Apple II

Apple IIe Garbled Video

Submitted by CristianMG13 on April 11, 2020 - 10:33pm

I recently picked up an Apple IIe. It boots on, and beeps like it normally should, but I get garbled video like in the image shown. There appears to not be any wrong (as far I can see) with the motherboard or traces. Is there a certain chip that would cause this?

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Apple II

Getting my Apple II GS running after 16 years

Submitted by HisMajestyBOB on April 11, 2020 - 9:09pm

I have my childhood Apple II GS with a bunch of peripherals, including hard drive and disk drives. The last time it booted was sometime in the early 2000s, and the last time I tried turning it on was shortly after that. It didn't turn on, and my dad and I suspected that it was a battery issue (last time it booted, there was a small blinking square in the menu bar, which my dad thought indicated a battery issue). I plan to get a replacement battery for it (looks like https://www.reactivemicro.com sells them - are they any good?). However, I'm also a bit cautious.

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Apple II wrench - black?

Submitted by Tom Owad on April 11, 2020 - 11:57am

Did Apple actually make these wrenches in black?  This one looks a bit spray-painted. All of mine, which I would have gotten in the 90's, are silver.

 

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Apple II

//c+ Resurrection

Submitted by Timelord on April 10, 2020 - 1:44am

Shazam! The //c+ is now up and running, with a standard //c keyboard.

 

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Apple II

Aple IIc+ Keyboard (p/n 661-0419) Compatibility Question

Submitted by Timelord on April 9, 2020 - 9:21am

Do any of you recall if the IIc+ can use a standard //c keyboard? I know that i will lose the vol slider, but my //c+ keyboard has several issues, and I can llive without that until I diagnose and fix it. 

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Apple II

Apple //gx (Customised //gs)

Submitted by Timelord on April 7, 2020 - 11:36pm

Here is the first look at the custom //gs, that I have dubbed the '//gx', as I am making it to appear as a hybrid around the style of the //x prototype. 

 

Still some work to do on it, but it is now in one piece after I rebuild the KB mechanism. 

 

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Apple II

Datanetics DC-60 Switch Restoration - Lubrication

Submitted by Timelord on April 7, 2020 - 2:57am

My original ][ uses a 1979 model 2 Keyboard with Datanetics  DC-60 switches (straight stem).

 

Many of them do not return true and are not making proper contact. I hand jumpered the solder points to identify that the encoder is fine, and that the mecanism works properly. THe only issue is that the keys do not return to their false state, so the matrix is corrupted by partially closed gates. 

 

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Apple II

Apple IIc keyboard issue

Submitted by Northband on April 5, 2020 - 7:54pm

Hi - I recently picked up a descent IIc  and it booted fine but the keys didn't work. I checked to ensure the keyboard button was engaged and disengaged but still no keys work. However, control and reset does reboot the machine.  

I have tore the machine apart to clean up the components and inspect them. I also took all the keys off and cleaned up the key connectors and also checked for continuity. All seems fine.  

After reassembly I have the same issue. The keys simply won't work except the control and reset.  

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Apple II

GS Rom 0 Stuck on Firmware Splash; blown disk controller.

Submitted by Timelord on April 5, 2020 - 5:08am

One of my other GS logic boards has a logic fault: When powered on, it hits the Apple Firmware splash screen, but it never attempts to scan for drives or devices. With no drives connected, it does not reach the 'bonk', 'No devices' screen, and I cannot exit to the Control Panel. It is stuck solid on the splash screen. 

 

This unit has always been a drive tested for rebuilding and aligning drive mechs. I'm pretty sure that someone connected a Mac drive to its Disk port, which likely fried something. 

 

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Apple II

3.5 Drive Card Failures

Submitted by Timelord on April 5, 2020 - 4:57am

I tested both of my 3.5 Drive cards today, and both have issues:

 

I believe that Apple used an AMD EPROM and not a Mask ROM for these cards, as I can felel an erasure Window under the labels, so I suspect that bit rot has caused both to become unusable. 

 

Here is what I see if I attempt to boot from a 3.5 Drive connected to one of the cards.

 

Occasionally I see `Check Startup Device` or `Failed to Load ProDOS`.

 

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