I need to change the name of this blog...

... to What's My Pinball Machine Missing Today?

I did my testing on the DMD based on the suggestions from rgp. It turns out when I looked at the Tested and Working display driver board, the Q2 transistor and the D3 diode were MIA. Q2 might have broken off, but D3 was cleanly removed, solder-sucked and everything. It also has scorch marks on the back, never a good sign in a high voltage area. I wanted to see if this is actually a different board than the one pictured in the auction, but of course it was one of those where the pictures are hosted, so they're no longer visible (I need to save pictures of auctions I win... pinballchuck, a paragon of virtue, always includes a printout with all of his items). I contacted the seller from eBay, and to my shock and amazement he replied back saying that he can replace the board or refund my money. So I put that board in the mail today, and we'll see if he sends me a replacement. I was kind of considering getting a new board -- they're only $90+s/h, and I'm already into this used one for almost $80 -- but we'll see if this guy comes through with a working replacement.

Today's revelation -- and wanting desperately to change the blog name -- came when I decided to see if I could navigate through the errors without the DMD using the diagnostic buttons... basically see if I get any reaction when I press the button, which I think should be some bloop bloop bloop noises. After checking the menu controls in the Visual Pinball VPM version of the game, I soon discovered that there are no diagnostic buttons! There's nothing at all on the coin doors except the coin slots. Oh, the zumanity! Actually, it was really annoying because I'm really tired of finding stuff missing, so to speak. Anyway, I spent some time studying the schematics and the great repair guides at Marvin3m.com (which I think are written by This Old Pinball host Shaggy/Clay). I found the wires involved (plug J3 on the Coin Door Interface -- hey, it turns out I really did need one! probably not two, though), and since they're just buttons I can probably "press" them by connecting the appropriate pins (7, 8, 9, and 11) to ground (3). Crisis averted, maybe. I'll wait to get the display working before I try that trick.

While I was looking at that, I plugged in the speakers I bought to the audio board, and they seem to work. I also found some stray plugs that were unplugged.

On the (rare) plus side, this week I sold a bunch of the playfield spare parts from two of my recent eBay purchases to a couple of guys. Two guys bought a post each, one guy is on the fence about 2 posts, and one guy got what was left of the Judge Dredd parts. All together it's about $17, and the stuff itself cost me just under $20, so that's not too bad. I'll take my blessings where I can find them.