Looking for input on any of the scattered ideas below for my Spider-man Home Edition. It was played less than 100 times, then, upon booting up, the machine gave the message "Updating NODE 8," followed by a countdown, then the message "Update Failed." Power cycling the game makes no difference in this behavior. With the game still under warranty, I contacted my distro two months ago and have confirmed that a trouble ticket was sent to Stern then.

Here are a few things I've tried and am considering, ranging from fixing to selling. Input on any of the below is much appreciated.

(1) With the power off, I checked all connectors that lead to Node 8 in some way, and all look fine and are secure. I also pulled all the connectors to Node 8 and Node 0 (in the backbox) and reseated them. No change. Does this continuing error message definitely implicate NODE 8 or could there be another cause? Are there any other ideas I could try?

(2) I realize that Stern should and will eventually send me a new NODE 8 board, but I'm not confident that will be soon and I even worry that the board would fail again eventually. I see so many complaints about NODE board failures on other games and long waits for replacements that I've grown a bit cynical, and I understand that any problem with this particular title could naturally be way on the back burner for Stern. At this point, I would purchase a NODE 8 board if I could, but I'm not sure they're available or even used in other titles. Does anyone know?

(3) Assuming that I receive a new board, with NODE 8 installed and the game play tested, what would you say is a reasonable sale price? I paid about $4,000 for it, but especially with the limited popularity of this game and the specific NODE 8 failure issue, I would obviously sell it at a loss. With the new board installed and the game working, any opinions on price?

(4) A naive question that I hope nevertheless produces a considered opinion: Do you think it's possible to sell as-is (with NODE 8 shipped to the buyer when it would arrive)? (I assume that someone out there can do Node board repair.) If I were to sell it now as-is, what would be a fair price?

Thanks again for any useful input.

Thanks so much for the reply. And I agree that the Spider-man is the least of the home pins. I first bought the SW home edition and the JP home edition and have had those for over a year with no problems after hundreds of plays. So then I bought the Spidey, but with disappointing results. Again, thanks for weighing in.

Thanks so much paul_8788. Excellent suggestions, and thanks especially for the LED explanation. I will explore all of these, with the exception of risking swapping in a board from one of my other games which, as you said, seems risky. I also just found the below parts advisory from Stern noting a node board replacement option, but everywhere I look, including abroad, both 520-7017-72 and 520-1057-00 are out of stock.

https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Stern-NodeBoardUpdate.pdf

Again, thanks. I will try out options and report back.

Following up on the above suggestions from paul_8788, I tried running a different ethernet cable directly from Node 0 to Node 8 (which takes the coupler out of the process as well), but with no change. You also noted three LEDs on Node 8, but I'm just seeing one red LED, which stays on. There are two groups of at least three LEDs on Node 0, all red, and these LEDs are either on solid are flashing rapidly. Next I'll try contacting Stern about a new SD card imaged with the game code. Can't hurt.

All viable-sounding options. I'll go back in. Thanks!

Thanks very much. And I hate to complain about Stern--I love many of their titles and have had good experiences with them as well--but this issue and issues with node boards on other machines (most notably RUSH Premium and LE currently, and also with a Game of Thrones that I used to service) have me thinking that I won't buy any more Stern titles. Losing my little ol' business won't hurt them any, but when a part I can't get anywhere else renders a machine unplayable for months at a time, it sure gives me pause.

Thanks again for the moral support.

Yes, I hear you. I have owned three CGC remakes and the one issue I had with one was resolved over the phone by a real person. If I buy another high-ender, it will likely be Cactus Canyon.

Yes, I previously tried both RJ45 connectors on both node boards in different combinations, with the result being the same behavior and error message.

Now I just tried disconnecting RJ45 from Node 0 and unplugged everything from Node 8 except for the 48V connector. The Node 8 board booted with a solid red LED as usual, and with the same Node 8 error message popping up on the display.

Yup, everything was disconnected from Node 8 except the 48v connector. The ethernet cable between the boards was also disconnected. Just tried everything disconnected from Node 8 except for the 48v and also connected the two node boards with the ethernet cable this time. Same result--solid red LED on Node 8 and the same error message on the display.

But thanks for all the follow-up. I do appreciate it. I'll report back on any progress.

Thanks for confirming. Yes, I had the RJ45 and 48v connected when I tested.

Just an update that I emailed Stern tech support 10 days ago to ask if they could make the game code available so that I could try a new SD card, but no response.

Glad to report that my node board issue is resolved. A "new best friend" with technical skills and related experience was kind enough to repair the board for hire, and it's now back in the machine and all is well. Meanwhile, by coincidence, on the same day that he repaired the board, Stern wrote me an email responding to my request that they made the SD card code available as a possible fix as well (although I doubted that would work). I went back and forth with Stern tech support answering questions and verifying that I had done node board tests correctly, and in the end Stern tech support concluded that the issue was the node board (yup) but that it wasn't any longer covered under warranty due to the game's age. Also, although node 8 wasn't available from any suppliers a month ago at last check, I see pinball life now has it; however, I'm glad I went with the cheaper repair option from someone who could actually explain the issue and the work he had done to resolve it. Hopefully the repaired board holds up and that's the end of this saga.

Thanks to all those who replied with ideas--they led me in the right direction!

Good to hear from you, Levi. I fondly remember our Party Zone transaction and I kept that game for years, and I always enjoy your posts.

Your question is a good one, and I'm debating the answer to it. I do like the game in my collection, but since it had only been played 87 times--mostly by others--before the board went bad, I want to enjoy it and battle test it for a while and be sure the board holds up, plus I would want any buyer to know its history if the board does not fail so they know what they're getting. With $4,000 in the game and not many people wanting this title, I think I'd have to sell at a substantial loss, so maybe I'd try to manage it as part of a trade or take it to Allentown where I MIGHT be able to sell it for more than on pinside.

Thanks for asking!

I wish I could give a technically correct answer, but I think I can get close. He said it was clear that the 6-volt circuit had shorted, and only one of the three LED indicators (the 48-volt) was lighting at all. He had the schematics for the board and said that through another communication he believed that a zener diode sometimes failed or came loose from this particular board due to vibration or as a result of a faulty flasher or coil, and that this would result in too much current. He replaced a surface-mounted chip and he may have zip-tied that zener diode (which had not actually come loose) to an adjacent component as well. Again, I'm very clumsy with my understanding, but that's the best I can describe the work.

Thanks, Dave, for chiming in. Didn't want to reveal your identity in case someone else would contact you. But this thread will be dead soon so perhaps that's a low risk.