A viewer sent in a very special donation!

I am very grateful for all the wonderful donations viewers send in to the Digital Basement. Sometimes, I get one that really takes me off guard. This was such a case due to the fact this computer really holds a special place in my heart.
In this video, I unbox the machine, give it a once over, do some some exterior cleaning, power supply maintenance and then see if it's working. Let's get right to it!
Part 1: This part!
Part 2: • Apple ][ plus extreme ...
Part 3: • Fault finding and tryi...
Part 4: • Fixes for the Apple ][...
Part 5: • Apple ][ plus: 8304 re...
Part 6: • Apple ][ plus: VIDEX 8...
--- Video Links
Panasonic DT-S101
Chassis NMX-K102A
--- Tools
Deoxit D5:
amzn.to/2VvOKy1
store.caig.com/...
Jonard Tools EX-2 Chip Extractor:
amzn.to/2VazxDS
www.jonard.com...
Wiha Chip Lifter:
amzn.to/3a9ftWw
www.wihatools....
O-Ring Pick Set: (I use these to lift chips off boards)
amzn.to/3a9x54J
Elenco Electronics LP-560 Logic Probe:
amzn.to/2VrT5lW
Hakko FR301 Desoldering Iron:
amzn.to/2ye6xC0
Rigol DS1054Z Four Channel Oscilloscope:
www.rigolna.co...
Head Worn Magnifying Goggles / Dual Lens Flip-In Head Magnifier:
amzn.to/3adRbuy
TL866II Plus Chip Tester and EPROM programmer: (The MiniPro)
amzn.to/2wG4tlP
www.aliexpress...
TS100 Soldering Iron:
amzn.to/2K36dJ5
www.ebay.com/i...
EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter:
www.eevblog.co...
DSLogic Basic Logic Analyzer:
amzn.to/2RDSDQw
www.ebay.com/i...
Magnetic Screw Holder:
amzn.to/3b8LOhG
www.harborfrei...
Universal ZIP sockets: (clones, used on my ZIF-64 test machine)
www.ebay.com/i...
RetroTink 2X Upconverter: (to hook up something like a C64 to HDMI)
www.retrotink.com/
Plato (Clone) Side Cutters: (order five)
www.ebay.com/i...
Heat Sinks:
www.aliexpress...
Little squeezy bottles: (available elsewhere too)
amzn.to/3b8LOOI
--- Links
My GitHub repository:
github.com/mis...
Commodore Computer Club / Vancouver, WA - Portland, OR - PDX Commodore Users Group
www.commodorec...
--- Instructional videos
My video on damage-free chip removal:
• How to remove chips wi...
--- Music
Intro music and other tracks by:
Nathan Divino
@itsnathandivino
Outro Music:
Abyss by | e s c p | escp-music.ban...
Music promoted by www.free-stock...
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
creativecommon...

[@Themanfromglad]

Hey Adrian, great[est] video for me, being your brother and having shared that very APPLE ][+ during those early days of computing! I must say I was touched watching this video! It really brought me back, just seeing you pop open that Apple ][ top and pulling cards! We both started our Information Technology careers because of the use of these early computers and that proves one thing loud and clear: our parents knew, that putting computers in the hands of young kids was a positive thing for our future. Remember just how expensive (relatively speaking) computers were at the start in the 70’s and early 80’s and for many families it was a stretch. Thank you Dad and mom as I know you will read this comment, it was the right thing to do for us back then, look at us now! I love that Adrian is now the digital custodian of these amazing first steps of information technology. Also Adrian, about the yellow stains, I know what that is. It’s a smoker that was using that computer for years. In my PC hardware days we saw a lot of this type of discolouration, it’s just a smoker’s machine. Use a heavier solvent if you want to go back to the original colour. Thanks again for this video, Adrian, it was awesome to watch! eBXo

[@michaelburns8073]

I was too very lucky to have a Dad that worked at 'a large telephone research facility'. They had a group of guys that would hack and build their own Apple ]['s from scratch, and so my Dad got involved with them and we 'built' ours. I still have it. I'll mention more about it in a separate comment below, but just wanted to say yes, I too started my career in this way as well. I was programming 6502 assembler in High School, which I was able to then breeze through the Assembly Language class in college. I ended up getting a BS and MS in Computer Science, and have been working as a Software Developer ever since. It's also a reason why I work with kids and STEM projects in my local schools and community. When their faces light up because their program or their little robot starts working, it transports me back to the fun times I had when I was their age. One other thing you are right on as well. It was not cheap back then. I'm not sure what we spent on the A2+, but when I went to grad school, my dad forked out 3000 dollars for a fully-tricked out Gateway PC at the time. Because of that, when my Dad needs a new machine or any kind of technical support, it is provided by me, no cost. He always asks me how much the stuff costs, and I tell him don't worry about the cost. That is my thanks to him.

[@waltersobchak7275]

Sounds like you had a great upbringing and some awesome parents. I bet they are proud.

[@macfixer01]

Smoking was one source of the yellowing, another I’ve seen was sunlight exposure if the computer was sitting for years on a desk adjacent to a window. Another thing I forgot to mention in my other comment was that the primary reason for not putting the monitor on top of the drives was because some monitors had enough RFI to cause I/O errors or not allow the drives to boot or read at all.

[@akkudakkupl]

@@macfixer01 I don't see how EMI is going to destroy a floppy though the metal casing of the drive. Unless its not properly grounded.

[@macfixer01]

I never said having the monitor on top of the drives destroyed any diskettes. It just caused temporary read errors (I/O errors) sometimes, which would go away if you moved the monitor further away or off to the side. Customers having problems didn’t want to hear that since Apple always showed the monitor on top of the drives in their ads, although they eventually did start recommending against it. The drives originally had no shielding and had no ground connection to the cover, or to the metal lower chassis of the drive either. Some brands and models of monitors didn’t cause any problem, others did. Also remember many folks were using small TV’s for a display on the Apple ][, if they didn’t have an 80 column card and were likely playing games mostly anyway. Actually the 5.25 inch floppy’s were notoriously hard to destroy though except through physical damage or exposure to an actual degaussing coil or bulk tape eraser.

[@BertGrink]

I think Stewart deserves a big round of applause; not only was his packaging technique one of the best I've ever seen, but the tone of his letter was very humorous. However, I'd also like to mention how awesome I think Adrian's father was, without whose encouragement of young Adrian we might not have had this exceptionally great youtube channel.

[@parrottm76262]

Stewart is the hero of this video, no doubt. I'm floored at his attention to detail.

[@TooLazyToFail]

Stewart is the hero we need right now.

[@markdjdeenix6846]

If there’s an yearly packaging award!.steward has wone

[@zmonchamp]

Adrian almost crying was oddly emotional and touching.

[@stephenlord1539]

Dr Dr the guy loves his job/hobby

[@BertGrink]

The fact that Adrian shows his feelings so openly is one of the things I love most about this channel.

[@performa9523]

In this awful year, it's awesome to see anyone that happy, let alone someone as awesome as Adrian!

[@electronicengineer]

Just further proof of how genuine and honest Adrian is. This man's character is what finds me always checking my subscriptions list for a dot next to "Adrian's Digital Basement", in the hopes that Adrian has posted another new video for us. This guy is the real deal and at the risk of sounding like a broken record, is what keeps me coming back for more. Thank You Adrian! Fred

[@anonytube1679]

@@electronicengineer Absolutely, that's why I watch Adrian's digital basement. What a genuine, honest and modest man. Compare that to the 8bit guy: "Nah, don't send me all this crap, I don't have enough space, I don't have enough time. Why should I say thank you to people who spend a lot of time and effort to send me stuff for free? Too bad that I have to make these damn KZbin videos and deal with these annoying watchers. It would be so much better if KZbin just gave me the money without all the nasty work. And oh, I got a super rare computer. Let's just randomly put in paperclips at any of the connectors. And while I am at it, let's dremel into the case. Whatever, I don't know what I am doing, anyway."

[@domramsey]

Admit it, you were secretly hoping it wouldn't work just so you'd get to spend more time working on it...

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Heh it is half the fun!

[@BlackEpyon]

I love to look out for the "for parts/repair" listings on eBay. Often it's something very simple, like blown RIFA or tantalums. In the case of the Tandy 1100FD I picked up earlier in the year, it needed a power block (just had to look through the thrift stores to fine one that would match specs), and a new belt for the floppy drive. The VIC-20 I picked up just had a loose fuse holder on the 9VAC rail which was causing intermittent operation of the tape deck. If you've got the patience and the knowhow to repair them, it's usually cheaper this way than buying a known working unit. I've got an XT clone on the way that, from the pictures and description, needs some tantalums replaced, and then a good cleaning. I'll have to wait till it arrives to find out if the rest of it works, but it's got an MFM hard drive, so fingers crossed the drive was parked!

[@markjohnson3737]

In elementary school there was one computer in the entire school, an Apple II Plus, owned by one of the second grade teachers. I was lucky enough to get her as a teacher, spawning a lifelong passion for computers and technology.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

That is amazing -- teachers are so underappreciated and underpaid. I have several teachers from my youth I will never forget -- even 30+ years later, they had a huge impact on my life that is still with me.

[@danilko1]

@@adriansdigitalbasement My middle school teacher wrote this: www.thequartermile.com - Mr. Barnum. We used to play his program in class, having a score board and contests. Did you ever play with Fire Organ? He had it and would play it for us, in class. He never would let us "borrow" a copy.

[@henrymach]

This was Steve Wozniak's Apple. Open and serviceable and expansible

[@MadMorgie6318]

Woz was a hacker, a bodger and a tinkerer. His machines reflected that mentality.

[@Calphool222]

@@MadMorgie6318 is, not was. He's still with us, and he still tinkers!

[@MadMorgie6318]

@@Calphool222 Good to know that Woz isn't was.

[@absurdengineering]

Reading between the lines: Apple could make the iPhone “open and serviceable and expansible”. It’d fit snugly in a VCR tape box and weigh way more than a VCR tape did. I hope you got big sturdy pockets to fit one in, and to pay for all that extra material and shipping and processing costs - big things aren’t cheaper at all! Small or open. Pick one. All the connectors and shields so that your fingers won’t shear off components small enough that they get hard to see without glasses and so on: it takes space and weight. I am totally sure that Apple could make such a phone and nobody would buy it. I am all for open and expansible stuff. I want my phone to be small, light and practical. You can attach all your nerdy peripherals to it via lightning to USB cable and an Ethernet adapter. Your own peripheral can provide an Ethernet USB function and be totally compatible with an iPhone. Your own app can talk to it no problem. So as far as expansion goes, it already allows you to add your own peripherals - whatever you wish for. And to easily code for them. What else would one want?

[@Tigereye2k6]

Kuba Ober Well we talk here about computers and not phones. The computers that apple built today are not really fixable at all and apple does everything they can that they are not fixable. I recommend you the youtube channel of louis rossmann, he repairs macbooks on a component level and has much to say about this topic :)

[@simontay4851]

That huge box must've cost a fortune to send across the US from east to west.. He was extremely generous.

[@johnbecker8768]

My first computer was a VIC20 also. Loved that thing and programmed for hours and hours. In college I scored an Apple 2E, and also have such a great time with my apple cat modem and programming and running a BBS from my room in our rented house filled with electrical engineers and software guys. Such good times!! Lots of programming with the assembler Merlin?? spent a lot of time pouring thru the Rom of that computer. Steve Wozniac was a genius programmer and I modeled my coding style after him.

[@misterkite]

Fun Fact: It's called "Applesoft BASIC" because it was made by Microsoft. Integer BASIC was made by Woz, but was called Integer basic because it didn't support floating point.

[@bobblum5973]

Fun Fact Part 2: Steve Wozniak also included in the Integer Basic ROMs the Sweet-16, a virtual 16-bit machine. Another example of how wonderfully creative Woz could be. Fun Fact Part 3: Floppy disk controllers were too expensive back when the Apple ][ came out. So Woz designed a state machine based controller and bought just the floppy drive mechanicals, allowing Apple to come out with the Disk ][ drive.

[@manuell3505]

Hard to imagine. You have to program the float/carrier system yourself?

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

Fun Fact: Apple licensing Microsoft BASIC saved Microsoft from bankruptcy after their disaster of a licensing deal with Jack Tramiel at Commodore. If only had Apple gone instead with the company that wrote Atari BASIC shortly thereafter...

[@manuell3505]

@@TheJeremyHolloway I think it was scened. They all became aware of the fact that locking in the user in an artificially limited environment with no way out was the way to go. The DOS command line guaranteed a crippled computer Next step was protected mode witn an API. Now, everybody's running apps instead of programs, fully abstracted from the real computer underneath, only to spam and track you while all authorative control is hijacked.

[@rbrtck]

@@bobblum5973 He also had the computer's 6502 processor do all the work that a disk controller ASIC would have done--yet another simple hardware + software solution to save on cost. That's good--Woz's work is elegant in this way, and highly effective (within limits in some cases). Then Apple jacked the price up as much as they could get away with anyway. ;) By the way, while Woz was undeniably creative and even a certifiable genius at certain things like reducing chip count, there were some...oddities regarding his design philosophy. For example, he didn't like interrupts and didn't understand why they were considered useful. At least that's what he told some people (literally that he didn't understand interrupts). And sure enough, the Apple II series does not natively support interrupts (there is some support in the expansion slots and the motherboard, but that was probably someone else's work, as Woz did not design the Apple II all by himself). I guess he was largely right, since his computer designs were clearly functional and remained on the market for many years, with their CPUs polling and counting (with some exceptions) all the way. He didn't save much hardware this way--he just didn't see the point. Note that he could have saved on hardware and cost by having the CPU drive the display, like the Atari VCS/2600 and Sinclair ZX series do, but he didn't go to that extreme. I won't go into this in detail right now, but suffice to say that interrupts do have their uses, much like his autonomous video logic. I guess eccentricity is often coincident with genius. :)

[@cappaculla]

Gotta be said, Adrian is hands down the nicest guy on KZbin, great attitude, personality, and seriously knows his shit... And won't use a dremel to open a rare computer.. 😉

[@guayabito6946]

For sure, he is a very humble guy, unlike some others....

[@thedysk1]

Hi Adrian, much respect to your dad. My story is similar. Back in 1981 I begged my dad for a ZX81 for Christmas. My friends were getting Vic20s and other higher end computers but I knew what we could afford. Christmas day came and a ZX81 is exactly what I got. From there I progressed through Acorn BBC Electrons and BBC's and then into PC's When I left school I started by career in I.T. and I am still doing that today. All through the support of my dad and the leap he took on buying me that ZX81. I also spend as much time using the old 8Bit computers, I buy then whenever I can and have my loft space pretty full with ongoing projects.

[@skonkfactory]

That metal isn't painted, it's powder coated. So it yellows like any other plastic.

[@thedungeondelver]

Adrian, yours is one of the best if not THE best hands-on vintage computing channels on KZbin (honestly you should have 100x the subs you do, and I drive everyone I know with even a passing interest in old tech to your channel), so trust me when I say that I do not lightly "insist" you do anything but...I insist you play some Wizardry! (Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord will suffice), Lode Runner, Choplifter and Temple of Aphsai on it ;) Those were my favorite games to play in Computer Class back in 7th grade (which would've been...84ish or so?), although I did like writing programs in Logo.

[@wishusknight3009]

Definitely up there for sure. Although he sticks to overviews mostly, they are quite detailed enough to give a really good impression of the machines. Even for those of us who really get into the nuts and bolts of these things.

[@danilko1]

For me it was Load Runner and Ultima II/III,IV. I didn't play Choplifter much, I thought it was too hard, and I wasn't a real big joystick user. Wizardry was mysterious for me, as it was written in Pascal. I didn't get into Pascal until high school and I recall it required the 80 col card. In the day some games were purchased while others were copied. Wizardry, I think, had copy protection. I Logo, wasn't much a part of the curriculum, but I did recall maybe a unit which included it, a day or two worth of instruction, that was it, in Summer school. Otherwise I had BASIC, Advanced BASIC, and Assembly for classes.

[@garykidwell4051]

Tiltowait! Take that Werdna and Vampire Lord!

[@guayabito6946]

For sure, out of all of them I enjoy Adrian the most. I feel he is a super humble person, unlike some others.

[@photolabguy]

Stewart, thank you for providing us viewers, for an awesome computer, and the best packaging / unboxing ever on Adrian's channel!

[@BertGrink]

Or on any channel for that matter.

[@TheRealMarkS]

It's so nice to see people with a true love and passion for what they do. And, though Adrian said his career is/has been in IT, the job never defines the person. It's the hobby and excitement that comes from it, that's really who a person is. I've probably got 15 to 20 years on Adrian, so my initial exposure to electronics was CB radio, which lead to an electronics technology program, then consumer electronics repair. Fortunately, I bought a VIC20, and that initiation defined the rest of my working life. From VIC20 to C64 to Atari SE, then to home-built x86 machines. More recently (last 15+ years), I've been an Apple user, and tinker with Linux, Raspberry Pi. Like so many involved in consumer electronics, ultimately, I had to reinvent myself as a tech in Neonatal equipment, software QA, and software customer support for medical related products. Anyway, none of that would have happened if not for the VIC20. It's also good that I got involved in computers and gadgets when I did, as people just a few years older than me often missed the boat, if they had wanted to board. Two things I found invaluable in the tech/troubleshooting business: 1) Half splitting, 2) When interviewing for a tech position, never say that you know all about something, when you don't, because sure as the sun's gonna rise tomorrow, the person who invented it will be sitting in the next room, and they'll bring him/her into the room to talk to you. And yes, though Beavis and Butthead never said it: Stewart rules! 😃

[@bobblum5973]

Sounds like we're of similar vintage! I turned my electronics hobby into my career. I was working on CBs before going off to a technical college, then got into computers, data communications and networking. Lots of stories to tell throughout my career, many from the CB era. I can honestly say I've seen someone wire a PL-259 plug onto RG58 coax and swap the polarity (shield to center pin, center conductor to outer shell). Wish I'd had a camera! More or less the CB equivalent of using a PC CD-ROM drive tray as a cup holder; an urban legend, but someone was bound to do it for real eventually!

[@TheRealMarkS]

Bob Blum Haha! There's really no end to the craziness that was CB radio at that time. Likewise, of course, the cast of characters (including me) was just as bizarre. After reading your reply, I spent a few minutes thinking back to some of the gear and people of the day. Not so different from the internet in some ways. Today, there are young people on scooters or boards with a fancy gaming laptop in their backpack. I knew a kid who had a 5 watt, 12 channel Lafayette Radio Electronics walkie-talkie and a 102" whip attached to his stingray bicycle. Today, a fancy RGB keyboard or mouse makes an awesome input device. I had a D-104 desktop mic. Come to think of it, "past me" was pretty nerdy. Thanks for taking the time to reply. 😃

[@biggiejohn3360]

please, no paperclips jammed in random ports

[@nyw11]

Hahaha this is gonna be a joke for years. Love it

[@newagederpderp]

me, a smartass: _jams paperclips in every single port i can see_

[@mikhail6289]

Adrian: carefully clean and observe everything, changed capacitors. 8-bit guy: yuhuu, smoke test!!

[@BlackEpyon]

That's what happens when you're unable to find a technical reference manual :(

[@rbrtck]

@@BlackEpyon Or your sense.

[@PeterMountUK]

I'd dare you to take that power supply into the Genius bar - just to put them in their place with a PSU that's most likely older than they are - I'd love to see their faces when they try to think what it is!

[@fumthings]

none would have the slightest idea what it was, but they would try to throw it in the trash...

[@gmirwin]

That would be a great hidden camera video.

[@PatrickDunn13078]

Great video Adrian. I used a II+ at the public library on Saturday mornings in downtown Syracuse NY back in the early 80’s and had one for awhile in the mid-90’s. It was the Bell and Howell black one. I started with computers when my Dad bought me a Timex/Sinclair 1000 in 1983 when I was 13 at Wegmans grocery store of all places and went from there. Just love this channel!

[@AnthonyRBlacker]

I know this is an old video and you probably won't have a chance to read this considering you're full time recording videos now, but Adrian the feeling I'm getting (along with all the viewers and your followers I'm sure) is the absolute joy and nostalgia. I too, just as Stewart and you (and many more) had these at home and then took the class in school where I got into a little bit of trouble myself because I knew computers very well and the teachers had NO IDEA back in the 80s.. haha it was a great time to be alive.. Thank you for sharing these great stories!

[@0xTJ]

I might have teared up a touch around 6:00. This is a really good video, great content, great editing. One thing I really like about your channel is how humble and appreciative you are.

[@jessiec4128]

Adrian, i am Canadian from my mothers side, and I have visited my family there in Montreal. And I froze Big Time during the winter time. I could not wait until I came back home. I loved the summer time there, but Not the Winter time at all.

[@FriendlyWire]

This was just so wholesome. Thank you for sharing your stories, Adrian! I did not grow up with these computers, my first machine already had Windows 95 on it, but I am learning a lot and I am happy that you share this fascinating period of computers with us. Thank you, fantastic video!

[@Schooner316]

Props to Stewart! Excellent donation!

[@Dan-TechAndMusic]

Even though Apple didn't want you to stack the drives on top of the Apple II with the monitor on top of that, both Woz and Jobs were seen doing it :P

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Haha! Must have been lawyers not waiting it then? LOL

[@BlackEpyon]

@KAPT Kipper Actually, floppies aren't nearly as sensitive as people think, and even less so with those metal chassis. Sure, you'll wreck the data on your disk if you swipe a magnet straight across it a few times, but remember that magnetic fields follow the inverse square law, just as light does, so the further away you are, the weaker the field. The magnetic field on a monitor is centred around the yoke on the neck of the tube, which is usually at least 10-12 inches away from wherever you might have a floppy disk, and that's more than far enough. You can have a box of floppies sitting on top of your monitor, and they'll probably be just fine, though I prefer to keep mine to the side where there's less chance of knocking them down by accident.

[@TheJeremyHolloway]

That's how they stacked them at my schools. I think Apple corporate gave in by the time they released that double disk drive set-up in a single stackable case later in the Apple II line's commercial life...

[@jeromewink557]

@@TheJeremyHolloway same as my High School. The dial drives were sandwiched between the computer and the monitor. Seemed like a standard procedure.

[@aaronjamt]

From Ben Eater to Adrian's Digital Basement, plus Perifractic's Retro Recipes queued... what a great day! Edit: And Ben Heck, and Retro Man Cave, and LGR, and, and, and...

[@RuSrsbro]

Ben Heck too, a good day to be on KZbin

[@mikesilva3868]

🥳📼

[@ToTheGAMES]

And LGR! :)

[@VincentGroenewold]

Check out RMC Retro Man Cave, very nice as well

[@Okurka.]

Perifractic is a shill.

[@MultiArrie]

That is one happy Adrian.

[@chainq68k]

I just watched Ben Eater's new 6502 Interrupts video, so I was 10 minutes late to this one, only to find yet another 6502 based machine! Well, it's a 6502 day then, so be it.

[@williamsquires3070]

Yeah, if last month was #SepTandy, then maybe this month is #65OC2BER, eh? 😊

[@BertGrink]

@@williamsquires3070 haha good one :D

[@aaronjamt]

@@williamsquires3070 Petition for this to become a thing

[@pragmax]

8-bit Show and Tell posted recently too. The title? "Programming the 6502"

[@chainq68k]

@@pragmax Yeah, that was after my comment here tho'. But watched that one as well. :) So it indeed turned to a 6502 day.

[@CornishCarper]

What such a genuine thankfulness video! Love it!! More YT should be like you! Kudos!

[@endlesswanderer1753]

I'm only 5 minutes in and I'm floored by Stewart's packing job. Absolutely incredible.

[@johnpossum556]

You are so lucky you had some one to buy the computers for you. I worked 3 paper routes for almost a year to afford my first TRS-80. And additional months more to afford a disk drive, printer, expansion slot, speech synth card, etc... in winter I tied cardboard boxes to the sled's handles and pulled it behind me often in thigh deep snow. I remember often coming home with my corduroy pants soaking wet and having to go out again to finish my routes. I would have loved an Apple but they were like 700% of what the TRS-80 was.

[@iocat]

Brings me back to the Apple //c my dad got me -- and the time he once took the day off to drive me half way across the state to find printer ribbons for my Scribe printer. I still have the //c, the love of technology and games, and a career in tech/games that that Apple helped set me on course for.

[@henrygreijer3518]

What a incredible father you have, I had to work hard with small jobs to save up to my Commodore Amiga 500. At the time when I got my A500 my dad considered computers as completely useless, half a year later he was using my Amiga too and a couple of years later he bought his own PC. When we brought it in our house I asked "I thought you said that computers are completely useless?" and he replied "I never said that!", so nowadays when he asks for advice on Windows or anything else I always start by saying "computers are useless, don't use them" ;-)

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

LOL!

[@jNetDowling]

I had no idea you were an NDG kid! I lived in the Deeg for years, love that neighbourhood. So much cool stuff to be found and feels like a town unto itself.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

It's been forever now but I knew every inch because I rode my bicycle everywhere back then. Things have probably changed but it was such a great place to grow up. My brother still lives there with his family.

[@bdre5555]

Our families first computer, a tandy 1000 ex, was quite life changing for me.

[@n2pdq]

Hi Adrian, Love these retro videos. What I found to work really well cleaning those cases is scrubbing bubbles, and a soft brush. Spray it on, then use the brush, and wipe it off. Let me know how it works for you.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

I've seen others mention that exact process too. I have a can of it -- so will need to give that a try!

[@tim0steele]

We had one of these at school, I have fond memories of it although I had a TRS-80 at home which was my favourite.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

the Apple //, //+, //e, //c and //c+ were really nice looking pieces of hardware. I'm in love with my 3rd revision //c w/memory expansion slot and I see myself never selling it and giving it to my son when he's older ...and born.

[@danilko1]

Adrian, I just noticed the Beagle Bros, T-Shirt. I love the Beagle Bros, and their "One Line" basic programs. I put it in quotes because sometimes they were two lines, and frankly it was a euphemism, because the code would normally have been written in multiple lines but they shortened the syntax and used semicolons to avoid starting a new line of code. Usually the small programs did something a little fun. They were getting the most out of the least amount of programming.

[@johnturner8286]

My dad bought the family an Apple ][+ in 1979. My brother and I ended up modding it in 1984, by replacing the motherboard with a DIY-soldered IIe clone board bought out of Computer Shopper, running ROM images copied from an Apple //c at school. We left the original keyboard in the case and patched in a detached cloned IIe keyboard on a 30-conductor cable. I still have the original ][+ boards wrapped in aluminum foil somewhere.

[@brentboswell1294]

Similar computing story here: first computer dad brought home was a TRS-80 Color Computer 2. Fortunately, while I was in junior high, my mom decided to get her masters in Computer Education, so she had to buy an Apple! I steered her away from the //c to the//e...we had the good fortune of buying one of the first "enhanced" //e's. Great for teaching myself assembly with the monitor 😎 we bought ours with the DuoDisk, which was designed to sit on top of the case.

[@dhpbear2]

28:20 - That has to be one of the first switching supplies developed.

[@ShamblerDK]

You are definitely my favorite disembodied hands 🙂 Also, "genius bar" is such a contradictory term. They're just there to sell you a new device.

[@bobblum5973]

Thoroughly enjoyed the video, Adrian. I'm the proud _original_ owner of an Apple ][+ that was a ][ with the floating point ROMs installed at the computer store where I bought it. The ][+ had just come out and they couldn't keep up with demand. So the cover doesn't even have the Plus. I haven't booted it up in years, but after seeing you replacing that capacitor I plan to check and replace it in mine as a precaution. Looking forward to the next chapter in your Apple ][+ saga!

[@VioletGiraffe]

Thank you for putting that index / chapter navigator into the video description of every video! I landed on part III by mercy of KZbin, tried to find part I by just browsing through your uploads and it wasn't easy! (esp. since this video doesn't say "Apple" in the title). Then I thought to look in the description - and voila! Appreciate your attention to the viewers :)

[@basicforge]

The first computer I ever developed software for professionally was the Apple II+. Great memories! I personally owned (and still own) a VIC-20 also, and I also have an Apple IIe and a IIc. I love all of these for different reasons.

[@basicforge]

Perhaps you might enjoy reading some of my blog entries about those days. microcomputing.blogspot.com/2007/

[@lindoran]

Excellent explanation on x and y caps. Glad for the detailed explanation! Just great 😀

[@dennisp.2147]

I can relate to excited little Adrian at 6:08. I loved my Commodore, but I really wished that it had been an Apple.

[@gregsmith9183]

I remember owning the Apply II EuroPlus model. Basically the European/Australian/Asian model that has a little switch on the bottom of the keyboard so you could change between the two inbuilt keyboard layouts usualy the standard US and the layout for whatever country you purchased the computer in.

[@keithyinger3326]

My First computer was a Tandy 1000. Had a ton of fun playing games. I never really got into the programming or anything like that, but learned a ton about dos commands and writing batch files. A lot of times moving files, copying files and such, I would go to the Dos prompt and do it. It seemed so much easier typing dos commands than trying to navigate those old windows navigator programs. Also like you said its crazy back then Apple encouraged you to tweak things to Your liking. Nowadays they don't even want you changing the battery in your phones.

[@cjhickspe1399]

That was packed much better than the Amiga 500 I got in a postal box with absolutely no padding. Plastic bits were literally falling out of the box when it arrived.

[@TheAnkMan]

Very moving video. Thanks Adrian. Yes, good idea escaping the Canadian winter moving to Oregon. Greetings from MTL

[@kawaiimariagamez872]

Thanks, I don't work on switching power supplies and did not know about the X and Y designation on the cap.

[@sachinkapur7569]

Its so easy to understand that Stewart meticulous packing is a tribute to this channel, just another form of respect which people watch this channel are dying to give/show towards Adrian :) U looked so sweet as a child and have a rather pleasant personality even now like the "8-bit guy" and Techmoan, legends!

[@jack002tuber]

Wow, you are so lucky. You have the best friends ever. I'm jealous

[@andybasstbn]

I too, came from Montreal. Je manque la belle province!

[@thepeternetwork]

I remember taking a computer course for kids at the local college, and they had Apple ][ units like what you have there. Unfortuantely, our family was too poor to get one of these, so our 8-bit microcomputer was an Atari 800 (I think), and my computer was a Zed-X80 as a gift from my uncle. Also, why would anyone give these videos a thumbs down? They're both educational and informative. In fact, some might find these computer restorations and modding oddly satisfying. I know I do.

[@TheFanOrTheMask]

wow, I honestly feel the love here from you Adrian, lovely and humbling, excellent vid, keep up the good work

[@joachimfirnhaber8729]

Hey Adrian I'm from germany and I watch every video from your chanel. I like the repair videos from the old stuff, exspacally the Commodore. I wonder where you put all the stuff after the video, do you have a storrage? Maybe you can show the people where you live and where you make the videos. Thanks for all the great videos!

[@johnkean6852]

Although dirty, it's best to leave well alone because _if you don't know what you're doing you can do damage._

[@beardeth69]

16:42 I love that old Microsoft logo. I get serious metal album/DnD vibes from it.

[@mgas1237]

Great video Adrian! And a special shout out to Stewart for providing the great subject. Can’t wait to see Adrian Magic bring it alive :)

[@EternalxFrost]

Hi there Adrian, I'm watching your channel for quite a while now, and I wanted to first and foremost thank you for your amazing content. Despite the fact that I'm a little bit younger than you are, I still grew up in the 386-486 era, and seeing all those goodies from your channel (like the Amiga 1000 for example) gives me some sort of a warm feeling inside. By the way, I didn't know you grew up in Montreal :O It's almost like my hometown haha I was borned and raised in Drummondville, which is like an hour away from Montreal in the east, but now I'm in Sherbrooke for my studies in chemistry. Once again, thank you for your content, and I really hope your channel will last for years to come. Keep it up man !

[@brentboswell1294]

The language card was in demand for game "cracking" (i.e. eliminating copy protection schemes). This, plus an NMI board (a homemade board that could generate a non-maskable interrupt) enabled many a crack. There were also language cars for the ][ and ][+ that had ROM chips with the opposite language, but a RAM-based language card is what was needed for game cracking 😜

[@awilliams1701]

LMAO there are 2 stories that I definitely want to hear about.

[@Skyhawk1998]

His first and second brush with gamer rage? Who knows!

[@electricwheelchair]

22:15 "look at that cool font" In case you're interested, the font is called "Motter Tektura".

[@FinalBaton]

I didn't know you were from Québec, pretty rad! I had only seen a couple of your vids so far. This one is really heart warming and fun, I'll definitely more content from you.

[@cliffroesli5246]

Thanks Adrian - always nice videos

[@davidorama6690]

What a generous donation. ][+ was the first personal computer I ever used. I was so disappointed with similar aged computers after the ][+ which is testament to how good Apple was even way back when...

[@eatportchops]

My Apple IIe smoked one of the 2 RIFA caps last month. It also blew the fuse but did no other harm. Replaced both caps and all is now working. Don't know why mine had two RIFA caps and yours only one, but best to replace them.

[@Obie327]

Hey Adrian, Love your episodes. I remember my great fondness using Apple 1,2,plus, 2E, And a 3 series over the years in grade school up to high school. I remembering seeing the original Apple series made of wood. (Amazingly primitive craftsman looking) The lab was full of these cool Apples from over the years.. The Apple 2 GS Woz version that was allowed to play with as well. I loved these and wished Apple would have developed the series further. (so ahead of its time) Thanks again for putting this video up/out... I got great pleasure reliving my early memories.

[@mk500]

Wow, this is awesome! I remember using one of those to win a programming competition in high school held at a local technical school. As a Commodore guy (Vic20 and C64) I had to practice at a local library to figure out the VERY different editing system for BASIC that Apple used. At least it felt very different to me. I was so proud of myself for beating everyone who had been programming on Apple for years. It was probably the sense of accomplishment from that competition that lead me to my career in tech. Geeks who grew up in the 70s owe a lot to our family, schools, and libraries who supported us with equipment that was very expensive, and didn’t seem super practical to most people at the time.

[@SuperVstech]

Another reason apple didn’t want the drives on top was the degaussing ring around most screens of the time would ruin disks...

[@eagerestwolf]

Generally speaking, assuming there hasn’t been any rework, green electrolytic capacitors are low ESR (equivalent series resistance) capacitors. These are better for switching power supplies because it reduces internal stresses on the capacitor and increases the efficiency of the power supply because less power is expended on losses due to the ESR of the caps.

[@TheRetroChannel]

Another awesome video Adrian, you clearly are working very hard getting so much great content out. When you powered it on, I was thinking please don't work, we want to see some troubleshooting. Not to wish you bad luck, I love it when things I get don't work and I think you do too

[@nukemanmd]

The thing I like the most about my Apple II+ was its architecture (expansion slots) which allowed me to install add-on cards which helped to overcome the limitations of the system. Of course, my favorite add-on was a z-80 card which freed me from the apple software and allowed me to run a wide variety of cp/m software. I was also able to add high-density floppy drives and a nice external terminal. If I wanted to run Apple II stuff, I could boot Apple dos. Very flexible and cleverly designed machine. Too bad that Apple has moved to the dark side of the force and complicated expandability. No longer hobbyist machines.

[@danilko1]

A lot of comments from me, this time. In school I had access to PET and Apple ][ computers, and like you, took computer classes for an easy A. It probably wasn't easy for someone else, but it was easy for me. We have similar paths. My first home computer was an Apple //e, and while it was the "family" computer, I took it over for myself. Sure there was the justifying attempt from my parents, making a recipe data base - the primary goal was for education, and it was very quickly left to my sole use. One day, I took the Apple //e completely apart. If there was a non-soldered joint I could separate, I did. I had systematically pulled the Apple to its component parts, and cleaned them. Oh the yelling I got from that. It was an expensive computer, I was reminded. I had all key caps lined up, springs in a pile, chips and ram pulled, all cards laid out. I left the disk drives a lone. I certainly knew better. I must admit, Apple II computers were an invitation to take apart. That was Woz's gift to us. No other computer was so easy to open and every chip in a socket to pull and examine. I even had decided what chip designs were my favorite. Not getting technical here, just aesthetically speaking, I liked chips that were ceramic, multi layered, where the pins went in-between two layers filled with some kind of epoxy, not necessarily EPROMs, which were my second favorite. This is from the vantage point of a kid looking at parts I didn't understand, and establishing some value to them in a collection of components. I put it all back together and it worked just fine. It was an epiphany for me. I realized that I didn't have to fear technology and it let lead to building new computers and a career in technology. I could have been punished, but wasn't. That day could have been a very different path. Years later, with a family and children, I brought home a full working Apple //e and Apple /// monitor, plus drives - in addition to a GS, signed by Woz - and other e-waste, to be saved. I stored that for several more years, under beds, but there wasn't enough interest by my kids and with space issues, I felt I needed to pass it all on to someone else who could possibly appreciate it more than I could. I still have a couple of Disk ][ drives and all the disks I had as a kid. Hopefully, some time in the future I can try this again, and then look over my old disks reminiscing the work and fun I had in the 80's. I have other stories, confessions of things I participated in at school, programs I wrote at home, to be revealed sometime in the future.

[@Kylefassbinderful]

5:53 That little portable TV is awesome. You had a very humble beginning and I respect that a lot.

[@jussikuusela7345]

Back inthe early 90's when I went to our high school equivalent, I had a Commodore Amiga computer that I used for most of my home computing stuff. I used it for a geography homework where I had to make a presentation, and I got a barely passing rating for it, because I used a computer, and a manually drawn presentation was expected. IMHO it was partially because I didn't use what the teacher considered a computer. Anyway, one year later it was expected that anyone who has a home computer and is capable of doing so, will make their homework presentations with one.

[@frazzleface753]

Ah, this was great! What a generous donation that obviously means a lot to Adrian :)

[@Imperious685]

Great video. The case is all beige plastic not painted metal or painted plastic. I retrobrighted my Apple 2e by simply putting the case in the Sun, took 2 weeks to do, much longer than using peroxide cream, but no marbling either. 27 degress C or under for sunbrighting. If You don't have the time try under water with peroxide or there's a KZbin guy that restores stuff that looks like it's from the dump and He retrobrighted a yellowed controller plug by putting in a box with a lot of LED light, took 1 week.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Other viewers have mentioned that some IIe machine and all II+ machines are painted plastic -- Apple switched to unpainted machines with beige plastic during IIe production.

[@Imperious685]

@@adriansdigitalbasement Thanks for replying and for the information. Maybe You will have to paint it then. Painting old computers can be a pain with a spray can as it's hard to get a clean job done with no garbage in the paint. Retro recipes did a really nice job on an Atari 400 after a botched retrobright attempt. My Apple 2e interestingly as I'm in Australia is an NTSC international PCB version, not Pal as might be expected. I upgraded it with VGA and Sound card boards from A2heaven. On another subject have You heardf of the Armsid for the c64, they are a very good SID replacement and cheap too. Nano Swinsid is rubbish in comparison.

[@simonRTJ]

the painted "powder coated" top and even the disk drives can be bleached. however, if any metal like Aluminium or steel, or tin comes in contact with the peroxide you can get as you would imagine, accelerated oxidation. in fact, when you see the marbling on plastic that has been over bleached, this plastic powdery marbling is oxidation. I would not submerge plastic in a solution, like you would with the plastic, you could either leave it in the sun for a few days, or use creme bleach. only coating the painted sides. good luck Adrian, your channel is superb. I wish you lived down the street.

[@rarbiart]

ASTEC was the brand to go in the mid to late 1980ies when you did 8bit desktop conversions. they had really good but still affordable open frame switching power supplies. for my Amstrad CPC-conversion i even stripped out a clone PC psu and fitted an ASTEC board in.

[@75slaine]

Excellent video Adrian. Fair play to Stewart for donating such a lovely setup (and major kudos on the A+ packing job). Really looking forward to seeing this machine restored to it’s full glory.

[@System-1541]

This video answered my last geographic question. You are indeed near the Hawthorne district -- you live on it. I grew up near there on 22nd and Taylor.

[@UnknownS0und]

Wow! The parallels. Vic 20 for me on my birthday in 83, then only 6 months later (after hounding my Dad continuously) he bought me a used Apple ][ Plus around Xmas. You are spot on about the Language card. I would load in the Original Apple ][ ROM in high memory then bank switch. Not for Integer Basic but the built in mini-assembler. Way cooler for writing programs than using the Monitor. Just wanted to say your Channel is my favourite on KZbin...and I have a lot of Subs!

[@RodrigoPerez79]

I had the wxact same Apple II. Thank you Stewart!

[@Diskoboy1974]

As an arcade game collector, I have a concrete rule about capacitors; ANY capacitor over 15 years old should be replaced.

[@LadyNicola]

Here in New Zealand, my first school computer was an Apple II as well. 🍏😎

[@davidknoll]

Reefer caps... when you fire them up, they make a lot of smoke and make your house smell.

[@knghtbrd]

I remember getting into trouble once. 2nd grade. Back then the Bart Simpson thing was basically a real punishment, and they assigned me some sentence or so to write 100 times. Second. Grade. But I've been legally blind my whole life so I always had access to an Apple IIe and a CCTV that I used to do my schoolwork. In the corner. And I stayed in at recess to learn some programming. You know where this is going. I spent the hour dinking with code. One of those programs I wrote started with PR#1 and contained a for loop. "Got away with it"-though if I ever gave a kid that young such an assignment and they completed it that way … I'd have complimented them on their resourcefulness and accepted the printout. That was far from the only time I ever did something I shouldn't have using the computer… I was kind of a punk. Intelligent enough to learn these computer things the adults didn't understand, too lazy to do any more actual work than I had to, and enough of a punk to take advantage of the one to get out of the other. I usually got away with the more egregious stunts-I generally only got busted when I got up to analog mischief.

[@MikeDancy]

Dude! You're Canadian? No wonder I binge on these videos so much.

[@Sega90s]

Donation /unboxing done right.

[@iforce2d]

Your story sounds just like mine. My parents got one of these when I was about 10 years old, and I wrote my first code on it in BASIC. I remember pestering my Dad for months to get a (fairly expensive) 16kb RAM upgrade, to have a beastly total of 64kb, wow! The double disk drives made copying disks much easier than most of my friends who only had one drive. I would cycle all over town to borrow games disks, Karateka, Montezuma's Revenge, Mr Robot, Conan, ah the memories. Anyway I went on to earn a living as a programmer, and as I watch this I'm writing code for a $2 microcontroller that has more computing power that the II+ had. It's hard to decide which time I would rather have been born in.

[@kenji642]

This is what i want to be, i want to live my life around retro computers, adrian im so jealous you're literally living my dream! (even though im only 16) i cant wait for this human malware to go away so i can start going to all the retro computer events around oregon and washington and start my collection

[@tonanornottonull7132]

Oh man does this bring back memories. I was sent to the office A LOT (lol) when I was a kid in Ontario, they had me working on the ICON workstations in the library and the C64s we had in each class since I was getting in trouble for finishing my work way before the other kids, and that combined with my dad buying me a 386 to keep me off of his computers and my experience with family in the UK with their Beebs and Archimedes machines started what ended up to be my career as a consulting software engineer

[@shadowtheimpure]

That man has shown so much respect for that computer, it was better packed than it ever would have been by some random ebay jackass.

[@bdre5555]

The apple 2gs was the gold standard for me back in the day

[@henrymach]

Someone should take an Apple II to a "genius" bar and film their reaction

[@armanelgtron4533]

'Oh, there's liquid damage.'

[@brentboswell1294]

"Dude, you opened the case and inserted non-Apple hardware!"

[@bobblum5973]

I've got the leather (real or faux) carrying case for my Apple ][+, I should lug it in there and ask for help with its Wi-Fi connection!

[@IAmScorchio]

Probably the same reaction to when I took in my 6-year-old macbook for a battery replacement: "It's too old, we can't do anything with this." Not that I'm sore or anything.

[@bobblum5973]

@@IAmScorchio I'd be more interested in just seeing their reactions, if they'd even know what it was, or go wild because they knew and appreciated what it represents.

[@sismofytter]

What a Boss donator 😎👍👍