Dead Zip-GS

[casa@unm.edu (Jim Pittman)]

Yesterday I started up my ROM 3 IIgs and was using Super Convert
to look at a Mac graphic. The screen froze just after some 3.5
disk access (Apple Superdrive, Apple 3.5 controller card). I did
CTRL-APPLE-RESET and nothing. Uh-oh.

I did APPLE-CTRL-ESC and nothing. CTRL-RESET - nothing.

So, turn off power, wait a bit, turn on - now I get an irregular
checkerboard-like pattern and no key activity will change it. When
I turn the power off and back on, the checkboard picks up a few
random colored spots but other than that, no change at all.

Turn off and get ready to pull cards. Remove 4meg CV-ram first.
No difference. Pull 9/64 Zip-GS and re-install the original 65816.
Now the computer works fine. (Much slower though. :-(  Also, once
GSOS 6.0.1 was loaded I got a low memory message - first time I
ever saw that.) Turn everything off, re-install the CV-ram and re-
start. (I did the boot self-test and it reported no problems. By
the way, this shouldn't be a heat-related problem; the system was
barely turned on and hardly warm yet when it died.)

I called Zip at 310-568-2003 but on Saturday, no answer. So I'll
call them again Monday. I hope they are still in business.

More on this later. If anyone has words of wisdom, I'm all ears.

- Jim Pittman - University of New Mexico - casa@unm.edu