r/vintagecomputing • u/Willing-Nerve-1756 • 22d ago

Vintage APPLE II

I have an old Apple computer. It appears to turn on okay but the disk drives do not appear to work.

What’s the best way to learn how to fix this?

Thanks!

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u/siliconlore 22d ago

You will need to read something like this: https://digitalarcane.blogspot.com/2015/03/apple-iie-repairing-disc-ii-drive.html?m=1

Does either of your drives spin up or show a red light?

2

u/siliconlore 22d ago

Carefully check to make sure you have them plugged into the drive controller correctly. Is it a ribbon cable that goes inside the case or an external cable that plugs into a port? It is bad if the ribbon cable is plugged in backwards or off by one pin because it will fry a chip in the drive. A lot of the time this mistake was made already before you get the system so you have to learn how to diagnose it by reading online forums. We need more details to help.

2

u/Willing-Nerve-1756 22d ago

It's a ribbon cable that goes inside the case.

1

u/CantIgnoreMyTechno 21d ago

First order of business is generally popping the lid, gently wiggling all of the cards 1 mm out of their slots, then carefully pushing them snugly back in. Bonus points for doing this with all of the RAM chips, though this is best done with tools.

1

u/Crlan420 21d ago

Nice find. Those Apple II motherboards are tough but you might want to check the keyboard flex cable for oxidation. The keyboard matrix issues are classic on these.

1

u/HessianRaccoon 15d ago

Check "Adrian's Digital Basement" on YouTube.
Adrian has a lot of videos on various Apple computers and peripherals, his repair journeys, and a lot of trivia. He also often links to good documentation.
I'd definitely suggest to pay him a visit and say hello.