Apple IIe Complete in Box great right?

[ILoveMacs84]

Well I bought a Monitor II, Apple IIe, Disk II, Parallel Pro Card, 80 column card, etc. It was complete in all the boxes, with manuals and disks, and extra parts with only little use, only $50 a fair deal I guess, but after a week of me getting it, it started acting flakey. I would turn it on and vertical bars would appear on the screen, no disk drive activity, no beep, no "Apple II" at the top of the screen, and no Dos 3.3 when the disk is in the drive or "check your startup device" (or whatever it says in the message when there is no disk). When It first started happening, I could just turn it off for a second and turn it back on and it would work fine, but the periods of time I would have to wait in between shut-off and reboot for it to work kept on getting longer. And now no matter how long I wait it won't work on boot-up. I hope I gave all the information in good articulation, but if u have any questions feel free to ask.

If anybody has any suggestions I am open to any, because I am out of them. I want my new favorite apple to work again. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

 

[david__schmidt]

Easy causes could be loose chips (give a solid push with your thumb on any socketed ones) or a marginal power supply (try with no cards (especially the disk drive card) installed). Harder causes could be non-socketed chips failing. That's bad because most of them are special purpose in the IIe, and not generally available at your neighborhood electronics vendor, and would have to be de/re-soldered anyway.

Anyway, rip everything out that's not bolted down, squish the chips, and see what happens.

 

[II2II]

I'm more inclined to say the PSU is the problem, probably because my II+ was exhibiting similar problems and swapping in a modified AT PSU solved most of the problems.

The quickest way to check the PSU is with a multimeter. If I recall correctly, the two pins at the square end of the connector are ground. The rest are either +5 V, -5 V, +12 V, -12 V.

 

[4seasonphoto]

My 2E used to overheat on hot summer nights, and when it did, it would behave very strangely. That's why clip-on cooling fans were a very popular accessory. And for years, someone (Jameco?) used to sell a replacement power supply with built-in cooling fan.

It's also possible that our good friends, the electrolytic capacitors, are shot. That wouldn't be far fetched if the system was boxed up and sat idle for 2 decades.

 

[ILoveMacs84]

Well I did what II2II suggested and took a multimeter to the power supply. First off idk if this is another symptom, but when the system board is unplugged from the psu, and u turn the psu on, it makes a pulsating ticking noise. And I tested the voltage, II2II was right about the square end being ground, the rounded end was 5, but the middle which was supposed to be 12 was only about 2. Also the voltage from the non-ground section of the connecter fluctuates in succession with the previously mentioned ticking.

I hope this will help on the diagnosis, thanks again.

 

[mfortuna]

You want to measure voltages with the power supply plugged into the motherboard. I believe it needs a load to function properly.

Mike

 

[ILoveMacs84]

it still pulls only 5 and 2 though.

 

[Charlieman]

Until you can find a replacement PSU or work out how to fix your existing one, I think you should look for a simple swap.

The Apple II FAQ (easily found on the net) describes the power requirements for the II family. There are loads of small PSUs that meet the requirement (and which will comfortably fit in a II), but you need some wiring experience before trying it. As an easier alternative, use a PSU from a pre-ATX PC externally -- you'll still need some wiring experience but it is a quick hack.

 

[ILoveMacs84]

Thanks for all your help in solving my problem, I will probably just buy a replacement from a local vintage computer supplier this weekend.

thanks again