Hi I am a Newbie here and forgive me for asking the question I have seen in various places across this site and the web.
Back in the 1981, as a teenager I really wanted an Apple ii but ended up with a PET (which I still have, and still runs). Years passed and I never forgot the ii and as age and nostalgia took hold, I felt I would waste a little money and buy one. Here is the UK, they don’t seem to come up too often but I found an Apple ii Europlus, with an Apple monitor and two disk drives on ebay and took the plunge knowing it was only a partial runner.
Its specification is;
• Handwritten code on motherboard – 82.5 (build date of May 82 I guess)
• Motherboard code – 820-0044-c
• 16k memory expansion in SLOT 1, connected by a ribbon wire and chip connector to motherboard row E, first chip from left.
• Digitek International Limited – Screenmaster 80 column card in SLOT 4. This take a split from the normal video out socket (by splitting the cable after the socket has been attached to the video out) and connecting to this card.
• Main board slightly dusty.
• Case and everything else in really good condition.
As I have often read on the web, my machine does power up and displays a full screen of one line showing ‘;;::’ across the page (switching to inverse) and the next line, showing ‘??>>’ across the page. These two pages repeat to the bottom. There is no beep, and no effect from the keyboard.
I don’t mind having a good go at fixing things, and maybe wasting some money and time, but equally I don’t want to pursue something that is beyond fixing. I guess the powersupply is OK and it is failing its start up in some way.
I have not removed the 80 column card and not yet tried the re-seating exercise I have seem recommended on this site as there is conflicting information on the best way to do this on the web. Any recommendations?
Lastly, as the machine itself looks to be in decent shape, and I like to persevere with possible lost causes, I wondered if I should look to buy another motherboard off the bay as a parts / substitution source. As this is a European board (PAL), could I use a board from the US (appreciating that the video out would not work, but I guess everything else would be the same).
Thanks for any help you can give.
Having bought many questionable II's for rebuild I can safely say that for you to remove and reseat the chips is NOT a waste of time.
Chip pin cleanliness can be a major factor in your unit not running.
As you go along, remember not only to check the chip pins, but also the holders (rust, debris, etc) before you place the chips back.
This is also a good thing to do for the card slots.
Check your Disk II connections.
Check your keyboard connections.
You did not specify whether or not you have tried bringing up any software?
Keep going.
Hello Atomtan,
The first step is to test the Apple without any cards inside. What's appears on the screen ? Did the speaker beep ?
Then, you can do the 'remove and reseat' trick, just to be sure.
Don't worry about the video signal : I use US Apple II+ in France without any problem connecting the Apple video out to the S-Video input on my TV.
You can also buy a US II+ motherboard as it comes with pads you can reconfigure to output 50Hz video signal.
Thank you for the replies. One thing I forgot to ask, when reseating, is it best to use a chip extractor or gently with a screwdriver and static protection.
Atomtan,
To prevent electrostatic problems, you just have to touch the power supply BEFORE manipulating the ICs (of course with the power cord must be connected to the plug).
I use an extractor only for small chips. Otherwise, a screwdriver does a nice job. Just be careful to raise the chip on both sides to avoid bending pins.
Make sure you do not mix up the chips. That you know where pin one is and where it goes.
It might be best to do one at a time.
Any chips that have black legs from oxidation can be cleaned by soaking them in Tarn-X jewelery cleaner. A shot glass will work. 15 seconds or so. Take the chip out and put it in another shot glass with alcohol, and maybe another. Remove and let dry. When the first shot of alcohol gets to contaminated, throw it out and move the second glass to the first postition and refill the empty one and that becomes the the number 2 alcohol bath.