I got drafted to look at a Striker Extreme. The attract mode seems to work on the playfield, though it will not start a game. Turning it on makes a "donk" kinda sound. Leaving the service switch while turning it on makes a big drum roll sound.

The display would occasionally flash to life, sort of, but is basically dead. I tried using my display from my TNG and was able to get the right side to light up sort but then it would go away. Based upon that, and that the MPU seems to be functioning, it makes me think the display board is bad. The DMD itself I tried on my STTNG and it's a goner at this point (it was probably already on its away out). Connectors look good and the machine hasn't been moved in years.

That is what I came up with, but not sure if I might be missing anything easy perhaps before I tell the dude he'll need to throw down for a new DMD and display board.

Maybe to ask the question differently - is there a troubleshooting/repair manual for early 2000 Stern games I can go check out? The Striker Extreme manual's troubleshooting steps all center around having a display to work with. :/

Aha that's certainly possible! The odd part is that, when the display would light up, there weren't really any graphics on it. Maybe sort of a squished image, but it was hard to tell and was only on the right side. After about 15 seconds, it would just go away. The display was definitely garbled, though the last time I looked at it, on occasion, the now broken display would have moments where it would show an image for a split second.

I guess that makes me think the HV section may certainly be to blame. Surely it's more than just the tiny board on the top left?

Ah well if that's the case, I can probably just pull the board and see if I can fix it by replacing some parts once I look up what the proper voltages should be right? Do I need an HV probe for that?

Actually hmm...if a new X-Pin display is $259, I kinda thing I should just toss the HV board and just go that route. I know they have the grid issues (which the Vishay's don't?) but I think it may be the more reliable route to go.

It is an on-location machine in a hole in the wall kinda bar that's been around (and probably never cleaned) since about 1945. Pretty sure the Striker has been in the same position, without hardly any maintenance unless it fully breaks down, since it was purchased, so multiple failures wouldn't surprise me In fact, once I get the display fix, I'm just hoping that will tell me what else is wrong with the machine.

He has a Dolly Parton (the first machine I'm trying to fix starting with its rectifier board) and a Cyclone.

The poor Cyclone has had some bad work done to it. I don't think I can hope to fix that one on location. It's a mess of wire nuts and bad field repairs and that's just really after glancing at it. It looks like multiple circuits are tied together...bad shape that thing :/

Hmm actually, in looking at the X-Pin offerings, it seems much easier to use the HV power supply. I thought all of them ended up just taking 5V. If that's the case, I'll have to check/repair/replace the HV supply anyway. So I'll have to look at that one way or another.

Thanks for the help, by the way! Really pointed me in the right direction!