New Owner of a Apple IIe

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New Owner of a Apple IIe

Hello All....Great forum and glad to be a new member. I am a proud of owner of a recently purchased Apple IIe that I bought off of ebay (Price was right). Well I unboxed the computer. It came with a color monitor (with a broken RCA male end stuck in it. Had to take monitor apart to remove it), CPU was full of rat poop (Seller claimed the computer was in a storage unit (Had to take apart to clean it all out), and came with the dual set top DuoDisk disk drives. So the issue I am seeing is no matter what disk I put into the drives the red light stays on and the video is displaying Apple IIe. Nothing changes nothing happens. No matter what disk I put in the same thing happens. I even have the oringinal Apple IIe DOS 3.3 System Master disk and it does the same things. Here are the things I have done. I opened up the DuoDisk disk drives and cleaned the heads with the Isopropyl Alcohol and then clean the inside of the computer and wiped it all down inside with non static cloth. I then reseated all the cards on the computer and powered it back on and no change. I am scratching my head thinking what did I miss. I did perform a diagnostic using the apple-control-reset keys pressed at the same time and I got a bunch of colors on the monitor and then a message "*RAM 10000000" is displayed and nothing more. What do you guys think? Any advice is greatly appreciated.  Should I buy a new disk drive? I do not want to throw money at it until I know what the issue is. Thank you all in advance.

Vio
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New IIe owner... not working right

Hi...made an acct just to answer this.

First of all, nice site, but the interface is very confusing and I've been working with computers for 40 years... Starting with a radio shack trs-80 with a 110/300 bps acoustic modem. After that and a vic-20, I got a //c that I ran a BBS on for a number of years out of the ramdisk. Last year I resurrected my iigs, and amazingly most of the disks still work. Is there anywhere being used as an online archive for disk images? Not sure how many are still around and I'd hate to see them vanish...I have a few hundred.

NOW...regarding that IIe with the RAM error during the self test...I used to work for an apple dealer when they were still in common use and fixed lots of them.

Just because you get an error doesn't mean a ram chip is definitely bad...it or a supporting chip might just have a bad connection from all those years oxidizing the metal pins.

PLEASE READ THIS COMPLETELY BEFORE YOU BEGIN.

Before you try the hard stuff, check your power supply output voltages with a digital voltmeter. Black wire is ground, and test it against all the other leads. You should have +5vdc, +12vdc, and I think -12vdc. There may be -5vdc too, I don't remember. If they aren't close to those values, you may need to get a different power supply...
OR if you're really adventurous, usually inside the power supply is a small potentiometer to adjust the voltage output...YES its possible, but remember, you're dealing with live 110v/220v wall current in there. Don't try this unless you know what you're doing and have the right equipment. I've done it many times...BUT IM NUTS, and I've been doing it for a long time :) so...all risk is assumed by you.

To clean the memory chips...

The lower 64k is usually on the motherboard, and if memory serves the upper 64k is on the aux card in slot 0...the leftmost slot nearest the power supply. Ground yourself... The power supply will do, and take the aux card out, then try the self test again. That will tell you if its the card or motherboard memory.

Whichever it is, google the locations of the actual RAM chips and take them out VERY carefully, preserving the location and orientation of each. There is usually a dot on the chips and either a dot or 1 on the motherboard to indicate where pin one is. Take pictures. They must go back in the same orientation that they came out in.

I use a small screwdriver with a 1/16" wide tip to slowly, gently pry them up from both ends. Don't rush it because if they come out violently you will bend the pins if you're lucky or break them if you're not. BE CAREFUL YOU ARE UNDER THE EDGE OF THE CHIP, NOT THE SOCKET. In fact make sure there ARE sockets, I think some of the later ones might be soldered directly to the motherboard.

Once you have them out, or do one at a time if you like, clean both sides of all of the pins with a pencil eraser. Lay each chip down with one side on the table and run the eraser over them gently. You will see the oxidation come off and the metal will get shiny. Blow off any eraser crumbs and reseat the chips where they came from. Put them in partway, make sure they are centered and even, then push the rest of the way. This is a delicate operation with parts you don't want to track down and replace. A dentist mirror helps look under the chips to make sure the pins aren't bent underneath... Or just unscrew the bottom if the case so you can look directly. (I ran a test iie for a year that was just a motherboard screwed to plywood on the wall)

Once the parts are back in, turn it back on, try the test and hope for the best. If you change the order of the chips, IF one really is bad, it will be in a new place, and the number reported by the test should change...so write down the original one before you start. If you change the order of the ram chips and the number doesn't change, it could be a different motherboard chip affecting the ram chips. Try cleaning them the same way, or at least push down on them to make sure they are seated properly.

GOOD LUCK!

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Congrads on being a new apple iie owner.

I wish you the best of luck. After all of these years. Tommorow Friday 7-5-19 I'll be getting on delivered. I have a post some place on the forum with some pictures. It also does not work. From that sound of it. I'm hoping it is just a chip that needs to be resocketed. Can't wait to tear into it and see what is up.  I got lucky and after years of searching. Found a decent priced apple ii plus.

 

TTFN,

 

Josh

 

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Vio wrote:Hi...made an acct

[quote=Vio]Hi...made an acct just to answer this. First of all, nice site, but the interface is very confusing and I've been working with computers for 40 years... Starting with a radio shack trs-80 with a 110/300 bps acoustic modem. After that and a vic-20, I got a //c that I ran a BBS on for a number of years out of the ramdisk. Last year I resurrected my iigs, and amazingly most of the disks still work. Is there anywhere being used as an online archive for disk images? Not sure how many are still around and I'd hate to see them vanish...I have a few hundred. NOW...regarding that IIe with the RAM error during the self test...I used to work for an apple dealer when they were still in common use and fixed lots of them. Just because you get an error doesn't mean a ram chip is definitely bad...it or a supporting chip might just have a bad connection from all those years oxidizing the metal pins. PLEASE READ THIS COMPLETELY BEFORE YOU BEGIN. Before you try the hard stuff, check your power supply output voltages with a digital voltmeter. Black wire is ground, and test it against all the other leads. You should have +5vdc, +12vdc, and I think -12vdc. There may be -5vdc too, I don't remember. If they aren't close to those values, you may need to get a different power supply... OR if you're really adventurous, usually inside the power supply is a small potentiometer to adjust the voltage output...YES its possible, but remember, you're dealing with live 110v/220v wall current in there. Don't try this unless you know what you're doing and have the right equipment. I've done it many times...BUT IM NUTS, and I've been doing it for a long time :) so...all risk is assumed by you. To clean the memory chips... The lower 64k is usually on the motherboard, and if memory serves the upper 64k is on the aux card in slot 0...the leftmost slot nearest the power supply. Ground yourself... The power supply will do, and take the aux card out, then try the self test again. That will tell you if its the card or motherboard memory. Whichever it is, google the locations of the actual RAM chips and take them out VERY carefully, preserving the location and orientation of each. There is usually a dot on the chips and either a dot or 1 on the motherboard to indicate where pin one is. Take pictures. They must go back in the same orientation that they came out in. I use a small screwdriver with a 1/16" wide tip to slowly, gently pry them up from both ends. Don't rush it because if they come out violently you will bend the pins if you're lucky or break them if you're not. BE CAREFUL YOU ARE UNDER THE EDGE OF THE CHIP, NOT THE SOCKET. In fact make sure there ARE sockets, I think some of the later ones might be soldered directly to the motherboard. Once you have them out, or do one at a time if you like, clean both sides of all of the pins with a pencil eraser. Lay each chip down with one side on the table and run the eraser over them gently. You will see the oxidation come off and the metal will get shiny. Blow off any eraser crumbs and reseat the chips where they came from. Put them in partway, make sure they are centered and even, then push the rest of the way. This is a delicate operation with parts you don't want to track down and replace. A dentist mirror helps look under the chips to make sure the pins aren't bent underneath... Or just unscrew the bottom if the case so you can look directly. (I ran a test iie for a year that was just a motherboard screwed to plywood on the wall) Once the parts are back in, turn it back on, try the test and hope for the best. If you change the order of the chips, IF one really is bad, it will be in a new place, and the number reported by the test should change...so write down the original one before you start. If you change the order of the ram chips and the number doesn't change, it could be a different motherboard chip affecting the ram chips. Try cleaning them the same way, or at least push down on them to make sure they are seated properly. GOOD LUCK![/quote]

 

Thank you for such a well drawn out post and really well thought out as well. I started with the basics and pulled out all the cards and then powered up the IIe and when I powered it on it booted to a cursor and also gave a beep, which tells me it looks good at boot. I am not going to do the volt meter tests until I do some of the other simple tests I have read about. Let me make sure I understand what you mean by Slot 0 is the actual Aux Connector?  I notice on the motherboard I have Slots 1-7. The three cards that are in the computer are as follows: 

Aux Connector - 64K Memory Expansion Board

Slot 2 - Graphics Printer Interface - Which I do not have a printer so I do think I need it?

Slot 6 - I/O Controller - For the disk drives

I inserted all the cards accept the I/O controller and got all the same results with booting directly to a cursor. All the cards look real clean and seated correctly since I did a heavy clenaing on it yesterday. I did pull the Expansion Module and performed the same test on the RAM and got a "System OK" message, but when I put the card back in I got the error I referenced in my first post. What does it mean "*RAM 10000000"? Is it an error or? Does that mean the expansion board is bad?

You mention about pulling RAM chips out of sockets to clean them, but all the ones I see are soldered on the board. There is only one chip I can pull off the Expansion board to clean it, but all the rest are soldered on. 

I also wanted to mention the motherboard I have is a 607-0187-A. Which seems to the be the first version of the board.

I have a picture. If you can PM me your E-mail and I can sent it to you. Thank you for all your help. I appreciate it. Thanks again.

 

 

 

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Good luck with your purchase

 wish you the best of luck. After all of these years. Tommorow Friday 7-5-19I'll be getting on delivered. I have a post some place on the forum with somepictures. It also does not work. From that sound of it. I'm hoping it is justa chip that needs to be resocketed. Can't wait to tear into it and see whatis up.  I got lucky and after years of searching. Found a decent pricedapple ii plus.TTFN,Josh[quote][/quote]

 

Good luck with your purchase as well and I read your post. This is not easy at all. Especially with no real diagnostic tools to use and you have to be handy with a voltmeter and other older tools. I was a kid in the 80's when these computers came out and now I am trying to re-learn stuff that I should have paid attention to back in grade school. I am trying real hard, now this is combersome if you are not an electronics guru, which I am not. I am good with technology, but this is a whole new ball game for me.

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For the question about where

For the question about where to find/put Apple II disk images -- the best place is probably the Asimov Apple II Archive.  It has thousands of disk images.  You can upload to the incoming directory.  Google for it to find the location.  Another good place is Archive.com

 

 

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softwarejanitor wrote:For the

[quote=softwarejanitor]

For the question about where to find/put Apple II disk images -- the best place is probably the Asimov Apple II Archive.  It has thousands of disk images.  You can upload to the incoming directory.  Google for it to find the location.  Another good place is Archive.com

 

 

[/quote]

 

Although this is good information, but I am confused as to what this has to do with my original post. I am trying to figure out why the IIe is behaving the way I have described. Does anyone have any further ideas? Thank you.

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mbc230 wrote:softwarejanitor

[quote=mbc230]

[quote=softwarejanitor]

For the question about where to find/put Apple II disk images -- the best place is probably the Asimov Apple II Archive.  It has thousands of disk images.  You can upload to the incoming directory.  Google for it to find the location.  Another good place is Archive.com

 

 

[/quote]

 

Although this is good information, but I am confused as to what this has to do with my original post. I am trying to figure out why the IIe is behaving the way I have described. Does anyone have any further ideas? Thank you.

[/quote]

 

Sorry, the disk image answer was a response to Vio's answer where he asked where he could put disk images that need to be preserved.

 

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The RAM message means you

The RAM message means you probably have a RAM memory issue.  If there are no errors you will see something like "KERNEL OK".

 

You might want to start with following one of the repair guides you can find here.  There are also some on Asimov and Archive.com.

 

http://69.60.118.202/apple/apple-books.htm

https://mirrors.apple2.org.za/ftp.apple.asimov.net/

https://archive.org/search.php?query=apple+ii

 

If you can get to the point where a disk boots you should try running diagnostic software like Apple Dealer Diagnostics or XPS.

 

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