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Help installing hard drive in IBM XT

G

gleegum

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Joined
Apr 7, 2016
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49
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Uruguay
Hello guys,
I have this IBM XT that is working fine, except for the hard drive, which is a Seagate ST-238R.
This drive has a broken flex, and I've tried formatting it several times with debug with no luck.

Now I recently got an old 486 with a Seagate ST-251-1 MFM drive.
I would like to know if it's possible to install this drive in the IBM with the controller that was using the ST-238R drive.
The card that came with this drive has a different connector, so I'm not sure if I can try it in the XT.

So far, I've tried formatting it from a DOS3.3 disk with debug -g=C800:5 and it asks me to format the drive, and then after a minute it stops with "ERROR---completion code 80".
I've changed the switch jumpers on the controller, the best I could get was jumper 8, jumper 3 for example tries to format the drive but after 10 seconds the error completion code 80 appears.

So I'm not sure about the jumpers configuration or maybe this drive is not supported by this card?

IBM XT controller is WD100S2-WX2A revision says "X1"
the 486 controller I wasn't able to find any info, The label looks like it says WD1006V-MM2.

01.jpg02.jpg03.jpg04.jpg05.jpg06.jpg

Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks!
 
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You'll have to use the 8-bit controller that came with the XT, you can unplug the drive with the broken flex cable and plug the cables onto the new drive. The 8-bit controller may or may not be able to format the new drive, it doesn't look like it prompted you for C/H/S parameters and/or RLL vs MFM.
 
glitch said:
You'll have to use the 8-bit controller that came with the XT, you can unplug the drive with the broken flex cable and plug the cables onto the new drive. The 8-bit controller may or may not be able to format the new drive, it doesn't look like it prompted you for C/H/S parameters and/or RLL vs MFM.
Click to expand...

That'll be partially because back then, you had to buy a different controller for RLL vs. MFM. (A WD1002A-WX2 would be MFM, for what it's worth.)

That said, looks like that one's ROM doesn't support dynamic formatting, so you'll have to look up the manual and see what the controller's preconfigured tables support. That old, it probably doesn't support a ST-251 out of the box.
 
Stone said:
He was referring to the 8-bit vs. 16-bit card edge differences between his two controllers. :)
Click to expand...

Sometimes I take the obvious for granted. Silly me. :)

If the WD1002S doesn't support dynamic configuration, ISTR that often, replacing only the BIOS PROM for the controller would enable this. I think I've got a couple of images kicking around.

In fact, TH99 appears to indicate the variability in BIOS versions for this very common controller:

This controller can be purchased with several different BIOS revisions. The Super BIOS revision includes the following features not found in other revisions: ability to format bad tracks, dual controller operation, automatic configuration, virtual drive operation, and PC/AT compatibility.
Click to expand...
 
I tried again with no jumpers and I was able to format the drive, I got the "Format Succesful!" message.
Then I did an Fdisk and it gave me a "No fixed disk", I tried to low level format again and I got the "Error---completion code 80" again. Also the drive started to make a irritating sound, so I guess the drive mechanism is busted. Maybe I can fix my other drive which has a broken flex with this flex's drive?

Now I'm trying to install another drive that came with the 486, a Seagate ST-4096, full height 80mb drive. I couldn't do a low level format, but if I type fdisk the drive starts to format, but it takes too long, I'm not sure if it's formatting or not, it keeps forever. Activity light is on, and it makes a noise.

IMG_7644.jpg
 
Chuck(G) said:
Sometimes I take the obvious for granted. Silly me. :)
Click to expand...
I hear ya', loud and clear. :)

Sometimes we need to keep in mind that there are new members wandering in here all the time. This place gets a lot of exposure, which is really good.
 
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gleegum said:
I tried again with no jumpers and I was able to format the drive, I got the "Format Succesful!" message.
Then I did an Fdisk and it gave me a "No fixed disk", I tried to low level format again and I got the "Error---completion code 80" again. Also the drive started to make a irritating sound, so I guess the drive mechanism is busted. Maybe I can fix my other drive which has a broken flex with this flex's drive?

Now I'm trying to install another drive that came with the 486, a Seagate ST-4096, full height 80mb drive. I couldn't do a low level format, but if I type fdisk the drive starts to format, but it takes too long, I'm not sure if it's formatting or not, it keeps forever. Activity light is on, and it makes a noise.
Click to expand...

FDISK doesn't format a drive; just writes partition tables.

I assume that you're using the built-in BIOS low-level formatter (e.g. G=C800:5 type).

Generally, after a drive has been LLF-ed, you need to reboot the system so that the BIOS can discover the drive.

Then, you can boot DOS and do your FDISK.
 
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