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Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 26th 09, 05:42 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
sinoth
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive

Heya all, I apologize if this is the wrong group for vintage hardware,
but I couldn't find a better one. If there is a better group for this
please point me in the right direction

I have an ancient IBM 5110 complete with disk drive, picture here :
http://sinoth.net/img/5110.jpg
The problem is I can't get the disk drive to work. I have some old
5.25" disks that probably work, and also bought some 'new' ones that
shouldn't be corrupt and I can't get the beast to read the floppies.

I wouldn't be surprised if the disk drive no longer works -- it's been
stored in my grandma's burning hot attic for who knows how long... I
was shocked to find out the computer still works.

Anyhow, if anyone thinks they can help me troubleshoot this ancient
disk drive, I can provide more detailed info on what I've done and
exactly what happens. Thanks!
  #2  
Old April 26th 09, 08:15 AM posted to alt.comp.hardware
Phil[_12_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 4
Default Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive

In message
,
sinoth writes
Heya all, I apologize if this is the wrong group for vintage hardware,
but I couldn't find a better one. If there is a better group for this
please point me in the right direction

I have an ancient IBM 5110 complete with disk drive, picture here :
http://sinoth.net/img/5110.jpg
The problem is I can't get the disk drive to work. I have some old
5.25" disks that probably work, and also bought some 'new' ones that
shouldn't be corrupt and I can't get the beast to read the floppies.

I wouldn't be surprised if the disk drive no longer works -- it's been
stored in my grandma's burning hot attic for who knows how long... I
was shocked to find out the computer still works.

Anyhow, if anyone thinks they can help me troubleshoot this ancient
disk drive, I can provide more detailed info on what I've done and
exactly what happens. Thanks!


What a splendid machine. Takes me back to my early days learning to use an
Olivetti P6060...

Probably a silly question, but have you cleaned the drive heads (assuming the
drives still spin)? My experience with floppy drives in a lab environment not
unlike your grandma's attic was that they almost always just stopped working
through lack of use -- presumably by accumulation of dust and/or oxide. Almost
invariably, these drives would then corrupt the first disk they saw unless I
cleaned them first, and I took to carrying a cleaning disk with me all the
time.

I may still have a 5.25" cleaning disk buried in my office somewhere, if it's
any use...

Phil

--
Phil
  #3  
Old April 26th 09, 04:06 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
philo
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,309
Default Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive


"sinoth" wrote in message
...
Heya all, I apologize if this is the wrong group for vintage hardware,
but I couldn't find a better one. If there is a better group for this
please point me in the right direction

I have an ancient IBM 5110 complete with disk drive, picture here :
http://sinoth.net/img/5110.jpg
The problem is I can't get the disk drive to work. I have some old
5.25" disks that probably work, and also bought some 'new' ones that
shouldn't be corrupt and I can't get the beast to read the floppies.

I wouldn't be surprised if the disk drive no longer works -- it's been
stored in my grandma's burning hot attic for who knows how long... I
was shocked to find out the computer still works.

Anyhow, if anyone thinks they can help me troubleshoot this ancient
disk drive, I can provide more detailed info on what I've done and
exactly what happens. Thanks!



The floppies could be bad or of the wrong format.

However if you want to try another 5.25" drive I should have a few left
overs

(360k)
..

If you are in the USA I'd ship you a tested on for the price of postage


my

juno

email address is philo565


  #4  
Old April 26th 09, 07:45 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
sinoth
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 2
Default Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive

On Apr 26, 12:36*pm, "GlowingBlueMist" wrote:
I don't remember the inside of that model but many drives of those days used
rubber belts between the drive and the spindle. *They stretch and loose the
ability to properly drive things with age, let along being exposed to high
temperatures.


I've made two videos showing this drive in operation. The belts seem
fine and not too loose. The first video shows the drive powering on,
and shows that the disk is in fact spinning when inserted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TEwBo53W8U&fmt=22

This second video shows what happens when I issue a "UTIL VOLID,D80"
command, which should be giving me the disk volume information. The
read head moves for a moment in and then immediately back out, and the
computer shows a "INTR 2 ERR".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQu8rVysF1w&fmt=22
  #5  
Old April 26th 09, 10:25 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
GlowingBlueMist[_2_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 57
Default Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive

sinoth wrote:
On Apr 26, 12:36 pm, "GlowingBlueMist" wrote:
I don't remember the inside of that model but many drives of those
days used rubber belts between the drive and the spindle. They
stretch and loose the ability to properly drive things with age, let
along being exposed to high temperatures.


I've made two videos showing this drive in operation. The belts seem
fine and not too loose. The first video shows the drive powering on,
and shows that the disk is in fact spinning when inserted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TEwBo53W8U&fmt=22

This second video shows what happens when I issue a "UTIL VOLID,D80"
command, which should be giving me the disk volume information. The
read head moves for a moment in and then immediately back out, and the
computer shows a "INTR 2 ERR".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQu8rVysF1w&fmt=22


I agree that the problem is most likely either the drive or the media but I
have seen some of the old motherboards give the same error message if the
motherboard battery is low or dead. It's remote but with a bad battery the
CMOS may not maintain the info needed to properly identify/read the drive.


  #6  
Old April 26th 09, 10:33 PM posted to alt.comp.hardware
CBFalconer
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 919
Default Hardware help on vintage IBM 5110 disk drive

sinoth wrote:

.... snip ...

I have an ancient IBM 5110 complete with disk drive, picture here :
http://sinoth.net/img/5110.jpg
The problem is I can't get the disk drive to work. I have some old
5.25" disks that probably work, and also bought some 'new' ones that
shouldn't be corrupt and I can't get the beast to read the floppies.


Also try alt.folklore.computers. You may well find some of the
designers there.

--
[mail]: Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
[page]: http://cbfalconer.home.att.net
Try the download section.


 




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