IBM PS/2 9595 with Roland MPU-IMC (mega awesome super IBM)

[EverythingIBM]

I finally got the 9595 after being proxyed over (it had to hop around the states a bit).
I'm shocked at the condition... it looks brand new, and there wasn't even any dust inside (fans are all clean). After cleaning the front panel thoroughly, it shines like a fresh Model M.
--> I got this 9595 instead of the upgraded 9585 for $999 because this one has a blue badge, it was WAY cheaper, and I wanted to configure it myself...

MT-32 with breakout interface sitting on top.

The fellow who originally got this said it came from some office. It apparently was used for faxes and telecommunications (it had a sticker on the front from the company who configured it as such). However, it couldn't have possibly been used that much considering there is no dust.
IN FACT, the front LED panel still has the safety tape on it! I'm leaving it on, just because you don't see that very often.

Originally it had a 486 complex (with no cache as IBM seems to hate putting cache on any 486 machine they build). I got the P60 complex in there, with a nice FDIV bugged chip. It has 64 MB of RAM, because I could only source four 8MB SIMM FRUs. I would have got four more, but only four were in stock...
It would be awesome to have 256 MB of RAM in it some day.

Top to bottom: Corvette SCSI, MPU-IMC, SMC NIC, XGA-2.

Anyways, I'll have to get around to putting windows on it some time later next week (as well as reconfiguring the IML with the ADFs for the new cards-- which have tested OK on the model 56). I have spare U320 drives that I can hook up to the corvette when my other cables arrive.
ADFmania.

It's not the quietest computer around (especially with two quantums), but it's not the noisiest either. It's acceptable for what it is...

The 9229 IntelliStation's front bezel comes off in the exact same manner as the 9595....

Front bezel has two little hooks which make the bottom flip out towards you-- and it also has a tool-less HDD caddy, with pieces that snap out just like PS/2s-- although I'd argue that it's even less tool-less than a PS/2...

I just wanted to explain that bit for people who haven't seen a modern IBM before and think that they don't make computers the same way.

 

[PeterNC]

That is a really cool machine! I recommend replacing the MT-32 with a CM-500 / CM-300 / CM-32P / CM-64 so it matches the color of the 9595 better.

 

[High_Treason]

Yawn.

To each his own I guess.

 

[NeXT]

I got this 9595 instead of the upgraded 9585 for $999 because this one has a blue badge

That better be a typo.
Do everyone a massive favor and photograph/scan, take dimensions or otherwise get the 5.25" peripheral bezel ready so it could be duplicated by others.
Also, get the cached SCSI card.

 

[Denniske1976]

Wow, that is one mega awesome super IBM

You gonna do Windows? :-( That need OS/2 Warp 4 Connect or something... not Windows

 

[EverythingIBM]

That is a really cool machine! I recommend replacing the MT-32 with a CM-500 / CM-300 / CM-32P / CM-64 so it matches the color of the 9595 better.

I was thinking about that, but then the MT-32 also has the LCD screen (which the 9595 does too), so I thought the two screens were neat. I could get the 9595 to say: "INST BKZD"

That better be a typo.
Do everyone a massive favor and photograph/scan, take dimensions or otherwise get the 5.25" peripheral bezel ready so it could be duplicated by others.
Also, get the cached SCSI card.

Well it was this one here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-PS-2-Server-95-8595-9595-MCA-Collectors-Piece-Upgraded-Loaded-With-Extras-/281082722315
It doesn't have the blue badge because it is an upgraded 9585... which is the same as a 9595 more or less.

Yeah sure, I can do some photos and get the dimensions next week. Probably the easiest solution would be to cast a mold of it-- but I've never done it before. Although I was considering trying out mold casting (I had a few things in mind).

After studying all of the PS/2 SCSI cards, the corvette is probably the best in terms of supporting larger hard disk drives-- also it has the 68 pin connector (which is good because I'm going to throw in 68 pin U320s later). Those 50-pin quantums have noisy bearings, like all quantums. I guess quaxtors don't...

It came with a SPOCK card, but man that thing was weird and limited.

Wow, that is one mega awesome super IBM

You gonna do Windows? :-( That need OS/2 Warp 4 Connect or something... not Windows

Windows has the best DOS support. I could dual boot I guess, but that's going to take some time to figure out.

 

[PeterNC]

I sometimes do a manual dual boot: one HDD with one OS, another HDD with another OS. I then physically switch the cable around when changing OS to boot.

 

[NeXT]

Yeah sure, I can do some photos and get the dimensions next week. Probably the easiest solution would be to cast a mold of it-- but I've never done it before. Although I was considering trying out mold casting (I had a few things in mind).

It's easier to 3D print them though the latch tabs at the end you would have to redesign with screws because you can't really print that. Also, if we get the proper spacing We might be able to just take blanking plates and cut a rectangular hole in the right place.

 

[EverythingIBM]

What a royal pain. Swinging out the PSU while the computer is on its side and not standing up-- and accidentally agitating the PSU can cause the hinge or hinges to bend.
--> that's what happened to me when I was finished and I had to bend it back.

WARNING: I have just thoroughly analyzed the 9595's power supply, and it uses a multitude of TAICON capacitors. The primaries are Marcon (which are high quality, but old. Marcon doesn't exist anymore). TAICON capacitors are low quality garbage, they'll have to be removed ASAP. Just a warning to anyone who uses 9595s and thinks the PSUs are better than they are. I must admit, even I thought IBM would do better than that.

So getting down to business, since my SCA68 connector arrived, I crimped it on a standard 68 pin U320 cable.

First problem, this particular IBM SCSI CD drive is so long, that adding a 50 pin to 68 pin adapter will prevent the PSU from swinging back in. However, I wanted this specific SCSI CD drive because it has better features than some of the later ones (physically and aesthetically). So as you can see, I wasn't able to use this combo:

So instead I had to reconnect the card-edge to 50-pin cable and hook it up exclusively to the CD drive:

Finally you can see both SCSI cables connected to the corvette:

What really ticks me off is how IBM used (and still uses) the oddest receiving connector. SCA68 and cardedge??? Come on. Not a standard 68 pin and 50 pin?

And there we have the guts all swung back in, and now the hot P60 complex doesn't have any cables in its way:

Finally the little DFHS that was installed (7200 RPM @ 2GB, for any who don't know this already, it was one of, if not, the first 7200 RPM HDD):

I have just powered on the system and it seems to boot up fine-- the SCSI drive was even initiated after the controller sent the signal, so my cable must be working. MAN is this thing quieter without those quantums. The DFHS unfortunately has a bit of hum to the HDD, so I definitely wouldn't mind hunting for a 68 pin SCSI HDD that's 3GB or under. But that'll be for later.

Well I'm off to do some playing with this thing. Finally.

---------------------

And for retro-Johnny, here are the photos of the 5.25 bezel cover (I'll have to do the measurements when I find some sort of ruler):
FRONT:

FRONT LEFT CLOSEUP:

FRONT RIGHT CLOSEUP:

BACK:

BACK LEFT CLOSEUP:

BACK RIGHT CLOSEUP:

 

[EverythingIBM]

My modded SCSI cable operates and works flawlessly after more tests.

It was when I was trying to find some drivers for the corvette to load up windows 95 (which I still haven't figured out), I found a utility to remap sectors of any SCSI HDD to bring them down to a lower size! I've just successfully remapped a 15K 73GB U320 Cheetah (ST373454LW) to 2GB-- which is 4404489 sectors.

I'm not sure what 3.94 GBs would equate to in old sector sizing, so I just read and used the DFHS's 2GB sector count. That's fine for now anyways.

The Cheetah displayed -18024 sectors in the utility, I'm guessing it doesn't scale up to 73GB. This remapping of the sectors was done under DOS with an Adaptec 39160. I ran it in a P4 northwood system on a regular 32-bit PCI port. I am surprised there were no problems with the [rather new] bus talking to the hardware through 98's abstraction layers. I still am trying to figure out how to get the IBM PCI audio adapter working under 98 on that system-- but that's a completely different topic not related to the 9595.

So I got the Cheetah in yet [another] windows 7 computer to partition and transfer over a windows 95 install, because I'm sick and tired of trying to get the 95B boot diskette to talk to the IBM SCSI CD drive. And hey, it'll allow me to modify it as well (such as removing internet craplorer).

The reason why I switched from the DFHS to the Cheetah is because the Cheetah is quieter and faster. Of course I'd prefer the DFHS if only it was a tad quieter. But the cheetah has a seek LED on the front which will shine through the 9595's case-- which solves the problem of not having a seek LED! Yeah kind of interesting, not too many HDDs with onboard seek LEDs these days.

Anywho, with this newfound power of remapping U320 hard disks, I am ecstatic. I'm surprised not many people bring this up since it eliminates the problem of trying to find old SCSI drives. It can be used not just for PS/2s, but any old computer that refuses to behave with larger disks.

 

[NeXT]

WARNING: I have just thoroughly analyzed the 9595's power supply, and it uses a multitude of TAICON capacitors. The primaries are Marcon (which are high quality, but old. Marcon doesn't exist anymore). TAICON capacitors are low quality garbage, they'll have to be removed ASAP. Just a warning to anyone who uses 9595s and thinks the PSUs are better than they are. I must admit, even I thought IBM would do better than that.

I think you are jumping to a conclusion there.
It's pretty safe to assume that Taicon paid more attention to their product in the 90's, otherwise model 95's would of been dropping like flies well over 10 years ago.

Of course I'd prefer the DFHS if only it was a tad quieter. But the cheetah has a seek LED on the front which will shine through the 9595's case-- which solves the problem of not having a seek LED!

The activity signal is present on the front panel PCB, add a duo LED and you can save yourself going over the edge of the Overkill cliff with a 75gb drive. >link<

 

[EverythingIBM]

I think you are jumping to a conclusion there.
It's pretty safe to assume that Taicon paid more attention to their product in the 90's, otherwise model 95's would of been dropping like flies well over 10 years ago.

The activity signal is present on the front panel PCB, add a duo LED and you can save yourself going over the edge of the Overkill cliff with a 75gb drive. >link<

Well there have been reports of 9595 PSUs randomly dying, and that makes sense if they are littered with TAICON. I bet the voltages are disturbingly out of spec.
The duo-coloured LED is a good idea-- constant green with occassional orange flashing for HDD activity. Sounds like a fun project anyways.

I ended up using the 73GB 15K U320 drive and downsizing it to 2GB because it is way quieter than the DFHS. Well quieter in the sense the bearings don't make any noise-- I noticed the speed of 15K causes the thing to vibrate a bit-- going to need to use some rubber stops.
Besides it was a free drive which I rescued for free; and I didn't have any other plans for it.
--> another benefit is that I don't have to wait for deleting or scanning files, it's super quick. Such as... having to crash 95 when it hangs and then having to a scan disk afterwards.

After running calculator, I got the infamous 1.333739... FDIV error. YES!!! I am super happy that it is indeed a bugged P60.

Click here for a closeup of the outputted number if it matters to you.

Also it's at this point I'd like to explain the SCSI CD drive in more detail. The audio jack is one of the ones with the metal ring opposed to pure plastic (which I suppose is a bit vain as audio jacks can be swapped out, but it's also an older 2x drive). The NICE THING about it being 2x is that I don't have to wait for the CD to spin up, as is the case with 24x. Another thing is that the tray has two tabs on the left, meant for mounting CDs in sideways, but still neat. I've never felt as content with drives that lack CD tabs:

So with all of that in mind, I'll now get to the next frustration. I DID have the MPU-IMC working flawlessly in the Model 56-- but this time upon trying to run bitmap bros. GODS, I can't get it to respond.
The first time I was brainless and forgot to add a MPU-401 compatible device to device manager and set the IRQ to 7 (which windows wanted it to be 9: maybe that's why Roland produced them out of the factory jumpered to 9). So after adding that in device manager and trying to load GODS for the second time, I still got no response to the MT-32. So not a problem, could be an issue with DOS: I proceeded to hook up the Roland SC-88 to the MPU-IMC and play a general midi file: because an SC-88 is a general midi compliant device... I suppose you can hack an MT-32 to play GM too, but that's another worm hole.
SO AFTER starting up a random midi file, windows 95 just locks up, I leave it for about a minute and then windows 95 must have imploded so hard that it caused the screen to go black (and which case I got fed up and just powered off the computer).

So with all of that in mind, the only possible conclusions I can make (as it's too late to do further troubleshooting) is that:
#1 the ADF file wasn't loaded properly with the autoconfig
#2 the MPU-IMC somehow randomly died, which I don't think is the case since the system saw it and demanded an ADF
#3 windows 95
#4 windows 95
#5 I'm not doing something right which I did on the model 56
#6 the PS/2 95 is some sort of exception that can't properly use an MPU-IMC

Maybe my installation of 95 OSR 2.1 MSDN is just not a good copy. If I can't get it to work, I'll just copy the junk off of my 95 disc I guess and reinstall the whole schebang.

Another clarification I would like to address is that XGA-2 performed perfectly under all of the Mode X stuff I threw at it-- it looks like it's just the PS/2E 9533 that has buggy Mode X support: of course it's not MCA so that is expected.

Any suggestions on the MPU matter will be appreciated. It's probably going to take another weekend just to get the MPU-IMC figured out on this thing haha. But at least it's fun-- the fun runs out when a problem becomes impossible to solve, of course...

 

[EverythingIBM]

So I've been thinking over the problem throughout the day and here's some of the things I'm going to try:
#1 Attempt to install the windows 3.1 / windows 95 specific MPU-401 drivers made for microchannel. My install of 95 could be dumb to the point where it's trying to reference an ISA MPU-401.
#2 Jumper the MPU-IMC to IRQ5, as windows 95 likes IRQ7 for its printer obsession (curious it did prompt for a printer setup when I first installed it, I thought it was odd that microsoft would demand a printer setup for a fresh install).
#3 take a quick peek to see what's happening in the "system partition".
#4 manually try the "copy an option diskette" (I know Roland's manual states to install the ADF before installing the adapter, but I don't think that's actually relevant as I never did it last time and it worked).
#5 confirm what address the card is set to (I set the IRQ, but I never bothered with the addressing yet). Defaults are:
0330H (1330H)
0331H (1331H)

There's a possibility it's not compatible with the model 95 for some reason, although I wouldn't be able to confirm because no one else with a model 95 said anything about attempting to install an MPU-IMC to it.
Something is definitely wrong with the configuration as Windows 95 shouldn't have had that bad of a crash (but I'm starting to disdain that OS).

 

[njroadfan]

Originally it had a 486 complex (with no cache as IBM seems to hate putting cache on any 486 machine they build). I got the P60 complex in there, with a nice FDIV bugged chip. It has 64 MB of RAM, because I could only source four 8MB SIMM FRUs. I would have got four more, but only four were in stock...
It would be awesome to have 256 MB of RAM in it some day.

IBM seemed to hate putting in a real 486 in most of their PS/2 line up to begin with! Most of them are tarted up 386s with 16-bit addressing limits . I could never figure out IBM's world of SCSI. They kept on inventing those annoying non-standard connectors ensuring their MCA cards would be dirt cheap and mostly useless. Whats so hard about putting on a 50-pin connector?

 

[EverythingIBM]

IBM seemed to hate putting in a real 486 in most of their PS/2 line up to begin with! Most of them are tarted up 386s with 16-bit addressing limits . I could never figure out IBM's world of SCSI. They kept on inventing those annoying non-standard connectors ensuring their MCA cards would be dirt cheap and mostly useless. Whats so hard about putting on a 50-pin connector?

IBM actually didn't invent the alternative connectors on the corvette-- they're just a standard 68 SCA female connector, with a male 50 pin card edge connector. HOWEVER, what's not standard is how they mixed those connectors with U320 connectors, and 50 pin ribbon connectors. They still continued to do this even on modern xSeries.

--> IBM kept on making 486 machines without cache, including the 701C thinkpads, the PS/1s, Aptivas, and loads of others. In fact, you'll be hard-pressed to find any 486-equipped IBM with cache.
The SLC2 chips actually do outperform most 486es (such as the PS/2E 9533), but as usual, they don't have any external cache-- at least there's some on-die which is one reason why they're faster than a regular 486. Of course you can buy an Alaris board which can do 512K of cache: we found one for $20, but most are like $200+, which is way too much.

 

[NeXT]

If I recall, the Type 2 CPU complex was designed specifically for operating in a server environment under certain but common conditions where cache generally wasn't needed. The Type 1 was your general use complex that you COULD add cache to and the Type 3 and 4 were essentially redesigned type 1 and 2's. Most people who bought a 95 didn't use them as a workstation. That only came years later when there was a demand for fast MCA machines for "nostalgia".

 

[EverythingIBM]

If I recall, the Type 2 CPU complex was designed specifically for operating in a server environment under certain but common conditions where cache generally wasn't needed. The Type 1 was your general use complex that you COULD add cache to and the Type 3 and 4 were essentially redesigned type 1 and 2's. Most people who bought a 95 didn't use them as a workstation. That only came years later when there was a demand for fast MCA machines for "nostalgia".

It's still something to wonder at why IBM didn't add 486 cache on personal machines like the 701C thinkpad or the PS/1s. Here is the lonely cachless DX4 present on all 701C boards:

Yeah, one reason why 9595s wouldn't be used as home computers is their $20K price tag, or whatever ridiculous amount it was. Even the 9595 I bought as previously mentioned was used as some telecommunications router.
Here's when it had the "intervoice" sticker on it, along with the tape drive, and the useless MCA phone cards:

On the flip side, I get irritated when people think it's a nostalgia thing when I play around with old computers from time to time. I wasn't even around when PS/2s were released! Computer hardware is a recent interest of mine-- and it's difficult to obtain when you have to wade through a sea of collectors, hoarders, and nostalgics willing to empty their pockets for machines that need proper caring and maintenance to keep running.
For me, I disdain collectors the most as they're the least to be concerned with the operation of the hardware.

So for the 9595 PSU recapping, I'll probably use some Chemicon KY series for the 470uF TAICONs, I'll actually have to crack the thing open to see what other values and surprises lurk inside. only 41 cents per cap, not bad:
http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?pv63=490&k=Chemicon+KY+470uf&mnonly=0&newproducts=0&ColumnSort=0&page=1&stock=1&quantity=0&ptm=0&fid=0&pageSize=25

 

[EverythingIBM]

**Update**

I was able to get the MPU-IMC talking to the MT-32, finally.
There were indeed a few problems, and like most problems, there were multiple things wrong:
#1 the IML partition actually wasn't deployed (so I was running the thing the entire time without ADF definitions, I'm surprised the NIC was detected in 95)
#2 the unamplified speakers I had hooked up to the MT-32 didn't output any sound
#3 windows 95 has some sort of beef with the MPU driver (I can't get Bitmap Bros. GODS to procure any sounds)
#4 before I solved all of the above, I had the MPU-IMC plugged into the SC-88 from my previous troubleshooting...

So I booted Lemmings 2 in restart in MS-DOS mode, and to my delight, the rev1 MT-32 started screaming buffer overflow on its panel before I even heard any audio (not necessarily a good thing, but good in the sense it was working). I plugged my headphones into the breakout adapter, and yep, it worked.

Whenever I try running GODS in restart in ms-dos mode from 95, it'll go out of windows, display a blinking cursor, then go black-- so I have to hit ctrl-alt-delete twice, machine restarts, aaaand it boots back into 95 as if nothing was ever called.
--> What I'll do is just go into restart-in-ms-dos mode manually and launch it out of prompt.
The reason why I want to do this, is to determine if GODS's beef is from windows 95, or something else.

I would also like to revise my prior statement about XGA-2, it *does* have a few graphical glitches in Lemmings 2, both on the 9595 and 9533. So regardless of ISA or MCA, they both can sometimes do weird things. Of course when lemmings 2 starts up in the game, there are no issues... it's weird and specific to certain games. To evade that I already have an MCA cirrus video card purchased (it needs some SMT work, but will be repaired just fine).

XGA-2 is rather stupid in that regard. Come on, can't even make it run Mode X 100%, pathetic. PS/2s are indeed probably one of the worst platform for gaming: but in this scenario, the MPU-IMC is why I am using this system for specific games.

There were other weird problems that surfaced when I was troubleshooting-- just as I was about to copy lemmings 2 from the 300 PL, the fantastic G70 CRT decided it doesn't want to detect a VGA port or display anything, anymore. So I had to lug my spare 6537-00N CRT and use that for now. Originally I thought the voodoo2 had a component on the passthrough short out (as dead voodoos will still pass through pictures), plugged it into the 2D card, same thing.
--> the G70 would sometimes pulse the screen every odd hour and do weird things like degauss if you turned it off and didn't let it go into sleep mode (which I mentioned awhile back on a different thread). I really want to get that CRT running again because it wouldn't "breathe" when switching over from a dark screen to a light screen, and had a slightly blue-tinted picture which I enjoyed.

The troubleshooting is nearing to an end, and I almost have this computer operating properly. After it is set up correctly, I'm placing some rubber stops on the caddy for the 15K U320 drive. I was amused when the PS/2 was able to see the cheetah's model (although I guess all standard SCSI devices can). One cool thing about SCSI is that it is cross-compatible for the most part.

At least I'll sleep easier tonight.

 

[Maverick1978]

Nice thread... As a 9595 owner, I definitely appreciate this particular piece of hardware, and I'm DEFINITELY drooling over that 5.25" adapter that you have! Curious though - you really dropped a grand on this thing? (and yes, it is in GORGEOUS shape!)

I lucked into mine 9595-ONT: 2 available in the seller's possession (identical configurations and shape from the pictures). $50 BIN and $50 ship... I was all over it (this was about 18 months ago). Mine had been used though - alot. It was full of dust bunnies, though thankfully, the foam around the fan and internals was and is still in great shape. It was only missing 1 hard drive cage, and had 5 other SCSI drives connected (2 of which were bad; recovering the data off of them proved impossible). I never did get it fully running how I would like (got too side-tracked with other projects), but I don't see myself getting rid of that machine.

I should also note that I'm totally jealous that yours has keys with it, too

 

[NeXT]

Even the 9595 I bought as previously mentioned was used as some telecommunications router.
Here's when it had the "intervoice" sticker on it, along with the tape drive, and the useless MCA phone cards:

Oh, I remember seeing that machine on ebay. If I had lost the auction for the 95 I did end up winning, that was the plan B "I'm being gouged but dammit, I'm fed up with looking" machine.