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IBM P70 -8573 Errors, Ideas Needed.

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rwap

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Hello,

I thought about my old "suite case" PC yesterday and so i got to digging around for it, found it, and started it up, It wouldn't start up, only 1 long beep and 2 higher pitched short beeps, well, after some Googling, i found that it was the Display Adaptor, but that didn't make much since seeing as the system was otherwise working, The floppy drive was reading, hard drive spinning, etc.. any who's, I took it apart, checked the cables, tested the Power Supply, etc.. the Power Supply was fine, Cables appeared ok, but there was a pin stuck in the VGA Port,( Pin 9) I fooled with that for some time because i remembered that when a monitor was plugged in the screen went off, I got the pin out, but didn't make any difference, After i was able to hook up a monitor, it said "Frequency out of range" 1 time but i haven't been able to duplicate that again... :(

Last evening i got the plasma screen to blink, but only once, and it was still beeping.

this morning i got the monitor to stay on for a few minutes, by holding it in a certain place, Still Beeping, It tested the ram, and started recording error codes on the screen, Codes:

201
221
165
14901

Then it had the Cross over the OK Image and the IBM Reference Image so, While holding the monitor i called someone else to use the keyboard, and we inserted the disk and went though the prompts and it said it had memory errors and that decreased performance would result. and to continue the testing etc...

It didn't say anything else that i could read that was a error, The Screen was displaying stuff eschewed, and didn't make much sense...

After that we rebooted and there was only errors 201 and 14901 on the screen so i pressed F1 and it continued Boot and went into MS-DOS. Then Screen Went out and now i cant get to come back on. :cry:

SO!.

How yall think i can get the screen back on?

Think there's a short in the wires somewhere or something?

The 1 Long 2 short beep isn't constant, it only happens sometimes when i turn it on.

Way back in my distant memory banks ( haha) i remember that right before i got a new PC the screen was starting to get picky as to its position, you had to get it in just the right spot to get it to come on and hope it didn't move..

I look forward to responses.
 
A Pentium 70 is way too new to be on-topic here. This site is for computers of the 1980s and older, not for modern PCs.
 
EvanK said:
A Pentium 70 is way too new to be on-topic here. This site is for computers of the 1980s and older, not for modern PCs.
Click to expand...

I agree that a Pentium is usually too new to be on topic here, but I'm pretty sure that he's talking about an IBM PS/2 Model 70 portable (P70) or something like it.

Those were 386 machines in a suitcase form-factor similar to the Compaq Portable III. They had a neat red plasma display amongst other cool gadgets that definitely make them on-topic.

I found one good page at http://incolor.inebraska.com/jshorney/p70.htm which seems to have links to others but no specific information about the error codes. At least not any I could find with a cursory glance.

I'm sure you can get the beast up again, rwap. Best of luck!
 
Erik said:
I agree that a Pentium is usually too new to be on topic here, but I'm pretty sure that he's talking about an IBM PS/2 Model 70 portable (P70) or something like it.

Those were 386 machines in a suitcase form-factor similar to the Compaq Portable III. They had a neat red plasma display amongst other cool gadgets that definitely make them on-topic.

I found one good page at http://incolor.inebraska.com/jshorney/p70.htm which seems to have links to others but no specific information about the error codes. At least not any I could find with a cursory glance.

I'm sure you can get the beast up again, rwap. Best of luck!
Click to expand...

That is the "beast" i am referring to, Sorry for the misunderstanding...

I was hoping someone else had a similar issue with it and could shed some light on the problem.

Thanks
 
Why should you be sorry for the misunderstanding? EvanK jumped the gun, not you..
 
I keep bidding on those on ebay. They always go for hundreds more than I care to spend.

You already know you are getting memory board errors. As far as the screen goes, not many clues here. Obviously got a loose wire or maybe it shorts if not held in the non-shorting position.
 
chuckcmagee said:
I keep bidding on those on ebay. They always go for hundreds more than I care to spend.

You already know you are getting memory board errors. As far as the screen goes, not many clues here. Obviously got a loose wire or maybe it shorts if not held in the non-shorting position.
Click to expand...

Hundreds More? :eek: How much are these things worth? :?:

EDIT:

I got it working, The Plasma Display ribbon cable was really twisted and crimped bad in places for some reason.... The only error now is 221 for RAM. I used to have a ton of that type of ram laying around here, but i think i tossed it... :(
 
Last edited:
VC Forum rules, as stated before in other threads are anything 486 and below may be discussed. Anything newer is Off Topic.

-Vlad
 
From the webpage http://incolor.inebraska.com/jshorney/p70.htm

"The IBM P70 is a PS/2 Microchannel portable, often called "luggable", 386 computer. It had no batteries, which required you to lug a power cord along with it wherever you went. It was a fairly sophisticated machine, having more in common with a high-end server than with other luggables of it's day. It came in 386DX-16 and -20 MHz speeds, with 30 MB, 60 MB, or 120 MB DBA ESDI hard disk options. The display is a gas-plasma type, which means basically that it is an incredibly complex neon lamp. This makes it one of the few modern computers that can be said to actually contain a vacuum tube! The display/controller combination supports standard VGA resolution at 640x480 pixels (16 gray levels), and includes a 15-pin connector on the rear panel for an external VGA color monitor (16 colors supported). CGA and EGA resolutions are also supported. A maximum of 8 MB of RAM is supported on the system planar, with an additional 8 MB on a memory expansion card in one of the two microchannel slots. One 16-bit and one 32-bit Microchannel expansion slots are provided, along with a socket for a 387DX math coprocessor. Other features include a PS/2 mouse port, serial port, parallel port, internal 1.44 MB floppy disk drive, and an external floppy disk drive port. All of this snaps together in a neat little package about the size of your average briefcase - a lot of technology in a small area in it's day! "

The name is a bit confusing in retrospect but it is definitely vintage. I remember when Compaq came out with a similar device at about the same time and thinking it had to be the coolest thing I had ever seen.

I think it may have doubled as a portable electric grill though since it got so darn hot you could practically cook a steak on it. :)

Thanks!

Andrew Lynch
 
EvanK said:
So? As far as I'm concerned, that is also too new and off-topic.
Click to expand...

The ribbon cable for the display was shorting out, i will have to buy a new one, If this thread bothers anyone, Delete it. There is no point in posting in this thread any more- Ive found the problem and it will be fixed ASAP.

You can grill on the display... or use it as a cheap source of heat.

Thanks For the insight on how much these things are worth...- I hope to visit here again in the future.
 
EvanK said:
So? As far as I'm concerned, that is also too new and off-topic.
Click to expand...

An MCA based gas-plasma portable would be on-topic for cool factor even if it was a Pentium. As a 386 from the 80s it's covered twice over.

While I appreciate your opinions on the matter, the "this is off topic" posts are no more on topic than the posts they are flagging. Reporting posts you think are off-topic to the moderators is a far better way to handle things. . .

Evan, this isn't directed at you, per se, since it's a general suggestion. I'm just using you as an example because you're from New Jersey so you can take it. ;)
 
Erik said:
An MCA based gas-plasma portable would be on-topic for cool factor even if it was a Pentium. As a 386 from the 80s it's covered twice over.

While I appreciate your opinions on the matter, the "this is off topic" posts are no more on topic than the posts they are flagging. Reporting posts you think are off-topic to the moderators is a far better way to handle things. . .

Evan, this isn't directed at you, per se, since it's a general suggestion. I'm just using you as an example because you're from New Jersey so you can take it. ;)
Click to expand...

Bah, humbug. No doubt that 386s are old. But they're not interesting. If somebody focused on 386s at a VCF (in any context except for a microprocessor timeline), they'd be laughed away.
 
Hehe, I see that another P70 just showed up on ebay.

You mean those plasma screens get super hot when in use? I never did read up on how those old guys worked.
 
Since this thread already has degenerated, I'd like to add my opinion that no x86 based computer - from the IBM PC, via PCjr, XT, AT and PS/2 - are interesting. For me, they all represent how home and personal computing became mainstream and boring. But that is of course my personal feeling, not representing the forum in general, which can be seen as perhaps 60-70% of all the posts on this forum are about x86 class machines.
 
Vlad said:
The problem has been solved. Locked for reference.

-VK
Click to expand...

Hey, I haven't thrown-in my $0.02 yet. For the most part, I find '386 machines uninteresting too, but among the few exceptions I make is one that <Formerly mobilemaster> should appreciate; namely '386s that are portable.

--T
 
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