Re: Both of my Apple II GS's won't boot up

["Mark Cummings" <figjams@primus.com.au>]

>...  So I pulled out my trusty Apple II GS from the garage, hooked
>everything up and flipped the power on switch and nothing happened .
>I re-seated all the peripheral cards and tried again.  Nothing.  I took out
>all the cards and tried again.  Nothing.  I even swapped out power
>supplies with my other GS and still nothing happened.  I put the second
>power supply back into the other unit and nothing happened with it
>either.  This seemed like too much of a coincidence, two power supplies
>dying within minutes of each other and on two different computers.

But that's the most likely explanation for no power light on the GS. As
Louis suggests you could try a minimul system with no cards or external
devices. If you have access to a multimeter you can measure the voltages on
the motherboard connector while it is on, this will prove the power supply
is faulty, or not. Alternatively measure the voltages on the motherboard.
Can't remember if there is any test pads like the IIe, I think there is near
the front left.

>Maybe I have been away too long, but I can't think of anything else to
>try.  Is it possible that the Lithium batteries may be dead and somehow
>this affects powering on.

The battery won't affect it turning on, but will affect the clock and
control panel options, which will be forgotten after the power is switched
off. On a Mac a bad battery would cause booting problems, but not on a GS.

>The green light on the CPU case does not turn
>on, although it seems to flicker briefly when turning the switch on or off
>on either computer.

Sounds very much like a couple of capacitors in the PSU need replacing, you
should read Rubywand's FAQ on common PSU fixes. I haven't had this happen to
any GS's I've had, but the same symptoms in a IIe are caused by capacitors
in the Power Supply.

Mark