Apple III (was: Apple III motherboard)

From: Mark Gregory <mgregory_at_vantageresearch.com>
Date: Fri Jun 16 21:29:30 2000

-----Original Message-----
From: John Wilson <wilson_at_dbit.dbit.com>
To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org <classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org>
Date: Friday, June 16, 2000 8:14 PM
Subject: Re: Apple III (was: Apple III motherboard)


>
>Was the /// the machine whose user manual suggested that you should drop
the
>entire computer on a desk from a height of several inches before powering
it
>on the first time, to give all the internal connectors a chance to chew
>through the oxide? Wild...
>


Given the weight of a ///, you might fix the computer, but you'll damage
the desk! It wasn't just the first time, IIRC. The ///s also had
notoriously bad sockets, and lousy cooling, so the chips had a tendency to
wiggle out over time. So you might have had to repeat the Apple drop every
six months or so.

Any other examples of semi-official fixes like this one? The only other one
that comes to mind is the infamous "Atari ST twist", where you grasped both
sides of the case firmly, and twisted the ends in opposite directions. The
flexing of the motherboard supposedly reseated a chip that frequently came
loose, without, of course, requiring you to open the case, and thereby void
your warranty.

Madness!

Mark.
Received on Fri Jun 16 2000 - 21:29:30 BST