IBM PS/2 Model 50 Help

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cryptotooth

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Jun 3, 2014
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I have recently got my hands on an IBM model 50 PC, and initially it would boot fine into DOS 622, however not load Windows 3.1 as the HDD was full of bad sectors. My aim was to restore this PC, however today, the HDD randomly died and the error code 10483 is shown, apparently meaning that the HDD or its controler is dead.
My question is, what can I do to fix this? I doubt I'd get much life from the original 60MB drive, and seing as most of the system uses proprietary or rare hardware, I'm struggling to find a solution. No ISA slots, just IBM Microchannel. HDD I believe uses ESDI. All I can get the PC to do is boot a dos floppy and run in basic. Is it possible to get an IDE or even server SCSI card to fit this motherboard? Or would someone be able to sell me some old parts for cheap?
update: machine now refuses to POST with the drive installed.
 
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Solandri
You're probably going to have to write this off. ESDI spanned a short period between MFM/RLL drives and IDE drives. They were never that popular outside of high-end systems. So there aren't many ESDI drives on the used market, and the few there are seem to be ridiculously overpriced based on my quick search.

Due to the rarity, I doubt you'll find an adapter too. MFM/RLL drives relied on a dumb drive driven by a controller on the computer (or itnerface card). ESDI moved some of the controller components onto the drive. IDE moved all of the controller onto the drive, and the computer just sent it control and data signals. So an adapter can't simply rewire pins to get the three to work like with HDMI/DVI. You would need a physical...
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Solandri

Solandri

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You're probably going to have to write this off. ESDI spanned a short period between MFM/RLL drives and IDE drives. They were never that popular outside of high-end systems. So there aren't many ESDI drives on the used market, and the few there are seem to be ridiculously overpriced based on my quick search.

Due to the rarity, I doubt you'll find an adapter too. MFM/RLL drives relied on a dumb drive driven by a controller on the computer (or itnerface card). ESDI moved some of the controller components onto the drive. IDE moved all of the controller onto the drive, and the computer just sent it control and data signals. So an adapter can't simply rewire pins to get the three to work like with HDMI/DVI. You would need a physical adapter designed to work with a newer drive. Which in this case would be a Microchannel IDE controller. Which will probably be just as hard and expensive to acquire as an ESDI drive. The PS/2 was a failure in the market, as the industry basically rejected Microchannel as a replacement for the ISA bus. So MCA adapters are also going to be difficult to find.

If you want to pursue this, a SCSI controller is probably your best bet. Just be aware that the SCSI connector has gone through a lot of changes over the years, so you're looking at buying even more adapters on top of the SCSI controller to be able to plug any SCSI drive you're able to acquire into the controller. And something this old will probably also need termination for the SCSI bus, so that's yet another thing to buy.

And even if you succeed, the end result will be a system which is slower than your phone. My advice would be to recycle the PC, or donate it to a museum, or box it up and put it up in the attic for your grandkids to marvel over when they find it. If you want to play with DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.1, install Virtualbox or VMWare Player on your modern PC and install the two in a virtual machine.
 
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cryptotooth

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Thanks for the advice. You're probably right. Maybe it isn't really worth taking so far. However, I do have a server SCSI PCI card lying around with a cable, but I doubt the PC would like to work with it, yet alone the 17GB drives I have. Just wondering if I could get some sort of alternative hardware I could rip a drive from... Like, sky boxes can have SATA hard drives inside....
 
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Solandri

Solandri

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PCI was the bus standard which defeated Microchannel. The ISA bus was outdated and IBM was hoping to use its business clout to turn Microchannel into its replacement. But the industry revolted and made their own standard - PCI. So no, you're not going to be able to use a PCI adapter in this.

About the only part of the PS/2 which succeeded was the keyboard and mouse connector. PS/2 style connectorss are still found on some PCs today. It's mostly been supplanted by USB though. (PS/2 connectors weren't designed to be hot pluggable - they weren't guaranteed to work if you unplugged and replugged them in with the computer on. It usually worked, but occasionally it would not or even crash the system.)

The IBM keyboards from that era are really nice, if a bit noisy. If you get a PS/2 to USB adapter, you can use a nice mechanical keyboard with a newer computer.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/11/why-i-use-a-20-year-old-ibm-model-m-keyboard/
 
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cryptotooth

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Thanks again. After some searching around the internet Ive found that you are most likey right, and HDDs for this PC are into the hundreds before shippng, so I guess its find an old system the same or keep it as a basic antique piece...
It was a good project idea but hey ho...

Thanks again for the advice.
 
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