Re: Serious and annoying Apple ][ problems!

[sane@netaxs.com (Wonko The Sane)]

rogtha@delphi.com wrote:
: I have an original 1978 Apple II which seems to be breaking down on me.
: I've almost given up trying to fix all its problems and I'm looking for
: another, but this one was in good condition when I acquired it and I want
: to keep it fully functional. The first problem is the keyboard. From time
: to time it will screw up and won't give me the corresponding characters to
: the keys. If I type "HOME" it gives me "HKIA." I've "corrected" it numerous
: times by taking the cover off and wiggling the keyboard circuit board.
: Another problem is that at the AppleSoft prompt, when I type "PR#6" to
: start the floppy drive, often the computer will beep and take me into
: assembly. It's the most annoying problem with my II! Okay, the next one is
: that sometimes when I use the diagnostics program "Apple-Cillin II" to test
: the ROM chi, the results for the 5th chip sometimes say "EMPTY." These
: erratic things make me uneasy. Another (yes, ANOTHER) problem is that the
: color seems to be gone. Even though my II is connected to a perfectly good
: C.ITOH Chroma Pro monitor and all the settings are correct I get shades of
: gray instead of color. One last problem: Sometimes when I run disks that
: have menus on them (or try to) the menu won't load up, the computer will
: beep, and take me into assembly. When I insert the MECC disk "Music Theory"
: I keep trying to run a certain program until it DOES run and then all menu
: disks work fine until it happens again.
:  
: Does anyone have any ideas as to how to fix some or all of these problems?
: I'm seriously considering stuffing the thing away in a closet and finding
: another original II.
: (Former has not been done; latter is in progress.)

Whew! Okay. First thing's first. If you've been wriggling things in and 
out, you should: 1) Make sure you're "de-staticized." As you know, static 
can really screw chips if you touch them. SO, touch the power supply in 
the case before you do anything else. 2) Check ALL of the connections. My 
Apple IIGS refused to boot, and just when I was about to trash it, I 
checked and found that my processor chip was loose! Just make sure any 
boards you might have in there are tight and snug.
	As with the pr#6 problem, have you tried in#6? Oh, and if you're 
ever caught in assembly... If you want to return to BASIC, hit control-c 
and press return. If you want to boot slot six, press 6 and then hit 
control-p followed by a return.

	Mark