I picked up a LOTR last night that I don't really know the history of. The game appears to work fine, but has absolutely no sound. Nothing during game play, and nothing in test modes. I haven't had time to dig into the issue yet, but I did make one observation that I think may be important.

I read through the STERN technical article about updating the sound board firmware to OS 8. I noticed that on my board, it is marked for OS 4, but when you power the machine on, LED 1 does not blink at all. Does this mean the OS is not loading? Perhaps a firmware update is in order?

I have the equipment to burn an eprom if someone would be kind enough to send me the boot loader to update the firmware. PM me and I will send you my email address.

I'm pretty sure I have the correct board. The sound ROMS are across the bottom of the board.
IMG_6043 (resized).JPG

Well I got the file, and tried to update the OS, after letting the machine sit for 30 minutes, the led never did start to blink... I think you are correct, the sound chip may be bad. Anyone got a recommendation for someone to repair whitestar boards?

I've gone through the board voltage, and they all seem within tolerance. I've also reseated CN2. I can hear the light matrix buzzing through the speakers, so I'm pretty sure the amps are working. I'm pretty much left with LED1 going solid at boot, which seems to indicate the sound section is not booting.