Macintosh IIci No display

ExplorerZ · Feb 28, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
Since I have had it, it has powered on, but not chimed. I know the last owner is somewhere on here, so I can ask him. I bought it for parts/repair.

Bought it from Slammbone1986. Going to message him.

ExplorerZ · Mar 1, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
Since I have had it, it has powered on, but not chimed. I know the last owner is somewhere on here, so I can ask him. I bought it for parts/repair.

Kind of off topic, I have had my Macintosh se motherboard left out for a while, since I was using its ram for the iici. I put the ram back in and put it inside my SE. I got a sad mac, error codes were 0000000e / 0000000f. I was expecting a sad mac sooner or later because the board has not been recapped and it has some bad looking traces. + tiny amounts of corrosion. It was booting fine a month or two ago.

joshc · Mar 1, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
Kind of off topic, I have had my Macintosh se motherboard left out for a while, since I was using its ram for the iici. I put the ram back in and put it inside my SE. I got a sad mac, error codes were 0000000e / 0000000f. I was expecting a sad mac sooner or later because the board has not been recapped and it has some bad looking traces. + tiny amounts of corrosion. It was booting fine a month or two ago.

Start a new thread so someone can help you out with your SE.

As for your IIci, I think you'll get a lot further if you practice your soldering / diagnosis skills on something else. The IIci board is not super complex but it's also not the easit thing to work on if you are new to this and still learning. (I should know, my first recapping project was a IIci and I messed it up, around 2007).

So for you, I do wonder if getting some junk electronics boards and getting familiar with working on those (component removal, replacement and trace diagnosis/repair), will get you much further. Routers are a good cheap way of getting a PCB with enough complexity to practice on.

This guy has loads of good guides if you want to learn about soldering and trace repair:

Phipli · Mar 1, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
Kind of off topic, I have had my Macintosh se motherboard left out for a while, since I was using its ram for the iici. I put the ram back in and put it inside my SE. I got a sad mac, error codes were 0000000e / 0000000f. I was expecting a sad mac sooner or later because the board has not been recapped and it has some bad looking traces. + tiny amounts of corrosion. It was booting fine a month or two ago.

In this case it isn't very likely to be logic board caps. The SE has axial caps that last longer. Try taking the RAM out, cleaning the contacts on each RAM board with alcohol on a paper towel or cotton bud, and putting them back in again. Also make sure they were the ones in the SE previously.

ExplorerZ · Mar 1, 2023

Phipli said:
In this case it isn't very likely to be logic board caps. The SE has axial caps that last longer. Try taking the RAM out, cleaning the contacts on each RAM board with alcohol on a paper towel or cotton bud, and putting them back in again. Also make sure they were the ones in the SE previously.

Thanks! Any idea on what to do next with my IIci though? Should i get a rom simm?

joshc · Mar 2, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
Thanks! Any idea on what to do next with my IIci though? Should i get a rom simm?

Did you see my post above?

There’s no definitive answer here. It will require time, patience, practice. Your IIci isn’t in front of us so we can’t know for sure what to try next.

I still think it’s likely there’s a bad trace, or even a bad chip somewhere. This isn’t the easiest machine or even the easiest type of problem to solve - you may even need a scope to see what’s going on at a deeper level, but at that point it becomes even more complex troubleshooting.

I’m not trying to put you off, just trying to make it clear that sometimes repairs are not simple and often there is more work to do than just swapping SIMMs or replacing capacitors.

ExplorerZ · Apr 13, 2023

Update post. Ordered a rom simm and it arrived. Did nothing but change the color it displayed to reddish pink. No chime either.

Going to do more testing on the power supply

ExplorerZ · Apr 14, 2023

Another update. The display is showing solid blue. A color has never shown up with me not holding the reset switch.

ExplorerZ · Apr 14, 2023

Holding down reset makes the screen pink.

ExplorerZ · Apr 14, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
Holding down reset makes the screen pink.View attachment 55238

Zapping pram on boot makes the screen pink for a second. ( Edit, it is now doing this every time it’s turned on)

joshc · Apr 14, 2023

I think the previous advice from myself and @Phipli still applies here. You need to look into what’s going on with the startup circuit, possibly other areas of the logic board. This isn’t something that can be solved easily by just swapping stuff like the ROM or RAM.

George · Aug 11, 2023

I have also repaired an IICI with the same problem.
It was caused by cap goo that had broken the pattern from the UB13, UD13, and UE13 chips to the ROM chip.
It is highly possible that it is not the exact same problem, but you might want to check the connections in that area by referring to the IICI schematics on the net.

Garrett B · Aug 11, 2023

I might be wrong, but I don't think those three chips in the startup circuit are connected to the ROMs in any way. George, can you explain in more detail your fix for this problem?

George · Aug 13, 2023

Garrett B said:
I might be wrong, but I don't think those three chips in the startup circuit are connected to the ROMs in any way. George, can you explain in more detail your fix for this problem?

I'm sorry to confuse you with the broad strokes.
Those 3 chips were corroded with cap goo and the corrosion was repaired.
And I visually saw that the circuit leading from the ROM chip to the vicinity of those 3 chips were disconnected by the cap goo, so I repaired that.
I wrote that it may not be the same problem and that I wanted me to check the schematic because I had not checked if it was connected to those 3 chips.

ExplorerZ · Aug 30, 2023

George said:
I have also repaired an IICI with the same problem.
It was caused by cap goo that had broken the pattern from the UB13, UD13, and UE13 chips to the ROM chip.
It is highly possible that it is not the exact same problem, but you might want to check the connections in that area by referring to the IICI schematics on the net.

I am still getting this issue using a rom stick and not the onboard rom. Will check for cap goo when I get home.

imactheknife · Aug 31, 2023

ExplorerZ said:
I am still getting this issue using a rom stick and not the onboard rom. Will check for cap goo when I get home.

My personal opinion, I think you should find someone to send it too to try and solve. Most of the iici’s i have had have had different issues. A recap alone never solves all the issues. Most of the time you have to remove other chips and pads to make sure there’s good contact. Cap goo can not always be seen, especially under chips with lots of legs. Even broken traces can be under things.

ExplorerZ · Nov 11, 2023

Thread Necromancy!

Since the last time I posted, I learned more about soldering. I checked almost every trace with a multimeter and used a microscope so I could see more. Still has the same symptoms so I’m going to assume it’s the power supply. I was able to get the stripped screw off of the power supply but after I opened it i closed it up since I don’t have the needed caps. Only thing I don’t understand is how to test the power supply, but I will try googling it and I’ll probably find something after a while. Will upload non blurry and higher quality photos of the board later. Would also send some of the PSU but I just turned the thing on so I don’t want to open it.