Hard drive for IBM PS/2 Model 70

[andrew_241]

Hello!

I just got an old IBM PS/2 Model 70 off of eBay, but without a hard drive. I can't seem to find anything on eBay. I need to know where I can get one of the integrated hard drive and controller that plugs into the riser card's slot opposite the floppy drive (the space seems to be reserved for a 5.25" drive), and the capacities I can expect to be supported. Does this system also accept 3.5" drives by connecting to the (identical) slot beside the floppy drive? I think I might have some more options such as MCA SCSI cards, but I don't know where I would mount a SCSI hard drive.

I'm also looking for a 25 MHz 80387 coprocessor chip.

Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[IBMMuseum]

Hello!

I just got an old IBM PS/2 Model 70 off of eBay, but without a hard drive. I can't seem to find anything on eBay. I need to know where I can get one of the integrated hard drive and controller that plugs into the riser card's slot opposite the floppy drive (the space seems to be reserved for a 5.25" drive), and the capacities I can expect to be supported. Does this system also accept 3.5" drives by connecting to the (identical) slot beside the floppy drive? I think I might have some more options such as MCA SCSI cards, but I don't know where I would mount a SCSI hard drive.

I'm also looking for a 25 MHz 80387 coprocessor chip.

Any advice?

Thanks!

You are looking for a "DBA (Direct Bus Attachment) ESDI" drive. They are in several sizes from 30Mb to 160Mb, but all in a 3-1/2" wide enclosure. I don't know what drive IBM had in mind with the outer slide, but I've never seen anything to use it.

For 25MHz it means you have the 8570-Axx submodel (for the uninformed, he means a 80387DX-25 coprocessor)?...

 

[Maverick1978]

Curious - did you buy one of the $70 jobs from ebay seller Rawko? I was looking at picking one up for a spare, but decided against it - I've enough machines already!

As for the hard drives, probably the cheapest ones that you can find are from a guy named Martin Adams who sells on ebay - I've bought from him several times. His prices are reasonable, he combines shipping, and if he doesn't have what you're looking for listed, message him and he'll list it if he has it.

 

[andrew_241]

Curious - did you buy one of the $70 jobs from ebay seller Rawko?

Yep, that's who I got it from.

As for the hard drives, probably the cheapest ones that you can find are from a guy named Martin Adams who sells on ebay - I've bought from him several times. His prices are reasonable, he combines shipping, and if he doesn't have what you're looking for listed, message him and he'll list it if he has it.

I'll check it out! Thanks!

 

[Chromedome45]

I have a 60Meg DBA drive but can't find a mounting sled for it. Just be aware it is kind of noisy! It's yours if you want it at a reasonable price. PM me for details

 

[andrew_241]

Well, I purchased a few things to try and get this PS/2 (model 8570-A21) working, but I've hit a few stumbling blocks:

First, I obtained a 60 MB hard drive off eBay (part numbers 90X8627, 6128256, a WD-387T), but the diagnostic program on the reference disk gives an error when trying to test it. It's an ESDI DBA drive with the appropriate interface though. I'd like to know the part numbers for all the ESDI DBA hard drives that are compatible with this Model 70 (especially the number for the 160 MB version; at one point, I had an IBM reference manual listing all the parts that were compatible, but I've lost the link). Trying to boot the system with this hard drive installed results in a "controller reset failure" error (number 10483). Does this mean the drive is bad, or merely incompatible?

Second is the memory expansion board (part number 49F5507). It's a 32-bit MCA board, but I get "PS/2 adapter ID mismatch" (error number 165) with it installed. Does this mean the board is incompatible with my model?

Third, I'm looking for a 16-bit 10BASE-T (or even 100BASE-TX) MCA ethernet card. I have a 32-bit MCA 10/100 ethernet card (part number 07L6601), but I haven't installed it yet, as I want to use an XGA-2 board for video, and a memory expansion card to bring the total system memory up to 16MB. As both those cards are 32-bit, this leaves only the 16-bit expansion slot available.

Thanks again for any help!

 

[andrew_241]

Ok, I've found the IBM PS/2 Hardware Maintenance Manual I was looking for that has the part numbers for the hard drives:

60MB: 6128294
80MB: 56F8894
120MB: 6128291
160MB: 56F8895

Now the only problem is finding either the 120 MB or 160 MB version, as well as six additional 2MB 80ns memory modules (part number 92F0103) for reasonable prices, and a 16-bit MCA ethernet card.

 

[IBMMuseum]

Ok, I've found the IBM PS/2 Hardware Maintenance Manual I was looking for that has the part numbers for the hard drives:

60MB: 6128294
80MB: 56F8894
120MB: 6128291
160MB: 56F8895

Now the only problem is finding either the 120 MB or 160 MB version, as well as six additional 2MB 80ns memory modules (part number 92F0103) for reasonable prices, and a 16-bit MCA ethernet card.

There was also 30 and 40Mb sizes, although not specifically put on the Model 70 as stock. In overall reliability, the 30Mb were worse than higher capacities. All capacities also have the same microchannel identifier (since the "DBA ESDI" drives have "Direct Bus Attachment" in their acronym, they are more of a "hardcard" expansion from the system), and can be used interchangeably on the PS/2s that host them.

And, with some exceptions (like the Model 50-021, where there is a different riser with a BIOS extension to connect a DBA ESDI drive), bend your mind around plugging in a Model 50Z DBA ESDI riser and drive into a non-DBA ESDI PS/2 system, and being able to get it to boot...

(of course with the right ADF, and going through a system configuration)...

 

[IBMMuseum]

...I have a 32-bit MCA 10/100 ethernet card (part number 07L6601), but I haven't installed it yet...

You won't be able to get it to work. It is for the RS/6000 stations based on microchannel, and is actually an adaptation to a PCI Ethernet chipset on the adapter. Only an Olicom NIC (16-bit microchannel) is advertised as being 100BT to work in pure MCA systems, but don't believe the claim on bandwidth.

You'll do better to get a good 10Bx Ethernet (exclude the Token Ring from looking over http://ibmmuseum.com/ohlandl/networking_index.html), recognizing that 16Mbps TR and 155Mbps optical aren't really easy ways to connect to a conventional consumer network...

 

[njroadfan]

I still have a 60MB PS/2 HD for sale here. Its the same model as the one you had trouble with off of ebay, it may be worth a shot to try it. I had no problems swapping it among the PS/2 Model 50s I had here many years ago.

 

[andrew_241]

Thanks to everyone who replied! Good information!