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I bought an apple //e motherboard on ebay,
and I don't have an apple //e keyboard to attach to it,
so all I can do is plug in a monitor, power from an apple ][+ power supply,
and a speaker...
when i turn it on, the screen has lots of little colorful squares on it,
the screen is full of them, but the computer does not beep, and does not much else,
occassionaly the random colourful dots ocassionaly shift around randomly, and the
speaker makes a squabbling kind of sound like it's resetting itself in rapid succession
or something like that...
so my question is, does a keyboard have to be attached to the //e? before it will work properly?
or should it not matter? I am really hoping I did not get a bumb //e mother board...
thanks any help would be appreciated.
Cheers.
I'm fairly certain that's not correct. I can disconnect a keyboard and see, but you should get a beep, the "Apple ][" at the top and then the Applesoft prompt with another beep.
Check all of the chips, make sure they are properly seated. I'm not sure if a keyboard has to be connected or not (though it is certainly possible that if it can't find one in the chain it could cause problems).
Walter,
1. Disconnect everything (ESD is everywhere)
2. Lift up on, then reset your chips (the ones that CAN be lifted up).
3. Check the pins and make sure you have no corrosion when you lift
them. If you do clean them (contact cleaner will work).
4. If you have a keyboard hook it up, if not, give her another shot
and see what she does.
5. We'll go from there.
I don't have a keyboard for the IIe, it's my first one,
just an apple II plus, and that keyboard as we all know, won't work...
The board looks brand new, no corrosion, but I will reseat the chips (again)... I agree it should beep either way, one thing did strike me as odd, I mentioned it has the enhanced chips, the only one that appears to ahve an older part number is the video rom, the part number on it does not match up with the other 3 enhanced part numbers... I'm wondering if that might be the issue? I figure it should still beep, and if anything display some kind of text on the screen.
In any case thank you guys for your suggestions...
I hope I get it working or I hope the guy takes the unit back.
not sure a Bad rating will suffice...
if you could please try your //e without the keyboard and let me know if it boots up that would be great, I'm guessing there is an issue with this board...
Cheers and thanks...
Well, about that... was this one of those "I have no way to test this" auctions, or did he claim it was actually working?
A keyboard almost certainly must be connected. I did some repair work on my own un-enhanced (Rev
//e two nights ago (swapping RAM chips, if you're curious) and found that it would not start up OK when the keyboard cable was disconnected. It would show random blocks of color and gibberish.
I was just working on my IIc+, powered it up and seen the same screen. Then I remembered I had not plugged in the Keyboard!
So, I would guess that your IIe is working, you just need a keyboard on it.
Those of you who disconnected your keyboards ( Thank you very very much... ) did you hear a sound on the speakers like a tone? and the screen changed?
what I discovered on the web, is that when the keyboard is disconnected the Apple //e goes into self diagnostics mode, and yes you get the gibrish, and the little colourful squares... and a tone comes up... it's running the self diagnostic... the only problem, is the test never completes it just keeps repeating and never says System OK.
Here is the article I found on that:
http://1000bit.net/support/manuali/apple/technotes/aiie/tn.aiie.09.html
On a IIc, if you initiate a self diagnostic on the system by pressing the open apple, and closed apple when you turn it on, it will do the test, and complete with System OK...
those of you who have apple //e's
can you try that? turn on the computer with both apples presses, and see if it goes into diagnostic mode, and if you get system ok after.
then ( if you don't mind ) turn off the unit, and unplug the keyboard, and turn it back on, and see if it runs the test once, or if it continues to run it over and over with no "system ok"
thank you...I definately do not want to give this guy a hard time for nothing... but if the self diagnostic never completes then I can assume there is an issue? or is this normal... what good is self diagnostic if you don't get any info from it...
thanks again... let me know...
He Claimed it worked good as new... well lets hope he's right,
I hope to hear back from you guys regarding if the system test keeps going on and on or if it finishes... it would have to be left on for at least 2 minutes to see if it repeats or if the system ok message comes up.
Yes, the speaker beeped.
I will try this and report back tomorrow.
thinking perhaps it was a diagnostic issue, I googled Apple IIe diagnostics and found the following from Apple...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA38047?viewlocale=en_US
nice that they still have apple IIe support pages...
it states that if you power on the apple iie without a keyboard, it goes into diagnostics routines, over and over. so that could be what is happening... and because it does not find any issues, it does not stop and report, so it could be that the board is totally fine...
I will be getting an complete apple iie from ebay hopefully tomorrow or on monday, so I will be able to try the same thing with it...
If the board is totally fine, I will be sure and let him know, and apologize for my ignorance...and may even send him $5.00 for his trouble...( I did by the way give him positive feedback because he agreed to refund my money if there was an issue with the board...)
Please let me know when you try the keyboardless turn on if it continues to test, or if it does stop...
Cheers guys and thanks again...
Did I say my wife is going to kill me for buying all this vintage computer stuff...
Since friday last week, I have bought:
Apple ][ plus original, Apple //c original (with little 9" monitor),
and apple iie board ( the one being discussed ) and an apple //e that is on it's way... eeek!
cheers folks and thanks again.....
P.S. when I was a kid, 13 years old or so, all I could afford was an apple ][ plus clone, and swore one day I would have an original...
well now I do ( along with my mac book pro...)
Cheers...
Why did you buy a IIe motherboard without the rest of the IIe in the first place?
Eh, never mind.
--Peace
I was thinking about building one,
then I ended up getting a whole system
for a little more... and I thought if I killed my //e I would have a spare board for it.
Walter,
You are not the first (nor the last) person to get the II Bug all of a sudden. I started out with a IIc, but always wanted a II, II Plus, or IIe. Now I have them and numerous spare parts to boot.
Wecome back my friend to the show that never ends....
Apple II lol
Tried this last night. Speaker emits a low boop tone approximately twice the duration of the normal beep upon startup. System test commences endlessly, all the while noise comes out of the speaker, generally electrical noise.
I have an un-enhanced //e, for reference.
my Apple //e platinum arrived today, so I was able to turn it on without a keyboard plugged in, when I did, it did exactly the same thing the motherboard in question did. then I hooked it up to a keyboard and turned it on, I got the beep, Apple //e on the top and a a funny looking cursor...not the usual "]" instead I got a "§" this double S looking thing... I also noticed it was missing the "]" character... the ROM was labled 341-0306A and the mother board was labeled 342-0265... so I think I may have a european video rom or perhaps a canadian ( me be canadian and all and it was puchased from a canadian...) I may just burn a new one...
either way I told him the board was fine, and I had alrady left positive feedback for agreeing to take the board back if there was a defect...
I also reseated all the chips as well... 
either way all is well...
Thank you everyone... cheers.