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Lisa 2 Serial Number ... How to Decode?

Instow

Active member
Picked up a non-working Lisa 2 over the holidays, apart from all the work needed to get it going, I have never really been able to work out how the serial number and other information on the Lisa works.

I know there are a few sites that give information on 68k Macs from the 128k onwards, but not found one for the poor old Lisa.

This one has the following info:

LISA 2

Serial Number: B08B831250416

Applenet No: 00102478

Manufactured: 83125

Model No: A6SB100

Memory Option: A6SB108

KEYBOARD

Keyboard Model No: A6MB101

Serial Number: 1007145

MOUSE

Mmmm ... do you ever get a Lisa with the original mouse?  :)

If anybody has any info I'd be really interested,

Thanks 

 

fri0701

Well-known member
Hi Instow,

Here's the serial number info I'm *fairly* sure is correct:

Your Lisa's serial number begins with a 'B', meaning it was once a Lisa 1 that was at some point upgraded to a 2.

It was manufactured mid-1983 (I can't quite remember what the '125' in the manufactured code means... perhaps the day?)

I believe AppleNet numbers are sequential for each Lisa product line (1 and 2), with the first Lisa presumably having the code 00100000 or 00100001. Yours would be the 2478th Lisa 1 produced.

Hope this helps! I'll see if I can dig up more info on this for you, as I have some Lisas I have to get more info on as well.

- fri0701

 

Instow

Active member
fri0701,

​Thanks for your reply .... your information is interesting and unexpected ... "begins with a 'B', meaning it was once a Lisa 1 that was at some point upgraded to a 2".

So ... (and someone please correct me if I'm wrong) ... but didn't the Lisa 1 have two floppy disc drives? This has one disc drive, no HD and having stripped it down there is no evidence of any tampering or upgrading within the unit at all, or a replacement front panel. I assumed that it might have been a Lisa 2/5, without the Profile external HD.

As you can see, it had the dreaded batteries still in place, now removed and the board(s) cleaned ... but there IS damage.

If 'B' means it was upgraded, then that's an official Apple upgrade?

IMG_1015.jpg

IMG_1007.jpg

IMG_1013.jpg

 

fri0701

Well-known member
Hi Instow,

The Lisa 1 had two notoriously unreliable "Twiggy" disk drives, yes. The upgrade from 1 to 2 involved a replacement front panel, different floppy drive case and drives, and slight modifications made to the I/O board. There wouldn't be any evidence other than the serial number if yours had been upgraded. 

If you'd like some more help getting your Lisa up and running, shoot me a private message...

-fri0701

 

DragonKid

Well-known member
According to http://www.applefritter.com/content/apple-lisa-serial-number-info "83125" in the serial number does mean 125th day of 1983.  I believe the source for that document was actually Apple's tech info on how to order new video state PROMs.  At some point they stopped including the decade on the printed sticker, my Lisa 2's serial number (at least the one on the case - the one on the CPU board doesn't match the case) is A4284209 and the manufacture datecode is 4284.

I'm not sure why the major change in serial number format happened - rumor has it that Lisas were originally built somewhere around Apple HQ in California, and production was later transferred to the Apple II plant in Carrollton, Texas so maybe that's it.  I know at some point a lot of Lisa PCB assembly got moved to Singapore, many of the Lisa PCBs I've seen have had the "USA" in "Made in USA" on the silkscreen crudely marked out and a "MADE IN SINGAPORE" rubber stamp added, not sure if they literally shipped old bare PCBs to Singapore or just didn't bother updating the silkscreen masks.  Apple serial numbers of this era were incredibly inconsistent, with different product lines using different formats, etc.  For instance, my 1984 and 1985 Apple IIs have serial numbers that look a lot like a Mac serial but the part that would be a datecode on a Mac doesn't match with the components of the machines.

 

belgaonkar

Well-known member
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but the posts above have some important information. Ive got a Lisa 1 thats been upgraded to a Lisa 2/5 but the serial number is very different. The serial is B08B820200058, AppleNet No. 00100067 and MFG 82020.

From what I understand this machine was the 67th Lisa 1 made and was made on Jan 20th 1982. Didn't the Lisa 1 come out on Jan 19th 1983? This means that it was made 1 year before the Lisa 1 was announced? It also has an odd FCC tag next to the serial tag, I haven't seen a single one with this tag. 

Any Ideas?

 

belgaonkar

Well-known member
It has a tag that says this product is approved by the FCC. If you peel the corner there is another tag below it. I need to carefully pull the corner and see what it says below it. I haven't seen a single picture of a Lisa with the the FCC tag. Also most Lisa's have the tag on the bottom of the display where as this is prominently shown on front.

Check it out below : https://flic.kr/p/Unw9VU

 
Last edited by a moderator:

belgaonkar

Well-known member
I think this was a pre-production Lisa/ used by Apple internal. The components from the CRT forward don't have the "typical" markings. The rear I/O bucket seems to have hand labeled '3000'. Im guessing it was an engineering sample that was converted to a regular Lisa with spare parts. I don't understand why it would have a serial that states it is made in 82.

 
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