Here is a copy of my post from the Maverick Club Thread...
OK guys. Weird possible issue here. The other day right before I finally made it to the Poker Championship I noticed that the second ball lock lite in the left orbit was lit solid but 1st and 3rd lites were not lit. When I locked a ball it locked ball 1 like it should even though 2nd ball lock lite was lit solid. So essentially game functioned correctly even though that lite was lit. I thought it was a weird fluke until today when it happened again. Again I was close to starting Poker Championship and that second ball lock lite in left orbit was lit solid. And again the game still locked balls correctly even though that lite was lit. So has anyone else ever experienced this? If not how would I troubleshoot this? So weird that it only happened twice far into the game right before Poker Championship. Any thoughts/comments are most appreciated as this kind of stuff drives me crazy.

So...any ideas on the cause here? Light is lit when it shouldn't be but the feature associated with the lite functions correctly...

Thanks! I'll try that and see what happens.

In a single lamp test..only one light was lit at a time and what was lit matched the DMD. So that looks good. One thing I did notice for whatever it's worth is that when checking the rows and columns of lights during the test for one (I forget if it was row or column) when lock 2 light was lit all 5 feature lights and Poker Championship light were also lit. Those lights are all lit right before and during the Poker Championship which is when I noticed lock 2 light lit during the game...

Any other ideas?

Anyone?

If the diode was bad wouldn't it always be acting up and not just under this specific circumstance?

Ahhhh gotcha. I'll check it out. Thanks!

So the light in question is on a light board. You know a little pcb that holds 555s. Are there diodes on these boards? I don't see any.

Good question...I dunno. I will report back.

3 years later...time to figure this out. I tested all the diodes in the row and column that lock 2 light is in and all test 650 to 720.

Lock 2 light immediately lights when Poker Championship starts (Poker Championship light comes on).

When the Poker Championship light stops flashing then lock 2 light immediately turns off. (It then stays lit for remainder of game except during the 30 seconds a mode is active).

Could Poker Championship light diode be bad even though it tests at 719? Other diodes were near this number.

In test mode. Single lamp test works perfectly. Lock 2 light does not light up when Poker Championship is lit.

Columns and rows light as they should in test mode.

During game play Poker Championship lights in addition to every other light in that column (except 21 when lit). They all should be lit except lock 2 light (and 21 when lit may or may not be lit...doesn't matter).

Lysurgeon
Pin_Guy

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I replaced diodes associated with Poker Championship light and lock 2 light. No change.

If anyone can help me out i would be much obliged.

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Any ideas at all? You don't even have to know that your right...any suggestions please. I don't know what to do.

Well I pulled the cpu. I tested every transistor and diode on the cpu in the circuit for the lamp matrix. Everything looks good.

When that lock 2 light was lit tonight I tried unplugging the other lamps in the column and the lock 2 light stayed lit.

I will look into this. Thanks!

With the help of the amazing Chris Hibler I was able to determine the issue lies somewhere with the playfield wiring and not on the CPU. So what is the best way to go about finding the issue? A bad diode is possible but I cannot locate one. What other issues could there be that allow for a light to light when it shouldn't but only in a very specific circumstance?

Gonna look real good tonight...Thanks!

So maybe bad roms? I will keep that in mind if I can't get this resolved. Thanks for chiming in!

Tried a new ROM...problem remains.

I will add that once the Lock 2 light was lit solid...I removed every single bulb from rows 2 and 3 and column 3 and that Lock 2 light stayed lit...

So what does the lamp PIA do exactly? Where can I buy a replacement? Can you explain what the inverter does? Thanks!

Thank you!

Well it is 100% a board issue. I used a light matrix tester so the controlled playfield lights were not connected during testing. The led for the problem light lit solid when it shouldn't just like it does when playfield lights are plugged in. At this point I am just buying a new board. Don't want to waste anymore time swapping chips and crossing my fingers. Thanks everyone!

Update...

Installed new ROM...no change

Bought light matrix tester...playfield connectors CN6 and CN7 (light matrix) disconnected...light matrix tester connected to CN6 and CN7...no change...so I am thinking well the light matrix is disconnected from the MPU...had to be a board problem

Got new board today (MPU 004)...no change...how can that be? What else is connected to the MPU that can be causing my issue?

This is what I originally thought. But another pinsider has posted a video of his Maverick working just fine...I don't even know what to try next...it's driving me crazy. If I didn't love Maverick I would sell it to be rid of the issue. Can the main processing chip be causing this? It's the only part besides the new ROM that was on the old MPU.

Excellent question. I just asked. I will report back.

Well he has the same Rom revisions as me. CPU 4.04 and Display 4.01.

Got it figured out! It is a software bug! Only had to spend hundreds of dollars and dozens of hours to figure that out but hey...that's pinball! I guess because so few people ever make it to the Poker Championship and those that do get there so rarely it largely went unnoticed.

I replicated the state of the game like the video that was posted to help me...ball 1 locked and locks 2 and 3 flashing. The lock 2 light did not light solid when it shouldn't...just like the video. Then another person posted that he got the same results as me when no lock lights were lit. Lock 2 light lit solid when poker championship starts flashing. So it is a software bug after all. Not surprised it hasn't been discussed before as it is near impossible to reach the Poker Championship. At some point someone mentioned i may have a bad rom...and I do but so does everyone else. Believe me I didn't ignore anyone and appreciate all the help I get on Pinside.

Yes indeed!

16 min in you will see the bug. Not my video.