Monitor IIc Adjustment

[MultiFinder]

Hello all! Quick question for you all; I have an Apple Monitor IIc that works wonderfully, and I have been using it with my Raspberry Pi for a while now, running a couple of Apple II emulators when I don't feel like bringing out my IIc Plus. The only issue that I have with it is that the left side is stuffed under the left edge of the housing a bit. It's still displaying what it should be, but it's shifted to the left just a tad more than it should be.

Is there any way to adjust the horizontal position or sizing of the picture on this monitor? The only knobs on the back are for vsync, vertical stretch, and brightness. I'd appreciate any input; it's not unusable by any means, but it would be nice to see the first character of each line without turning my head a bit. Thanks!

 

[Johnnya101]

I don't know exactly where it would be, but I would think you should take off the back cover and search for the knobs. There's the whole back cover and a back plate I think, just remove the plate first.

 

[MultiFinder]

After a quick teardown, there was a small adjustment knob on the right side just under the power button. It's not perfect, but it is quite a bit better now!

I'm still curious where in there a horizontal sizing adjustment may be. If anyone knows, I'd be happy to rip into this thing again

 

[Johnnya101]

It might be on the AB like on compacts. My IIgs monitor doesn't have a horizontal adjustment knob either, and I'm pretty sure it's on the AB

 

[Johnnya101]

It might be on the AB like on compacts. My IIgs monitor doesn't have a horizontal adjustment knob either, and I'm pretty sure it's on the AB

 

[rsolberg]

Horizontal width often doesn't have a potentiometer adjustment on CRTs. In that case, there's usually a coil with a ferrite slug threaded into it. It's possible to adjust using an appropriate plastic tool to turn the slug, but in some cases, it's glued, painted, or just plain stuck in place. It can be difficult to precisely adjust as the movements are sometimes coarse. It's important to use plastic tools and not just an insulated screwdriver as using a metal tool can affect the coil's performance afterwards.

I expect the display is already set at its normal width as the IIc and other Apple II computers shrink their output significantly to compensate for overscan on CRT TVs of the era. The Monitor IIc is probably supposed to overscan a fair bit so that the computer's output isn't left with a big border around it.

You might want to try adjusting the overscan settings on your Pi's SD card at /boot/config.txt if you haven't already.

BTW: What an awesome display for a Pi!

 

[Johnnya101]

The sizing as you were saying is correct. It's the position.

 

[MultiFinder]

Horizontal width often doesn't have a potentiometer adjustment on CRTs. In that case, there's usually a coil with a ferrite slug threaded into it. It's possible to adjust using an appropriate plastic tool to turn the slug, but in some cases, it's glued, painted, or just plain stuck in place. It can be difficult to precisely adjust as the movements are sometimes coarse. It's important to use plastic tools and not just an insulated screwdriver as using a metal tool can affect the coil's performance afterwards.

I expect the display is already set at its normal width as the IIc and other Apple II computers shrink their output significantly to compensate for overscan on CRT TVs of the era. The Monitor IIc is probably supposed to overscan a fair bit so that the computer's output isn't left with a big border around it.

You might want to try adjusting the overscan settings on your Pi's SD card at /boot/config.txt if you haven't already.

BTW: What an awesome display for a Pi!

And that, my friend, is exactly what I was looking for! I completely brainfarted on overscan settings; after messing about with them in/boot/config.txt, everything is working wonderfully!

And thanks, I quite like it. I love playing with my IIc+ on it, but it's a bit of a bear to drag out each time. I have an Apple II emulator on the Pi, and I mostly play around with that these days. I've also been working on getting the Pi installed in a Mac mini case; I've had a G4 around that was hit by lightning years ago that I couldn't bear to get rid of. Now, it's being repurposed as a Pi case!

I got the power button working as a reset switch, and a power LED for the front. I'm waiting on a dremel bit to arrive so that I can carve some of the ports out from the motherboard (I know, but I have tried everything to breathe some life back into the patient) to preserve that original look. The only major changes to the back will probably be replacing the DVI with HDMI, and a composite plug where the modem once was. Either way, that's when I have some free time on the weekend

Many, many thanks for your help!

 

[Johnnya101]

Awesome!

Just don't botch up the case... we don't mind case cuts as long as they look nice!

 

[MultiFinder]

Awesome!

Just don't botch up the case... we don't mind case cuts as long as they look nice!

Haha, I know how to keep you lot happy. I've been around here on and off since before the 2007 Great Forum Crash, and it's good to dip my toes back in the waters here

Besides, what's the point of a casemod if it doesn't look as much like the original as possible? Hence why I'm dremeling the back off the logic board to reuse the original ports in their original locations

 

[MultiFinder]

And, just because I can, here's browsing this read from said monitor!

 

[Johnnya101]

Woah, cool!

These monitors I think get burned in very fast. Get a screen saver if possible!

 

[jrwil]

Yo, MultiFinder, can I ask you how you're outputting video to this monitor? I'm doing the same thing with mine, but text readability is an issue at 240i. If you've got yours working at 480 with no flicker, I'd like to hear about that.