Re: Newbie question IIe

[dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

<aj_baker@alcor.concordia.ca> wrote:

> my boyfriend picked up an appleIIe for 15$.When turned on it said apple
> II,but was basically frozen.

That is normal if there was a disk controller card installed but no
drive connected to it.

> when turned off then on again, ablinking cursor appeared and we could
> write basic programs.We found two floppy disk drives,but when one was
> connected(no disk)the screen froze in a new way and then the computer went
> beep and turned itself off.

Oh dear.  You probably plugged the drive in backwards, which is a major
no-no.  This has almost certainly blown up some components in the drive,
and may have damaged the computer.  (Damage to the computer is even more
likely if you plugged the disk controller card in backwards.)

> Since that time it refuses to turn on,although the power supply makes a
> quiet hum,there is no beep,no light and nothing on the monitor.

Have you tried turning it on after removing all interface cards from the
computer, and in particular without the disk drive(s) connected?

If so, and it still behaves like this, then you've probably killed it.

If it seems to work with the cards removed, then one of the cards (or
the drives) are damaged but the rest of the computer may be OK.

> can anyone ttell us how to bring it back to life?

Spend a lot of time with a multimeter and soldering iron trying to
locate the damaged components.  If you are very lucky, it will just be
the drive, or just the power supply.  Otherwise, it is probably easier
to replace the computer than to try and locate everything which might
have been damaged.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand