I was playing with one of my clones, a Pineapple... Unfortunately it "let the smoke out". I had just booted the game "Ghostbusters" and was listing to the intro music when all of a sudden it got staticy and then PUFFFF!!!
It appears that one of the differences between a Pineapple and an Apple ][+ is that it has a ULN2283B amplifier chip for the sound. There is a volume knob on the back of the machine and I had the volume cranked and apparently that was too much for it. The chip looks crispy. Hopefully it is not an unobtanium item.
I removed the chip and the computer starts up now, albeit mute...
OK, they aren't cheap but they are availabe. I ordered one and hopefully that will make my Pineapple sing happily again.
My experience with retro audio amp chips from China is that they are fake, but they work. However the sound quality varies from chip to chip. This is why I usually order a whole bunch, and then pick the best one.
I found what appears to be a new, old stock (NOS) part in what looks like original packaging from a US seller. It wasn't cheap but if someone faked it, they went to a lot more trouble than the Chinese sellers usually do to make it look authentic. It wasn't THAT expensive to make the effort seem worth it to someone in the US.
The amplifier chip arrived the other day and I plugged it in (had to clean the socket, as it was dirty and sooty from the burnt out chip) and my Pineapple is now making sound again. I know now not to crank it up and run sound intensive programs.