I recently managed to acquire two IBM 5170's that were due to be scrapped from a church. I opened them up for cleaning and restoration. In one, was a 1986 dated 8 MHz model that had a damaged and unusable motherboard. In the other was the oldest dated AT motherboard I have seen. The tag says July 1984, and the motherboard has two-part ISA slots rather than the later (not much later) one piece designs. Also, the 128k stacked RAM is different than the usual TI ZA1250NL. It is marked JAPAN HM48128P-2, which would seem to indicate 200 ns RAM. The RAM has a date code of 84-02. Also, the 286 is a B stepping dated 84-13 rather than newer C stepping usually seen on type 1 motherboards.
If the AT was announced August 14, 1984, then as this was manufactured in July of that year it must be a very early model indeed. The serial number is circa 13800. It is a model 099 with 512k and has a CGA card, 5170 serial/parallel port card, and the IBM floppy/hard disk controller. It has the original high density floppy drive, and, incredibly, the CMI type 2 hard drive (or a authorized replacement) that still boots. The battery pack is also interesting. It is different than later models and considering it still keeps th CMOS I initially though it was a replacement (that and the fact that it is not a regular AT Lithium battery pack seen on later models), but it has a date of 84-27 (late July of 1984) and is a perfect fit with white Velcro and a properly keyed connector. It is made by GE and says "Lithium Battery 6 Volts" and is a totally sealed rectangular unit made of gray plastic.
I find information about very early ATs to be lacking. There is little real information about them on the web or anywhere for that matter. This must be a "launch" model, and thus one of the earliest.
Does anybody else have a 5170 with a July or August dated tag, and if so what characteristics does it have? I am interested to hear opinions and information you might have.
If the AT was announced August 14, 1984, then as this was manufactured in July of that year it must be a very early model indeed. The serial number is circa 13800. It is a model 099 with 512k and has a CGA card, 5170 serial/parallel port card, and the IBM floppy/hard disk controller. It has the original high density floppy drive, and, incredibly, the CMI type 2 hard drive (or a authorized replacement) that still boots. The battery pack is also interesting. It is different than later models and considering it still keeps th CMOS I initially though it was a replacement (that and the fact that it is not a regular AT Lithium battery pack seen on later models), but it has a date of 84-27 (late July of 1984) and is a perfect fit with white Velcro and a properly keyed connector. It is made by GE and says "Lithium Battery 6 Volts" and is a totally sealed rectangular unit made of gray plastic.
I find information about very early ATs to be lacking. There is little real information about them on the web or anywhere for that matter. This must be a "launch" model, and thus one of the earliest.
Does anybody else have a 5170 with a July or August dated tag, and if so what characteristics does it have? I am interested to hear opinions and information you might have.
