dead monitor

[Steve]

I'd been using the monitor that was original with my PowerMac 7100/80.
It lit up for years and years and finally went blank. Thought I could
just replace it but apparently it's not that simple to do. I'm not
experienced with figuring out and working with hardware at all, one
reason I found and joined this group— and this is my first post. So
maybe it's my ignorance that is showing, that some of you can correct.

I don't know exactly what's inside the case (I don't have any manual.
I bought this thing used from Lion Surplus at Penn State Univ. around
ten years ago and then put it to use to do word processing; I write
newspaper columns; my wife has an iMac I can use for the internet). I
looked up and read that you can use either a Mac or PC monitor "on the
internal video at up to 832 x 624, although using anything but the
Apple AudioVision 14 requires a 61/71/8100 video adapter, which seems
to go for a pretty penny on eBay right now. However, with the
6100/60AV and 6100/66AV, you had a separate video (AV) card with 2 MB
of VRAM that lets you use almost any type of Mac or PC monitor at
resolutions up to 1152 x 870. The same goes with the 7100 and 8100
series, although there was also an optional High Performance Video
(HPV) card that you could buy for them. The HPV card could accept up
to 4 MB of VRAM, and show millions of colours. This card will drive
almost any Mac or PC monitor made."

My unit doesn't say AV just 7100/80. I got an adaptor that fit it and
connected up a working used Dell monitor. But the monitor just sits
there with a yellow light on. I've never had any other problem showing
up on this equipment since I've owned the Mac. Do I need some kind of
card for inside for the Dell monitor? How can I be sure of just what I
need... and should I be able get directions to install whatever I
buy... any other suggestions for updating it, while I am thinking
about doing things with the machine... Finally, I see posts here about
PRAM batteries; should they be replaced every so often on older
machines... Thanks.

[Ken Daggett]

-------------------
The first thing I would try with these machines is to replace the
PRAM battery. On many Macs, a dead PRAM battery prevents the machine
from generating a video signal. At ten years old...

Ken
http://mysite.verizon.net/res7gt1w/stackomacs

[Badger]

Hey Steve,

I have a 7100/66 that I bought new in about 1994(?). In around 2002,
the monitor went dead, and I replaced it with a PC-type monitor,
Hitachi v700, which has much higher resolution than the original
did. To use the V700 with the HPV card that came with my 7100, I
needed a special adapter connector that had a row of DIP switches,
which were settable and accessible on the case of the adapter. The
dip switches had to be set to a specific configuration, and I
verified that the monitor would not work unless the DIPs were set
right. I can get you more info if you need it but try the PRAM first
(mine goes bad every 2 or 3 years).

As for your other questions, my machine did very nicely with an
accelerator card from Newer technologies. It runs much faster and
can handle system 9 quite well. It even runs web browsers, but there
are some issues transferring data to system X machines. If you get
an accelerator you should make sure its the one with the video pass-
thru.

G.G. McGrane