crosenberg@cdp.UUCP (09/11/90)
A Boston area non-profit which I do volunteer work for was recently given an original IBM PC model 5150 with 64K. Serial Number is: 0233499. It will boot with DOS 1.1 but not with 3.1 I would like to be able to boot it with 3.1 to maintain compatibility with their other machiness. Does anyone know how to modify this machine so it can do this? They are also looking for a donation of a memory card in order to put the machine into use. Any donations or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. They are 501(c)(3), so donations are tax deductable. Charlie Rosenberg....................................... (617) 522-1466 UUCP.......................................uunet!pyramid!cdp!crosenberg Bitnet...................................cdp!crosenberg%labrea@stanford Internet..........................................hplabs!cdp!crosenberg
jims@pro-berks.cts.com (Jim Sloan) (09/14/90)
In-Reply-To: message from crosenberg@cdp.UUCP You must first upgrade the BIOS on the 5150 PC for it to use DOS 3.x. I don't know where you can get a BIOS for it though. Also, the memory upgrade will be necessary. There was some recent talk on the FidoNet about someone upgrading a 5150, so I'll check over there and see if anyone remembers what had to be done. Jim
frank@ut-emx (Frank Abernathy) (09/15/90)
In article <4396@crash.cts.com>, jims@pro-berks.cts.com (Jim Sloan) writes: > In-Reply-To: message from crosenberg@cdp.UUCP > > You must first upgrade the BIOS on the 5150 PC for it to use DOS 3.x. I don't I am not sure if this REALLY applies, but down below are some folks that sell ROM Bios for PCs and clones. > know where you can get a BIOS for it though. Also, the memory upgrade will be > necessary. There was some recent talk on the FidoNet about someone upgrading > a 5150, so I'll check over there and see if anyone remembers what had to be > done. > Jim Upgrades, Etc. 800-541-1943 Self Reliant PC Service 808-521-5525 Mr. Bios 408-396-4096. YOU contact them and determine if they have what YOU want.... later frank -- Frank Abernathy, University of Texas at Austin, frank@ut-emx.utexas.edu Work: (512)-471-3216 Home: (512)-244-0625 (ans. mach always on...)
JCS120@psuvm.psu.edu (09/15/90)
I've built up a decent machine from a 5150, but I didn't have to upgrade the BIOS. But my Bios was dated xx/28/1982, which was important. First thing you do is you get an EVERex Magicard memory board and add 512K of memory. Next you buy a universal Disk controller, and a 1.44M drive. You now have a machine capable of running some **real** software. This it how I upgraded my original PC. PSUVM JCS120
nol2321@dsacg4.dsac.dla.mil (Jim Dunn) (09/18/90)
In article <4396@crash.cts.com> jims@pro-berks.cts.com (Jim Sloan) writes: >In-Reply-To: message from crosenberg@cdp.UUCP > >You must first upgrade the BIOS on the 5150 PC for it to use DOS 3.x. I don't >know where you can get a BIOS for it though. Also, the memory upgrade will be >necessary. There was some recent talk on the FidoNet about someone upgrading >a 5150, so I'll check over there and see if anyone remembers what had to be >done. >Jim Check around and you can usually find a $495.00 deal to bring that old pc up to a "pseudo" 386 mode running at 16mhz, etc... :) Jim Jim Dunn; jdunn@dsac.dla.mil; AV 850-9713; AT&T 614-238-9713; FAX 614-238-9936 Department of Defense-Defense Logistics Agency-Systems Automation Center, DSAC ******* Compuserve Users Send Mail To: >INTERNET:jdunn@dsac.dla.mil ******* "I thought I needed to be free-but when I was free-I just needed to be needed"
mvolo@uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) (09/19/90)
Another no-fault upgrade for original 5- or 8- slot PCs, is the hybrid Bullet motherboard, 8,10,12, or 16 Hz 80286 processor, 8-bit bus run at 4.77 MHz so you can use your old cards. Cost is about $130-190 (depending upon speed) plus 1 meg of DRAM 256K (150, 120, 100 ns, depending upon processor speed). Memory above 640 K is a dedicated ROM hardware disk cache. We did this to a 5-slot PC at work with the 10 Hz board for about $240 complete. This board is made to work with PC-only keyboards and to fit PC & XT chassis's easily. For sec- retarial work, we have not found the lack of 16-bit buss that limiting. We got ours at D.P. computing (see the Shopper, also Leo Computers). -- Michael Volow, Psychiatry, Durham VA Med Center, Durham NC 27712 919 286 0411 Ext 6933 mvolo@ecsvax.edu
gerry@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) (09/19/90)
In article <1990Sep18.232351.24184@uncecs.edu> mvolo@uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) writes:
Another no-fault upgrade for original 5- or 8- slot PCs, is the hybrid
Bullet motherboard, 8,10,12, or 16 Hz 80286 processor, 8-bit bus run
at 4.77 MHz so you can use your old cards. Cost is about $130-190
(depending upon speed) plus 1 meg of DRAM 256K (150, 120, 100 ns,
depending upon processor speed). Memory above 640 K is a dedicated
ROM hardware disk cache. We did this to a 5-slot PC at work with
the 10 Hz board for about $240 complete. This board is made to work
with PC-only keyboards and to fit PC & XT chassis's easily. For sec-
retarial work, we have not found the lack of 16-bit buss that limiting.
We got ours at D.P. computing (see the Shopper, also Leo Computers).
I'm sorry folks, but this is one of the absolute stupidest threads I
have ever seen on the net. The IBM PC was obsolete years many years
ago. Anything with a 286 is obsolete now! Why waste good money to
purchase junk? Spend a few bucks and at least get a 386SX, there's no
excuse not to. Oh, and if you say $$$, figure out how much your time
is worth and multiple that by the time savings from a faster machine.
(UH... I never thought of that?!)
Furthermore, it is people like the original poster who are doing more
harm to the PC market than they can ever realise. If MicroSoft had
balls, they would say that stating with MS DOS 5.x, they will drop
support for anything not running a 286. Yeah, they'll alienate some
folks, but it will allow the rest of the planet (the intelligent half
who have a reasonable hardware platform) to finally have a software
capability equal to their harware perfomance.
--
gerry roston, field robotics center
robotics institute, carnegie mellon university
pittsburgh, pennsylvania, 15213 (412) 268-6557
gerry@cs.cmu.edupolo@hagar.Solbourne.COM (Dave Polakowski) (09/26/90)
In article <GERRY.90Sep19092154@onion.frc.ri.cmu.edu> gerry@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) writes: > >I'm sorry folks, but this is one of the absolute stupidest threads I >have ever seen on the net. The IBM PC was obsolete years many years >ago. Anything with a 286 is obsolete now! Why waste good money to >purchase junk? Spend a few bucks and at least get a 386SX, there's no >excuse not to. Oh, and if you say $$$, figure out how much your time >is worth and multiple that by the time savings from a faster machine. >(UH... I never thought of that?!) > >Furthermore, it is people like the original poster who are doing more >harm to the PC market than they can ever realise. If MicroSoft had >balls, they would say that stating with MS DOS 5.x, they will drop >support for anything not running a 286. Yeah, they'll alienate some >folks, but it will allow the rest of the planet (the intelligent half >who have a reasonable hardware platform) to finally have a software >capability equal to their harware perfomance. > Sorry, Gerry, but pull your head out. I am of the belief that any PC that can be used for meaningful work is not obsolete. Why should I care if my PC does 35.6 MIPS if all I need to do with it is word processing or database entry? The machine is sitting idly by most of the time waiting for my keyboard entry anyway. Many people are still using Commodores, for cryin' out loud. How would you feel if every model year, car makers quit providing parts for last year's model? Oh, but you'll get better gas mileage with a new model, so why waste money fixing up last year's junk? If GM had balls, they could do this. So what if they alienate a few million drivers? Sure, I'd love to have a nice 386 with 4M of ram, a huge hard disk and 1024x768 VGA. But I also have a mortgage, utility bills, car maintenance, insurance payments, and so on that make this rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So I'll continue to bang away on my XT clone, putting along at 4.77MHz, spinning my little 20Meg hard drive's heart out, content in knowing that I'm getting something meaningful done with it. Until I have a need to build 2-megabytes worth of spreadsheet, I should get along rather nicely. Meanwhile, if you decide that you can't live without the latest and greatest hardware platform, send me your address. I'd love to go through your trash can. -- _-^-_ | Dave Polakowski (303)678-4700 / O O \ | Solbourne Computer, Inc. ---((((---'---U---`---))))--- | Longmont, Colorado DAVE WAS HERE! | [polo@Solbourne.COM]
cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (Conway Yee) (09/26/90)
In article <GERRY.90Sep19092154@onion.frc.ri.cmu.edu> gerry@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) writes: >In article <1990Sep18.232351.24184@uncecs.edu> mvolo@uncecs.edu (Michael R. Volow) writes: > > Another no-fault upgrade for original 5- or 8- slot PCs, is the hybrid > Bullet motherboard, 8,10,12, or 16 Hz 80286 processor, 8-bit bus run > >I'm sorry folks, but this is one of the absolute stupidest threads I >have ever seen on the net. The IBM PC was obsolete years many years >ago. Anything with a 286 is obsolete now! Why waste good money to >purchase junk? Some people buy their own machines with their own money and are on a severely limited budget. Not everyone has corporate or university employers who can afford to spend thousands on a machine without worrying about it. >Spend a few bucks and at least get a 386SX, there's no >excuse not to. Oh, and if you say $$$, figure out how much your time >is worth and multiple that by the time savings from a faster machine. >(UH... I never thought of that?!) > What about those who don't have that extra $$$? >Furthermore, it is people like the original poster who are doing more >harm to the PC market than they can ever realise. If MicroSoft had >balls, they would say that stating with MS DOS 5.x, they will drop >support for anything not running a 286. Yeah, they'll alienate some >folks, Yeah, like all the corporations who spent millions setting up 286's. Believe it or not, when you can afford to buy that many machines, you have the purchasing power to get almost anything. Remember copy protection? It was not eliminated because software vendors finally saw the injustice of it all. Large corporations with lots of buying power didn't like it. but it will allow the rest of the planet (the intelligent half >who have a reasonable hardware platform) to finally have a software >capability equal to their harware perfomance. Exactly what percentage of the PC's out there are 386's? Buy splitting the market, much of the economies of scale is lost. Everyone will end up paying more for software. Conway Yee, N2JWQ yee@ming.mipg.upenn.edu (preferred) 231 S. Melville St. cy5@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu (forwarded to above) Philadelphia, Pa 19139 yee@bnlx26.nsls.bnl.gov (rarely checked) (215) 386-1312
poffen@sj.ate.slb.com (Russell Poffenberger) (09/28/90)
In article <1990Sep26.151253.16992@Solbourne.COM> polo@hagar.Solbourne.COM (Dave Polakowski) writes: >In article <GERRY.90Sep19092154@onion.frc.ri.cmu.edu> gerry@frc2.frc.ri.cmu.edu (Gerry Roston) writes: >> >>I'm sorry folks, but this is one of the absolute stupidest threads I >>have ever seen on the net. The IBM PC was obsolete years many years >>ago. Anything with a 286 is obsolete now! Why waste good money to >>purchase junk? Spend a few bucks and at least get a 386SX, there's no >>excuse not to. Oh, and if you say $$$, figure out how much your time >>is worth and multiple that by the time savings from a faster machine. >>(UH... I never thought of that?!) >> >>Furthermore, it is people like the original poster who are doing more >>harm to the PC market than they can ever realise. If MicroSoft had >>balls, they would say that stating with MS DOS 5.x, they will drop >>support for anything not running a 286. Yeah, they'll alienate some >>folks, but it will allow the rest of the planet (the intelligent half >>who have a reasonable hardware platform) to finally have a software >>capability equal to their harware perfomance. >> > >Sorry, Gerry, but pull your head out. I am of the belief that any PC >that can be used for meaningful work is not obsolete. Why should I care >if my PC does 35.6 MIPS if all I need to do with it is word processing or >database entry? The machine is sitting idly by most of the time waiting >for my keyboard entry anyway. Many people are still using Commodores, >for cryin' out loud. > >How would you feel if every model year, car makers quit providing parts >for last year's model? Oh, but you'll get better gas mileage with a new >model, so why waste money fixing up last year's junk? If GM had balls, >they could do this. So what if they alienate a few million drivers? > There does get to be a point when old equipment is not worth supporting. One of the reasons why (if I remember right) automakers carry spare parts for old models is because they are required to by law. I think this is for 20 years. Considering how computers become obsolete faster than cars, dropping support for products that are say 8 to 10 years old is not unreasonable. Besides, most likely DOS 5.0 will be such a memory and performance hog, who would REALLY want to run them on their PC/XT compatibles anyway? Russ Poffenberger DOMAIN: poffen@sj.ate.slb.com Schlumberger Technologies UUCP: {uunet,decwrl,amdahl}!sjsca4!poffen 1601 Technology Drive CIS: 72401,276 San Jose, Ca. 95110 (408)437-5254
pnl@hpfinote.HP.COM (Peter Lim) (09/29/90)
I thought the original question is about ungrading an XT with some 286 add on cards. In that case, it indeed make more sense to just rip the motherboard out (hang it on the wall as a souvenir ??) and replace it with a 386sx or better motherboard. You can buy this for around $300 which is only a few tens of dollars more than your 286 add on card. And you get a very real 386 machine. So, why waste money on patchy add ons ? > How would you feel if every model year, car makers quit providing parts > for last year's model? Oh, but you'll get better gas mileage with a new > model, so why waste money fixing up last year's junk? If GM had balls, > they could do this. So what if they alienate a few million drivers? > This analogy doesn't quite hold for PC. If GM can produce new model and let old model user upgrade (by swapping the engine ??) for say a couple of hundred dollars, then the analogy would hold. And people will indeed do the upgrade ! Regards, ## Life is fast enough as it is ........ Peter Lim. ## .... DON'T PUSH IT !! >>>-------, ########################################### : E-mail: plim@hpsgwg.HP.COM Snail-mail: Hewlett Packard Singapore, : Tel: (065)-279-2289 (ICDS, ICS) | Telnet: 520-2289 1150 Depot Road, __\@/__ ... also at: pnl@hpfipnl.HP.COM Singapore 0410. SPLAT ! #include <standard_disclaimer.hpp>
JCS120@psuvm.psu.edu (09/29/90)
A year and a half ago, I purchased an IBM-PC (yes one of the originals)
When I bought the PC, all I could do was write programs in BASIC and barely
could use WP 4.2 (only 256K). The entire system with CGA and Oki 93
only cost me $500.
I began upgrading with an EVEREX EMS card and brought the memory up to 640K
plus 640K (ramdisk, cache and print spooler).
I upgraded the drives, installed a 8087, and bought a 10M HD.
For word processing, this was a hefty machine, but I needed greater power
for ENGINEERING applications.
Therefore, I upgraded to a 286 motherboard, and am using most of the PC's guts
for my 286. However i am rebuilding the PC slowly, for my parents to use as
a word processor.
You say people should save up a few bucks for an SX. Well what about those
of us who had to strectch for the $500 to buy a PC.
For those people who dont need the power of an AT but want something better tha
n a type writer, a bulit up PC can be an ideal machine.
Don't get me wrong, I know that the software industry is leaving the XT and PC
in the dust, which is why I got a 286 MB, but for those people who need a compu
ter for light word process., lotus, and such, a PC is a **cheap** ideal
solution.
JCS120