Apple Lisa questions

[ried]

I received an X/ProFile in the mail today. Having been through the wringer trying to make the Widget work, that project is going on the shelf for now and I'm going to use its more modern replacement. Nice that it's silent while using both the X/ProFile and the Cameo/Aphid drive emulator from ArcaneByte, too.

Having completely disassembled and cleaned up the Lisa, I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out.





Note: That screen is really difficult to shoot without the refresh banding showing, so... this'll have to do.

Last thing I might do is pick up a Lisa 1 mouse somewhere, simply because it matches the design of the keyboard better and for its historical significance... even if it's not technically correct for this Lisa 2/10 (as with the modern storage).

Thanks to everyone who has kindly provided advice during the machine's rehabilitation. I'm particularly grateful to @stepleton, who has gone above and beyond to not only build technologies that keep these wonderful machines running, but also generously shares his knowledge with newcomers like me.

 

[joshc]

Note: That screen is really difficult to shoot without the refresh banding showing, so... this'll have to do.

If you use an iPhone, try ProCam which allows you to adjust the camera settings. I’m sure there are similar apps for Android too.

That Lisa is looking great now.

 

[Phipli]

Note: That screen is really difficult to shoot without the refresh banding showing, so... this'll have to do.

Turning down the brightness on the screen helps, but you might need to reduce ambient lighting to get a balanced picture.

 

[CC_333]

It has been fun following your thread!

May I ask how much you paid for it? It seems nowadays, even the comparatively more common Lisa 2/10 and Mac XL costs a small fortune compared to almost anything else from the era.

c

 

[cheesestraws]

Having completely disassembled and cleaned up the Lisa, I'm pretty happy with how things have turned out.

Good stuff!

If you want to try running GEM on it, I can send you an X/Profile image .

 

[ScutBoy]

Looks good!

 

[Huxley]

I'm just chiming in to say that I've binged this whole thread and loved every moment of it. Congrats on your progress towards restoring this beautiful machine, and do keep us in the loop if/when you decide to revisit the Widget mystery!

Huxley

 

[stepleton]

Thanks @ried , I'm grateful for this thread too. Everything I've learned about Lisa was shared with me for free at some point, so I try to pass it along! Plus I always learn something myself from each case I help out with. In this case, based on the discussion over on LisaList, I've learned that carefully moving the head servo by hand is probably OK. (Note to future readers: ONLY IF the platters are spinning!)

I think you are not far away from fixing this Widget, assuming it is fixable.* The mechanical parts seem like they are back in operation, and you have replacement electronic parts. If you have a chance, I think it would be useful to get your hands on an oscilloscope and learn how to use it. They're complicated devices, but often the stuff that you wind up using in any given session boils down to just a few of the buttons or knobs.

(* Reasons why it might not be easily fixable include a problem with the heads or the coarse adjustment photocell+LED inside the housing.)

 

[ried]

Family photo! A sea of beige... or yellow

Left to right: Apple IIgs stealth, Lisa 2/10, Apple ///. These are the oldest machines in my collection. They come from the early days of my youth and connect to an Apple Personal Modem (lower right corner), which itself is connected to a POTS landline. There's just something cool and nostalgic about being able to dial out and connect from one of these, ~40 years after they were made.

It's certainly been fun learning about them!

 

[ScutBoy]

Family photo! A sea of beige... or yellow

Left to right: Apple IIgs stealth, Lisa 2/10, Apple ///. These are the oldest machines in my collection. They come from the early days of my youth and connect to an Apple Personal Modem (lower right corner), which itself is connected to a POTS landline. There's just something cool and nostalgic about being able to dial out and connect from one of these, ~40 years after they were made.

It's certainly been fun learning about them!

Very nice!

 

[Busterswt]

Note: That screen is really difficult to shoot without the refresh banding showing, so... this'll have to do.

There's an app on the iPhone called "DSLR Camera" that allows you to change the shutter speed to match the refresh rate of the Lisa monitor and capture images with little to no banding. I can't recall the speed offhand, so you'll have to play with it.

Good stuff!

If you want to try running GEM on it, I can send you an X/Profile image .

Didn't realize you figured out how to install to disk! Awesome.

 

[ried]

Good stuff!

If you want to try running GEM on it, I can send you an X/Profile image .

Please do!

If you use an iPhone, try ProCam which allows you to adjust the camera settings. I’m sure there are similar apps for Android too.

That Lisa is looking great now.

Excellent tip, thank you

 

[cheesestraws]

Please do!

Sorry, I realised I totally forgot this. Here's an X/Profile image!

Didn't realize you figured out how to install to disk! Awesome.

Yes: I couldn't get Digital Research's ProFile driver to work at all, so I replaced it wholesale with @stepleton's lisa_io HD driver with a shim. It's not the fastest option, but it does actually work.

This image is for a 32MB CF card, because that's what I use for the X/Profile (M=3 T=0). It's a raw image of the whole CF card, Hope it's of some use. It will boot to a GEMDOS prompt: type 'GEMVDI' and hit return to load the desktop.

 

[Bryant]

Ive got what appears to be the same problem with one of my Widgets. I will try the repeated reset procedure...