Would be great to hear if rollback revives the dead ramps ... if so i would think those on .91 or .92 that have not yet had an issue could continue playing on that code and IF they end up having a ramp issue THEN rollback to .89

Haven't seen any official recommend...but, if they put .89 back up for Prem/LE, that's what I assume.

Did anyone rolled back to 0.89 and can confirm that the ramp which previously didn't work is running fine again without replacing the Nodebord nor Motor?

Shit

Just spoke to Stern support. It requires downgrading the code and replacing the board.

I'm looking at a premium, but definitely not going to until I see Stern get these issues fixed. I feel bad for the guys with busted machines. Hopefully it gets addressed soon. Following closely

I emailed Stern to ask if I should downgrade the software in my Premium (my ramp's still working ATM but I haven't been playing for fear of messing something up). I'll report back if I hear anything.

I hope this rollback will not be the end solution of this problem and we will see no more updates. After the GoT orbit solution it wouldn't surprise me with STERN.

I downgraded to v.89...fork ramp didn’t work. I replaced the 9d board...fork and everything else works great (I miss v.92). See the 2 images below of the 9d board. The center right, notice the burn on the board (original)...somethings overloading the board (prob a combo). 1st image is original. 2nd image is new.

71ADA28A-6642-4FB1-9B56-BE354196E391 (resized).jpeg
E32538D3-9291-4ABE-BA71-F410928D7BD3 (resized).jpeg

Looks like D1 went boom. Ouch...

Marc

Possible D2 as well unless that is just proximity damage.

Thanks for sharing the pics dnapac

Well, I downloaded the old code. Took three times of turning on and it finally read the USB and kicked the screen on. Started download and it froze just like when I was trying to re download .92. Now on second week with this machine sitting there not working at all. Literally from hour 1 I've had issues. Still waiting on parts from stern. Distro is zero help. Just curious has anyone had to sue stern or the distro over a "lemon" before?

Wow. Sorry about your troubles. Not a pro, but wish I lived closer to help. Sounds like you need a new CPU/main board.

Why is your distro not helping you?

And what parts are you waiting on?

Rob

This sounds a lot like your USB stick isn't up to the task. I'd go pick up a new 16GB super fast stick, not the cheapest available. Format it, and then copy the code onto the stick. Make sure you EJECT the USB from the PC before pulling it out. Put it in the machine and switch it on. Then do a Full Upgrade with verification. (use the selectors to walk through the options). I've had issues with USBs on all pinballs, even from other manufacturers. These small boards are not as fault tolerant to slow/unsteady USB sticks.

Hope it works out. I was able to download .89 and downgrade my machine last night and it's all working fine.

I just spoke with Chaz at Stern...they are recommending using 0.89 to avoid fork ramp motor burn-out. I upgraded to 0.92 when it came out, have about 100 games and haven't had fork ramp problems (yet). He also said they hope to have a new update 'very soon, in a couple of days' so for now I am going to leave the machine turned off and await the new code for a few days.

Yep just got the same response! I am hoping for Friday I will just not play for now, if its not here Friday I will downgrade. Hopefully there are no residual effects from whatever that code was doing.

No. Bought two new High speed USB 32 gb. Formatted before. Download worked fine the first time for .92. Game crashed and now it won’t turn game on or finish download.

Sorry to hear that. Hope you get it straightened up soon.

This happened to me tonight. What worked was trying the OTHER USB port. The right port failed, and the left one worked.

It's worth a try...

Marc

downgraded code tonight. I miss video mode and light saber duel but better safe than sorry.

Sterns rapid price increases along with drastic cost reductions in an attempt to sell the company has resulted in them producing pins that are not playable . I own 32 of them and resent the fact their quality is the worst in the industry .

Why would anyone make the same mistake 32 times?

Where did you hear that Stern was trying to sell the Company? They are up 40% in just the last two years. At Gary's age I really can't see him cashing out. His father started the company and I think he could not simply walk away from the pinball scene. Now Dave on the other hand seems like a savvy investor with nothing but profits and ROI on his mind. I think Stern moving into large facility has caused much of this mess. After the move they never got caught back up and have been treading water ever since. They need to play catch up, even if it means delaying a game release. Trying to keep their line at full capacity(to support new factory) and not giving their designers enough time or resources seems to be a reoccurring issue that has led to premature game releases and tons of quality issues.

All company’s marketing themselves mirror this. Max pricing, extreme cost cutting. Short term thinking. Their buying power is greater than any other pinball manufacture . With this they could spend about $150 per game and produce something that would make everyone’s quality standards , but this would be a long term Philosophy of trying to set the standard in the industry .

It is an other thinking in the USA than in Germany.

I heard that the Story from Banker is Not True. So no panic

Thank you. Tried them both. They think the CPU is bad.

Probably a stupid question, but I have a pro version running .92. No need for me to downgrade right?

Nope. Just the ones with a fork ramp (premium/le)

For anyone that has replaced their board, has Stern being charging for replacement parts?

No. I called the number on Sterns web site...not 1-800-knockers...and got Chas. It was a little wait on hold, but so worth it. I have been a pinhead for 15 years, but just a low time player. I am not a distro or route operator. He sent me a 9D board and ramp motor immediately, free of charge. I sent the motor and blown out 9D board back for testing (I didn't need the motor, and wasn't looking to keep what I wasn't going to use/need). All this angst against Stern on pinside...much is not to be believed. Nothing but props from me.

I read the .93 release notes twice and find it strange that Stern doesn't mention fixing conditions where the fork ramp board would overload and burnout. I hope it's fixed!

Sure it does:

"Adjusted the timing of the fork ramp to improve its functionality"

Not burning up the fork ramp board does improve its functionality

Thanks for the headsup. Will be upgrading today.

Over two weeks of pin not working at all. Still waiting on parts from Distro and Stern. All I can say is, this is probably my last Stern. Please choose your distro wisely. Random note, is Chicago Pinball redoing Cactus Canyon?

Unlikely. Smart money says MB is next CPC remake. Cactus Canyon is widely considered to have subpar code, so they'll have to either reach a deal with the guy that did CCC (I understand Rick put a lot of time into poisoning that relationship, so seems unlikely) or redo it themselves. Not impossible, but probably makes it less attractive than some of the other remake candidates.

Upgraded to .093. Working great.

Unfortunately the dead flippers when the ball comes off the hyperspace ramp is not fixed in code .093. Had a game where the ball went into the hyperspace ramp, ball came back onto the play field and the game just ended the turn and the flippers died. I really want to like this game but I have a feeling this will be the quickest game to come and leave my collection.

Did it go into mission select while the ball was looping?

Rob

Jack the back legs up and see if that will help. Keep the game steep.

That's the first time I've heard that. I have mine at 6.5 degrees (or slightly flatter) and perfectly level side to side.

Push it to 6.8-7.0 and see.

Can you still backhand the Death Star at that slope? Maybe I'll try it.

I was never able to go up that ramp from a backhand, but with the ramp down you can.

Rob and Chuck, thanks for the reply. I believe the game is set at 6.8 right now. Getting the ball into the Death Star actually works really well. I forgot which mode it was in when the dead flippers happened. I kind of remembered the ball going around the ramp a couple times, then it was released into the right outlane and then the ball just ended. This happened before the .93 code update also. Getting this game level and all the bugs ironed out is frustrating. I have about 20 games in my collection now and had about four that I sold. As of now this game has to be the hardest to setup to play correctly. The horse shoe sometimes shoots the ball directly down the middle also. The game is level left to right after checking with a level.

I had a couple questions on leveling. What are you using to get a read out in tenth of a degrees? Also, do you use the bubble level on the shooter lane as a reference?

I use the Bubble level app for the iPad. Put it on the surface level, and I position the iPad resting on my flippers laying flat. It'll give you side to side and slope. Any surface level app will work though.