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Interchangability of HD's in PS/2 Model 30

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bluethunder

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Jan 5, 2010
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Calgary, Alberta
I was given an old HD from a PS/2. Unfortunately, the computer was thrown out after the drive was pulled, and they think there might be some files on the drive that they need. I think it was the 286 model, with a 20mb drive (not IDE)

I seem to remember from my time with MFM and RLL drives, while the drives are interchangeable, the low level format varied between control cards, and the drive would have to be formatted to the controller to work.

Is it possible to stuff this drive into another PS/2 Model 30, and retrieve the data off of it (assuming the drive isn't hosed after sitting for so long). :confused:

I've been hunting for a PS/2, but they are getting uncommon..
 
bluethunder said:
I was given an old HD from a PS/2. Unfortunately, the computer was thrown out after the drive was pulled, and they think there might be some files on the drive that they need. I think it was the 286 model, with a 20mb drive (not IDE)

I seem to remember from my time with MFM and RLL drives, while the drives are interchangeable, the low level format varied between control cards, and the drive would have to be formatted to the controller to work.

Is it possible to stuff this drive into another PS/2 Model 30, and retrieve the data off of it (assuming the drive isn't hosed after sitting for so long). :confused:

I've been hunting for a PS/2, but they are getting uncommon..
Click to expand...

The 20Mb drive you are referring to can be used in a PS/2 Model 25, Model 25 286, Model 30, or Model 30 286. There was also a 30Mb version. In the case of the 8086-based Model 30, it can only use the 20Mb drive, all the others listed can run either drive.
 
Thanks for the info..

I picked up a Model 30 (8086) off of ebay finally. Shipping is 3x what i payed for the box, but its a favor for a friend..

So, I might get that drive spun up after all.. Know in a week or so, when the box arrives.

What kinda monitor can I hook up to it? I've read that it has MCGA out put, which has the same 15 pin d-sub as VGA. Trying to find out if i can put a vga monitor on it, or not..
 
Yes, a VGA monitor works just fine with the PS/2 line. Some monitors, for whatever reason, won't sync to it though. I've got a Gateway-branded 17" CRT that won't, but both my Samsung SyncMaster 930B and generic Dell 19" LCD panels work with my Model 25 just fine.

The PS/2 line does have a blocked keying hole on the HD15 connector though, so you'll have to find a monitor cable that also has the pin missing, or cut the pin out of a cable. It doesn't do anything, so cutting it out doesn't hurt the cable when you use it with regular VGA monitors.
 
glitch said:
Yes, a VGA monitor works just fine with the PS/2 line. Some monitors, for whatever reason, won't sync to it though. I've got a Gateway-branded 17" CRT that won't, but both my Samsung SyncMaster 930B and generic Dell 19" LCD panels work with my Model 25 just fine.
Click to expand...
I encountered similar problem connecting PS/2 Model 30 to Compaq P110 monitor (21" CRT) - sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't sync.
But when I replaced the modern 14-pin VGA cable with an old, 12-pin one, the problem was gone, and it worked every time.
 
So, I got the PS/2

As with most things Ebay.. It wasn't in as good of shape as advertised... The PS has failed. I jiggered my PC XT PS inplace, to get it to power up..

Now, trying to get this POS to boot... The HD thats in it, looks like its done.. 1701 error

And the one I swap in, says boot fail

Lucky for me, the LCD I'm using does work..
 
I have had two 30MB drives with the 1701 controller failure in my 30-286.

Did you get the setup disk and setup that HD you installed? CMOS battery work?
 
Its booted now, had to use a floppy.. I can see the HD fine, just won't boot off of it.

I got 30start disk, but it doesn't have any config for the system. Type of drive, or any of that sort of thing.

Gonna try to recover what I can off of the drive before it cacks...

Not sure how to recover 20mb of stuff.. All it has is a 720k drive..
 
Somewhere in the back of my mind I recall that the PS/2 models 30 (8086) and 30-286 use the same hard drive interface, but at different interleave settings. So if you swap a hard drive from one to the other, you may need to reformat the drive before it will work.
 
They don't remember if it was a 286 or not, but since I have access to the HD now, the recovery begins tonight..

Found a piece of software called xclone that I will try..

I haven't looked online yet, but is there a way to LLF this drive (ie debug c800:0000)? Or is this a function of the ibm ps/2 startup disk that I've overlooked.

As well, does any one have a spare power supply that they would be will to sell, for the 8086 PS/2 Model 30? Mine is cooked.
 
bluethunder said:
They don't remember if it was a 286 or not, but since I have access to the HD now, the recovery begins tonight..

Found a piece of software called xclone that I will try..

I haven't looked online yet, but is there a way to LLF this drive (ie debug c800:0000)? Or is this a function of the ibm ps/2 startup disk that I've overlooked.

As well, does any one have a spare power supply that they would be will to sell, for the 8086 PS/2 Model 30? Mine is cooked.
Click to expand...

The starter diskette should have a tool for this (though I don't use the onboard drive interface, I do have a 30 286, and have seen the option somewhere in the menus of the disk. No guarantee the 8086 30 has it but I can't see why it wouldn't)
 
As a last resort, you can use a standard XT-type hard drive controller in a model 30, and then just find some way to retrofit in a 3.5" drive of your choice into the drive bay, but you may not get a good interleave: when I tried a Seagate ST-11R 8-bit ISA RLL controller in my model 30-286, it only gave me a 6:1 interleave! I'm lucky that its original proprietary hard drive still works fine, although Seagate says it is a model that doesn't exist: the ST-125L. Seagate has no definition for the "L" suffix!
 
Alright, proved me wrong. I booted up my 30-286 with the starter disk and looked...no such option that I can find.

IIRC there's a key or something you do to switch the disk into some sort of advanced mode...I forget.

Is it possible that doing an automatic configuration will LLF the drive if it finds it unreadable? Probably don't want to LLF until 100% sure all needed data is gone, just throwing it out there as a POSSIBLE idea. Without the proper drive I can't exactly test.
 
vwestlife said:
The full version of IBM's Advanced Diagnostics should include a low-level format option. You can download it here, for various different models of PS/2s:

http://www.walshcomptech.com/selectpccbbs/
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'd been looking for that.

However, no LLF option that I can see there, nor on the normal starter diskette or normal starter diskette with CTRL+A. Perhaps it's because I'm not using the internal drive interface?
 
Aha!

Boy, they bury that option on the 8530 adv diag disk, but it is there.. Hopefully it is there for you too, kishy..

what I typed was in the < >

1: Boot off of the adv disk
2: Option <0>
3: Installed devices...blah blah.. <Y>
4: 0: Run tests one time <0>
5: Select option numbers to test... 17 - One fixed disk drive(s) <17>
6: Fixed disk diagnostic menu.. 7 - Format menu <7>

And from there, conditional format, unconditional, and surface analysis..

So, for me it was <2,C> unconditional, drive C.. and I'll be damned if it isn't doing it!

Might have saved this drive, because it was in rough shape.. Needed a LLF in the worst way.
 
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