View Profile: compaqportableplus - Vintage Computer Forum

January 22nd, 2021, 03:01 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

Wow, I’m shocked to hear all of that. These are usually pretty robust from what I can tell. Probably a silly question, but are you using the...

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 20th, 2021, 04:28 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread IBM XT build almost finished! in PCs and Clones

The Seagate ST-412 in the XT started giving me troubles (it was really slow and I could constantly hear it returning to track-0) and I’m happy to say...

53 replies | 6785 view(s)

January 20th, 2021, 08:48 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Hard drive repair gone wrong. Coil wire seperated from head. in Vintage Computer Hardware

What did you use to remove the platters? On a dual-platter IDE drive, removing them is almost impossible, because if they rotate separately from one...

6 replies | 163 view(s)

January 19th, 2021, 10:19 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

As promised, here are some internal pics of the Deskpro: As you can see, I now have a serial port card and MFM hard drive/controller...

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 16th, 2021, 01:06 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Re-capped NEC ProSpeed SX/20 stopped working, any troubleshooting suggestions? in Vintage Computer Hardware

Those old drives are tough. As long as you didn’t touch the platters it should be fine.

26 replies | 1729 view(s)

January 14th, 2021, 07:36 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Re-capped NEC ProSpeed SX/20 stopped working, any troubleshooting suggestions? in Vintage Computer Hardware

Great to see you found the issue! I always get excited when I hear PrairieTek! Those were the very first 2.5” hard drives ever made. I’ve never...

26 replies | 1729 view(s)

January 11th, 2021, 07:45 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

Nice! Here's a screenshot of a CheckIt benchmark of the Deskpro. About twice as fast as an XT. Pretty nice.

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 10th, 2021, 07:36 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread 8086/NEC V30 XT class systems running faster than 8Mhz in PCs and Clones

It’s worth noting that the NEC V40 is a V20 compatible chip, so it’s in the 8088 class, not the 8086/V30 class.

9 replies | 430 view(s)

January 8th, 2021, 05:21 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread 26 Pin Floppy Drives in Later PCs

Those appear to be the exact same drives used in the Tandy 1400LT laptop.

10 replies | 488 view(s)

January 8th, 2021, 05:12 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread $130 eBay Gamble - Toshiba T3100e/40 in PCs and Clones

Nice machine, I have one myself and it’s a well-built computer. IMO, $130 was quite high for an untested unit, but I’m glad to see it ended up...

6 replies | 329 view(s)

January 7th, 2021, 12:26 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

Yeah, a different layout can be odd until you adjust. I remember when I got my first IBM model F how completely lost I felt using it, but now I can...

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 7th, 2021, 11:46 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

Yeah, I saw those. That person has been trying to sell them for ages, which tells me they probably aren’t open to reasonable offers. Yes, that is...

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 6th, 2021, 02:08 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

1ST1, Thanks! I did benchmark this machine in CheckIt and got a pic of the results. I’ll upload it a little later. TH2002, Thank you!...

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 6th, 2021, 06:29 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

Thank you! :)

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 6th, 2021, 12:28 AM

compaqportableplus started a thread The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally! in PCs and Clones

I've finally gotten another one of my "holy grail" systems, the original Compaq Deskpro 8086. This thread will be documenting the Deskpro as I build...

19 replies | 758 view(s)

January 3rd, 2021, 02:48 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Hard drive spins up only when "activated" then spins down immediately in Vintage Computer Hardware

98 percent of the drives I’ve repaired still work fine. For example, my Miniscribe 3650 that has no bad sectors, which didn’t work at all when I got...

19 replies | 882 view(s)

December 31st, 2020, 09:32 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Hard drive spins up only when "activated" then spins down immediately in Vintage Computer Hardware

Is the stepper motor stuck? I know that’s a common issue with those, and it could be causing it to shut off when it tries to seek. I think it’s...

19 replies | 882 view(s)

December 30th, 2020, 11:19 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Toshiba T3100e CMOS battery in Handhelds/Portables

A CR2032 is not enough juice. I’ve found in both my T5200 and T3100e when using a 2032, the time drifts when the unit is unplugged, almost like the...

5 replies | 292 view(s)

December 30th, 2020, 11:14 PM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Zenith ZWL-183-93 revival in Handhelds/Portables

Thanks! That’s really cool that you live close to the old Zenith headquarters. Glad you enjoyed funny batch file. :)

3 replies | 227 view(s)

December 29th, 2020, 02:52 AM

compaqportableplus replied to a thread Bringing an old MFM hard drive (ST-412) back from the dead (feedback requested) in Vintage Computer Hardware

That’s exactly how I fixed my ST-412 about six or seven years ago. Still works fine to this day with no bad sectors. Mine too sounded horrible when...

11 replies | 410 view(s)

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