Revive and old LC II

[Itram]

Hi

I wonder if someone could help me with this or point me to a webpage where I could get some info.

I got an old LC II that was lying next to a rubbish container on the street. I felt sorry for it so I decided to pick it up. It's a complete system (computes, colour screen, keyboard and mouse) and it seems to be functional.

However when I plug it all I get is a blue screen. Most of the times I can hear the hard disk spinning and then stopping and only few times I can hear the familiar Apple chime, but it doesn't boot.

I was told that could be a problem with the battery, so I bought a new one and replaced it but no luck.

Can someone give me a hint about this?

thanks

Martí

 

[TheNeil]

First thing to do (for me) would be to try booting from a floppy disk. If that didn't work then I'd try pulling the hard drive (sounds like it could be dead anyway), booting from the floppy, pulling memory etc.

Worth doing a quick inspection of the motherboard too just to see if there's any surface corosion or leaking components

 

[Itram]

Thanks I'll try to find a floppy to try to boot with it!

Martí

 

[LCGuy]

Firstly, i know that you've replaced the battery, but i'd try doing a "pizzabox powertoggle", as its called. Basically, turn the machine on, and when it comes on, turn it off, and then back on again instantly. This is usually done to jump start LCs with dead or missing PRAM batteries, but it won't hurt for you to give it a go on yours.

Secondly, try starting up the LC in a "stripped" configuration. That is, just the motherboard, video RAM, power supply and monitor. No extra DRAM SIMMs, no floppy drive, and no hard drive, and no keyboard/mouse or other peripherals, and no PDS card. Just the basics needed for the machine to boot to a blinking floppy disk icon. If you're successful getting it to that stage, then gradually add components back on until you find the part causing the problem.

Also, out of curiousity, do you have any other old Macs? Maybe try another monitor on your LCII, and/or the LCII's monitor on another Mac. Just be warned that unless you have the right adaptor, multisync monitors (that is, most monitors made after, say, 1995) will NOT work on an LCII very well, if at all.

 

[Itram]

thanks I'll try this too, I have other macs, but those are a PowerBook G4 and an old Macintosh Classic so I cannot try any other screen

 

[equill]

This will tell you what the LC II's built-in video can do. Two displays that certainly work with it (or its cousin, the Performa 400) are the Color Plus 14 640x480, which was its display at release, and the Multiple Scan 14 640x480, 800x600. Both of these are shadow mask displays with 12in (visible) screens.

de

 

[Itram]

I have to check which one is the one I have, it's definitely a 12" and heavy as hell for such a small monitor

 

[Scott Baret]

The 12" monitors look like they match the LC's if that is what you have. They curve in the same place, etc.

Use an Apple monitor, you'll get the best compatibility with the LC II's minimal video support.

Also, make sure you get System 6.0.8 if you are looking for a boot disk. Apple's got it on their website. Earlier versions of 6 don't work.

 

[Mike Richardson]

Actually, I believe the LC II can work with multiscan monitors. I use an eMachines VGA monitor that I found in the trash with my LC II, along with a VGA to Mac adapter.

 

[risc_management]

Actually, I believe the LC II can work with multiscan monitors. I use an eMachines VGA monitor that I found in the trash with my LC II, along with a VGA to Mac adapter.

While it works with some, it doesn't work with the majority. I've witnessed it myself.

You cannot go wrong with the fixed res shadow mask apple displays on the LC II.

 

[The Macster]

Actually, I believe the LC II can work with multiscan monitors. I use an eMachines VGA monitor that I found in the trash with my LC II, along with a VGA to Mac adapter.

While it works with some, it doesn't work with the majority. I've witnessed it myself.

This issue has always confused me somewhat. So do LCs work with the later Apple monitors? Recently I tested one of my LC IIs with my old Mac Colour Display and it worked fine, so I put that one away ready to give to someone that wants it, as I don't need those bits anymore. Then a while later, I tried the LC II that I'm keeping, this time using one of the Apple Studio Displays that I'm keeping, and I thought the LC II was dead - at first it chimed and displayed a happy mac on the screen, but got stuck there, and then it stopped chiming or displaying anything. It even seemed to get the screen stuck at one point - it made the green light on the screen and the backlight come on but displayed nothing, and then the screen wouldn't turn off with the soft-power button on it and I had to pull the plug to reset it. If the LCs are going to do strange things to my LCDs then I will just have to get rid of them as I can't risk that. Obviously all of the LC problems can't be to do with the screen, as it now doesn't chime or anything even with no screen connected, but could there be some incompatibility there? (I suppose the other problems are probably to be to do with all the capacitor filth that seems to have gathered under the network card, so the machine is probably dead anyway :'( )

 

[Mike Richardson]

My LC II motherboard has some capacitor leakage as well. The sound is trashed (there are these weird alien-sounding high pitched noises that come out of the speaker, so I disconnected it), but everything else works OK.

 

[LCGuy]

This issue has always confused me somewhat. So do LCs work with the later Apple monitors? Recently I tested one of my LC IIs with my old Mac Colour Display and it worked fine, so I put that one away ready to give to someone that wants it, as I don't need those bits anymore. Then a while later, I tried the LC II that I'm keeping, this time using one of the Apple Studio Displays that I'm keeping, and I thought the LC II was dead - at first it chimed and displayed a happy mac on the screen, but got stuck there, and then it stopped chiming or displaying anything. It even seemed to get the screen stuck at one point - it made the green light on the screen and the backlight come on but displayed nothing, and then the screen wouldn't turn off with the soft-power button on it and I had to pull the plug to reset it. If the LCs are going to do strange things to my LCDs then I will just have to get rid of them as I can't risk that. Obviously all of the LC problems can't be to do with the screen, as it now doesn't chime or anything even with no screen connected, but could there be some incompatibility there? (I suppose the other problems are probably to be to do with all the capacitor filth that seems to have gathered under the network card, so the machine is probably dead anyway :'( )

With most Apple monitors it may be a hit-and-miss thing, but i can confirm that it certainly does not work with an AppleVision 1710 or 1710AV. As others have said, your best bet for the LC and LCII is the standard fixed-res Apple displays from the same era.

LCIII's and LC475's, however, are a completely different issue and will happily support any multisync monitor you can find.

 

[Itram]

hi

I've tried several things but no luck so far, I did the trick with the on/off switch but nothing happened, then I removed a RAM card, then HD, and finally the 3,5" disk drive, but all I get is a light blue screen, with no chime or the icon requesting for an OS

 

[LCGuy]

Sadly i'd say its either the motherboard or the display. Sadly though, since you have neither another Mac thats compatible with that display nor a compatible monitor, there's no way to find out short of getting one of either.

 

[Itram]

I might have a display to try it on, but I fear it must be the display as I don't hear the chime when it starts, even if the display was bad, I think I would hear the startup chime. The strange thing is that sometimes it played the sound but then nothing else happened

 

[The Macster]

It sounds pretty similar to what's happened to one of my LC IIs - if you pop the lid off it, is there capacitor gunk all around the capacitors in the top left hand corner of the logic board (under the PDS expansion card if there's one installed)? I think mine has died a sticky dead-cap death and yours may have too :'(

 

[Itram]

I'll check this, if it's present, do you think that cleaning it could revive it?

 

[The Macster]

I tried to wipe the gunk off mine but it didn't seem to help, although I couldn't get all of it off - quite a few of the others here have tried actually immersing the board in water and say that can work well, though I've never dared to do that! It may be worth a try if you don't have any luck trying anything else though.