Apple IIgs Black Screen
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result. I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything. Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
Connect a composite monitor and see if there's video perhaps? I have a IIgs which also has no RGB. Not sure what the issue is, but the composite works just fine, so I use it for a bench system (only testing things). Henry S. Courbis Office Toll Free: (800) REACTIVE (732-2848) Office/Mobile Direct: (302) 298-0234 www.ReActiveMicro.com <http://www.ReactiveMicro.com> - Sales, Support, and News, Our Headquarters on the Internet wiki.ReActiveMicro.com - Support, Software, Manuals, and History. Create your own page today! Facebook.com/reactivemicrousa - Our Social Media Outlet and Support On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 8:29 PM James via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk. Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest. On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
Which specific Apple monitors are you using? Later monitors meant for the Mac will not work with the Apple IIgs as they cannot sync at 15khz. David
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
I agree, and that was going to be my second suggestion Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:29 AM, David Ryskalczyk via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Which specific Apple monitors are you using? Later monitors meant for the Mac will not work with the Apple IIgs as they cannot sync at 15khz.
David
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
Oh I see. The second RGB monitor I tried was from a Performa 6400. The monitor works with the Performa, but perhaps connected to the IIgs it does not get the right signals. I guess this means that the problem can either be with the IIgs RGB out or the IIgs monitor itself. The symptom is a pitch black screen. When I turn the monitor on I hear a click like it is turned on and the light goes green, however, I don't see ANY visible sign of brightness even when I play with the brightness contrast controls. I also don't hear a CRT-like sound you hear when you press a degauss button or like the TV makes when I turn it on. Perhaps this means the issue is with the monitor afterall? I can bring this setup to the repair workshop May 4 or 5 if there is anyone who can help me troubleshoot the issue. Opening up a monitor (and/or PSU) is beyond my skill set and not something I feel comfortable doing myself. On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 9:29 AM David Ryskalczyk <d235j.1@gmail.com> wrote:
Which specific Apple monitors are you using? Later monitors meant for the Mac will not work with the Apple IIgs as they cannot sync at 15khz.
David
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
The Apple2 GS uses a specific monitor And is not compatible with a Mac monitor! I can’t remember if the signals are digital or analog but I assume they are digital and it might be considered RGBI 15 kHz I’M SURE THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE HERE WHO HAVE THESE EXACT SPECS Mike Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:39 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Oh I see. The second RGB monitor I tried was from a Performa 6400. The monitor works with the Performa, but perhaps connected to the IIgs it does not get the right signals.
I guess this means that the problem can either be with the IIgs RGB out or the IIgs monitor itself. The symptom is a pitch black screen. When I turn the monitor on I hear a click like it is turned on and the light goes green, however, I don't see ANY visible sign of brightness even when I play with the brightness contrast controls. I also don't hear a CRT-like sound you hear when you press a degauss button or like the TV makes when I turn it on. Perhaps this means the issue is with the monitor afterall?
I can bring this setup to the repair workshop May 4 or 5 if there is anyone who can help me troubleshoot the issue. Opening up a monitor (and/or PSU) is beyond my skill set and not something I feel comfortable doing myself.
On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 9:29 AM David Ryskalczyk <d235j.1@gmail.com> wrote:
Which specific Apple monitors are you using? Later monitors meant for the Mac will not work with the Apple IIgs as they cannot sync at 15khz.
David
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
I don’t know why, but for some reason you did not post Henry’s suggestion in your reply Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
I mentioned Henry by name in my response. Unfortunately, I was previously subscribed to digest mode and couldn't figure out how to reply to his email directly. I have since changed my settings and can now reply to individual responses as they come into my inbox. Apologies to Henry. Did not intentionally mean to cut the thread. On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 9:39 AM Sentrytv <sentrytv@yahoo.com> wrote:
I don’t know why, but for some reason you did not post Henry’s suggestion in your reply
Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
Adding Henry back into the thread. Again, apologies for my thread cutting! I opened up the monitor to look for any leaky caps or blown fuse. Everything looked clean and the fuse looked good. I've uploaded some pics to drive in case someone else can spot a problem visually (or rule out possibilities). https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r1t2zGQK3bG5HvKsQg9jr2pywGIWNwd7?usp... If any additional angles would be useful, let me know and I can take more pics. On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 9:39 AM Sentrytv <sentrytv@yahoo.com> wrote:
I don’t know why, but for some reason you did not post Henry’s suggestion in your reply
Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
The two beeps were normal. The first beep at turning on, the second after there was no startup disk found. Once I put a DOS disk in, it booted to DOS without issue. The reason I had a black screen was most likely because of the AppleColor RGB monitor. There is something wrong with it (or the RGB out). I connected a TV set through composite and I can now see the screen and use the computer without issue. Self diag failed on the Real Time Clock (07000000) which I'm assuming the battery is dead and needs replacing. I don't have one on hand. However, it did not appear to have leaked. I tend to believe it's the monitor and not RGB out because the monitor is pitch black and no brightness like the composite TV set gets. I also didn't feel or hear any static charge on the CRT surface. Looking inside the monitor, I didn't see any obvious visual signs of leakage, exploded caps and the fuse looked like the wire was intact. On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 7:17 PM Sentrytv <sentrytv@yahoo.com> wrote:
I am curious to know if the beeping has completely stopped when you hooked up the composite monitor? And if the cause was you had the wrong monitor hooked up? Mike R.
Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 6:55 PM, James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Adding Henry back into the thread. Again, apologies for my thread cutting!
I opened up the monitor to look for any leaky caps or blown fuse. Everything looked clean and the fuse looked good.
I've uploaded some pics to drive in case someone else can spot a problem visually (or rule out possibilities).
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1r1t2zGQK3bG5HvKsQg9jr2pywGIWNwd7?usp...
If any additional angles would be useful, let me know and I can take more pics.
On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 9:39 AM Sentrytv <sentrytv@yahoo.com> wrote:
I don’t know why, but for some reason you did not post Henry’s suggestion in your reply
Sent from: My extremely complicated, hand held electronic device.
On Apr 19, 2024, at 9:21 AM, James via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Henry, you were correct! I attached a composite monitor and now see a beautiful animation telling me I don't have a startup disk.
Is the onboard RGB repairable or am I looking at a custom chip that is hard to come by? I would hate to have to use a TV and not my Apple monitor. The TV would ruin the whole aesthetic of the IIgs to be honest.
On Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 11:29 PM James <tenprintclearhome@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi, I have an Apple IIgs and when I boot it I hear a beep shortly followed by another beep. The screen remains black. I've tried a second known working Apple monitor to the same result.
I've tried it with both floppy drives attached and not attached. I don't have any disks but was assuming I would at least see a complaint on the screen about missing startup disk. I don't see anything.
Does anyone know what my issue is or can you recommend a good Apple II troubleshooting site? Working on Apples isn't something I have much experience with.
participants (4)
-
David Ryskalczyk -
Henry S. Courbis -
James -
Sentrytv