Help with an LCII

AmtrakRider · Nov 9, 2012, 03:26 PM

I know this is the PPC area of the forum, and the LCII predates what most would call power PC, but I just got my hands on one of these, and am having a little bit of trouble. I have an old NEC AD-15 to VGA adapter that works well with a Powermac G3, but with this system which is in good working order I've tried a CRT monitor, and a few different LCDs, and it will not display on any of them, although the monitors do see an input they can not output it. Is trying to get this machine working on more modern monitors hopeless?

eyoungren · Nov 9, 2012, 03:45 PM

You might try very slowly pulling it out and at an angle to see if video comes in or not.

I have an adapter for my 6500 that only works if I have it hanging halfway in and at about a 30º angle to the right or left. If I push it all the way in there's no video signal.

No idea if that will help you or not, but it's how I have to do it with mine. Discovered it by accident when wiggling it to see what would happen.

skateny · Nov 9, 2012, 03:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eyoungren

You might try very slowly pulling it out and at an angle to see if video comes in or not.

I have an adapter for my 6500 that only works if I have it hanging halfway in and at about a 30º angle to the right or left. If I push it all the way in there's no video signal.

No idea if that will help you or not, but it's how I have to do it with mine. Discovered it by accident when wiggling it to see what would happen.

Love your reply. While my DC-in board was in mid fry (and my not knowing it at the time), I had to learn AC adapter ballet in order to get my iBook to power up. When all angles started to fail as well as a new AC adapter, I made the DC switch. Funny how all this sophisticated technology responds to (largely) accidental tweaks, like when people use the smack the top or sides of their TVs.

DewGuy1999 · Nov 10, 2012, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmtrakRider

I know this is the PPC area of the forum, and the LCII predates what most would call power PC, but I just got my hands on one of these, and am having a little bit of trouble. I have an old NEC AD-15 to VGA adapter that works well with a Powermac G3, but with this system which is in good working order I've tried a CRT monitor, and a few different LCDs, and it will not display on any of them, although the monitors do see an input they can not output it. Is trying to get this machine working on more modern monitors hopeless?

Maybe this will help:
http://grox.net/doc/mac/IIsi/macIIci....video.pinouts

AmtrakRider · Nov 10, 2012, 06:44 PM

thanks for the replies guys, it looks like this will come down to some tweaking, and or finding an older monitor that i can use with this.

havokalien · Nov 10, 2012, 09:30 PM

Best bet is an LCD with adapter at this point. Do you get chime on boot? If not probably time to recapp the motherboard. Capacitors are probably leaking and bad, if not they will be. Now the fun, leave the monitor plugged in, it will boot slow and will say out of range for like 2 minutes then should turn on an show happy Mac screen. Just make sure the monitor supports 640 by 480. If not no go.

Jethryn Freyman · Nov 10, 2012, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by havokalien

Best bet is an LCD with adapter at this point. Do you get chime on boot? If not probably time to recapp the motherboard. Capacitors are probably leaking and bad, if not they will be. Now the fun, leave the monitor plugged in, it will boot slow and will say out of range for like 2 minutes then should turn on an show happy Mac screen. Just make sure the monitor supports 640 by 480. If not no go.

Sounds like good advice.

Although, I are more making this post to say that your username makes me think of Heikki Kovalainen.

havokalien · Nov 11, 2012, 09:50 PM

Well my game nickname in the 80's was havok, that was taken so I added alien which I was watching at that moment.

AmtrakRider · Nov 13, 2012, 11:35 AM

It chimes on boot I think your right about it needing a lower rez the monitors i've tried being able to provide. the inside of the unit looks fine no leaking or anything like that.

havokalien · Nov 13, 2012, 01:02 PM

Chime on boot is usually a good sign, even then it should give distorted lines, Checkerboard or something. Older 15 inch LEDs are usually best bet with a db15 to VGA adapter set to 640x480.

DewGuy1999 · Nov 13, 2012, 01:16 PM

I have a Performa 600 CD (same vintage as the LCII) and I just looked at the Getting Started guide and for Monitors it states:

A variety of color and monochrome monitors are supported by built-in video (no video card is required), including:

• Macintosh Performa Display
• Macintosh Performa Plus Display
• AppleColor Display
• Macintosh 12" Monochrome Display
• Macintosh 12" RGB Display
• AppleColor High Resolution RBG Monitor
• 640 by 480 VGA monitors (requires special adapter cable)

Other Apple and non-Apple monitors are supported by NuBus video cards.

If I remember correctly during this time period Apple used a non-standard pin arrangement that was differed from the industry standard VGA and that's why the adapter cable is required.

840quadra · Nov 13, 2012, 02:34 PM

My LCII will only display on my older LCD monitors, and usually only models that have VGA (No DVI or HDMI Input options). The best bet for an LCD is one that is designed to used in a server environment.

If you can lookup specs on the LCD you are after, finding one that supports 512x384 is going to be key.

AmtrakRider · Nov 13, 2012, 03:20 PM

Thanks for the posts I got my one and only CRT from the depths of my basement that was able to give me the wavy lines which was a first, but it also did not support the output that the machine was giving out. I've now given this a shot on 6 different monitors, and have only seen a few gray wavy lines in return. Time to find an ancient CRT hopefully on the cheap somewhere online.

DewGuy1999 · Nov 13, 2012, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AmtrakRider

Thanks for the posts I got my one and only CRT from the depths of my basement that was able to give me the wavy lines which was a first, but it also did not support the output that the machine was giving out. I've now given this a shot on 6 different monitors, and have only seen a few gray wavy lines in return. Time to find an ancient CRT hopefully on the cheap somewhere online.

If you don't have one already, I think you need either one of these Cables To Go 02902 Mac DB15 Male to VGA HD15 Female Adapter or the Apple specified "special adapter cable".

840quadra · Nov 14, 2012, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DewGuy1999

If you don't have one already, I think you need either one of these Cables To Go 02902 Mac DB15 Male to VGA HD15 Female Adapter or the Apple specified "special adapter cable".

To add to that,

If you can find one that has built in DIP switches, you can sometimes force the signal to play nicer with some of the non supported monitors.

Nov 9, 2012, 03:26 PM	#1
AmtrakRider macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	Help with an LCII I know this is the PPC area of the forum, and the LCII predates what most would call power PC, but I just got my hands on one of these, and am having a little bit of trouble. I have an old NEC AD-15 to VGA adapter that works well with a Powermac G3, but with this system which is in good working order I've tried a CRT monitor, and a few different LCDs, and it will not display on any of them, although the monitors do see an input they can not output it. Is trying to get this machine working on more modern monitors hopeless?
	0

Nov 9, 2012, 03:45 PM	#2
eyoungren macrumors 65816 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Phoenix, AZ USA	You might try very slowly pulling it out and at an angle to see if video comes in or not. I have an adapter for my 6500 that only works if I have it hanging halfway in and at about a 30º angle to the right or left. If I push it all the way in there's no video signal. No idea if that will help you or not, but it's how I have to do it with mine. Discovered it by accident when wiggling it to see what would happen. __________________ 17" PBG4: 1GHZ, 2GB RAM, 100GB HD • 17" PBG4 DLSD-HD: 1.67 GHZ, 2GB RAM, 320GB HD • PMG5: 1.8GHZ, 4GB RAM, 2-435GB HD i5: 64GB, BLK
	0

Nov 10, 2012, 09:30 PM	#6
havokalien macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Great Lakes, IL	Lcd Best bet is an LCD with adapter at this point. Do you get chime on boot? If not probably time to recapp the motherboard. Capacitors are probably leaking and bad, if not they will be. Now the fun, leave the monitor plugged in, it will boot slow and will say out of range for like 2 minutes then should turn on an show happy Mac screen. Just make sure the monitor supports 640 by 480. If not no go. __________________ Its but a flesh wound. You don't know the power of the Dark Side!
	1

Nov 11, 2012, 09:50 PM	#8
havokalien macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Great Lakes, IL	Name Well my game nickname in the 80's was havok, that was taken so I added alien which I was watching at that moment. __________________ Its but a flesh wound. You don't know the power of the Dark Side!
	1

Nov 13, 2012, 01:02 PM	#10
havokalien macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Great Lakes, IL	Chime Chime on boot is usually a good sign, even then it should give distorted lines, Checkerboard or something. Older 15 inch LEDs are usually best bet with a db15 to VGA adapter set to 640x480. __________________ Its but a flesh wound. You don't know the power of the Dark Side!
	0

Nov 10, 2012, 06:44 PM	#5
AmtrakRider Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	thanks for the replies guys, it looks like this will come down to some tweaking, and or finding an older monitor that i can use with this.
	0

Nov 13, 2012, 11:35 AM	#9
AmtrakRider Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	It chimes on boot I think your right about it needing a lower rez the monitors i've tried being able to provide. the inside of the unit looks fine no leaking or anything like that.
	0

Nov 13, 2012, 01:16 PM	#11
DewGuy1999 macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jan 2009	I have a Performa 600 CD (same vintage as the LCII) and I just looked at the Getting Started guide and for Monitors it states: A variety of color and monochrome monitors are supported by built-in video (no video card is required), including: • Macintosh Performa Display • Macintosh Performa Plus Display • AppleColor Display • Macintosh 12" Monochrome Display • Macintosh 12" RGB Display • AppleColor High Resolution RBG Monitor • 640 by 480 VGA monitors (requires special adapter cable) Other Apple and non-Apple monitors are supported by NuBus video cards. If I remember correctly during this time period Apple used a non-standard pin arrangement that was differed from the industry standard VGA and that's why the adapter cable is required. __________________ 13.3" MacBook Pro/i5 2.3GHz/4GB RAM/320GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.6.8 17" iMac/G4 1GHz/768MB RAM/80GB HD/Super Drive/OS X 10.4.11
	0

Nov 13, 2012, 02:34 PM	#12
840quadra Demi-God (Moderator) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Twin Cities, MN	My LCII will only display on my older LCD monitors, and usually only models that have VGA (No DVI or HDMI Input options). The best bet for an LCD is one that is designed to used in a server environment. If you can lookup specs on the LCD you are after, finding one that supports 512x384 is going to be key. __________________ Introducing Macintosh Quadra. The power to be your best.
	0

Nov 13, 2012, 03:20 PM	#13
AmtrakRider Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011	Thanks for the posts I got my one and only CRT from the depths of my basement that was able to give me the wavy lines which was a first, but it also did not support the output that the machine was giving out. I've now given this a shot on 6 different monitors, and have only seen a few gray wavy lines in return. Time to find an ancient CRT hopefully on the cheap somewhere online.
	0

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