I am familiar with Linux and Ubuntu, but not a proficient user of either. The problem building this from scratch seems to be configuration and scarcity of the SWE1 emulation software. There is lots of info online about how awesome Nucore is, but next to nothing for tutorials about how to build or configure the system. I am 90% sure my motherboard is bad, and there are none to be found. I am also 90% sure my prism card is good... The problem there is, i'm not 100% sure on either. I am looking around town for someone with a working SWE1, that will let me use it to test my prism card, but I havn't found one yet.
I have spent a TON of time restoring this game to pristine glory and honestly I just don't have any more time (or desire) to screw around with this stupid computer, so i'm really hoping for a truly "plug and play" solution that I can just buy, connect and play.

That. Still 90% sure the prism card is good.

AHH!! Therein lies the mystery!! This is where the very highly detailed and incredibly specific instructions allude me.

Thanks for the offer! Depending on which route I go, new OEM computer or Pinbox, I may take you up on this!

Thanks so much for all the help and input guys, and please keep it coming!! Ive had a few PM's from people trying to help, and I am getting some really great nuggets that may help in building myself a Pinbox setup, but I still am missing many details.
Unless I post here, or archive this ad, I am still VERY interested in buying an OEM computer or "plug and play" Pinbox or Nucore system!

I think I found the rabbit hole... While i'm trying to make a deal with somebody for a solution, I decided to try and build my own Pinbox setup. Since I am not at all savvy with Linux/Ubuntu, its proving to be very complicated and frustrating!
I have both versions of Pinbox (torrent w/ROMs & original install without ROMs, but I have the ROM .tar file) and I cant get either to cooperate!! The original version installs and boots correctly, but will NOT load the ROMs from the flash drive, and the torrent version wont boot into the Pinbox GUI, it just gives me a assload of terminal crap that may as well be in chinese!
So, at every turn in this stupid adventure to actually PLAY my freshly restored SWE1, I have hit yet another brick wall!!

Yes, and I have read everything in this forum. I actually got the OEM disk setup to install the ROMs, but I had to put the .tar file in the pinbox directory because it refused to seek the flash drive. But that put me at the same dead-end as the torrent version with the ROMs... Im stuck in terminal prompt and cant get to the Pinbox Desktop, or use the commands suggested in the forum because the system refuses to connect to the internet, even though it is seeing that a network is connected!!
What I need ideally is the disk image of the HDD in a working system!! Or better yet, a solution that doesn't require an internet connection!! If this setup was designed to work after installation, with all the system files required included, then why doesn't it???

This is useless, and I have no clue what to do...

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Well well! look what happened! I wonder if this is something??

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Not for a few hours, ive been working on this at work, on the bench. When I get home obviously I will connect it to the game and see what happens... But i'm not holding my breath! But I will update then.

Well, its odd that its asking me to pick from ONE game, especially when I have the settings set for "SWE1 only" and auto-detect turned off... But I also have no clue is this is normal behavior, cuz I cant any info anywhere to confirm it!

Oh yes, many many times... Helpful!

Oh, I almost forgot...

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I cut a piece of malamine to fit into the factory computer bracket and mounted all the PC bits to it. I arranged all the connections to be where the cab connections were.

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Yup, all from my retired Windows Vista PC, except the HDD. 6-core 2.66 AMD, 8G RAM. And a really old but barely used 40G Maxtor Pro HDD with anti-shock mount, designed for arcade machines and severe conditions.
So I had all this crap, and this experiment hasn't cost me a cent... Which is why I said "what the hell", but I still dont know if this setup will play nice with the playfield, and I still want an OEM computer.

I built a new bad mamajamma PC from scratch when 8.1 came out.

Yea, the whole sound issue is one I havn't concerned myself with yet, not until I know this is going to work. And I have to find a male 6-pin connector to use with the existing harness. I do not hack up pin wiring harnesses, and I need to be able to still connect the speaker harness to the OEM amp in (what I now refer to as) the "DumbBox".

This MB has multiple audio outs, but all are line-level. I dont think ive ever seen a MB with an amp built in. I will need a 2.1ch amp to get good sound with this setup, but I need to adapt the amp output to the 6-pin connector in the cab harness. For now im using the speakers in the LCD monitor for testing purposes. But again, the sound is not a priority as I want to use an OEM computer, but if this Pinbox thingy works, it' be a good backup.

PS. I tried installing Pinbox to a 32G flashdrive instead of an HDD, is was slow as shit.

Well, I got the game back together and the PF back in today, it works great with the Pinbox. It boots right up and loads SWE1 just like its supposed too! But of course, there's a problem.... It wont save my game settings?? I set it to free play, and after a reboot, defaults are back!! Pinbox is nifty and all, but this constant high-maintenance PITA is not cute anymore...

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Well, I thought I did, but on your advice, I changed settings and played 2 games and then let it run in attract mode for 5 mins, then power cycled... Settings saved, including my high score! Thanks!
The only thing I have to figure out now is why the light saber doesn't do anything... Its a brand new populated PF, so i'm sure its something simple. Done for today, spent the last 11 hrs on this thing non-stop, i'm wrecked!

Light saber neon fixed, had to replace the ULN2803A at U35. Not exactly a simple fix, but the game is working 100% now.

Checked for + voltage, then grounded the - side and the neon came on, which means the signal driver isn't firing.
Looked a the schematic and found that the neon is not driven by the usual on/off NPN transistor usually used in a solenoid/flasher circuit, its driven by a ULN2803A. Which made sense in hind-sight since the neon pulses and fades.
Anyway, the IC wasn't visibly damaged, but I had to start somewhere, and U35 is the last IC before the signal goes out to the PF.

I curently have no plans to do so.