dupee@ihuxy.ATT.COM (Dupre) (02/17/89)
I have recently come across a VERY old IBM pc model 5150. (My father just purchased it for a VERY low price) I would like to install a hard drive (~20M) in it for him. (It currently has dual full height floppies) Does anyone know any information about this machine..... What processor it has (8088?) What speed does it run at (4.5Mhz?) Can it support a hard disk Any other information would also be greatly appreciated. ____ _______ _____ _______ ------- / __ \ |__ __| / _ \ |__ __| -====------ Mike Dupre' | (__) | | | \ \ \_\ | | -======------ AT&T Bell Labs | __ | | | / \ __ | | --====------- Naperville, IL | | | | | | | (\ / / | | ----------- ihuxy!dupee |_| |_| |_| \_____/ |_| -------
mccann@mit-caf.MIT.EDU (Patrick J. McCann) (02/22/89)
If this unit was manufactured in 1981 chances are the BIOS will not support a hard drive (I found this out the "hard way"). IBM no longer sells the BIOS chip set that would allow you to add a hard drive. You could upgrade with a Pheonix BIOS. I ended up returning the hard drive, and I bought a bought a model 70 instead. --- Planned obsolescence :(.
berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu (02/24/89)
The 5150 has an 8088 running at 4.77 MHz. The very old models can
accomodate 64K RAM on the motherboard. Later models use 64K DRAMS
for 256K on the motherboard.
Assuming you have the original IBM BIOS chip, you can tell if it can
accomodate a hard drive by looking on the back of your computer.
If there's a large B with a circle around it stamped in ink, then
your BIOS can accomodate a hard disk. If it's not there, then
you need an upgraded BIOS. Note that early PC's can all USE
a hard disk, but not necessarily boot from it. If you don't
mind booting from a floppy, that might be an appropriate
solution.
An intelligent disk controller with on-board BIOS support
might boot, but I doubt it.
Mike Berger
Department of Statistics
University of Illinois
berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu
{convex | pur-ee}!uiucuxc!clio!bergermdfreed@ziebmef.uucp (Mark Freedman) (03/04/89)
(upgrading older PC's with hard drives and such ...)
IBM did sell an upgrade ROM for the original PC which allows the addition
of devices which extend the BIOS (e.g. hard drives, EGA cards).
IBM no longer sells these, but I noticed an ad in Computer Shopper (October
1988) for "original IBM parts" at $25 / each (IBM charged $50 several
years ago).
The ad is from: Mentor Electronics Inc.
7560 Tyler Blvd. #E
Mentor, Ohio 44060
Tel. (216) 951-1884 or 9924
Usual disclaimers (I've only seen the ad, and have no experience with the
company).
If it IS the IBM upgrade kit, it seems to work nicely (I've got a hard drive,
EGA card, and 640K (576K on a multifunction card) in my system).
(a humorous note). IBM would not sell the upgrade kit unless you returned
the original ROM. The upgrade kit include an IC-extractor. I always wondered
WHY IBM supplied the tool AFTER you had already pried the chip out with a
screwdriver.
Perhaps they anticipated an annual release of upgrade ROMs ????
btw I also replaced the original 8088 (which had a bug when switching
the stack) with a NEC V20. It gives a slight performance improvement
and runs cooler / draws slightly less power. If one is NOT concerned
with portability, one can utilize the enhanced instructions (specify
80186 code generation).