Help..

[canuck46]

Anyone got a IBM 5150 around cluttering up your house ???? Although Im sure the shipping will break me Id thought Id see if there was a in-expensive one around ????? Can I trade someone something for one...that works?? The one I have has more issues than I care to discuss. BUT,It will run again !!!:cool:

Dave

[alexkerhead]

What is wrong with your current one?

Here is one on ebay anyway.
http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-IBM-5150-PERSONAL-COMPUTER-WITH-ACCESSORIES_W0QQitemZ160000157042QQcategoryZ74946Q QssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Jorg]

Not a 5150, but I have a 5160 I want to get rid off. Diskdrive and HDD (pardon me, Winchester) are bad, rest works.
Makes me sad if I had to throw it away.

[alexkerhead]

Shipping from the Netherlands to Canada would be astronomical.

[carlsson]

Yet the Netherlands may be one of the least expensive European countries to ship from.

[canuck46]

...has a Hard Drive problem that Ive never been able to resolve....sometimes it starts...sometimes not....have formatted,reformatted....tried DEBUG...did nothing.....If Hard Drive was a car Id say it had a broken rod !!! Makes all sorts of wierd noices....from HDD. And then...JUst to P--- me off,The next time I turn it on,all is wonderful !!! Driving me nuts(nuttier)....I have other HDD's but Im not sure If I can just put another one in without a hassle....Installing it is easy...but setting it up ?????..might be a problem !! But Im going to try it anyhow...nothing ventured......??? On another note....I did bid on the one at EBAY>

Dave:(

[canuck46]

So,I just realized that I get a long weekend(Queens Birthday) SO, Im going to see if any of these other HDD's are usable.....The one in there is a STA 225 and I have a couple that are simular(STA 235 etc) so maybe something will work. On another note just how much would it cost(roughly) to ship 5150 from Netherlands to Western Canada ????

Dave:rolleyes:

[alexkerhead]

YOu can get 225s for a dime a dozen.

[dpatten]

5150 is an XT right? Have you considered just buying a used IBM XT board off of ebay? Does it seem to be the drive only? mobo's seem pretty common and usually go pretty inexpensively. Unfortunately, I don't have any XT parts. I do have some mfm drfves, which i believe are st-225, but no boards.

[canuck46]

So, Im going to do a bit of research on this Hard Drive Issue.... I have other Hard Drives...just gotta figure out how to configure computer. In a newer computer...Id just go in Bios and auto detect...but Im not sure how that is done on 5150/5160's....So Im going to check that out before I panic....I have located complete machines for sale so if all else fails I can purchase one for (hopefully) a reasonable price.

Dave

[Jorg]

5150 is an XT right?

Uh.. wrong.

[mbbrutman]

This is one of those things where a little background reading goes a long way.

A 5150 is a PC.
A 5160 is a PCXT
A 5170 is a PCAT
A 4860 is a PCjr

Most people consider the 5150 and 5160 to be the same machine. For most things, that is close enough. But a 5150 only has 5 slots instead of the 8 on a 5160, and the power supply is much smaller. Also, IBM did not offer a hard disk, there were several BIOS versions, etc.

Once again, Google is your friend ..

[dpatten]

Uh.. wrong.


No need to be snippy about it... :rolleyes:

[canuck46]

So,from what your saying is that I can find out how to "Tell This Computer" that I changed Hard Drives.... So,I guess I'll go Google:)

[canuck46]

So I went and did a bit of Googling(?) and from what I gathered I need the controller card that matchs Hard Drive,which I may(or may not) have....Or I need a working STA 241 Hard Drive which is what was in machine originally...not a 225 which is what I said. So,I'll go look for a controller card for 225...Im not sure If I'll know it when I see it or If machine will recognize it when (and If) I find one !! But I'll cross THAT bridge when I get there....In the event I dont find one...Does anyone have a working STA 241 Hard drive ???...or I suppose a controller card for a 225.....??? Or a bottle of Scotch to wash this all down with.....??:sleepy:

[Terry Yager]

I have an ST-412 drive. Are you sure about the model number?

--T

[canuck46]

Damn...Im a idiot sometimes....(no comments?) Ive got so many Hard DRives coming and going Ive even confused myself...BUT, In a saner moment I marked the original Hard Drive I took out....Its a STA 238R. I dont even have a 241 anything.....must have been this %^&&%$ keyboard !! That might explain why my Google search couldnt find it. Ive been fightin(and loosin) with this thing for a week...mumble,mumble......:sleepy:

Dave "The Blind One":p

[alexkerhead]

Canuck46, keep going steady, dont give in to buying a new one. I have had the same issues with HDDs in my 5150(I think everyone has..lol)
I have a wd xt controller, which should do the trick for the 225 I have. You may also want to look into getting a better controller.
Also, xt cards will work fine in the 5150, even though it isn't a true xt.

[fred3rd]

Go to www.mcamafia.com. From there you can download the set-up disk for your model. Double click on the program once you have it. Then direct it to unzip to you floppy drive. This set-up disk causes the pc to configure hardware. It was a life saver with my PS2 model 55. Good luck.

[carlsson]

If I understand correctly, ST-238 is the RLL enabled version of ST-225, with a bit higher capacity as well?

[Terry Yager]

Yes, the R-238 is a 32-Mb drive, with RLL encoding, which requires an RLL controller to fully utilize. It can, however, be formatted as MFM for 20Mb capacity.

--T

[canuck46]

after a week of fiddlin and a lot of questions asked/answered...by some fluke and a lot of advice...."IT RUNS" !!!! I had a 5160 parts machine downstairs...had only 1 card in it...no PS or anything else important like case !!!!! But anyhow The CONTROLLER CARD that was in it supports both a STA 225 and a ST -412. So,5150 is running happily with STA 225 in it but it will also support ST-412.
I would like to leave the 412 in there as it has alot of programs installed like WP 5.0 and lotus 123. But as that Hard Drive is out of 5160 I may put 225 in and go that way. Mucho thanx to everyone involved. So,does anyone have a ST-412 Hard Drive AND controller laying around? Or just Controller card as that will work with STA 225. The only # I was able to read on CC was "IBM1501492 XEBEC". Or a STA-238B Hard Drive which I do have a CC for. It looks like I'll have a lot of parts left when this is over so I'll let everyone know when I sort it out.I was able to get lots of techy advice from google so I'll keep that in mind also.:D

[Terry Yager]

I've got the 412 handy, but I'll have to dig for the controller (almost any MFM controller will do, including your Xebec, if it's operational).

--T

[canuck46]

As I mentioned...I do need at least a controller for 412 which luckily will also work with 225. But I would rather get my hands on a ST-412 with controller then I could get both computers up and running...kinda hard with 2 Hard Drives and I controller Card although I do have a ST 238B Controller Card....but no working Hard Drive for that one. Anyhow...If you have those...Do you want to part with them and what would you want for both ??? BUT,My 5150 is running just fine so although Ive wasted(???) the whole weekend on it, and PO'ed my Wife, Im a happy Canuck:)

Dave:oha:

[Terry Yager]

As I mentioned...I do need at least a controller for 412 which luckily will also work with 225. But I would rather get my hands on a ST-412 with controller then I could get both computers up and running...kinda hard with 2 Hard Drives and I controller Card although I do have a ST 238B Controller Card....but no working Hard Drive for that one. Anyhow...If you have those...Do you want to part with them and what would you want for both ??? BUT,My 5150 is running just fine so although Ive wasted(???) the whole weekend on it, and PO'ed my Wife, Im a happy Canuck:)

Dave:oha:

Your IBM/Xebec controller board will work with an ST-412 drive (in fact, might not work well with much else). Both the drive and controller were issued as original equipment by IBM. OTOH, the Xebec board probably won't fully utilize the ST-225 or -238R. It's pretty much locked into a 10Mb drive type (4h, 306c, 17s, MFM).
If you want the ST-412 that I have, you can have it for cost of shipping.

--T

[canuck46]

Well,As I have a working 412 hooked to Xebec Controller, thats as good as it gets...If Xebec card wont/cant work properly with 225 I'll go on the hunt for a CC for it. I DO have a CC for a 238B.....that was with original Hard Drive that died. I believe I have located one of them In Canada. I'll wait and see what arrives by Grayhound !!! I should have a lot of spare parts when this is over which I will gladly make available !!!! The Clerk at Grayhound knows me by first name now...If Im not receivin...Im shippin.... Again..Thanx everyone for Mucho Help. I'll let you know If I need 412.

Dave:)