Apple IIgs Educational/Parental lockout HELP!

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Verault's picture
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Apple IIgs Educational/Parental lockout HELP!

I have a ROM 01 board with a non leaking varta battery which still keeps time.. Problem is It passes all diagnostics but I cannot get into control panel. It just locks up when I try. I swapped the ROM out from another IIGS rom 01 machine  and it still does it! What is the deal with that?!

 

Someone sent me this link:       https://comp.sys.apple2.narkive.com/k4USjCJg/apple-iigs-won-t-enter-control-panel

 

Going by the link info , If I hold option while booting per the link you sent I get a menu which gives me control panel as option 1 but when I select it, it locks. I think were close but I dont know what else to try. Oh and W1 has no jumper on it, no do the pins touch.

 

By the way this board is great. It has the Apple IIe power connector, Internal Ribbon keyboard connector, and Numeric keypas header already soldered to the board! I havent seen that on a IIgs. I know they were available early on for IIe to IIgs conversions but I never see the headers populated, expecially the IIe power connector.EDIT: For the sake of testing I bypassed the ADB chip and plugged an Apple IIe keyboard directly into the mainboards ribbon connector. THE EXACT SAME BEHAVIOR!!! This definitely seems like some educational lockout of some kind.    

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I think my next step would be

I think my next step would be to disconnect the battery.

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I suppose. IT would

I suppose. It would definitely be something I would do if repaired; I do it to every IIgs I come across. But I am just trying to understand the logic. ITs still doing this after removing the ROM and swapping with another machine. Where are these settings being saved to? Will removing the battery even make a difference?

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Not W1

The W1 jumper on a 256K (ROM01) GS is only for disabling the DOC sound chip.

The control panel thing is mysterious, but it might not be intentional. Some of the ROM1 machines were subject to failing VGC or FPI chips and that might be the cause? Does it pass disk diagnostics?

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robespierre wrote:The W1
robespierre wrote:

The W1 jumper on a 256K (ROM01) GS is only for disabling the DOC sound chip.

The control panel thing is mysterious, but it might not be intentional. Some of the ROM1 machines were subject to failing VGC or FPI chips and that might be the cause? Does it pass disk diagnostics?

I noticed someone mentioned that further down in the link I posted.

 

I have only tried onboard diags (which fully pass) I have not tried disk diags yet. 

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UPDATE:        I removed the

UPDATE: 

       I removed the battery and installed a new one. No change.

I ran Apple IIgs diagnostics from floppy. IT fails one test. the "System Speed/Interupts test" Fails. Which IC(s) are responsible for that test? The VGC is socketed so i swapped it with another form a known good board. Still fails disk diags. So the VGC is not the culprit.. 

 

What next?

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Verault wrote:UPDATE: I ran
Verault wrote:

UPDATE: 

I ran Apple IIgs diagnostics from floppy. IT fails one test. the "System Speed/Interupts test" Fails. Which IC(s) are responsible for that test?

 Nearly all of them—the FPI, Mega II, 8530, Slotmaker, ADB, IWM, 5503—produce interrupts. Most are not socketed, unfortunately.

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So there is no way to

So there is no way to determine which is causing the test failure? There must be a way to find out.

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Im again reaching out to see

Im again reaching out to see if someone knows what i can do to detetmine which chip neefs replacement for thus error.

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It boots from floppy and runs

It boots from floppy and runs? Does it ever freeze on you? Maybe you could run routines that exercise the various chips in question (and the ram), and see if you can get it to fail.

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No I havent gotten it to

No I havent gotten it to freeze while using it. It only freezes if I try and enter the control panel. I can see if it will load GS-os. It just fails disk diags and I cannot modify the board setup.

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Hi Verault. Any updates on

Hi Verault. Any updates on this?  I'm dealing with a very similar issue. I can access the control panel cda but the system locks up within a few seconds. 

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Superjer2000 wrote:Hi Verault
Superjer2000 wrote:

Hi Verault. Any updates on this?  I'm dealing with a very similar issue. I can access the control panel cda but the system locks up within a few seconds. 

That sounds like a RAM issue to be honest.

 

No I was not able to fix that board. I sold it for parts. Have you run disk diagnostics on that machine you have?

 

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