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IBM 5155 Questions

Ole Juul said:
As for the blue screws, mine has them. However they seem somewhat faded. ... Can anybody else confirm an impermanence or variation in the finish of the screws?
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The blue screws in my 5155 are pictured at http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/5155/photo/5155_mine.htm
There is quite a bit of variation.

Ole Juul said:
Were there different kinds used?
Click to expand...
Yes. See the following photo (half height drives in a 5160).
http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/misc/Slide_plates.JPG
 
Ole Juul said:
I assume that article was making fun of salesmen
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Oh, I agree the article was trying to be funny. Its just that neither of my systems came w/ the clip. They are probably lost in the sands of time. A closer look at my computers screws shows them to be blue TINGED/Faded so I guess that takes care of that issue! ;)
 
Shadow Lord said:
Its just that neither of my systems came w/ the clip. They are probably lost in the sands of time.
Click to expand...
Mine is missing too.
It is the kind of item that a technician would remove during a servicing of some kind, and then not refit it because they viewed the item as optional.
Or perhaps they needed something to impress the kids (or management).
 
Last edited:
My issue is with the screws. IBM used a fine pitch screw in the 5155 presumably due to the thinner sheet metal used. The PC and the XT used heavier sheet metal and therefore were able to use 6-32 screws. However, the thinner sheetmetal in the 5155 could not adequitly hold a course thread. In fact, the fine thread screw threads are a little weak as well. I've stripped out a couple of them without much effort and had to resort to a larger screw. IBM should have reinforced this area, or used "PEM Nuts" or some other insert.
 
To those asking about the blue screws... My 5155 has them, and they are faded in places (as if painted with watercolors that dry unevenly in spots), and they do still screw in cleanly and provide a firm grip.
 
Code: 
title   Renew Thread

dosseg
.model small
.stack 100h

.data
_message db 'Renew Thread',0dh,0ah,'$'

.code
main  proc
      mov    ax,@data
      mov    ds,ax

      mov    ah,9
      mov    dx,offset _message
      int    21h

      mov    ax,4C00h
      int    21h
main  endp
end   main

Hey guys, I'm renewing this thread because I've got another question relating to the 5155.

First of all, I don't know (or care for that matter) if the assembly above is correct, so no need to tell me my code is bad... :)

My question is: What is a program for copying programs to the 5155? There's ADTPro for Apple II, so I assume there's something like that for IBM devices.

Thanks again!
WMH
 
WMH said:
My question is: What is a program for copying programs to the 5155? There's ADTPro for Apple II, so I assume there's something like that for IBM devices.
Click to expand...

It's not about IBM but rather the operating system you are running. :) Presumably it will be DOS, so the COPY command will be in the shell. However that only does 64K at a time so it is faster to use XCOPY which usually comes as a utility. I prefer CP like the *nix command. There is an endless choice on Simtel and elsewhere.

As for the input link, that could be TCP/IP networking, or the wonderful Interlnk/Intersver which is included with DOS 6.0. That allows you to automatically mount remote drives and run remote programs - works on serial or parallel with special cable. Instructions are included with the OS distro. All the above commands work with Interlnk.
 
Ole Juul said:
It's not about IBM but rather the operating system you are running. :) Presumably it will be DOS, so the COPY command will be in the shell. However that only does 64K at a time so it is faster to use XCOPY which usually comes as a utility. I prefer CP like the *nix command. There is an endless choice on Simtel and elsewhere.

As for the input link, that could be TCP/IP networking, or the wonderful Interlnk/Intersver which is included with DOS 6.0. That allows you to automatically mount remote drives and run remote programs - works on serial or parallel with special cable. Instructions are included with the OS distro. All the above commands work with Interlnk.
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. I can transfer files with TCP/IP.


billdeg said:
I put a high density 3.5" in my 5155. I can always put the orig drive in later.
Bd
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It'll take a standard 3.5" HD drive? I had no idea.
 
For ADTPro-style computer-to-computer file transfers between PCs, I use FWL (FastWire LX), which I got off my PC-compatible Zenith MiniSport. (The program is probably as defunct as the computer, so I could send it to you.) Laplink is popular, but I don't think it's free. File Maven is a free program that should do the trick. (You'll need a null modem cable for any of these.)
 
billdeg said:
I put a high denisity 3.5" in my 5155. I can always put the orig drive in later.
Click to expand...
WMH said:
It'll take a standard 3.5" HD drive? I had no idea.
Click to expand...
As supplied, the IBM floppy controller (pictured below) in the 5155 is not capable of HD operation.
So that suggests that Billdeg's 5155 does not contain the original floppy controller.

5150_later_diskette_adapter.jpg
 
modem7 said:
As supplied, the IBM floppy controller (pictured below) in the 5155 is not capable of HD operation.
So that suggests that Billdeg's 5155 does not contain the original floppy controller.
Click to expand...
But it should drive it as if it were a 720k drive.
 
Everyone, thanks for all the suggestions!

Gib, seems like you've get a couple of good options there. If I need a copy of that program, I'll send you a PM.

modem7, thanks for the link. Looks like there's a few good options on that page.
 
Later version of dos (although you can fit it on a bootable floppy depending on drives and supported formats) but natively intersvr.exe and interlnk.exe were included in dos to allow you to transfer files via null modem and share a hard drive.
 
modem7 said:
As supplied, the IBM floppy controller (pictured below) in the 5155 is not capable of HD operation.
So that suggests that Billdeg's 5155 does not contain the original floppy controller.
Click to expand...

Ah yes, that little detail.....I put in a floppy controller capable of handling a high density disk as "A". For this set up if anyone cares I use DOS 3.3 by habit.

Some on this thread may not see it this way if they're newer to the IBM PC line, but adding a 3.5 disk to any PC / XT is well documented and nothing special. The issue you're going to run into with my set up is when you try to run newer software...just because you can get it on a disk and boot up a 5155 (IBM XT portable) does not mean you can run the program. Case in point imagedsk does not work very well here. Nor will Windows 1.0 or most things made for the PS/2 line. The 3.5 drive is simply a convenience to port programs between the two drive formats, the 5155 is a "portable disk converter". Otherwise it's confined to old PC/XT software unless you follow whatever upgrade path you'd follow on an XT to add capability.

bd
 
I forget all too often using pkzip and pkunzip in dos using the span option and keeping track of my xx floppies in order to feed into the other system. Sure works well as a simple no hardware solution. Also depending on hardware and dos versions the parallel zip drive saved me a ton of time on older systems but I'm not sure I used it on anything older than a 386.
 
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