Hey Folks,
I just scored an Apple IIGS, whcih I believe has been in storage for some time.
Before I power it up, is there preventative work I should be doing?
My plan is to:
- Replace the battery.
- Check for cap leakage, possibly neutralizing if appropriate.
- Check the voltages on the PSU.
- Arrange for a recap at first convenience.
Anything else I should be looking at?
(And if you noticed my post in the 68k MAc section and was wondering, yes I did get them in the same lot. I'm a very happy customer right now)
Cheers!
Chesh
Same as I said witht he SE< power it on first, and see if it works. If it does, thenr/r the battery and the RFI in the PSU if you want. I have had //gs systems that sat for 30 years that work fine.
See if anything is bad first. Don't go out of your way to find issues that do not exist, as this leads to needless recaps and other work that could do more harm than good.
The //gs and te SE htypically have ver few issues . The SE/30 is another animal. If you habe a ROM 03 //gs, then the battery is in a compartment. If not, buy a bttery box for t. ReActive sel a good pug in batthery pack for the //gs.
Do you have the //gs RBG display?
I'm with Timelord on this. Start by making sure the battery hasn't leaked, then power it up, and then run it through the self diagnostic. Open apple-Option-Control-Reset. The screen will go crazy for a while, then after a few minutes you are hopefully left with a "System Good" message when it's done.
I did recap mine, but only after I was sure everything was working. Originally I was only going to do the PSU and the RGB monitor. But after those two I figured I would complete the task and did the motherboard. There were no signs of bulged or leaky caps though in any of them.
Just turn it on. It'll probably be fine. Even if it's not, it shouldn't hurt anything.
The IIgs used way better capacitors than the Macs of the era. You probably won't have to do anything do it. If it works, just use it. If it ain't broke.....
Cheers everyone for your responses. I'll turn it on tonight and see what happens :-D
(I know with some systems there's things you have to check before you power them on. Eg Rifas in BBC Micros and the external PSU on Commodore 64s)
Chesh
It just "works". Plugged in my DuoDisk and away I went.
Thanks again, everybody.
(Does the built in sound "emulate" any older cards? I'd love to have sound in Ultima V without needing a Mockingboard if the built in kit will do it already)
Chesh
Not that I have seen. When in legacy mode (for a lack of a better term), all you get are the standard Apple II sound out of the speaker. Only IIgs software can take advantage of the Ensoniq chip. And even then, I have seen no way of emulating Phasor/Mockingboard/etc with it.
Also, I believe there are some issues with using a DuoDisk with a IIgs. I think it's generally fine alone, but you won't be able to use it with 3.5" drives daisy chained. I think there is a way to modify it to work better with the IIgs. It's been a while since I looked into it. And it was mostly out of curiosity as I do not have a Duo any way.
No, it does not. You can of course use older cards on the //gs, and I have a stereo card in one of mine, but Mockingboard or synth voice programmes that rely on custom exp HW are not going to work in 8b mode without that HW installed. The //gs sound expansion is exclusive to //gs software.
Play Tetris on the //gs and then the same disk, on either a //e or //c . It one title that I can name out of me noggin tht has special support for //gs sound but the //gs sound is its own animal.
There are 2 mods to do on the Duodisk, one especially if you plan to use the Duodisk on the smartport of the IIGS. The mods are described in the FAQ here and here.
Note that some DuoDisk units work fine without the mods, although my recent use of a DuoDisk on a //gs is limited to my ROM-0 //e //gs upgrade mainboard revision, which perhaps is free of that problem, r perhaps I am simply lucky to not have had issues with it, unmodified.