't indicate what the flash codes mean either.

It's worth flashing a new SD card. Cross your fingers that is the issue.

This ^^ …the SD cards stink so purchased new ones and used instructions on Sterns site to solve.

if the SD card stuff doesn't work, try reseating that 12 pin connector on the right hand side of the cpu (with the game off). Make sure all the strain is out of the cable.

Is this a recommended contingency for all Spike games? Or is this specific to EHOH?

If you're capable of making a new SD card in a few minutes it's not critical that you have a spare on hand for every game. If you're down for a week waiting then having a spare on hand is probably a good idea.

You know your situation best. The games will not function without a working SD card.

As others have mentioned it's very possible the SD card has been compromised. It's more common than you think, Stern actually had a bad batch of SD cards that failed and they sent out new ones to owners but as I recall it has not happened recently. As it looks in your video the CPU is active and LED is flashing as it's trying to get info, I'd try a new SD and see if that takes care of it.

https://sternpinball.com/support/sd-cards/

any updates?

Can spike game take any size sd card or limited to a certain size?

I think you mean capacity since SD cards are all the same physical size.

The short answer is PROBABLY 32 Gb, the largest capacity for SDHC cards.

If the reader supports SDXC the max capacity is 2 Tb but there is no guarantee the file system will support that much. It should since it’s Linux based but I don’t know how it was implemented.

What class SD card is best, and did you order the full size SD card or use the SD to MicroSD adapter to take advantage of the more modern card?

Don’t mess with the micro SD cards. They will work but it is another layer of possible problems.

I disagree with your premises that a micro version is more modern than a full size SD card and offers any advantage.
https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/

You're limited by the card reader. ANY current SD card should work since the standard is supposed to be backwards compatible. But in practice that doesn't always happen. It's typically a file system difference in my experience. IF SPIKE2 uses exFAT in theory it should recognize up to 128 TB but I would be surprised if the controller would function with over 2 TB. I don't think any SPIKE2 game yet needs a card with more than 32 GB capacity. The .zip for Rush premium is only 8 GB.

So what SD card should I buy? Like the original poster, I now would like to be proactive and get some spares so in case mando or rush fail to boot I got a first like of defense.

I understand this as the old network routers I use to be familiar with booted from CF cards (yes that is right CF cards like the old 1999 era digital cameras. ) For no reason at all one would die and on the next power cycle after changing the UPS battery it failed.

I use these.

https://www.amazon.com/PNY-Performance-Class-Flash-P-SDHC16GU1GW-GE/dp/B07TCJRXQL/ref=sr_1_6