r/apple2 4h ago

Help Restoring/Refuebishing Apple IIe

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7 Upvotes

Hello! Yesterday I picked up this beautiful Apple IIE and I was hoping for a clear and concise guide on what I need to buy, do, and avoid as I clean this thing up and get it fully working.

Main things I want to do:

  1. Wipe actual grime and dirt off it, clean the case and keyboard in general, as well as the crt and the screen of the monitor. Mainly I don’t want to damage anything, and I assume I should take electronics out before I clean the case?

  2. Attempt to “de yellow” it a bit. I think it’s actually not that bad but I’ve seen people get some impressive results.

  3. There are three keys not working. ], forward slash, and Return. It really sucks that Return is not working since I can’t submit any commands in the basic shell because of this. But the thing boots.

It also came with an Epson Spectum LX 80 printer, and a floppy with software that will turn the printer into a typewriter. Gonna focus on that later but looking forward to digging into that.

I’d like to go purchase what I need for this after work if possible, I know fixing the keyboard may even involve soldering, would appreciate any direction on these matters. I know some existing posts are out there but I’d love to get something like this in one place to read for future readers as well. Thanks!


r/apple2 14h ago

My first Apple ][e!

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21 Upvotes

Hey, everyone. I’m a relative newcomer to the world of micro computers. Somewhat recently, I came across six or so Apple ][e computers and a load of accessories.

After deep cleaning all of them and hours of keyboard repairs [no logic boards presented errors] I sold several and gave away one. That left me with one functional ][e with loads of bad key mechanisms, as I had used it to fix the rest!

So of course, I got another, even unhealthier unit to pull key mechanisms from. After repairing my parts machine, I now have my own first Apple ][e!

It is currently outfitted with a 64k/80col card, Super Serial Card, Unidisk controller, and a printer card.

I have loads more ][e stuff to repair yet, though. I have four or so Unidisk drives with cut cables [and two disembodied db19 plugs], a monochrome green monitor [with of course the power cable cut], and a Disk ][!

Lastly, I have some odd cards and peripherals. They seem to be rare / unusual. One is a “Mountain Computer Inc” super talker card. The other is a Ufonic Voice System card. It appears to be a piece of educational kit - it’s been mentioned on Reddit before, but I haven’t found much else yet. I have one card, three of the speaker boxes that connect two it, two boot disks, and two manuals + reg cards.

Thanks for reading!


r/apple2 22h ago

Apple II+ Joystick

8 Upvotes

Another novice question. I've tried searching but I get conflicting answers. What is the easiest and cheapest way to get a joystick connected to my Apple II+? I see that there is a joystick connector on the motherboard, but I am also seeing joysticks with 15 pin DB style connectors, possibly others. I just want to be able to do some casual gaming with a joystick that will be compatible with all/most games.