Forums | MacLife
You are not logged in.
#1 2009-04-02 12:01 pm
- brohymn
- Member
- Registered: 2009-04-02
- Posts: 1
Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
I recently bought an old Apple IIe to relive my childhood. It came with super serial card, i/o card for floppy drive, and 80col/64k expansion card. But it also has a mysterious card in it with no serial number, no manufacturer name, etc. It has a ribbon cable attached that terminates with a 16 pin female connector. Any of you vintage apple experts know what this card could be? Here's a picture of the card:
Offline
#2 2009-04-02 1:28 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator

- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18085
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
Sorta looks like another floppy controller. When the card is installed, would the cable be more likely to connect to something outside the machine, or inside it?
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
Offline
#3 2009-04-02 10:11 pm
- Jyri Erik
- Member
- From: Greenbelt, MD
- Registered: 2001-04-21
- Posts: 2417
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
It's not a floppy controller (at least not a normal one). Apple II floppies connect to the card, not vice-versa.
What makes it a real pain to ID is that, from the looks of it, the IC's had their info sanded off. You might want to try over on http://a2central.com/ . They might be able to ID the card
Jyri
Offline
#4 2009-04-03 6:09 am
- mrreet2001
- Member

- From: NW Ohio
- Registered: 2005-05-25
- Posts: 4327
- Website
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
Jyri Erik wrote:
Apple II floppies connect to the card, not vice-versa.
Look closer at the cable ... it can be removed from the card too.
2.66Ghz QuadCore-Nehalem w/24"LED CD ---2.2Ghz BlackMB---15" 2.4Ghz MBP(work)
Dual 2.3Ghz G5 (4G Ram, 2x 250G HD)(10.5 server)--- 400Mhz G4 PM (10.4 Server)
1.5GHz Powerbook---1.6Ghz G5 iMac
"So he fels down in a poisoning gas."
Online
#5 2009-04-03 8:53 am
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator

- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18085
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
But that's not the kind of cable you'd use for an external device... right?
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
Offline
#6 2009-04-03 10:35 pm
- Jyri Erik
- Member
- From: Greenbelt, MD
- Registered: 2001-04-21
- Posts: 2417
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
Due to the length of the cable, I'd guess it hooks up to something external. I doubt it's for floppies since standard disc II's used 20 pin connectors while Unidisks and the Apple 3.5 disk used a DB-19 connector.
Jyri
Offline
#7 2009-04-04 1:10 pm
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
A hard disk drive?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_ProFile
Online
#9 2009-04-05 10:10 am
- Daddyo
- hoochie coochie man

- From: the last juke joint
- Registered: 2004-01-24
- Posts: 1880
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
I'm going to dig out my old IIe and see if it has one of these. I'll let you know if it does.
A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.
Hope and change could be forever.
Offline
#10 2009-06-02 3:17 pm
- chris1024
- Member
- Registered: 2009-06-02
- Posts: 1
Re: Mystery Apple IIe peripheral card
It seems to be home-made...
With close-up pictures (i.e. allowing to read the markings on the chips) of both sides, it might be possible to determine its fuction.
Offline


Get it
Stack it!