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Happiness in Geeksville!

bettablue said:
... Next on my list is something I found on modem7's web site. And, the cost of doing this will be a LOT less too. Of course it won't be as simple (or complicated, which ever way you look at it) as connecting directly to a network, but it will work, all the same. I was thinking about going the zip disk rout. I found a parallel zip drive for only $10.00 and some zip disks starting at only 2 cents. With the software mentioned on modem7's site, it look like I can move files over pretty easily and effectively. Due to my desk's arrangement, I'll just need to an additional parallel cable to connect it to the 2 systems, seperately, of course. ...
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The parallel Zip drive works very well with the 5150, it's almost like having a hard drive albeit slower and you can't boot from it.
 
twolazy said:
Look for 3com 3c509's aka etherlink III cards. Come in 8 and 16 bit. I believe the 16 bit cards work in an 8 bit slot.
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Now that is inormation I can use. What kind of functioality will be gained by adding the network card? Can it be used to create a network bood from a shard drive? Or will it only allow my to access files stored on a fat16 partition? Either way will be fine, as long as I can start using the old man.

Depending on the answer, I have one scoped out and am ready to purchase it today. Then I promise, I'll leave y'all be for a while. I know I've driven you all crazy, so again thank you for all of your help. Hopefully, I can be of service to some of you one day.
 
That is really appreciated. I have seveal options that can be useful now. I am definitely going to be getting a zip drive. We used to have one, but while we had some stuff in storage, the unit was broken into and that was one of the things they took. At the time it was no big deal, but now that I need it, it agrivates me that I have to out and buy a new one. Depending on what functionality I can get with the network adapter, I may get one of those too. Both the adapter and zip drive along with some zip disks will cost a grand total of $25.00!
 
Buying a network card IMHO is THE best way to go. I will even put in a little plug in here for Brutman.

You will still need to make a boot disk with the utils, but, check out mTCP: http://www.brutman.com/mTCP/mTCP.html
All you will need to get is a network card and it's packet driver (http://www.crynwr.com/).

Mainly the purpose for all this in your case is to get FTP up and running (you could also get ircjr on there and come visit us on irc :p). If your main machine is Windows, I love Filezilla FTP server (http://filezilla-project.org/). This is the easiest way to transfer files over to it. I would also recommend getting an XT-IDE board and a hard drive, and find a way to mount it non-permanently).
 
The idea of a "removable" hard disk sounds interesting. Is there a hard drive controller with some kind of external connector? I saw somethint too about using a flash drive in place of a hard disk. Something that small might fit inside the 5150's case. Maybe even attach it to the side of the power supply or even on the controller card itself. That would be an interesting upgrade.
 
bettablue said:
The idea of a "removable" hard disk sounds interesting. Is there a hard drive controller with some kind of external connector? I saw somethint too about using a flash drive in place of a hard disk. Something that small might fit inside the 5150's case. Maybe even attach it to the side of the power supply or even on the controller card itself. That would be an interesting upgrade.
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Well, here is one example of an IDE to Compact Flash adapter: http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad44midecf.asp

I have used a similar device several times before and it works well. I have not used the specific model referenced nor have I done it with a 5150 plus 8bit IDE adapter. But for $10 for a 2GB "hard drive" plus about $30 for an adapter, it'll still be cheaper than a correct era hard drive.
 
GottaLottaStuff said:
The only "IBM-PC-XT-8-bit-ISA-Ethernet-Card-3COM-IE-Controller"s I could find on eBay were over $100 and have token ring (BNC) connectors. You do NOT want these. They will not work with a modern router, and if they do, I'm pretty sure someone here will send you one if you'll pay shipping. They are very common and fairly useless. :)
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Token ring cards did not use BNC connectors. They used a nine-pin D type connector or a jack that accepts an RJ-45 plug. The card you found on eBay *is* clearly Ethernet, and it supports both ThinNet (using the BNC connector) or an external transceiver using the AUI port.

This is fairly common knowledge.
 
strollin said:
The parallel Zip drive works very well with the 5150, it's almost like having a hard drive albeit slower and you can't boot from it.
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Ah, but you need the right drivers.

For an 8088 or 8086 the 'Palmzip' drivers work. The Iomega Guest drivers (what came with the Zip) might require a V20 or 80286 CPU depending on which version you have.

For the original OP - Zip drives have been discussed here extensively in the not so distant past. Use the search function on the forum or Google.
 
twolazy said:
Look for 3com 3c509's aka etherlink III cards. Come in 8 and 16 bit. I believe the 16 bit cards work in an 8 bit slot.
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Etherlink III cards are known to require an 80286 processor. A NEC V20 might work.

For an 8 bit PC or XT you need one of the following:

  • Intel 8/16
  • NE1000
  • 3Com 3C503
  • Western Digital/SMC 8003 series (be careful to get an Ethernet version, not Lattisnet!)

Others might work - there were a lot of cards out there. But you need something that is known to work in an 8 bit slot and that has drivers that will work on the 8088 or 8086 CPU.
 
I have a friend coming over tomorrow to clean out the my floppy drivves just in case there is a problem. He's been working in computer repair for over 30 years and knows the drives well. He's going to open the computer to clean and lube them both with a graphite lube. I'll let you know if there's a difference. He looked at the computer today and did say the drives are fairly dirty. He said that after a good cleaning, they should be like new. He's going to check their calibration while he's at it.
 
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