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New Lisa! Restortion tips needed.

Okay, help would be appreciated.
I'm now 100% positive that the display issue lies somewhere on the analog board. The cards and the wiring harness both check out fine as does the tube as well. The thing is I have no idea where to start looking.
I do have a scope and a few other simple test tools like a DMM and capacitance meter.
 
I'm still feeling my way with this diagnostic lark but are there any power regulators/transistors on the analog card? It may be worth checking if these are outputting the right voltages. That might be a good starting point.

Tez
 
Not much of an expret circuits unfortunately. I can't really tell what makes up the HV circuit and what does regulation.
It would be nice i the other lisa owners chimed in with any assistance.
 
Not much of an expret circuits unfortunately. I can't really tell what makes up the HV circuit and what does regulation.
It would be nice i the other lisa owners chimed in with any assistance.

I wish I could help but if ignorance is truly bliss then I'm amongst the happiest people alive. . . :D
 
Well, I did kind of buy it from you. >_>
I guess I'll just have to compare readings from wht working analog board with my non working unit and see what I find.
 
My own Lisa 2/10

My own Lisa 2/10

Hi,

I'm posting to what has been a quiet thread for a few months because I now too own a Lisa (actually three of them!). Two Lisa 2s and one Lisa 2/10. That's another model off the list :)

They are all broken and need restoration. The best of the lot is the Lisa 2/10 (see photo). However, it doesn't boot from the hard drive, but comes up with a similar screen to the one NEXT shows earlier.


2010-11-29-apple%20lisa.jpg


I've got a lot to learn about this machine and I've collected links and material I've got to wade through before I start repairs in earnest.

Has anyone had experience with getting Lisa 2 images off the web for use with a real Lisa 2? I don't have any disks. I DO have the required images and some good tips from this link..
http://lisafaq.sunder.net/lisafaq-hw-media-floppy_dc42.html

The problem is getting through the pathway below, which is the only one open to me...

Internet -->My PC--->a Mac-compatible 1.44MB disk--->into my FDHD Mac SE/30--->Onto a 800k DS/DD disk in an externally attached 800k Apple 3.5 inch drive (but written as a 400k SS/DD Lisa disk).

It's a long and convoluted pathway not to mention the .sit and .hqz formats to negotiate! I'd be interested to hear of others' experiences?

Also, is there any way to ascertain that a 400k disk prepared from an image actually has been done correctly and WILL boot (perhaps by examining it in a Mac?). Nothing is more frustrating than a non-boot but not being able to know if it's the software image or the hardware at fault.

NEXT, how are you going with your own restoration?

Tez
 
I pretty much stopped. I can't trace down the fault on my analog board. It's outta my league.
I am managing to get the paint off. DOT 3 brake fluid softens the paint to the point I can scrape it off with my fingernail but it's going to still take a lot fo work to get allt he panels totally clean.

As for disk images, I assume you got all yours from Mac Mothership.
A ZIP drive is a miracle device here, especially the Plus 100 drives which support both Parallel and SCSI. You can use that to transfer all the images and the Disk Copy utility over to the SE/30, then you can generate the images from there. I'm assuming you have Stuffit Expander on the SE/30 already, right? Otherwise you will not be able to transfer over the Disk Copy utility in its raw form without killing the resource fork.

Edit: Also, the later revision power supplies tend to die it seems. The original ones (like the one I have and proves mine used to be a Lisa 1) were a lot more durable.
 
Hmm..I hadn't thought of a zip drive. I actually have a parallel one here unused. These can just be plugged into Macs or do you need some sort of driver? I probably need a driver for the PC too yes? It's been 20 years since I used it!

Yes, I got the images from the mothership.

I do not have the stuffit expander on the SE/30. In fact, I'm going to have to learn how to get it there and use it. This is all new territory for me, and I can see it's going to be a long journey.

Tez
 
For the SE, you will need to use a SCSI ZIP drive and yes, you also need a driver for it as I found out on my Quadra 950. Luckily the driver itself fits on a floppy so just find a copy of it in a .smi (self mounting image) format and you should be fine, same with the Stuffit Expander installer.
I still swear by Stuffit. Anyhting I archive is stuffed by it because the file can then take one hell of a beating and the resource fork remains intact.
 
Thanks for the link. Alas, my Zip drive is just a parallel port one and 250MB at that. Looks like I might have to try another approach.

Tez
 
Hi,

Internet -->My PC--->a Mac-compatible 1.44MB disk--->into my FDHD Mac SE/30--->Onto a 800k DS/DD disk in an externally attached 800k Apple 3.5 inch drive (but written as a 400k SS/DD Lisa disk).

It's a long and convoluted pathway not to mention the .sit and .hqz formats to negotiate! I'd be interested to hear of others' experiences?

Tez

I'd love to have a LISA for my stuff.. Lucky!

I've pretty much had to do the same thing for my MAC 128. The problem I kept running into was all the images were compressed using a version of stuffit that was incompatible with my MAC SE (system 6, I think). Why you'd pack the system images for a old mac in a version no old mac can un-stuff I'll never know.

I wound up using vMac emulator to open the disk images, and recompress them in a stuffit 4 friendly format, so I could unpack them on the SE.

http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?19508-Old-128
 
Thanks for the tip.

I can see this getting these images on a working disk not going to be easy.

After reading up on it, I checked out the Lisa last night. As the previous owner had said, there seems to be some issue with the widget disk controller. At least that's what the error messages say (CPU and Memory are fine). There are quite a few socketed chips on the controller. Tonight I'll reseat them and see if that makes a difference. I'll also have a good visual inspection of the board.

Tez
 
Floppy drive advice needed

Floppy drive advice needed

Hi Guys,

I'm having fun playing with these three Lisa's (1 Lisa 2/10 and 2 Lisa 2s) I aquired about a month ago. The aim is eventually to get the Lisa 2/10 and one Lisa 2 going.

The Lisa 2/10 comes up with a disk controller error during the I/O board check. I don't have an I/O board I can swap out I've shelved that one until I can get one of the other Lisa 2s going.

One of the Lisa 2s now gets to the point where it asks for a disk. And here's the problem. I can't get any of my sony Lisa 400k 3.5 drives (all three of them) to show any sign of life? You can see the little LEDs come on inside but the drives sit there completely lifeless?

I have 2 LisaLite controller boards, but swapping these around makes no difference.

I find it hard to believe that all three drives have exactly the same problem or even that both LisaLite boards have the same fault (although it's always possible I guess?). The only thing not swapped is the main cable going from the backboard connector to the Lisa Light controller? However the connecting ends look ok with no sign of missing or damaged pins?

Before I dive into some deeper diagnostics, I just wonder if I'm missing something obvious here? Has anyone else had this problem or can suggest what might be wrong? Do these Lisalight controllers often fail and how likely do you think it is I have two faulty ones? (or three faulty drives for that matter).

Any comments most appreciated.

Tez
 
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Tez, I could be wrong (Its been some years since I had a Lisa) but I'm fairly certain that the Lisa 2's used the same drives as the early Macs. Is it worth connecting the Lisa's drives up to a Mac to test or if you have an 800k drive from a Mac, try plugging that into the Lisa? At least this will rule out problems with the drives.
 
Tez, I could be wrong (Its been some years since I had a Lisa) but I'm fairly certain that the Lisa 2's used the same drives as the early Macs. Is it worth connecting the Lisa's drives up to a Mac to test or if you have an 800k drive from a Mac, try plugging that into the Lisa? At least this will rule out problems with the drives.

Thanks for replying. They do. Unfortunately I don't have an early Mac (I must get one someday). They also take a 800k Mac drive, but only if you have an upgraded ROM. I don't have either of those either unfortunately

Tez
 
Hi Tez, just been catching up on things and noticed you have some new toys! "all that comes to he who waits" nice finds indeed. these should keep you busy. I too have a lisa 2 that took a lot of time and effort to get working. (but now needs a psu repair) You probably have read lots about getting the floppy drive working, and they do require removing and dismantling. they are very mechanical, and all linkages must operate freely. once removed and cleaned, it is easy to insert and remove any floppy disk , to see that all linkages are working properly. I spent a lot of time to free up the dried greased parts. but once everything was cleaned and lubricated, the drive worked like new! best of luck Harry.
 
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