• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
  • From now on we will require that a prefix is set for any items in the sales area. We have created regions and locations for this. We also require that you select a delivery option before posting your listing. This will hopefully help us streamline the things that get listed for sales here and help local people better advertise their items, especially for local only sales. New sales rules are also coming, so stay tuned.

Seagate 5.25" MFM hard drive boards

chris_nh

Experienced Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2019
Messages
372
Location
New Hampshire
I have some boards for vintage Seagate 5.25 Half-height hard drives if anyone needs board repair/replacement.

ST-225
ST-238r
ST-251

tested and working... several choices of each for best match.

I'm open for trades or offers. Let me know what you need, thanks!

I also have some working ST-225 and ST-238r drives in excellent condition I could trade in kind for other good working drives. I'm looking for Seagate 5.25" half-height MFM/RLL drives to round out my collection ... currently looking for:
ST-206,
ST-212
ST-213
ST-250
ST-252
ST-277
ST-278

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Was there really a 5MB version of the ST-212 (ST-206)? A quick google search reveals nothing and I’ve never seen it mentioned anywhere before. Didn’t know about the ST-278 either!

Glad to see someone else who collects these old drives too! They need to be saved just like the computers themselves do! I think having an old PC with a real MFM drive in it adds a lot of character.
 
On this topic - I recently bought a couple of ST-251's locally. I do have an IBM 5150 that I'd like to install one into. I then got a WD1002A-WX1 off eBay - is that the right type of controller card to use for one of these? I'm not really sure where to go next. The 5150 is currently configured for dual floppies.
 
It depends which bios revision is on the WD controller, I think. If it allows dynamic configuration or if the jumpered settings for the bios version you have allow for the particular specs of the drive, then it should work. Also, you need the latest BIOS version for the 5150, if you don't already have it it. You probably need an XT class power supply too, as the 5150 63.5 watt power supply probably isn't enough.

The dynamic setup of the WD also asks a LOT of questions that other controllers typically don't. Fortunately Seagate has provided the answers here: ftp://ftp.seagate.com/pub/techsuppt/misc/hints.txt
 
Thanks.. this controller card has the BIOS/ROM chip installed but with no markings/labels. Just the bare window. The 5150 I have in mind for this I believe does have an upgraded PSU, though I'm not sure on the wattage. Its labeled "IBM-1800841" I couldn't find much online about it. Luckily this machine does have the latest 1501476 BIOS.
 
Last edited:
If you go into setup using debug, g=c800:5 (assuming the jumpers are default) and if it asks about dynamic configuration, it will probably work with just about any drives, though on occasion there are hardware limits like a maximum of 8 heads, etc but the ST-251 won’t exceed those.
 
Back
Top