Apple III (was: Apple III motherboard) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

17 Jun 2000

In a message dated 6/17/00 9:25:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
eric(a)brouhaha.com writes:

...
   Hmm, that
actually sounds a bit familiar.  I kind of think I vaguely   remember
  reading magazine articles in the early 80s about
the /// being   discontinued
  and then re-introduced in "new &
improved" form.  But I wouldn't know...   
  The Apple ///+.  Very short product life.

  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...   
  Not in the user manual, but some people did it.  The problem was that Apple
  used bargain-basement DIP sockets on the early machines.  In shipping the
  chips would work loose.  Back then there shouldn't yet have been too much
  trouble with oxidation, but there certainly is now.  The "correct" fix is
  obviously to open it up and reseat the ICs. 

not only that, but the memory board is mounted above the main board on metal 
standoffs with no other support. (at least on the 256k /// i had) Over the 
years, that board had become permanetly warped due to sagging in the middle 
and the attachment screws being overtorqued. 

DB Young         ICQ:  29427634

hurry, hurry, step right up!  see the computers you used as a kid! 
http://members.aol.com/suprdave/classiccmp/museum.htm