nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

11 posts / 0 new
Last post
Offline
Last seen: 11 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 24 2012 - 14:09
Posts: 4
nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello all.
i recently aquired a apple IIe... had been sitting in a barn for who knows how long. it had years of grime all over it... keyboard was literally almost unrecognizable. i completley dissasembled it, washed the case in the dishwasher (much to the mothers dismay lol), cleaned the motherboard and psu, as well as the monochrome monitor. i then went to try and boot it up.
Well, at first i thought i had a brick. the system beeped, the moniter displayed random garbled ascii, and then the speaker started making white noise...... Finally realised i didnt have the keyboard plugged in(dont know why this would make a diffrence but whatever). So i plugged that in, and rebooted.
Well this time the system made its happy beep and the screen displayed the typical "apple ][" at the top. then... nothing. no keys worked, no speaker noise, just nothing. after a couple boots like this, i manageed to pound the keys in some random unknown combination and the machine went to basic... sort of. i was able to press pretty much all the keys, and they all seemed to be working (except p, which reqired several hundred key presses till it worked haha). The only problem is no code ever worked... always syntax error. syntax error..... nothing else. so i rebooted sevral times, finaly managing to hit some random keys bringing me to basic. Still nothing but syntax error.
Well at thistime i decided to try reseating all roms. so i tooke them out, doused them in contact cleaner, and put them back in (one by one btw). and now, lo and behold, were back to garbled text on the screen... and not even a beep.
I am a newbie to this (this is my first restore project). So my question is, is this even fixable? i really dont have access to things like olliscopes or any thing. is there any way i can voltage test the chips or something?
Oh one other thing... the motherboard is pretty much in excellent condition, but on the underside, some of the traces or whatever are sort of wrinkled... Not broken through just wrinked .Im pretty sure its moisture causing rust. is a mobo in this condition good to use?

MarkO's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 week 1 day ago
Joined: Dec 10 2011 - 16:26
Posts: 688
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

A couple quick responses...

IIRC, If the Apple ][e has no Keyboard, it goes to a Test Mode..

If the Apple ][e is NOT ENHANCED, ( Boot Logo at Top show "Apple ][e" ), BASIC will only work with UPPERCASE LETTERS.

If the Apple ][e is ENHANCED, ( Boot Logo at Top show "Apple //e" ), BASIC will only work with either Case letters.

I have an early Apple ][e ( it has the Light Colored Key-caps with the Bigger White Letters ), and I believe Oxidation has gotten into the key, and keeps them from operating reliability... Not quite sure how to go about cleaning them up....

speedyG's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 10 months ago
Joined: Nov 16 2011 - 07:45
Posts: 2493
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello MarkO,
if you can´t tell about the keyswitches, why don´t you at least provide the link to the correct thread ???
for example:
http://www.applefritter.com/content/basic-page-keyboardswitches-and-keyboard-topics
.....
it´s not e bad idea to follow up, what other guys are doing here in the community....
sincerly speedyG

amauget's picture
Offline
Last seen: 18 hours 8 min ago
Joined: Jan 3 2011 - 11:34
Posts: 339
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello timflemming,

The first thing you should be aware of is that the Apple II will try to boot from the floppy if a controller card is present (usually in slot #6).
If such a card is present, and no disk drive is connected to it, the Apple seems to be stuck displaying only Apple ][ at the top of the screen. This is a normal behaviour.
You have to press CTRL-Reset to get into BASIC.
When you want to test an Apple, just remove all the cards from the expansion slot.
And finally, be sure all the pins from the IC you removed are not bent. You probably need to remove them a second time to check that.

speedyG's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 10 months ago
Joined: Nov 16 2011 - 07:45
Posts: 2493
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello Amauget,
this was a really perfect answer, just one thing to add:

In such a case when a very newbie joins the community, and it seems that the drive was not connected... its very strong recommended to give the warning, that he has to pay very much attention when connecting the drive to the controller....
be very sure to connect pin 1 of the drive ( visible insede at the plug when cover of the drive is slided backwards ) to pin 1 at the controller.... there are different kinds of cables mounted to the different drives - so if first time connecting the drive - its upmost recommended that the cable is connected correct to the controller -otherwise the controller and the drive may be damaged severly !

if sliding back the cover of the drive - its a good idea to mark at the cable the side where pin1 is located.....
several details about the disk drive can be read at:
http://www.applefritter.com/content/basic-pages-about-disk-ii-matainance-and-repair
this will help to handle the drive correct.....

sincerely speedyG

Offline
Last seen: 11 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 24 2012 - 14:09
Posts: 4
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hey thank you for all the info! I havent got it working yet but i certainly am gonna try Smile ill post an update and maby pix later...

Offline
Last seen: 11 years 3 weeks ago
Joined: Dec 24 2012 - 14:09
Posts: 4
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

The first thing you should be aware of is that the Apple II will try to boot from the floppy if a controller card is present (usually in slot #6). If such a card is present, and no disk drive is connected to it, the Apple seems to be stuck displaying only Apple ][ at the top of the screen. This is a normal behaviour. You have to press CTRL-Reset to get into BASIC. When you want to test an Apple, just remove all the cards from the expansion slot. And finally, be sure all the pins from the IC you removed are not bent. You probably need to remove them a second time to check that.

Ok tried all that, (remove expansion cards, check for bent pins, ect.) ... and all Im getting when trying to boot is a random scren of garbled ascii. no beep or anything. is there anywhere a diagram of the mobo and the orientation of the chips? (99.999% sure i put them in the same way they came out, but you neverknow...)
Thank you.

speedyG's picture
Offline
Last seen: 4 years 10 months ago
Joined: Nov 16 2011 - 07:45
Posts: 2493
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello timflemming,
the completest description will be Inside the IIe.pdf
use this link:
http://mirrors.apple2.org.za/Apple%20II%20Documentation%20Project/
choose in the menu
books/
and within the list:
Gary B. Little - Inside the IIe.pdf 33M
and probably also:
Jim Sather - Understanding the Apple IIe.pdf 130M
both books contain at the rear part plans of the mainboard as well as the circuitplans
its recomended to download both books ... might take some time - but its worth waiting....
sincerely speedyG

MarkO's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 week 1 day ago
Joined: Dec 10 2011 - 16:26
Posts: 688
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello MarkO,
if you can´t tell about the keyswitches, why don´t you at least provide the link to the correct thread ???
for example:
http://www.applefritter.com/content/basic-page-keyboardswitchesybd-topics
.
it´s not e bad idea to follow up, what other are doing here in the community....
sincerly speedyG

My disclaimer was "This is a quick response". Since the OP was new, I didn't want them to get discouraged by lack of responses.

I didn't look anything up, I don't remember ever seeing your Keyboard Page, ( Which looks very informative so I am adding it to my list of resources. )

MarkO's picture
Offline
Last seen: 1 week 1 day ago
Joined: Dec 10 2011 - 16:26
Posts: 688
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hey thank you for all the info! I havent got it working yet but i certainly am gonna try Smile ill post an update and maby pix later...

It. Is always beneficial to Simplify when Trouble-Shooting.
Removing extra Hardware from the Apple's Slots that might be causing Issues.. Making sure all Socketed Chips are Firmly Seated. Look for Oxidation buildup that would cause connection issues..

amauget's picture
Offline
Last seen: 18 hours 8 min ago
Joined: Jan 3 2011 - 11:34
Posts: 339
Re: nonworking apple IIe *Help!!

Hello,

Ok tried all that, (remove expansion cards, check for bent pins, ect.) ... and all Im getting when trying to boot is a random scren of garbled ascii.

When this test was done, was the keyboard connected ?
If not, the garbage is the Apple //e autotest...
A picture will help a lot.

Log in or register to post comments