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Macintosh II compatible monitor

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Bungo Pony

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I scrounged up a couple of Macintoshes that were sitting in the rain. One of them is a Macintosh II. After a cleanup, I was able to jumpstart it with a 3v supply. However, I cannot get any video because I don't have the monitor for it. I have one of those VGA adapters with the dip switches, but I don't get anything with it.

What kind of monitors should I be looking for that will work with the Mac II?
 
A standard VGA monitor with an adapter should work fine with a Mac II. I'm not sure what you mean by "jumpstarting with 3v supply" because the Mac II requires several different voltages that are not 3v.

Also, if the machines were rained on, the motherboard and power supply internals should be carefully inspected for corrosion or dead components like capacitors before powering on.
 
What video card is installed? A Mac II (not IIx or IIfx) is pretty old so the video card will probably not do anything more then VGA (640x480). Set you video adapter to that resolution.
 
I have a Mac II as well and I also cannot get it to display anything on any of my VGA monitors. So please let me know what you work out on this.
 
Unknown_K said:
What video card is installed? A Mac II (not IIx or IIfx) is pretty old so the video card will probably not do anything more then VGA (640x480).
Click to expand...

The original TFB video card doesn't support VGA sync rates. You'll need an 8•24 card or some third-party cards for that.
 
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http://lowendmac.com/1987/macintosh-ii-video-card/

"The Macintosh II Video Card is unaccelerated. With an optional RAM upgrade that requires eight 120ns DIP chips, it supports 640 x 480 in 8-bit color. Without the RAM upgrade, it supports 640 x 480 in 4-bit color. It will not drive the Apple 12″ RGB Display or 12″ Monochrome Display, which only operate at 512 x 384 resolution. It only supports 640 x 480 output."

http://lowendmac.com/1989/macintosh-ii-high-resolution-video-card/

"The Mac II High Res Video Card is unaccelerated. It supports resolutions of 640 x 480 and 512 x 384, which was the resolution of Apple’s 12″ color and monochrome displays. The video card was available in two configurations. The 4-bit model supports 16 color (4-bit) video on a 640 x 480 display, 256 colors (8-bit video) on a 512 x 384 display. The 8-bit model supports 8-bit/256-color video on a 640 x 480 display.

With an optional RAM upgrade, which requires eight 120ns DIP chips, the 4-bit version supports 640 x 480 in 8-bit color."
 
GiGaBiTe said:
I'm not sure what you mean by "jumpstarting with 3v supply" because the Mac II requires several different voltages that are not 3v.
Click to expand...

This is essentially how I got it to start up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mvn5z6AJK4

Also, if the machines were rained on, the motherboard and power supply internals should be carefully inspected for corrosion or dead components like capacitors before powering on.
Click to expand...

I found them while it was raining, so I was able to take immediate measures to rescue them. The boards have been cleaned and there is absolutely no corrosion on them.

Unknown_K said:
What video card is installed? A Mac II (not IIx or IIfx) is pretty old so the video card will probably not do anything more then VGA (640x480). Set you video adapter to that resolution.
Click to expand...

Here's some info I found on it. Perhaps changing the video card my help my case:

Mac II Video Card 820-0198-C
The Macintosh II Video Card, sometimes called "Toby," is a 12" NuBus card compatible with 68K-based Macs running up to Mac OS 7.6.1. It is not compatible with the Centris/Quadra 660AV and only partially compatible with the Quadra 840AV.

The video card is the Apple Macintosh II Video Card (part nr. 820-0198-C), with a fixed resolution of 640×480 and upgraded video RAM to display 256 colours instead of the 16 of the standard version. Most multisync monitors don’t pick up the signal of this board, so if you get a Macintosh II that seems to start up but has no video, maybe the monitor doesn’t fit.
 
I've sold a macIIsi to a person here in Moscow, who made it to work with a common VGA. He said he just googled the solution. He sent the picture how it looks soldered)
mac_IIfix.jpg

mac_screen.jpg
 
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I plan to sell a Mac II monitor in the near future, just have to test it first, also i may have a nubus video card if it's needed. Also people on 68kmla have video cards they may be willing to part with.
 
Bungo Pony said:
This is essentially how I got it to start up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Mvn5z6AJK4
Click to expand...

Rather strange to use a battery to power on a system, but makes sense now.

Bungo Pony said:
I found them while it was raining, so I was able to take immediate measures to rescue them. The boards have been cleaned and there is absolutely no corrosion on them.
Click to expand...

You got lucky getting them so early. I've rescued rained on and flooded machines in the past and it was a nightmare to clean them up. If I get lucky, they power up and work, but most of the time lots of components have to be removed and replaced.
 
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