Apple IIe won’t boot

[memcdowell1s]

Hello folks,
Just picked up a very clean IIe to give my IIGS company. However, it boots to a garbled screen. The garbled pattern changes slightly each time it’s powered on. No beep or drive seek upon boot. Reset key doesn’t do anything.

I checked the power supply and all voltages are within 5% of proper value. RIFA cap blew, so I replaced it. I pulled all cards, no change. I carefully pulled and reseated all chips, no change. I don’t see any obvious mainboard damage or bad solder joints.

Any thoughts on what to try next? Thanks, all!

 

[Arbee]

That kind of symptom usually is bad RAM. Especially if they're the RAM chips Micron made for Apple with the Apple logo on them.

 

[memcdowell1s]

Thanks. It has the Motorola chips, but with multiple date codes. It won't even run the self-test, so I presume several must be bad?
Thankfully, they're all socketed so swapping is no big deal. I'll track down some replacements.

 

[bibilit]

Yes i agree, probably bad Ram, most are required but if they are socketed, you can have a try moving those around for a test.

 

[memcdowell1s]

Replaced RAM, and the problem persisted. Next, I ordered an “enhanced” kit from ReActiveMicro to kill a few birds with one stone. Bingo, working IIe! Thanks, all!