All is OK! Even the power supply is quiet now. I think it may have been
squealing only when the full load wasn't being drawn (I had both drives
disconnected) and only for a few seconds after power-up.
Anyway, the problem with the LCD panel was really nothing. The new
connector simply needed to mate with longer pins to make proper contact.
The pins at the back of the LCD panel were long enough, but the ones
inside the machine were not. I ground down the connector a little bit and
it works now.
I also fully disassembled the casing to get at the variable resistor that
controls the "contrast", because it was so dirty that I couldn't get a
stable picture at all. I used an aerosol contact cleaner on it.
I did find a loose paperclip during the disassembly. Hopefully it didn't
do any damage while it was in there.
The picture is now stable and clear. I used to get corrupted characters
and strange lines on the display at seemingly random times, but I used the
machine for at least six hours straight tonight and it never came back.
The screen also used to be sensitive to movement and its position, and now
it doesn't care if I grab it and flip it up while I'm using it. I'm
guessing that several other wires were in the process of working loose.
The screen is just naturally hard to read, but not nearly as hard as it
was. The contrast has to be adjusted according to the user's viewpoint,
and it's not always possible to clearly see the whole screen at once
(especially up close).
At some contrast settings, dark patches appear on the screen. Also, areas
of the screen react to what is being displayed on other areas with a kind
of ghosting, which can be a little distracting when the contents of the
screen are busy. I'm guessing that this is normal for this technology.
One really cool thing is that the characters appear to "float" on the
screen.
I think I can confirm a 1988 date for both construction and purchase.
Most of the parts with identifiable date stamps that I looked at had date
stamps of late '87 or the first few weeks of '88. Also, the contents of
the hard drive which I never inspected very thoroughly (because of the
screen) included personal and business (including many local businesses
that I know) tax records from 1987 through to 1991.
And yes, I did delete files of that nature as I found them. There were
approximately 16MB worth of accounting files, and only software that would
be useful in accounting, so clearly this was an accountant's machine.
I'm a bit disturbed by the implications of finding such information at a
garage sale.
There is something strange about the display, BTW. It has
externally-accessible dip switches. Four of them. And there's a note
taped inside the panel that certain pieces of software require a certain
switch setting.
I attempted to install GeoWorks 1.00 and found that its installation
program is one of the programs that needs that switch setting. :/
And no, I didn't get GeoWorks running, because I don't have a
PC-compatible mouse. :/ (I picked up GeoWorks at the Goodwill this week.)
Anyway, I'm still up because I've been watching the news all night.
<shudder> Had it not been for that, I probably would have reported back
with my success a lot sooner.
Doug Spence
ds_spenc_at_alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
Received on Thu Sep 03 1998 - 04:10:06 BST