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Seagate ST-251 MLC1 on IBM-XT/286

M

MaTel

Experienced Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2008
Messages
183
Location
Hamburg, Germany
Hello,

today I got my new harddisk ( seagate st-251 mlc1 42MB ) from eBay but I have some problems with the installation. The IBM XT/286 has a original 62X1132 harddisk and floppy-controller. To configure the BIOS I boot from the original diagnostikdisk. This software ask me what type of harddisk is builtin -> type 0-47 but I don't know what type is the correct one.

Any ideas?

regards from Hamburg/Germany
M.T.V.
 
The drive parameters are:
Model Capacity Encoding
ST-251 43 MB MFM

Cylinders Heads Sectors Per Track
820 6 17

Hope this helps. Look for the same configuration in the BIOS for one that matches. If not use type 47.
 
The only? way to program the BIOS is the IBM-diagnostik-disk. But it tells me not which Type what means. I know the parameters of my hd but not what Typ 0-47 is. I have no information about this.
 
I have a table of type numbers at home. If nobody else helps you in the meantime I can provide you with that info in ~8 hours when I am home again (currently at school).
 
I've got the same drive in another kind of 286 machine. The type I use is 44.

Unfortunately, my drive is damaged and sounds drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, when turned off. The data on the disk disappears sometimes or it gets corrupted.
 
x3r13x1z said:
I've got the same drive in another kind of 286 machine. The type I use is 44.

Unfortunately, my drive is damaged and sounds drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, when turned off. The data on the disk disappears sometimes or it gets corrupted.
Click to expand...

These drives will automatically "park" the heads when powered down. They make a drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr sound when that happens. Also, there is a grounding clip on the controller board that presses against the motor spindle that can make a loud chirping sound. If you haven't already tried this, backup your drive, do a low-level format and then restore your data. Sometimes this will get the drive going again.
 
Go into the bios and see if the #47 type is User Defineable. Or pick the one closest to your drive and use it, loose a bit of drive, or change bios. I have several 286 intel bios codes with user defineable tables. During the 286-486 days I ran a pirate business selling bios code programing service.

The spin down noise you hear is also the bearings going out. They make the most noise from the bearings spinning up and spining down. We also did a lot of non approved hard drive teard down. One guy even built a "clean room" in his garage. Some of the HD's actually have an exposed bearing shaft end so if you remove the tag over the shaft end you can see the bearing shaft spinning. The bearings are not sealed. Sooo, when the bearings went dry and the HD made a lot of noise the owner would chuck the drive. We would take the drive, pull the seal, turn it upside down and then drip teflon liquid lubricant into the spinning bearing. When it shut up we ran the drive for a few hours upside down and then made up a seal and cloth "wick" to keep lubricant on the bearing. The drive was good to go again.

Just picked up three trash can computers this week, two have good Seagates, a 225 and a 251 the third is a 386 with an early seagate IDE but the bearings are bid noisey in that one.




MaTel said:
Hello,

today I got my new harddisk ( seagate st-251 mlc1 42MB ) from eBay but I have some problems with the installation. The IBM XT/286 has a original 62X1132 harddisk and floppy-controller. To configure the BIOS I boot from the original diagnostikdisk. This software ask me what type of harddisk is builtin -> type 0-47 but I don't know what type is the correct one.

Any ideas?

regards from Hamburg/Germany
M.T.V.
Click to expand...
 
BIOS types in IBM XT/276

BIOS types in IBM XT/276

Assumption: Your IBM XT/286 still has it's original IBM BIOS.

According to the first edition of Mueller's Upgrading & Repairing PC's book, the IBM XT/286 has the
following types in it's BIOS:

Code: 
Type  Cyls   Heads     WPC    Ctrl     LZ     S/T
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1     306     4       128     00h     305     17     (10.2 MB)
 2     615     4       300     00h     615     17     (20.4 MB) (eg. CMI6426, ST-4026)
 3     615     6       300     00h     615     17     (30.6 MB)
 4     940     8       512     00h     940     17     (62.4 MB)
 5     940     6       512     00h     940     17     (46.8 MB)
 6     615     4     65535     00h     615     17     (20.4 MB)
 7     462     8       256     00h     511     17     (30.7 MB)
 8     733     5     65535     00h     733     17     (30.4 MB)
 9     900     15    65535     08h     901     17     ( 112 MB)
10     820     3     65535     00h     820     17     (20.4 MB)
11     855     5     65535     00h     855     17     (35.5 MB)
12     855     7     65535     00h     855     17     (49.7 MB)
13     306     8       128     00h     319     17     (20.3 MB)
14     733     7     65535     00h     733     17     (42.6 MB)
15       0     0         0     00h       0      0     (Reserved)
16     612     4         0     00h     663     17     (20.3 MB)
17     977     5       300     00h     977     17     (40.6 MB)
18     977     7     65535     00h     977     17     (56.8 MB)
19    1024     7       512     00h    1023     17     (59.5 MB)
20     733     5       300     00h     732     17     (30.4 MB) (eg. IBM0665, ST-4038)
21     733     7       300     00h     732     17     (42.6 MB)
22     733     5       300     00h     733     17     (30.4 MB)
23     306     4         0     00h     336     17     (10.2 MB)
24     612     4       305     00h     663     17     (20.3 MB)
The ST-251 is: 820 Cyls, 6 Heads, WPC of 65535 [NONE], 17 S/T

That doesn't correspond to any of those types, and so you'll need to choose a type with a WPC of 65535, and fewer (or equal) cylinders/heads. Not all of the drive's capacity will be used, but the solution will work. Candidates are types 6, 8 and 10. Of those, type 8 gives you the least amount of capacity loss.

OTHER OPTIONS

1. Replace the IBM BIOS with a third-part one (one that supports the ST-251).
2. Have someone here create a modified IBM XT/286 BIOS - one with the parameters of the ST-251 placed an an 'unused' type (e.g. type 25).
 
He could try #1, use Disk Manager to set it up and a Dos "head auto park" program and a dos "spind down" program. That should do it. And, don't forget to run Spinrite to make sure the drive surface is good. But if he boots from a floppy he won't be able to read the HD because there is no boot sector translation run. Best to go with a bios change.





modem7 said:
Assumption: Your IBM XT/286 still has it's original IBM BIOS.

According to the first edition of Mueller's Upgrading & Repairing PC's book, the IBM XT/286 has the
following types in it's BIOS:

Code: 
Type  Cyls   Heads     WPC    Ctrl     LZ     S/T
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1     306     4       128     00h     305     17     (10.2 MB)
 2     615     4       300     00h     615     17     (20.4 MB) (eg. CMI6426, ST-4026)
 3     615     6       300     00h     615     17     (30.6 MB)
 4     940     8       512     00h     940     17     (62.4 MB)
 5     940     6       512     00h     940     17     (46.8 MB)
 6     615     4     65535     00h     615     17     (20.4 MB)
 7     462     8       256     00h     511     17     (30.7 MB)
 8     733     5     65535     00h     733     17     (30.4 MB)
 9     900     15    65535     08h     901     17     ( 112 MB)
10     820     3     65535     00h     820     17     (20.4 MB)
11     855     5     65535     00h     855     17     (35.5 MB)
12     855     7     65535     00h     855     17     (49.7 MB)
13     306     8       128     00h     319     17     (20.3 MB)
14     733     7     65535     00h     733     17     (42.6 MB)
15       0     0         0     00h       0      0     (Reserved)
16     612     4         0     00h     663     17     (20.3 MB)
17     977     5       300     00h     977     17     (40.6 MB)
18     977     7     65535     00h     977     17     (56.8 MB)
19    1024     7       512     00h    1023     17     (59.5 MB)
20     733     5       300     00h     732     17     (30.4 MB) (eg. IBM0665, ST-4038)
21     733     7       300     00h     732     17     (42.6 MB)
22     733     5       300     00h     733     17     (30.4 MB)
23     306     4         0     00h     336     17     (10.2 MB)
24     612     4       305     00h     663     17     (20.3 MB)
The ST-251 is: 820 Cyls, 6 Heads, WPC of 65535 [NONE], 17 S/T

That doesn't correspond to any of those types, and so you'll need to choose a type with a WPC of 65535, and fewer (or equal) cylinders/heads. Not all of the drive's capacity will be used, but the solution will work. Candidates are types 6, 8 and 10. Of those, type 8 gives you the least amount of capacity loss.

OTHER OPTIONS

1. Replace the IBM BIOS with a third-part one (one that supports the ST-251).
2. Have someone here create a modified IBM XT/286 BIOS - one with the parameters of the ST-251 placed an an 'unused' type (e.g. type 25).
Click to expand...
 
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