Re: R:Apple IIc+ and self diagnostic

["Bill Garber" <willy46pa@comcast.net>]

"Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com> wrote in message
Q9SdnXhGtJJeYDzfRVn-sQ@comcast.com">news:Q9SdnXhGtJJeYDzfRVn-sQ@comcast.com...
: CyberDez wrote:
: > Hello Mitchell,
: > Thank you VERY much for the info! Now I'm quite sure my machine is not
: > broken as I feared... :-)
: > A diagnostic disk like the one you mentioned would be a really good
thing to
: > have handy expecially when dealing with vintage computers but where can
I
: > find it? Making back the bootable disk from a disk image would not be a
big
: > problem. There are also two other disks I am desperately looking for:
: >
: > - Zip Chip Utilities
: > - Dalton Disk Disintegrator rev. 2.1 or higher
: >
: > Any idea where can I found them? Until now my searches over the net
produced
: > no useful results... :-(
: >
: > Best regards and thanks again!
: >
: > CyberDez
: >
: >
: >>    Odd as it is, that is completely normal. I had the same concern when
I
: >>first picked up an Apple IIc Plus about a decade ago. If you want to run
a
: >>more extensive diagnostic (on any Apple II model for that matter) you
may
: >>want to try the "Apple II Diagnostics" that was used by authorized Apple
: >>dealers. It came on a 3.5 floppy and automatically detected which Apple
II
: >>model it was running on, changing the test options to correspond to that
: >>particular machine.
:
: Contrary to expectations, I've found that diagnostic disks are seldom
: of much use to Apple users.  A RAM test is a good thing to have, but
: few of them will cycle continuously waiting for the occasional error,
: which is a common form of RAM failure.  Most other tests are done as
: well or better by simply using the machine.
:
: The truth is that Apple II's are very reliable, and if they don't work,
: they usually don't work enough to run a diagnostic.  ;-)
:
: Perhaps it is best to think of most diagnostics as "confidence tests"
: that simply make you feel better by not finding anything obviously
: wrong.  But again, the real test of a machine is whether it works
: predictably and reliably in normal use.
:
: If a machine begins to behave inconsistently, then it's time to stop
: and think about it, then try simple "substitutions" to diagnose the
: cause of the problem.  (Like using a different disk drive if you are
: having disk problems.)  When you can "move the problem" by moving a
: component, you have localized the failure.
:
: Again, thankfully, a working machine seldom develops problems more
: severe than a flaky power supply, a dirty disk head, or an oxidized
: connector or chip lead.
:
: An important exception is a machine which constantly has cards and
: devices inserted and removed.  This is an opportunity for carelessness
: which can lead to chip damage that can be much trickier to locate.

Michael, as usual your logic is impeccable. I have had 2 such machines,
which were not running good enough to run any tests. After many swaps
of components to determine the failures, only 1 of them was working.
Sad to say, the one I couldn't fix was a clone. You know the one, The
Viking. A rare find indeed, it would have been nice to have gotten it
running, but time only allows so much work to be done on any one machine,
so out it goes.  :o(

Apple II Forever, Apple II Together
Bill @ GarberStreet Enterprizez
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