Uncreative Labs

Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Clearfield, UT

HY guys

well i was trolling around eBay and came across this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320255796708&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123

I have been looking for a genuine IBM PC/XT/AT class machine forever at a reasonable price, so i think this may be it... I already have two original keyboards for it stored in a bin and at one time had 3 different IBM monitors but i had to get rid of them when i moved Sad

So did i do ok here?... Once it comes how should i proceed with it as far as cleaning it up and trying to restore it so as i don't do something to wreck it? Also if this indeed has the original cga video card can i use a standard monitor or well i need to find the original monitor someplace?

Thanks guys for any advice

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

I'd suspect that even though the posting says "working condition", the floppy drives will likely need replacing (unless he mentioned that, I didn't see). You'll likely need to replace them, and being a 5150, it may not have more than 256K of RAM (possibly even less). You'll have to use a CGA monitor (doesn't have to be IBM, but does have to be CGA) unless you want to replace the video card as well. Cleaning should be per:

http://www.uncreativelabs.net/xtreview/xtreview.htm

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

I think you did okay for ebay. Though I'm surprised you had such a hard time finding one. There are still a lot of them out there, but you just have to know who to ask. I bet if you posted an ad on craigslist (assuming you live in or near a decent sized city) somebody would have been more than happy to unload one on you.

Judging by the condition of the outside of the unit, it's probably a safe bet to say that the inside is pretty dirty. You'll probably want get all the dust out of there before using it. Some people have reported pretty good success using their dishwashers to clean their boards. I haven't tried it myself, so if that's something you are interested in trying you'll probably want to read up on that first. Probably the easiest method is to use canned air. It's not the most effective cleaning method, but it should be good enough if you're not a perfectionist.

The power supply is another big issue. Opening those requires a special screwdriver. I think it is of the torx variety. Dust really has a tendency of accumulating in there. On top of this dust buildup problem, these power supplies are really getting up there in age and can be more prone to failure. Though, I imagine the 5150 power supplies must last longer since they don't usually have to drive hard disks (which put a lot of stress on the power supply at power on). Keeping the power supply clean is probably a good idea to extend the usable life.

If you're lucky you may have gotten a 16-64kb 5150. In terms of usability these earlier PCs can be a bit bothersome, but from a collectors point of view they are more desirable. There are a number of differences between the PC-1 and the PC-2, but the big issues come from the system ROMs being a little buggy and not supporting features you might expect.

Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 274 Location: USA

id say that pc needs some TLC. are those paint chips on top? and for dish washing, dont use soap, better yet , dont use a dishwasher, wash it under hot water and use an air compressor to dry it, works for me. as for the psu, the 2 parts most likly to go out are capacitors, transformers. hmm, is it possible to use an AT psu on an xt mobo cause u could probly stuff the guts of one in the xt psu case. good luck. 20 some dollars aint a half bad deal.... wonder how much a mint 386 PC would be worth.....

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

Quote:

wonder how much a mint 386 PC would be worth.....

If it's something unique (like a Compaq Portable 386 , then it would likely fetch quite a bit. Otherwise, I wouldn't get too excited over a 386 just yet...

Joined: 29 Mar 2008 Posts: 51 Location: czech republic

Lucky you. I am looking for one also forever Sad

On ebay there are many, but transport to Europe would cost a lot.

Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Clearfield, UT

386er wrote:

id say that pc needs some TLC. are those paint chips on top? and for dish washing, dont use soap, better yet , dont use a dishwasher, wash it under hot water and use an air compressor to dry it, works for me. as for the psu, the 2 parts most likly to go out are capacitors, transformers. hmm, is it possible to use an AT psu on an xt mobo cause u could probly stuff the guts of one in the xt psu case. good luck. 20 some dollars aint a half bad deal.... wonder how much a mint 386 PC would be worth.....

Yea this well need allot of cleaning up..I just hope that everything still works and whatever the spots are on top come off ok otherwise ill have to figure out how to paint it and I'd rather not go there.

I also read that you can hook it up to the tv with a rca cord...how do you set it for that? as it well be a while I'm sure before i can find a monitor for it.

Well keep you all posted on it when i get it.

Joined: 27 Jan 2007 Posts: 274 Location: USA

T-R-A wrote:

Quote:

wonder how much a mint 386 PC would be worth.....

If it's something unique (like a Compaq Portable 386 , then it would likely fetch quite a bit. Otherwise, I wouldn't get too excited over a 386 just yet...

its a compaq deskpro 386/33 brand new when i found it 2 years ago.

http://www.aresluna.org/attached/computerhistory/ads/international/compaq (bottom ad) im not selling mine since it is very nostalgic to me since its my first pc, and i use it for reprograming cellphones and games.

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

The item description does not make clear what kind of display adapter is installed. If it has the original CGA card, then you should be able to hook it up to a TV with a standard RCA cable. If it has the monochrome card then it will only work with a monochrome TTL monitor. If your PC comes with the 1982/1983 BIOS then you should be able to drop in a 16-bit ISA VGA card to use with a standard VGA monitor or LCD.

Joined: 03 Feb 2006 Posts: 488 Location: pennsylvanai

well if pieces are needed < i have them
I hope it's a 64-256 mb
the 64m mb are very limited
somewhere I have six-pack boards floppy controllers and vbideo cards and drives and controllers
Forget about IDE drives the controllers are rare\

MFM drives or a rll drive withn a mfm controller
I have the dos the apps etc.
DO NOT mess areound with the xebec controoler
it is the long card with the connectors in the front of the pc
use a western digital controller, preferablly with a bios chip they fills the socket
( some had a smaller chip)
click on the dip chips at login here and read the text files.

Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Clearfield, UT

HY guys

Sorry its taking me so long to get back here with a update,,, But It's gonna be a long one LOL.

OK i received the 5150 after a LONG 11 days in shipping! Here is what it has and its condition.

I found that it was the "B" version dated March 1985 and was in pretty good shape but the dufus who packed it just put it straight into packing peanuts which resulted in the floppy drives getting jam packed with them
and i had to shack the snot out of the thing to get them all out... the top looks like it was used to spray paint a bunch of buttons black or something as there are allot of little black dots on top.

I opened it up and found it to be pretty clean inside...It has got
the standard mono video card as well as a AST sixpack plus card and the floppy controller. Also the PS was replaced with a third party one of 165W.
I power it up and hear "BEEEEP... BEEP BEEP then drive A seek"... AHH video card...Damn It! So i get this old EG-3000 EGA card that I have and figure since it has got RCA plugs i can hook it to the tv to see if it works... Well I flip dips tell I Can't flip no more and never could get it to work so off to the corner it go's as i cant do anymore with it tell i get a monitor and find another card to try.

PC TWO

While i was waiting so long for PC ONE to arrive i found another 5150 on ebay. This one was complete with keyboard and monitor for under $70 shipped. I thought "right on a complete pc that is working all i should have to do is clean it up and i'm in high cotton!" well I received this PC today and... well... Let's just say someone cut down the cotton!

I opened the box and the first thing i see is the top of what once was a ibm monitor! The whole thing was in pieces save for the picture tube and top and sides of the back cover!... Absolutely demolished! Needless to say i was not to happy at all. SO i carefully take out whats left of the monitor trying not to implode the crt and see what everything else looks like.
The computer and keyboard look to be ok with just a few dings in the top of the pc.

I open it up and see that it pretty much is configured the same as the first unit with the mono card and ast combo plus card? and floppy controller as well as original PS and a after market B floppy drive. It's also B version It's date is April 14th 1983.
I clean it up and fire it up and no beeps other then the normal beep and a drive seek so it appears to work but again no display to see.

SO Does anyone know where i should proceed from here as i don't really have much money and i cannot for the life of me find any of the 9pin monitors mono or otherwise.

PS I want to thank you wdegroot so much for your kind offer... If ya happen to have any mono or cga displays/cards that you don't want I might be interested. Also I could use some of the case screws if anyone has a few of them.

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

I've seen several mono's/CGA's being dumped from industrial "clean-outs" over the past few years, so you might try there (given your recent e-bay experience, I'd be weary of almost anything there). You might want to get in touch with garf12 (recent posting). Sounds like he may have some stuff for cheap.

Joined: 29 Mar 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Clearfield, UT

Hy guys

I have uploaded photos to go with my post here so you can not only read about it but also see what i was talking about.

PC ONE

http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w86/jkman76/IBM%20PC%201/

PC TWO

http://s174.photobucket.com/albums/w86/jkman76/IBM%20PC%202/

Joined: 21 May 2006 Posts: 47 Location: London, England

You could always find a VGA card to connect to a modern monitor until you find an original IBM one Smile

Don't forget that if you change graphics cards, you also need to re-set the DIP switches on the motherboard.

A large number of early 256kB 16-bit VGA cards also work in an 8-bit ISA slot.

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

Think I'd have a "prayer-meeting" with the seller of the monitor. Doesn't look like anything other than cardboard and a "sprinkling" of bubblewrap was used to pack it, and if it was packed tightly (as it appears) then any sudden blow would have done damage like that to the monitor. I'm sure he was going for integrity of the box, but he should have known to use as much foam around the glass and case as possible. It's a wonder the CRT didn't shatter (though I've dropped a CGA monitor onto concrete by accident from about 2 feet and the CRT remained intact). Also wouldn't hurt to file a complaint against the carrier, being that it was that important to completing your system...