When I got it it had a chip that had a sticker on it that said 'Whitewater', so I ordered a STTNG chip and replaced the whitewater with it.

It also didn't have a display, but I popped an old one in there.

It powers on, but no lights come on and the DMD is a jumble:

Powered on

Powered on

Powered on - The chip I replaced is there - No leds lit on this board?

Any ideas? Not having a lot of luck with Google...

That's a great resource, thanks. Just needed somewhere to kick off from, I'll look into this further.

I pulled all ribbon cable connectors, made sure the red line is at number 1, and replaced them back - no change.

None of the CPU Board's 3 LEDs are lighting, I'll look for a test point on the CPU board (is there one, or should I check at the cable coming onto the board?)

Ok, I checked all the fuses on all the backbox boards - there was a 3A 250V fuse blown on the power board, it is in F115 but I have yet to track down more info on that fuse.

I checked the CPU board's incoming voltage on the incoming power cable, and it reads 0.55. (I used 20 DCV setting on my meter, I hope that's right)

What's interesting is that before I replaced that fuse, I also checked the incoming 12V power to the CPU board and it read ~2V, after I replaced the fuse it read ~12V.

It looks like the GI to Backbox and GI to playfeild cables from the power board are not attached, I believe I missed them because they have weird connectors on them, and it looks like at one point there were cables directly soldered to the board connectors for the playfeild GI. Heres a picture of the previously soldered board connector and the 'weird' connecter that the wires which are supposed to connect to it have:

NOT stock connector... Need a new Connector I guess

Aside from those connectors, it looks like my 5V is having issues. I checked Test Point 2 on my power board and it read 0.28.

Beyond this, I'm unsure where to go... I guess my board needs repair. Questions:

-Are there any further diagnostics I can do or at this point should I start working on my power board?
-What should I look at replacing on my Power Board?
-Would the 5V issue be possibly causing the scrambled DMD?

Do you know what that part is called? I haven't a clue... do you know if it can be tested with a multimeter?

Well, I always hated soldering... I never have any luck doing it.

I just reheated some connectors and reflowed some solder on a few points and now I get nothing at all from my 5V... I guess I'll order one of those LM323k voltage regulators, but I'm not holding my breath on my ability to fix the board myself.

I'm guessing I'll need a new one or send mine in for repair.

It did look like someone with even worse skills than mine had tried to repair the board previously, so that can't be helping things along either.

Thanks John... I was discouraged last night, just had a bad day overall - I appreciate your post, it made me lift my chin.

I tested all the fuses with a multimeter, they're all good now.

I did as you suggested and unplugged all from the driver board, except J101, J102 and J112. And tested all the Test Points I could find:

TP1 - 15.19
TP2 - 0.00
TP3 - 12.09
TP4 - 0.00
TP6 - 72.00
TP7 - 21.00
TP8 - 17.70

It really looks like my 5v is the issue, does that sound right?

I tested the fuse again to be sure, it's the right one and it's good.

The AC Volts test on J101-1/J101-2 cane out with 9.4, so that seems OK, right?

I tested BR2 following your posted link's instruction, I got around 550 for the neighboring points, but read a 1200 or so from the adjacent point, like so:

Try not be jealous of my amazing art skills.

I think that means the BR2 is bad... can you confirm?

I'm not sure what you mean by butchered... but does this qualify? It's not my doing, before you ask:

IMG_20140916_212534.jpg
IMG_20140916_212528.jpg

Just redid the test, I definitely got these results. I had the MM set to diode test.

288245-i.jpg

There's definitely a wonky bridge rectifier here right?

Whoa that might be it. Ive found no continuity between the red line you outline above! The black is fine but not the red...

While I'm at it... I just noticed that something doesn't look quite right on my CPU board: The battery holder has been removed, no huge deal. But so have a few chips?! I'll have to look closer at what they're for but I think they've definitey been removed:

photo.JPG

Beat you to it! I looked carfully and it seemed to be those points were supposed to be connected, so I added a jumper and voila, it lit my 5v LED! Now some solenoids fire when I start my game. Still a scrambled DMD though... likely an issue with the CPU board? I'm not sure.

Yea, I had a feeling about the CPU board. If I grab a rotten dog one, do I need the (with ASIC installed) version or will the (bare) version work?

http://www.bigdaddy-enterprises.com/ProductPages/RotDogBoards.html - about 3/5 the way down the page...

Alright, finally received the board. I installed the STTNG chip onto the board and installed the board in the machine.

I also replaced a couple connectors on the power board, J120 and J121.

However, the game still won't boot. The GI and play field lighting now light up and stay solid, but there's still a scrambled DMD. If I press the test buttons inside the door I can randomly enter test mode where the play field lights flash and the cannons rotate.

Can you offer some ideas for my next things to check.

I went through the PinWiki and found the section on the 'Power-On LEDs and Sound Tones (Bongs)' and the LEDs on the new CPU board seem to be happy. The top LED turns off, the second one blinks and the third one stays solid.

I also only hear a single tone when I power on the game which I believe is a good sign, since the PinWiki states "After a successful boot, the game should make a single "bong" sound." - there are no additional bongs so I think this is good too.

When the game is powered up, the playfeild & GI lights turn on but stay solid. Usually in attract mode (in my other games) they turn on and off / flicker / etc. But they don't. Can someone confirm if they should flicker when you power on STTNG?

New CPU Board
Playfield lights now function, but stay solidly lit
DMD is still 'scrambled'
The LEDs all light and seem to be proper

Thanks Doc for checking that for me.

Yea, my inserts don't illuminate unless I get into the test mode by randomly mashing the buttons inside the door. Once I do though, they flicker like I would think they would in attract mode.

It's tough to troubleshoot with the DMD not functioning. I guess I'll check the DMD voltages when I get home from work today. Still trying to dig up what else I can look into...

I appreciate that Doc, thanks.

It would be helpful of you could give me a count of how many red (I THINK they're all red) leds are lit in the backbox when the game is powered up.

Well, I was wondering if there were LEDs on any of the boards other than the Power and CPU Board. But yes, I'd like to know what the LEDs look like on the CPU board (is it 1 off, 1 blink & 1 solid?)

Ah ha! I'm definitely missing some the LEDs on those other boards... this give me a little more to investigate. THANKS!!

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Edit:decided to start a new topic for this issue