Color comes and goes

[mloret]

Hello! I just purchased an old Macintosh LC 450 that I hooked up to my Macintosh RGB. It displays in color at first intermittently and now not at all—it just black and white. I checked the control panel and it gives me the option to pick menu colors but everything still displays in black and white. Do you think this is an issue with the LC or with my display? I only have one to test it with.

 

[LaPorta]

"intermittent" sounds like a true hardware problem on the monitor side, though I would suspect it could be anywhere from the monitor port on the Mac to the CRT itself, cabling between included. It does not sound like a hardware issue: if the selections are there, the machine is seeing the appropriate VRAM and all that. Have you tried bending the video cable this way and that and observing the effects in real time? Sometimes it can be an intermittent connection in the cable itself.

 

[volvo242gt]

When the LCIII (Performa 450 = LCIII, btw) goes B&W, does the Apple menu icon go to the Macintosh 128K style, or does it remain the larger color icon size? If it does, then it's a problem with the Mac itself. If not, then I'd suspect either monitor or cable.

 

[mloret]

The apple is black,

 

[mloret]

So it sounds like the issue might be in the cable huh? I hope your move went well.

 

[Johnnya101]

If the Apple logo is one shade black, and looks "crisp" as in it was made to look black, then it may be the computer. I would think the monitor, if it were the issue, would display some sort of grayscale type of image, meaning you would see the different shades of the Apple somewhat. What does the monitor control panel show? It should let you choose between colors and grays and I think depending on the version it may show a test strip of colors?

 

[volvo242gt]

The apple is black,

Did it shrink down in size, or is it still the larger more anatomically-correct apple icon?

 

[mloret]

I didn’t see a monitor control panel. I’ll have to look for that. I’m running freshly installed OS 7.0.

 

[volvo242gt]

Hmmm, the LCIII/P450 require 7.1 with the correct enabler file (I think System Enabler 003, if I remember correctly).

 

[LaPorta]

Wait, ok, now I kind of get it: you have no monitors control panel, and no way to see what your system is set at. I was mistaken and did not understand your original post - I thought you meant you had options to change the colors in the monitors control panel. That is the first thing you need: a monitors control panel. Second, does this thing have a good PRAM battery? I have had issues with some LCs that when they are cold started, they will start up in B&W even if previously set to colors.

 

[mloret]

It’s an LC II. How do I get a monitors control panel to show up? Is it just something I need to find with under the apple menu? I just installed os 7.0. Do I need to customize a new install? I don’t know if the PRAM battery is good but I really doubt it.

 

[LaPorta]

Yes, this is exactly what happens to me with my LCII if there is no PRAM battery. If you have no Monitors control panel, you'll just have to copy one from elsewhere...do you have another Mac with System 7? Alternatively, if you have a way to get software to the LCII, I can send you a copy of it via email.

 

[mloret]

I don’t have a working floppy YET. I do have my floppy emu. I’m not entirely sure how to transfer a single file using the floppy emu but if you could send it via email that would be great. mloret@mac.com

 

[LaPorta]

Sent you an email; see if that disk works.