Thanks for all the tips so far guys!
With a fresh start this morning I did as I had planned and you suggested and removed all of the interface cards, including the 80 Col/64k card, and I still had some problems.
When I first turned it on I got this stream of data on the TV, I guessed that these were memory locations, as it was obviously in hexadecimal. In a haste of fast cold boots I did get the Spanish text mode again, but since then I haven't seen it, or figured out how the hell that happens. I have no rocker switches on the case, and it's apparently either some system bug or random error.
A few restarts later and I was greeted with the familiar Apple \\e screen, but no prompt. I started screwing around on the keypad and found a few interesting things. If I hit Control + Restart, I got a prompt. From there if I hit Control + Apple + Restart I got back to the Apple \\e screen. Pressing Option + Control + Restart made the screen turn into a jumble of random color pixelated screens (the first was reds greens and blues, the second purples greens and whites, I think). A third press revealed a screen of random characters strewn about.
I turned off the computer, not knowing exactly what the hell I had just instigated. I decided that since obviously none of my cards had caused the malfunction that I would just put them back in. I made one change, however, in that I placed the 5.25" controller card into Slot 6 instead of 7. I then hooked up the drive and turned back on the computer. Apparently this was the slot it was supposed to be in, and I was just too much of a noob to notice...
To my surprise the EA logo appeared on the screen, I had forgotten to remove the Bard's Tale II disk from last night. The game loaded up well and seemed to work. Because I couldn't really do anything with the game, I shut down the ][e, removed the disk, and booted up once again.
Making my way back to the prompt I began to type, only to find that the character would repeat on the screen, forever. I then removed the outer case and reseated the keyboard a few times, same results.
I then removed the keyboard entirely and began to inspect it. I remembered hearing a slight cracking sound when I tightened the keyboard screws after my initial cleaning phase. There didn't appear to be any damage to the circuit board connections, but the board seemed to easily bend up on the corner nearest the screw I had been tightening.
Of interest was a screw tightening the circuit board to the risers from the keyboard itself, likely added to prevent what I had done from happening to the other side of the keyboard. So I fashioned a make-shift screw similar to the one they used and it worked wonders.
I then returned to the ][e and plugged in the keyboard and turned it on again. This time I had the same repeating character problem. I tried everything but no matter what I did it always repeated the last character I typed. Eventually, this problem did seem to go away after a few of the key combinations I smashed in earlier. I'm not sure if the keyboard working properly is a permanent thing, as I have just begun to put it all back together. So if you guys have any troubleshooting tips other than simply buying a new keyboard on eBay I'd love to hear them =]
For the most part I guess my problems are "solved" but I'm certainly a little wary of this keyboard problem. I don't have much money to put into these machines at the moment, and most of it will be going into an Apple ][e monitor so I don't have to hook it to my TV all the time.
One other minor issue at the moment is that the RCA Out connection for the monitor is VERY touchy, at times I feel like I'm going to break the thing off. I noticed that the support structure around it is bent out of shape and not doing much to help the problem. I am planning to attempt a re-forming of the supports to try and fix the issue, does anyone have a recommended solution to make is a tad stronger?
This case also has some small rust spots splattered along the bend in the bottom plate where it bends to meet the keyboard. I took a rough bristle brush to them at first (thinking they were Coke stains) and it seemed to help a little, but I know that cant get rid of it entirely. Any tips on how to combat this stuff and get rid of it?
That covers the extent of the main problems I'm having with this ][e...
I still have to decide what monitor to get, DigitalDinos sells both the Monitor II and the Color Composite ][e model. I have heard that the Monitor II is both brighter and has a more secure connection than the Color Composite model, any thoughts?
I also lack the software for this machine to even run properly which is a slight issue, heh. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could acquire the system disks, as well as any software that actually uses the Apple ][e mouse card. I'm planning on purchasing one of those as well, but I'd like to have the software to put it to use so it isn't a paperweight. I do luckily have plenty of games, so that isn't a problem =]
Thanks for all your help so far guys, I hope I can get this system working like my GS is ;]
-Academician
Addendum: The keyboard is at it again, and I have learned a few bits more of information. The only way to stop the stream of repeated characters it the escape key, nothing else seems to work.
I have at this point reseated the Keyboard ROM on the motherboard twice with no improvement. I can say that the cursor on the screen itself appears to flash at an incredible rate, and seems to be a probably cause of the problem is something is refreshing too fast. Thoughts?
With a fresh start this morning I did as I had planned and you suggested and removed all of the interface cards, including the 80 Col/64k card, and I still had some problems.
When I first turned it on I got this stream of data on the TV, I guessed that these were memory locations, as it was obviously in hexadecimal. In a haste of fast cold boots I did get the Spanish text mode again, but since then I haven't seen it, or figured out how the hell that happens. I have no rocker switches on the case, and it's apparently either some system bug or random error.
A few restarts later and I was greeted with the familiar Apple \\e screen, but no prompt. I started screwing around on the keypad and found a few interesting things. If I hit Control + Restart, I got a prompt. From there if I hit Control + Apple + Restart I got back to the Apple \\e screen. Pressing Option + Control + Restart made the screen turn into a jumble of random color pixelated screens (the first was reds greens and blues, the second purples greens and whites, I think). A third press revealed a screen of random characters strewn about.
I turned off the computer, not knowing exactly what the hell I had just instigated. I decided that since obviously none of my cards had caused the malfunction that I would just put them back in. I made one change, however, in that I placed the 5.25" controller card into Slot 6 instead of 7. I then hooked up the drive and turned back on the computer. Apparently this was the slot it was supposed to be in, and I was just too much of a noob to notice...
To my surprise the EA logo appeared on the screen, I had forgotten to remove the Bard's Tale II disk from last night. The game loaded up well and seemed to work. Because I couldn't really do anything with the game, I shut down the ][e, removed the disk, and booted up once again.
Making my way back to the prompt I began to type, only to find that the character would repeat on the screen, forever. I then removed the outer case and reseated the keyboard a few times, same results.
I then removed the keyboard entirely and began to inspect it. I remembered hearing a slight cracking sound when I tightened the keyboard screws after my initial cleaning phase. There didn't appear to be any damage to the circuit board connections, but the board seemed to easily bend up on the corner nearest the screw I had been tightening.
Of interest was a screw tightening the circuit board to the risers from the keyboard itself, likely added to prevent what I had done from happening to the other side of the keyboard. So I fashioned a make-shift screw similar to the one they used and it worked wonders.
I then returned to the ][e and plugged in the keyboard and turned it on again. This time I had the same repeating character problem. I tried everything but no matter what I did it always repeated the last character I typed. Eventually, this problem did seem to go away after a few of the key combinations I smashed in earlier. I'm not sure if the keyboard working properly is a permanent thing, as I have just begun to put it all back together. So if you guys have any troubleshooting tips other than simply buying a new keyboard on eBay I'd love to hear them =]
For the most part I guess my problems are "solved" but I'm certainly a little wary of this keyboard problem. I don't have much money to put into these machines at the moment, and most of it will be going into an Apple ][e monitor so I don't have to hook it to my TV all the time.
One other minor issue at the moment is that the RCA Out connection for the monitor is VERY touchy, at times I feel like I'm going to break the thing off. I noticed that the support structure around it is bent out of shape and not doing much to help the problem. I am planning to attempt a re-forming of the supports to try and fix the issue, does anyone have a recommended solution to make is a tad stronger?
This case also has some small rust spots splattered along the bend in the bottom plate where it bends to meet the keyboard. I took a rough bristle brush to them at first (thinking they were Coke stains) and it seemed to help a little, but I know that cant get rid of it entirely. Any tips on how to combat this stuff and get rid of it?
That covers the extent of the main problems I'm having with this ][e...
I still have to decide what monitor to get, DigitalDinos sells both the Monitor II and the Color Composite ][e model. I have heard that the Monitor II is both brighter and has a more secure connection than the Color Composite model, any thoughts?
I also lack the software for this machine to even run properly which is a slight issue, heh. I was wondering if anyone knew where I could acquire the system disks, as well as any software that actually uses the Apple ][e mouse card. I'm planning on purchasing one of those as well, but I'd like to have the software to put it to use so it isn't a paperweight. I do luckily have plenty of games, so that isn't a problem =]
Thanks for all your help so far guys, I hope I can get this system working like my GS is ;]
-Academician
Addendum: The keyboard is at it again, and I have learned a few bits more of information. The only way to stop the stream of repeated characters it the escape key, nothing else seems to work.
I have at this point reseated the Keyboard ROM on the motherboard twice with no improvement. I can say that the cursor on the screen itself appears to flash at an incredible rate, and seems to be a probably cause of the problem is something is refreshing too fast. Thoughts?