I Was Winning Oregon Trail So My Apple IIe Caught On Fire

[@tkskagen]

Next game played should be "Where in the World is Carmen Santiago". I played this as a History/Geography Lesson back in 1988-89 (8th Grade), and loved it!

[@SamDoesStuff]

That's a title I haven't seen or thought about in a while.

[@mguytv]

Wait, what? Watch JR Go does retro tech as well? My cup runneth over! How do you find the time?!! Great stuff mate!

[@pfdmustang]

You remind me so much of that Watch JR Go guy :) The trail is a tough one hopfully you can finish it once you get the Apple fixed. I remember playing that at my highchool many years ago.

[@JJMR22]

Literally just finished watching you car video talking about this lol

[@JT8D200C]

Lee too😊

[@VicTheVicar]

Those damn RIFA's! Not that bad, to be honest. Looking forward to the next episode

[@TechThrowback]

Only took $6 and 20-30 minutes to pull them, clean the board, resolder!

[@mspysu79]

You have not had fun with RIFA Madness until they are large .47 UF ones in a power supply with a large squirrel cage blower, to accelerate the RIFA smoke into the room.

[@dave_mayes]

Nice beatboxing! And glad to see Throwback’s back.

[@LegitStreetCars]

This is so cool!

[@adamgh0]

Today’s kids have no idea how awesome school computer lab gaming was back in the 80’s. Play Beachhead next!

[@declanmcquay3476]

Cool Apple IIe setup there. I had to recap my Apple's PSU, but for some reason the filter caps on it weren't the paper RIFA type, but the other caps were showing their age. I use a Booti card in my IIe for games and applications

[@JeremyMcCord]

Your Apple II has died of dysentery.

[@Hotlog69]

Dissing Terry?

[@martindejong3974]

more of moisture ingress!

[@spingleboygle]

noooooo

[@ignorethisaccount69]

Lol.

[@michaelbrennan7148]

Got a hand held version (battery operated) of Oregon Trail last year. It's epic! Some of my family mocked and laughed at me (even my wife). I feel much better now that you mentioned this classic game. Microsoft had a pretty cool Train Simulator. My video card and processor struggled to upload graphics. All good stuff. Thank you JR .

[@justinpaone2227]

I believe i have an original copy on floppy discs. I have some MECC games.

[@Montgomerygolfgator]

Reactivemicro makes a replacement PSU with modern components for the early apple line. It might be worth looking into, it's about $70.

[@alanleclair1]

OMG this brings back memories. Thanks for posting! I never would have guessed when I played that game, that I would be watching it played on a magical handheld high-speed computer/camera/phone that literally everyone is carrying and getting the data feed over the air from a magic cloud called the internet. I can't imagine what the next 40 years will bring can you?

[@christopherlesage5995]

As much as I love watching you work on cars. This was pretty fun. Thanks!

[@cppctek]

This brings back memories of playing this back in like 5th grade lol. It was a catholic school so being able to play a video game at school was a huge deal lol. We would all sit n chill in the library and play when we could.

[@johnvender]

This really brought back memories. My father got a IIe not long after they came out and had pretty much everything you could connect to it including the apple printer, plotter, colour monitor and even the hard drive. The only thing it didn't have was the Z80 board to run CP/M. My youngest brother had a big box of games for it, I fondly remember playing Choplifter. He later bought a Fat Mac when they came out and the original Laserwriter which at that time cost AU11k. That was later upgraded to Laserwriter Plus. The family has had many Macs since then, my first was a Mac Plus. I've been watching Watch JR Go for a long time and finally found this channel.

[@genericsomething]

Re-cap the power supply and you should be good. I have the same machine with lots of education software and the manuals. I saved it from the dumpster a few years ago. My wife wont let me sell it!

[@richardparker3924]

I have an Apple II E.....two floppy drives and quite a bit of software. It also has an 80 column card installed. Need to get it out an mess with it. My oldest son has my Commodore VIC 20. Even have a pc with Windows 3.7 installed. I love old computers!

[@zoefaith120]

Wow.......Woe........ makes me flash back to elementary school late..80 early 91.

[@confestpete]

I had a pizza box Mac. The LC475, in Australia. Lasted me 12 years!!

[@AmeliaIslandSilverSearcher]

Cool Apple //e there.... Sold mine with 2nd gen floppy drive (dual floppies), monitor, and all the software I had for it for $100 on eBay and the imagewriter printer went elsewhere.

[@torafuma]

My immediate reaction to starting this video. "Hope JR checked the Rifa cap." DOH!

[@justinpaone2227]

My Apple iie was smuggled out of the Minneapolis Post office back in the 80s when they were ordered to be destroyed. And the power supply died when the machine was only a couple years old really so that's common problem.

[@geekwithsocialskills]

The RIFA filter cap blew in the power supply. It's a very common thing, especially with original power supplies. If you need any help, let me know. I have a stash of the RIFA filter caps too and would be happy to send you one.

[@geekwithsocialskills]

P.S. welcome to the Apple IIe club 🙂

[@mipd1980_edc]

I remember going in to our science computer lab in middle school (the only apple lab that we had) to play Oregon Trail!! This just brought me back to the early 90s LOL

[@6589justin]

Awesome find!

[@KenMrKLC]

You should bring the computer to Watch JRGO, he is pretty handy and can prob replace that capacitor for you easily

[@H4HDJD]

Very cool find

[@silentlistener47]

I remember that my parents had an old Apple II+ in the late 80s/early 90s, left over from my mom's business. My sisters and I would play on it occasionally. On rare occasions, we'd connect it to an old CRT TV, and that green monitor would be replaced with color!

[@2wheelz420]

I’ve never seen these old apple machines. Super cool. I only ever played Oregon trail. In color on a PC

[@bmh67wa]

It's a very common problem for the caps in the power supply section to blow after so many years. I suggest recapping everything. It's not a hard job. I've done a few myself.

[@michaelmahoney8887]

What an awesome flashback!!

[@BIsForBudget]

That's awesome! I had no idea you had this channel. I tried to recapture my youth during the lock down and got an old Apple IIe running with a Booti Card, a whopping 8MB of ram and a replacement RIFA and caps. 👍

[@davehudson5589]

LOL - had the exact thing happen to me with an Apple 2e i bought…. it’s the capacitor in the power supply. It’s cheap and easy to replace with a new one. I recommend this for anyone who buys a vintage computer… ALWAYS replace the power supply before you start using it… we got lucky and the PS just dies… on the C64 it will over power and fry the computer!

[@Screaming_Sloth]

I think I would change all of the caps in the PX while you have it apart. Cool old machine. It brought back memories.

[@joshonthetube]

There generally isn't any need.. RIFA caps are a known issue of course, but the rest in these seem to be fine.

[@stumc2223]

Yes more throwbacks! 🔥🔥

[@AerinRavage]

I was supposed to get that exact FloppyEmu kit for my ][c+, but didn't. Now I'm thinking I really need to for Christmas!

[@michaelsworkshop9031]

Get yours now - the creator has said they may go unavailable for a while once his current batch sells out because of the global parts shortage.

[@elbarto4394]

Throwback to my teenage years. A couple of friends had them when they first came out. They were expensive way back then

[@jamesdrone4562]

Great to see an Apple Watch Ultra next to a Apple IIe, more power in one vs the other. Great content JR!

[@aaron71]

I was always an IBM-compatible user so these Apples were always so much of a mystery. One thing I do know though is you can boot to Applesoft by holding Control and resetting the unit.

[@BenM39435]

That's true, the AppleSoft Basic has many similarities with, for example, the Basic used by Commodore. Microsoft has written the basics for both parties.

[@vwestlife]

Is this WatchJRGo's other channel? And you have the brightness on the monitor turned up too high. Turn it down until the background becomes black. It should not be glowing green like the text and graphics.

[@Sonny_V]

"...You know the rules, and so do I"

[@FarrellMcGovern]

Glad you went with a floppy emulator, it is the way to go these days. The biggest problem with the Apple Disk ][ drives is the way that The Woz came up with to save some money. Rather than have an expensive bit of circuitry to determine when the drive has reached track 0 where the boot sector is, he simply had the head stepper motor pull the head back 34 times, as there was 35 tracks. This got the head to track 0 no matter where it started from. That is the cause of the distinctive "clakking" sound of the Apple 5.23" floppy booting. Over time or with lots of use, this would cause the head to go out of alignment resulting in a floppy drive that won't boot. Luckily, there is a screw adjustment on the drive that allowed you to recalibrate the head. You could always tell someone who used their Apple 2 a lot by the fact that they had drilled a hole in the side of the drive case so they didn't have to take the drive apart to recalibrate the head, but could simply use a screwdriver through the hole to do so. Eventually, a Japanese company, ASUKA, came out with half hight drive that was Apple compatible, but they had a cute trick, they put a microswitch that was attached to the head mechanism such that when it reached track 0 would be triggered, and and tell the stepper motor to stop. They were much quieter, and booted much faster. BTW, you *can* use an any Apple 2 without the floppy drive. After powering on, hit reset, and it drops you into Apple BASIC, where you can write BASIC programs. You can also load programs from the Cassette port in the back. Also, if you typed "CALL -151", you would be dropped into the low level machine monitor that allowed you to poke around the internal address space of the Apple, modify and or write 6502 assembly language programs and do lots of funky stuff.

[@kc9scott]

I think it’s contol-reset on a IIe.

[@LouisWritingSomethingCrazy]

I remember you used to be able to play this from the google home screen. Idk if you still can, and am too lazy to look

[@blakebechtel5192]

I don't know if you know this, but if you press ctrl and reset at the same time, it puts you in a BASIC prompt. What I do then is connect an audio cable into the cassette port on the back of the computer and load games from audio files that I find on the internet.

[@LorienDrechsler]

Wow! This is too funny!!! I was playing Oregon Trail on my Apple IIe and it also caught on fire! What up with this game? Anyway, I replaced the RIFA caps in the PS, put it all back together, booted up Oregon Trail and was finally able to finish it. Luckily, the repairs are well documented and the parts were still available. Now, if I could just get Ultima III to work.

[@justinpaone2227]

I had an apple 2E but lost it in a garage fire it had an Epson 9-pin dot matrix printer I also had an image writer 2, a green monitor a color monitor two disk drives like you have a joystick. All gone. But I still have about 100 five and a quarter inch floppies. Miss that machine. I had a modem in it a multitech modem and a print screen button that was added later you simply touched it and whatever was on the monitor started printing. The computer i learned on.

[@joeschmoe5009]

Yall see they released a new oregon trail game last week!! Hot diggity dog!

[@TechThrowback]

Yes, a subscriber just sent that to me! 😎

[@frankmastromauro5630]

Good video

[@toolzshed]

Dang we used to have these in our school 😲

[@rohittaurus911]

hehehe Its Lit!!!! Literally (Sorry had to do it)

[@cd9225]

it was on fire!!!!! by itself!

[@TechThrowback]

That’s what happens when you pull the wagon too fast 😂

[@Hotlog69]

@@TechThrowback Burnt up them axels shafts.

[@infopackrat]

Usually those RIFA caps explode more violently. That's the first time I've seen someone be able to turn the system off before the cap completely blows.

[@lonewolf31337]

RIFAS gotta love them things 😂

[@MarshallMathersthe7th]

Be careful you don't get stuck in Oregon trail, it happened to the Smiths when Roger downloaded them into the computer somehow.

[@ErdrickHero]

What about power supplies holding a ton of power even when unplugged?

[@stevenreynolds2327]

See you on the next episplode.📺🔥

[@rpavlik1]

Definitely have watched enough Adrian's Digital Basement, that when I saw and heard it, I knew it was a RIFA cap.

[@psubuster]

En fuego! 🔥

[@macrohard007]

You should always replace old RIFA caps on old computers before powering them on.

[@MrLurchsThings]

Ahh, RIFA caps. Yup - that’ll do it. So many old machines suffer from that. Old TRS80’s, BBC Micros. These days if I get one of these, I just change them regardless. And yes - the first thing you have to test any Apple II with is Oregon Trail. It’s the rule.

[@jjjacer]

the killer of computers, RIFA Caps, Varta Batteries, and the Cheap Capacitor epidemic of the early 2000s/2010s although if IIRC you can unsolder the RIFA cap and just leave it out, and not replace it and it should still work

[@uraniumcranium]

That's okay, JR, just say the Conestoga was stopped by a forest fire in the Oregon back-country.

[@mycosys]

Its a RIFA would you like some cholera?

[@jdpruente]

Quite a few retro peeps recommend removing/replacing the RIFAs before applying power, as a matter of course.

[@TechThrowback]

Yeah, I didn't know anything about it going in... Apple was banned in our house, my dad was IBM for life 💯

[@jasonhale4639]

It's the rifa capacitor in the Power supply. They are known for exploding when they get old. "Adrian's Digital Basement" had this happen to him.

[@soberlife]

I absolutely love Adrian's Digital Basement!

[@daddynichol52]

The electrophoresis bailed on ya!

[@justinthiel4005]

I literally inherited the exact same computer.

[@danw1955]

I've got a //e also, but mine evidently has a few caps on the mainboard that are bad, since it won't boot anymore. One of these days I may tear it down again and just recap the whole thing. I also have an early Macintosh with the carrying case which weighs about 40 lbs. with everything in it.😂 I actually do have the original floppies for both of mine, and several business apps, etc.😉

[@spingleboygle]

what if you: wanted to beat the oregon trail but god said: *fire sfx*

[@rpavlik1]

If you boot it up with no software and hit the right button (control reset? Apple reset?), you get BASIC, which is very not worthless 😁. I gotta get a Floppy Emu for my IIgs: I have all the accessories and manually even but no software.

[@handazuke]

His "worthless" comment is so aggravating

[@Cartier_specialist]

Poor Apple II, it never saw it coming.

[@msthalamus2172]

It's not "worthless" without the disks. Drop into the BASIC ROM and write some code. FTW....

[@PhrontDoor]

That's how the game works. You don't win -- you just lose in different ways.

[@VeryWarmBear1]

Probably the fever cap went there are two each different value replace both

[@suide3275]

Like these videos

[@Demy26]

🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@matthewdropco]

Hope you can fix it. Now you have me wondering if you didn't clean it up first before even booting anything up just so it would fail and you'd have more content! lol

[@wesley00042]

Nah, RIFA filter capacitors are a very common failure in old power supplies. They smell like burning rotten fish when they let go too.

[@matthewdropco]

@@wesley00042 I was just kidding. 🙂

[@roadmonitoroz]

It wouldn't have happened on Castle wolfenstein because you would have been out after just a few levels. That game is crazy. I run it through an emulator and keep saving my progress because I know I'll die sooner or later. Back in the 80's at school I worked out that it saves the level when you change rooms (i.e. your rank, where you are up to) * well I think so - It has been 40 years now*. This means that if you opened the drive mid level and got out, you could reboot and "not be out" Ps I even do that with "Jack Attack" from 1983 on the Commodore 64 emulator (another impossible game to complete without cheating a lot)

[@88ariesk]

You got RIFA'd. swap a new X1 capacitor into it. I'm running mine as long as possible. I got a new one taped to the cover. Just don't leave it plugged in and unattended.

[@BenM39435]

haha, happens to the best. So: always check, the rifa cap.

[@TheSaabClinicUK]

80's Rifa caps.... easy to replace.

[@anks888]

you can just take the rifa cap out they were there to pass EMC its to stop noise going back out on the line. Today there is that much hash on the line anyway it will make no difference

[@Lilithe]

I bet 1000 people commented on it being the RIFA caps across the mains :D

[@coryengel]

I could be wrong, but if your PSU has electrolyte on the board, I don’t think it’s from the RIFA-it’s probably from one or more of the electrolytic capacitors. I’d be inclined to recap the entire PSU. Also I presume you cleaned up the board when you replaced the RIFA.

[@californiamike3256]

Lit!

[@rivards1]

You know, you don't have to just watch an empty disk drive spin. If you hit CTRL-RESET the computer stops trying to boot from disk and just drops to a BASIC prompt. From there you can either type a program or load from cassette tape.

[@GreyWindowsBrokenSpoke]

During the trail ride, you experience a corn pipe related fire that quickly engulfs your carriage... Your whole family dies of Small Pox... Didn't see that one coming did you?

[@jonathanwhiteside6092]

Yep, I replaced the RIFAs before I powered mine on, they die, release magic smoke, it'll be fine :)

[@AiOinc1]

You can press reset and it will boot to BASIC, by the way

[@bmw535igangsta]

Yes!!!!!! Oregon trail 😂

[@Broadshore]

No.... I hope you can find another Power supply.

[@akkudakkupl]

X1 cap went bye bye.

[@yodasbff3395]

It's not unusual for a capacitors to short out when they get old, probably should change all of them. 👍

[@handazuke]

This is BS advice and don't follow it. These caps are 80s era and probably Japanese made Nippon Chemi-Con electrolytic capacitors. There is no need to change these. In fact most caps made from the 60s onward are probably fine. The myth all caps need to be replaced comes from cheap counterfeit capacitors that flooded the market out of china in the late 1990s - 2010. Actually do your due diligence and test your electrolytic caps before replacing them. They are probably better made than anything you can get today. The RIFA on the other hand very certainly should have been changed before powering the computer on.

[@v12alpine]

You can just remove the RIFA cap.

[@jasonw3303]

Working on the floor triggers me. We’re an advanced nation.

[@dennisud]

As you have the knowhow to fix this you shouldn't have any problems getting back running.

[@joveaaron-real]

5:00 "2. Be a carpenter from Ohio" only in ohio 💀

[@smith6ar]

Farmer. Spend your whole bank on 20 oxen. Grueling pace. You make it across the continent in like seven days

[@fl_omar]

Your drill has more processing power than the apple ii.

[@toolzshed]

Your Apple II power supply has dysentery