Uncreative Labs

Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 36 Location: USA

So yesterday I got vintage computer fever again and dragged my old XT out of the storage building where it has sat for ten years. I wasn't sure it would work after all the freezing winters and hot summers out there but it started right up. Unfortunately the second floppy drive is now dead and there are some things I'd like to do.

First up, the noise. I'd forgotten how ridiculously loud the power supply fan on this thing and is, and I began wondering if it might be possible to replace it with a nice modern, quiet fan. If so what type would be best to use? If nothing else I may need to oil it as it sometimes makes a really high pitched and annoying whine.

Second I was looking at floppy drives and came across the HxC floppy emulator. This would be nice since I could run all of my software from a flash drive instead of trying to get it onto 360k disks, and I've also found that quite a few of my old disks are no longer readable. They are all half height drives though so I would need a bay adapter of some sort, unless it is possible to somehow connect the floppy emulator to the external floppy port and put it in a nice little case. An alternative I found would be one of those CF adapters that plug into an 8-bit slot. I could then use it as a hard drive. Any recommendations?

Finally just a minor cosmetic issue but the little screw covers for the top of my 5151 monitor have gone missing. I've been watching ebay but I have never seen any, not sure where I could get some replacements. Anyway I guess that's all for now, I'm going back to my game of Castle Adventure. Smile

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

Skyfrog wrote:

An alternative I found would be one of those CF adapters that plug into an 8-bit slot. I could then use it as a hard drive. Any recommendations?

You mean this?:

https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/XT-CF-lite_rev.2

Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 36 Location: USA

T-R-A wrote:

Skyfrog wrote:

An alternative I found would be one of those CF adapters that plug into an 8-bit slot. I could then use it as a hard drive. Any recommendations?

You mean this?:

https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/wiki/XT-CF-lite_rev.2

Yes, that is the type of card I was thinking of, thanks for the link. I think that might be the easiest way to get my software on it and still have it look original.

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

Skyfrog wrote:

Yes, that is the type of card I was thinking of, thanks for the link.

Realize they only offer the PWB. From the page:

https://www.lo-tech.co.uk/product/xt-cf-lite-rev-2-pcb/

"This product requires the separate purchase of components and home assembly; a soldering iron, solder and flux are needed to assemble the adapter. Image of assembled board is provided for reference."

So you'd still need to find the components and be very proficient at SMT-soldering techniques. I do it every day and can tell you that the card slot will not be an easy thing to solder without experience and the proper equipment. Just saying "I can solder" or "I've soldered stuff before" just won't cut it.

Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 36 Location: USA

True, I certainly don't have the equipment or experience for surface mount soldering so that's out. I found one assembled on ebay but the price is pretty steep so maybe I will just get one of those HxC or GoTek floppy emulators and a bay adapter, or just get another floppy drive to replace the old one and set up another system with a 360k drive to write disks for it. Using real floppy disks and swapping them out to load stuff is really part of the fun anyway.

I read up on the fan and apparently the original runs on 120v so it won't be as easy to swap out as I thought. Maybe I'll just lubricate the old one and leave it be.

Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Posts: 594 Location: Western NC

You may also want to look at this:

http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/5150/problems/5150_known_problems_issues.htm

Specifically the part under "Hard disk drive"

Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 36 Location: USA

Thanks, I think mine was the very last revision they made for it. It has the 1986 BIOS, a full 640K of RAM and I've tested 720k 3.5" floppy drives on it and they work. I like the CF cards though in the "modern options" link and I've been keeping an eye out for them. I would also like to get a more modern fan for the power supply as the old one is pretty loud.

Edit: I installed a new fan in the power supply; it's much quieter now. Smile

Joined: 20 Nov 2004 Posts: 589 Location: Shandong, China

I think keeping at least one 360k drive in the system would be pretty cool. They're becoming kind of rare to see in working condition. Usually if you replace the rubber belt and lubricate a few pieces, you can get them working again without too much effort. In the worst case you might have to replace some capacitors or realign the heads with an oscilloscope.