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.

[@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."

[@markdjdeenix6846]

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

[@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!

[@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.

[@jmpattillo]

Your father did a great job supporting your interests and the development of your passions.

[@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.

[@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. :)

[@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 :)

[@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.

[@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....

[@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.

[@Frank-Thoresen]

I have never seen Adrian so emotional on his channel. It was touching. Even I am grateful for this gift he received.

[@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.

[@buddyweiz]

So, by sheer luck you put your insulation the right way on the walls, always put the metallic side towards warmth, foam side insulates cold and metallic side reflects warmth (back inside).

[@BlackEpyon]

Unless you want to keep it cold, of course.

[@buddyweiz]

@@BlackEpyon even then it's metallic side towards warmth, only difference is where you are on the warm or cold side.

[@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.

[@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.

[@davefarquhar8230]

"I'll fix this, hopefully..." Yeah LOL, maybe there's something Adrian can't fix, but this Apple II+ won't be it.

[@killab138]

I got teared up reading the note. This was a great episode. Stuart you are a great dude. Adrian I'm glad I found your channel when I did. I was bored with a lot of the other "retro" guys on here. You're legit, super knowledgeable and fun to watch.

[@marcgforc3]

+ 1 amen !

[@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.

[@TheMalMeninga]

Just started watching and this is an incredibly generous donation. Lovely stuff.

[@mikesilva3868]

Agreed ☻

[@brianmarshall6746]

Ha! Small world. I also grew up in Montreal and my jaw hit the floor when you mentioned that you went to the same elementary school in NDG, Willingdon. I was there from about 1981 to 1987, when I went on to Royal West. I can confirm that we used those Apple II computers in those years in the elementary school's computer lab. I have some fond memories of those machines, my only real exposure to Apple computers as I've always favored PC compatibles. We made our own move for good to the States in 1990.

[@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!

[@awilliams1701]

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

[@Skyhawk1998]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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. 😃

[@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.

[@NoelsRetroLab]

I love your enthusiasm for that computer and the story of your own personal background with it. Those early computers are always very dear to us as we continue our careers. As for the yellowing, I found the Apple IIs can be restored to their natural color very easily with some gentle retrobrighting (some combination of hydrogen peroxide and sun--or you could even just try sun exposure and see if that helps since it doesn't seem super yellow). Looking forward to the repair and restoration video!

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Thanks Noel! What is interesting -- is this machine is definitely painted. Apple switched from painting their computers to just having the plastic be the color they wanted some time while making the IIe... and I don't see how retrobrite could possibly work on a painted machine.

[@simontay4851]

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

[@ches74]

I really appreciate the thought Stewart put into the packing. It would be really difficult to unpack without all that thought. And of course a really generous donation that Adrian clearly appreciates, very touching. The title is a nice surprise for a new video but I think worth editing to include the computer name for the longer term. Sometimes I think I wouldn't do it like that but I overwhelmingly appreciate Adrian's fault finding and how he present things. I'm not big on Spectrums but he is wrong about that, it's a very reliable machine but not quite as good as the ultimate 8-bit micro, the Acorn BBC model B! ;)

[@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.

[@misterkite]

Hah, appropriate Beagle Bros shirt. When I was building my Apple II emulator, I used ProntoDOS as a test.

[@markanderson3187]

I used Byte Zap back in the day to hack my Ultima 3 disk!

[@SuperVstech]

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

[@GalileoAV]

Between his intro letter and his packing skills, I love this guy lmao

[@DavstrWrexham]

We were lucky over her in the UK with BBCs, which were superb BASIC machines. BBC Basic was vastly better than Microsoft Basic

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

And it's easy to play with to this day with a Raspberry Pi :-)

[@Dukep6]

Sad to hear how apple went from pro consumer to anti consumer!

[@MultiArrie]

That is one happy Adrian.

[@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.

[@stathissim]

I would love to have a dad like Adrian’s. Come to think of it I would love to have Adrian as a friend back in the day... Keep up with the great content! We love it

[@jaycee1980]

ASTEC made lots of power supplies for computers, and generally they were very good at it. They are now known by the name Artesyn, and still make really good power supplies :)

[@elfenmagix8173]

Sometimes I wish my friend Hank (Dr. Levinson) had not died in '09; as he was an Apple II expert extraordinaire. Many of his Apple II secrets repairs and mods are in the ancient tomes of the Apple II newsgroups. Time to scour the internet... Consider that as homework.

[@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

[@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.

[@herbiehusker1889]

I was hoping it was going to be that IBM machine that the 8 bit guy ruined.

[@koushiroizumi0]

What?!

[@joshm264]

Same

[@weedmanwestvancouverbc9266]

David got a rear prototype from that Dallas old Computer Warehouse. He promptly used to Paperclip to bypass a pass through connector for the Monitor and ruined it. And then went back and got another one. And still couldn't get one working. I post a link to it but I'm not very fond of torture videos. Not one of his Stellar moments.

[@davidcarr4991]

Ruined how? None of the machines worked properly to begin with. All that happened was that a fuse blew in the power supply, which he replaced. Seems to me some people are trying REAL hard to find things to get hysterical about.

[@simontay4851]

David Carr RealLY hard.

[@LunaManar]

Watching you restore this Apple II+ while This Does Not Compute simultaneously restores a trashpicked Apple IIe has warmed my heart. These machines were fulcrums of our childhoods. These are the best videos. Thanks for keeping them alive and sharing your experiences.

[@homeyshlitz]

Totally should've went to the Genius Bar for this with a hidden camera just to see what their response was.

[@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.

[@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 :)

[@usermanico]

Wait, the video is incomplete, you need to short the power supply and use the dremel on the screws

[@tony359]

that wasn't a "rant", it was a very nice memory of your youth! I have now an Apple //e under one of my LCD monitors, which I can run whenever I want in PIP mode! It was my mom's computer back in 1986 and it took me a long while to find one which was identical to the one we had, including the small Apple monochrome monitor. It was broken too and I totally enjoyed fixing it and also cleaning it thoroughly (try the Electrolube fluids, the motherboard will come up BRAND NEW!!). I've also recapped everything: PSU, drives and monitor. As you did, I removed the RIFA before even testing the PSU and the Monitor had three already-exploded RIFAs in it!! :D I retrobrighted the monitor case but, as you say, the Apple case is painted. I tested some peroxide at the back to make sure and it actually makes the paint a bit dull. Mine is not discoloured though so I am not sure what's going on on yours. I look forward to seeing your progress, thanks for sharing this with us! (Also: admit it, you would have been VERY disappointed if that machine just worked fine!!!)

[@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.

[@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.

[@dhpbear2]

I worked with an Apple ][ back in 1979 at Analog Devices Semeconductor in Wilmington, MA. We created a card to control a temperature-test chamber. One of THE drawbacks was how much the motherboard flexed when inserting and removing cards ;(

[@krisraps]

Apple haven't changed, selling same products under different names :D

[@bitoxic]

29:50 RIFA also known as in Puerto Rican slang for marijuana, where you would say "lets go smoke some rifa." 🤪👍

[@grfeld84]

25:09 "Well I think I've done enough waffling about cleaning up everything!" Keep calm and waffle on! lol

[@CoolDudeClem]

Me beofre this video: Okay youTube, I'll watch this video to see what this is, happy now? Me after the video: Pretty cool!

[@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.

[@msthalamus2172]

I have a II plus as well, but for love or money couldn't find a joystick adapter. Would you consider a video about how it works / how to build one? Your EE chops are far above mine!

[@michaelburns8073]

IIRC, it was pretty simple. Just a DB9 connector wired to a DIP package. An Apple 2 Joystick was two Potentiometers (one for each X-Y direction, and two push-button switches). I never really liked the A2 joystick because of this, seems like Atari joysticks (which were switch based) were better for some games.

[@LarryDeSilva64]

Adrian you have been a computer geek since you were 7 years old Amazing. Not as amazing as that gift sent from New Hampshire though. The apple II and Apple 2 plus I was setting up with my now deceased wife at my daughters Christian private school for their first computer Lab back in the 80's.

[@BlackEpyon]

They must have been pretty well off to have a lab of Apples. My Christian elementary school had PC's (Comtex 386's). Usually, Apple makes the deals with public schools for the computer labs, or so I've heard.

[@aaronjamt]

2:15 "If anything else fell into the box while I wad packing it, no returns!" So basically, he "accidentally" mailed a computer because it "fell in" to the box while he was packing the insulation and failed to notice...

[@MattyEngland]

It's a joke bro.

[@BertGrink]

Yup, that's exactly how it happened. 😅

[@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.

[@MyEconomics101]

31:33 Adrian, can you make a video about how back in the day engineers developed and made circuit boards? These traces, holy moly! Somebody must have gone to art school in a previous life to draw these traces.

[@bobblum5973]

Not Art School, rather Drafting School. Although designing good circuit layouts is an art form! 😉 I went to a technical college from 1975-1978, in the first class year that didn't _require_ buying and using a slide rule. Instead we could use those new-fangled slide rule (scientific) calculators. And yes, we learned to do drafting, with a drafting board and templates; long before CAD.

[@dhpbear2]

It's definitely painted, Adrian. You'll see the original dark gray on the inside! :)

[@awilliams1701]

I remember after seeing multiple RIFAs blow on you and you mentioned how bad the smell was, that you removed one.........only to intentionally blow it afterword and then complain about the smell. I'm like OMG why would you subject yourself to that intentionally? LMAO anyway......... lol

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Oh I intentionally blew a shorted Tantalum on the IBM PC 5150. It's just the size of a match head and isn't like a stink bomb.

[@awilliams1701]

@@adriansdigitalbasement yeah that was it. For some reason I thought it was a RIFA though.

[@robert1975031]

what a great packing job! when I was in elementary school they had apple IIes in a row in the library with every other one hooked to an imagewriter printer. I always craved to get to that particular machine. and then I would gorge on The print shop lol. if I didn't, it was oregon trail, or karateka. I don't think I ever saw a II plus, so must have not been that common where we lived. I got what was the closest to my childhood system when I got a IIc on freecycle about 8 years ago. I also by that time had acquired an imagewriter printer, so I was able to pair the two together. and among the software I got with the IIc? The print shop. lol good times.

[@woldemunster9244]

Do like 8-bit dude and just plug it in! No need to drill any rivets, just use dremel to cut around the rivets!!

[@davefarquhar8230]

Yeah I bet Adrian could fix that IBM that he blew up. Except for the cosmetic damage from that poor Dremel job.

[@Nukle0n]

And then disable the comments

[@danilko1]

@@Nukle0n Did he really disable the comments?

[@Nukle0n]

@@danilko1 for the dremel and paper clip video? Yes

[@danilko1]

@@Nukle0n Wow I just went and looked. I did comment when it first came out. Now I know why there's all the bleeding comments on other channels. I think this may have jumped the shark. I am perplexed. So he made a mistake, should own it, and move on.

[@Nukle0n]

Thumbs up to that packaging. Always sad when people send something cool to a KZbinr and it jumbles around in the box and gets wrecked.

[@SpearM3064]

I know, right? I was impressed. I wouldn't put it past UPS / USPS / FedEx to still be able to break something, but it would take some serious effort.

[@JapanPop]

Echoing the other comments - I have such respect for your dad and his investment in you. Look at all the dividends of joy his investment has paid out to us visitors to the basement.

[@MikeDancy]

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

[@bundesautobahn7]

I hope you don't mind the personal question, but you don't sound French-Canadian, since you mention having grown up in Montreal. Or did you grow up bilingual? I feel that knowing other languages will open doors to the world in some way or another.

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

Yes, so while I am from there, my family isn't French Canadian, so I never had an accent. While I can speak French (not well anymore) it never affected my English Canadian/American accent. Most of my schooling was in English too. Living in the US Spanish would be more useful and I've actually managed to pick some up since it's so similar. :-)

[@1NIGHTMAREGAMER]

I hate to say it but the curent business model will kill apple

[@dhpbear2]

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

[@ph2869]

Adrian!..... Can this be the month of....... Apple][ber ?????!

[@ph2869]

Followed by NT-vember, DEC-ember, Pi-uary, March-intosh.... June-ix.... ?

[@preiter20]

Very cool donation from Stewart and it's clear to see how much it means to you Adrian.

[@tomr3422]

Ok I cant be the only one that lost it, when he popped up from behind the u-haul box

[@krisraps]

Rich Daddy !!! 3 Computer in 80;s. damn

[@adriansdigitalbasement]

My father was a single father and a small business owner. He sacrificed so he could invest in his children's futures.

[@nihilistsre]

Catching up on this. I LOVE your t-shirt. This is the same story as me -- I had a vic 20, then a ti 99-4/a, then the Apple ][+ .... I loved my ][+ .... The IIgs was nice, but it didn't have the same joy that the ][+ did. Even at 52, I can still remember so many pieces of the zero page, the ROM entry points, and all sorts of stuff from 40 years ago! It's really amazing how it shaped my life. Hardware projects and programming, even cracking copy protection (like The Newsroom) and swapping software with friends. So much fun. Can't wait to watch the rest of the series. I gotta find one of those shirts.

[@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!

[@rustblade5021]

I sold my Apple][ in the late 90s. It had everything, 2 drives, printer, modem, mockingboard, zipchip, memory expansion, koala pad, even the holy GIBSON LIGHT PEN! my uncle originally built it, and it must've cost him a fortune. I will never forgive myself for getting rid of it.

[@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!

[@beardeth69]

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

[@brooknet]

I have an Apple II Europlus and it showed the same sort of garbage on power-up. It turned out that many of the 4116 RAM chips had failed. These ICs (16384 x 1-bit RAM) are fussy little devices that need several different power rails to operate (+5, -5 and +12V) and they run hot and seem to fail quite often. Replacing these with 4164 (65536 x 1-bit) chips would help as those only need +5V and are pin-compatible with the 4116.

[@ceebee23]

oh the joy of watching you open that box.... talk about Christmas morning moment.... I was already working when the Apple II arrived. My first exposure to a personal computer was an Apple II which was used to run a program to generate shadow diagrams for building proposals. Revolutionary in 1980.

[@evensgrey]

The Language Card didn't just allow you to switch out AppleSoft BASIC for Steve Wozniak's Integer BASIC, there were other languages you could use as well, such as Pascal and FORTH. The methods used in the original 16kb Language Card were shortly extended to create 80kb versions, and the whole thing was rolled into the ][e, ][c, and ][gs.

[@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.

[@revoltosotintan]

use a dremel to fixit and a clip to power up!

[@woldemunster9244]

Remember to cut the casing when using dremel. :D Maybe try 220v instead of 120v and use 5 clips to compensate the POWER! :DDDD

[@BlackEpyon]

They had a few Apple II GS's in the classroom when I was in grade 1/2 (around '93-94, I think), and my teacher in grade 3 had a Macintosh Plus, but I never got to use them. The lab we had in grade 3 had, I think, Macintosh LC's or Performas (I don't quite remember), and every student was assigned their own floppy disk to store their files. I think there were some IIC's and other similar models around the school as well. By grade 4, I went to a private school, and of course, since Apple's are more expensive, they had PC's instead. Comtex branded 386's, operating around 25MHz, though I think there were a couple 33MHz 486's in the lab too. All they let us do was Typing Tutor, but those lessons paid off, and I am still a touch-typist. My own first computer was the Tandy 1000HX that I inherited from my dad when he upgraded (and which I still have). We never had the kind of money that my dad could afford to buy me a new computer, so you were quite fortunate.

[@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.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

DOOD! Funny. My first computer was a VIC-20 and we had Apple II Plus at high school. First game I ever played was Cannonball Blitz. We had green Sanyo monitors. There’s a company now that makes Apple II add in cards that emulate the Disk ][ with an SD card.

[@scottjibben4862]

Thanks Adrian! I recently bought an Apple IIe Platnium on ebay and thought that I should check out the power supply (because of this video) before firing it up. Man am I glad that I did. The Rifa cap (mine had Rifa inside of a circle) was probably on the edge of exploding. The plastic was cracked on 3 of the sides and two of the sides looked like heat damage. I'll never know if this Apple was actually working as purchased. I'm just about done replacing it and then hopefully it all works. It took me a while to find replacement caps (I'm not an electronics pro) but after pausing the video at the right spot I think that I have gotten the correct replacement; looks like the same specs as the one in the video. I like how you have lots of sponsored links for products in the description. Is it possible to also list replacement parts in those links? The Apple IIe that I bought has a Rockwell 338-6503 (88-41) from Mexico in the 65C02 socket. From what I can tell, it is special version of the 65C02 that Apple used. I wonder how many other 65C02 variants that there might be and if it is worth the effort to drop in a WDC W65C02S6TPG-14. That might be an interesting video. Thanks again for the videos, I really enjoy them! Oh and congrats on getting an Apple ][+. Not to date myself but that is the flavor of microcomputer that I used in college in the early 80's. We had a language card in it so that we could learn Cobol programming on it. I don't know what it was, but it was probably a Z80-based card. I learned Pascal and BASIC on the Apple ][+ too.

[@FarrellMcGovern]

Hey, NDG. I lived there for a while in the 90s. Before that, I lived in Ottawa....but in the 80s, I did a high school co-op placement at the Carleton Board of Education Computer Pilot Project, which was an Apple Education Demonstration site. We saw all the snazziest Apple ][+ software and hardware. We actually had a SAN, a Corvus Constellation network with a 40 Meg hard drive that we booted the Apples off of. I started off as a software tester but ended up teaching programming with LOGO. We also had a Terrapin robotic turtle. Yes, those Apple ][ Power supplies kinda sucked, but the later ones were nicer...As for your no boot problem, your Apple probably needs a bit of cuddling...Seriously! It's what we called "The Apple Fix". The ][ series ran hot, and as it heated up and cooled, some of the chips would work themselves slightly out of their sockets...not enough to fall out, but enough to lose contact or become flakey. And as we had the students power on and power off the systems, some times 6-8 times a day, that put a lot of cold/hot cycles. When we had a system that failed to boot, all we did was unplug it. ground ourself out, and firmly press all of the chips back into their sockets. About 80% or more of the time, this would fix the problem! I did make some money during the 80s soldering together Apple compatible expansion cards and selling them. Memories....

[@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.

[@piratestation69]

I've had mine since 1997 or so. I traded an AMD 300mhz chip for it. Damn thing still works to this day. Honestly, I have never liked it and never will. I hate, I hate the keyboard. Max ram is 64k? Dunno what version of Basic is in it but not the Applesoft Basic I'm used to that's found in an //e or //c. I'm more of an //e guy. For that era of Apple ]['s the //e is the best. It just works. //GS is another story. I do love my //c but it's mainly used for coping games and such.

[@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!

[@onesixfive]

i went to grade school in the chicagoland area in the mid 80s. We had a computer lab with about 15 Apple IIEs (and a couple TIs in the corner which i never went near). This got me totally obsessed with computers. My parents eventually got me an Apple IIC+ which I wish I knew what we did with it. Just like Stuart and Adrian this sparked a lifelong interest in computers, and retro computing (which brings me to this channel!). And I played the hell out of Bards Tale (3), Ultima (IV) and Oregon Trail (which I played at school a million, million times). What a great video!

[@Charlesb88]

I think the reason Apple Macs these days, outside of say the Mac Pro, don’t allow for lots of tinkering and internal expantion/modification is that typical Mac customers these days are just are not demanding it. For one thing, with USB/USB-C, Thunderbolt, built-in ethernet ports, Wi-FI, Bluetooth, etc. there is a lot less need for internal expansion slots as there once was, at especially for consumers. It used to be whith Wintel PC buyers, they would buy a desktop/tower PC with upgrading & expansion capabilities but never actually up end up upgrading or adding expansion cards to their machine but instead just buy a new PC a x number of years. They liked the idea but never actually took advantage of it. Thus these folks would be fine with less internally expandable/upgradable machine. We computer tinkerers/hobbyists would actually use some expansion/upgradability but were like most computer users. I quit comfortable with a RasberryPi, for examples, or custom building a desktop PC but many others are just as happy to have something that meets there needs out of the box with any future expansion being by way a external USB device or Lightning device (in the case of iPhone and iPad). Plus, co summers like svelte sexy computer designs over expansion/self relatability these days and as much as I try, I can’t argue that Apple II or IBM 5150 was sexy or good looking compared to a modern iMac or Mac Mini though, neither of which is internally expandable. Back in the late 1970’s and 80’s external expansion ports just were not fast enough or capable enough for certain type of accessories/expansion devices like sound cards, graphics, cards, networking cards, graphics tablets, certain types of storage drives, etc, etc.compared to the expansion bus tech of the era. Later expansion methods like SCSI worked well enough to substitute for expansion slots but where expensive (SCSI cables where pricy) and complicated to set up (did you set all your SCSI device ID’s correctly and remember to terminate your SCSI chain?). I can remember trying to get ISIS and early PCI expansion cards to work on some 90’s era PC’s and trying to either figure out the roper card jumper settings and such or later trying to Win95’s Plug and Pray tech to work with supposedly Plug and Play expansion cards so i can appreciate the plug it in and it just works (usually) of USB and Thunderbolt (once the proper drivers are installed of course).