So I have a had this game for a couple of months now, after waiting over a year to get it an LV...nothing but problems.
I have yet to play a single fully working (3 ball) game.
I have REALLY lost faith in this machine and company and am tempted to cancel my Queen LE (which was guaranteed to ship in 2022 but still hasn't).
I have been seeing a lot of Aliens for sale on the market over the past few months and am now wondering if it is due to the build quality (or lack thereof).
Unfortunately, this was the most anticipated pin I have ever bought and unquestionably, the biggest lemon.
If you are thinking of buying one, think twice.

A bunch of things have already been fixed, including replacing the main cpu motherboard, but I'm still stuck with issues.
At this point I'm trying to fix;
-the alien jaw
-the alien magnetic rod
-the non registering APC drop targets
-the Hypersleep ball lock

Since none of these have ever worked for me I don't even know what is supposed to happen in regards to the Hypersleep ball lock.
If I get a ball in the lock, it registers the ball, but nothing happens. The ball just sits there and after a while the machine starts searching for a ball, which it can not find and then it just counts it as a ball drain and starts the next ball…

I have asked Pinball Brothers support multiple times as to what is supposed to happen, but the guy refuses to tell me;
I even emailed this to him;

"WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!?!?
I have asked you this question 3 times now, could you please just answer it?
Should another ball be launched?
Is the ball supposed to be ejected back out of the lock?
Is the lock supposed to raise?"

So, could someone here possibly tell me what is supposed to happen before I take an axe to this thing and use it as firewood!?
So frustrated...

Thanks for the info/ help.
Now that I know what is supposed to happen, it makes it easier to troubleshoot.
I don't think the opto's are the issue, as the game is registering the ball/ lock, (and displaying "Ball 1 Locked" etc) however the elevator is not working at all (although it works via the test menu) and another ball is not being launched in the shooter lane either.
It's almost like the mechanical parts are working individually, but the software is not communicating properly.
I have a call in with support, but I'm really starting to reach my patience limit on this game...

After another 3+ hours of tech support with Pinball Brothers (Shawn) and a couple more hours of fixing stuff (as per Shawn's instructions), I am happy (and relieved) to have played my FIRST fully working game of Alien about 5 minutes ago.

I feel like an absolute, complete idiot as 2 of the problems were not Pinball Brothers fault at all. It seems 2 Mezel Mods that I had bought and installed were interfering with the game mechanics.

Mezel Mods: ALIEN PINBALL HYPER SLEEP CHAMBER- I very carefully installed this, however it seemed that a TINY piece of overhang from the front piece was catching on the top of the rear (larger) piece of the mod, thereby not allowing the lift to fully lower (like a 1-2mm difference) and was screwing up the opto's in regards to the lock being up or down. The front piece can not be mounted straight as per Mezel's instructions. 100% "my" fault.

Mezel Mods: ALIEN PINBALL APC TARGET ILLUMINATION- I had installed this mod without a second thought (as I have installed illuminated clear drop targets on a few other (Stern/ Spooky) machines with no problems). Guess what. Absolutely incompatible with the optos on the Alien machine. The optos simply cannot sense the clear drop targets at all. Once I switched them back to stock, they worked first time. They also work with the Illumination aspect still operating. Again, 100% "my" fault.

We even got the Alien head 90+% working, in that the jaw is properly opening and closing and the magnetic rod is now expanding and retracting to grab the ball, however, it did have difficulty releasing it. But it eventually did and I could continue playing and finishing a game.

Considering I publicly criticized Pinball Brothers on this thread yesterday, I feel morally obligated, to publicly admit my fault in this and publicly apologize to them. Shawn's patience in helping me was amazing and once we realized that it was a mod, he didn't even get angry or express anything but understanding. To say that I was embarrassed (and angry at myself) would be an understatement.

I also want to thank the members here who help out and am REALLY looking forward to finally getting to play this game properly.
I will also be notifying Mezel Mods regarding the incompatibility with the mods, so hopefully nobody else has to experience these issues.

I tried a Sharpie as well, but yes, did not work for me either.
At this point, I think I'll just stick with the stock as I REALLY want to just enjoy playing this game for a while.