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IBM XT 5160 Errors during POST, odd beeping, and no response from keyboards

Joined
Oct 14, 2021
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Hello! I just received an IBM XT 5160 form a coworker who said that it doesn't work and has no clue on how to fix it. So I figured I'd dive right in and see what I could find out. Probably not the best way to enter the vintage computer world, but here I am. :)

I found out it was giving a 1701 error at first (supposedly general HDD failure from my googling) and I could not press F1 to continue. I tried multiple keyboards that he had and now it gives me a 1701 and F6000 ROM error (bad chips according to a post here). The PC still does not allow F1 to continue the boot and it now continuously gives short beeps. According to the documentation that I've seen, this isn't a POST error beep. I noticed that when I press keys on the keyboard (F1 or otherwise) the beeping stops for a second, then continues. I'm thinking I have some bad components on the motherboard itself, but I'm kind of at a loss on specifics. I've tried making sure any chips are seated, so I'm pretty sure that if it is a chip on the MB, then it's bad completely.

Am I correct in thinking I have a MB failure somewhere here? If so, what would you recommend next troubleshooting steps would be? Will this allow all expansion cards to be unplugged and perform a proper POST to see if that's the issue? Last time I had an 8088 computer, I was just a kid and never had to troubleshoot so I'm learning on the fly here.
 
Are you sure the keyboards you are using are XT compatible? PC and XT keyboard are different protocols than AT or PS/2, so while an AT keyboard will be a DIN connector that will fit, it won’t actually work.

It might be a good idea to resolve the BIOS ROM error first though. Can you reseat the chip in socket U19? Do you have anyway to write a replacement eprom if needed? If not where are you located and maybe someone can send you one.
 
Open it up and see what all is installed inside. Note any vendor names and model numbers. Take some pictures and post them here. It might just need a good cleaning and/or re-seating chips. You can pull all cards except the video, but if that ROM still fails, it will not start to BASIC.
 
Lots of IBM 5160 information at minuszerodegrees.net

I found out it was giving a 1701 error at first (supposedly general HDD failure from my googling) ...
Well, the hard drive system. See the "1701" entry at [here].

... and F6000 ROM error (bad chips according to a post here).
See the "F6000 ROM" entry at [here].
So, some sort of issue with the U19 ROM chip on the motherboard.
That's why jafir suggested that at first, you simply re-seat (remove from socket, then re-insert, being careful not to bend pins) U19 in case of a bad connection between U19 and its socket.

And because you are seeing "F6000 ROM", we know that you have an early version of the motherboard BIOS, which suggests the '64-256KB' version of the motherboard.

I've tried making sure any chips are seated, ...
It would be good to completely remove U19 and inspect it (looking for damaged pins, pin bent up under chip, etc.)

The PC still does not allow F1 to continue the boot and it now continuously gives short beeps. According to the documentation that I've seen, this isn't a POST error beep. I noticed that when I press keys on the keyboard (F1 or otherwise) the beeping stops for a second, then continues.
May be keyboard related.

Am I correct in thinking I have a MB failure somewhere here?
For the "F6000 ROM" error, yes.

As jafir suggested, the F1 issue is probably due to an improper keyboard (with a lesser chance of the motherboard's keyboard interface circuitry being what is faulty).

If you remove the hard disk controller, the "1701" will disappear. You can revisit that later once the keyboard related problem is identified/fixed.
 
If you remove the hard disk controller, the "1701" will disappear. You can revisit that later once the keyboard related problem is identified/fixed.
And when you get to that point, I suggest that you first ensure that the edge connector contacts on the HDD controller card are clean, the controller card is seated properly in its slot, and to try the controller in a different slot ( except slot #8 ).

If the 1701 error persists, executing the RAYXTMFM.EXE program at [here] is expected to assist in diagnosis. You would pass to us the program's output.
 
Welcome to the forum DarkKnight4251!

- Alex

Thank you! I have a feeling this is going to be the first of many posts by me here :)

Thank you to everyone for your replies and the links to pages at minuszerodegrees.net. That's a super useful resource that I'm referencing now. I finally got a chance to play with this today and wanted to update and respond about the keyboard part.

I do believe this is the IBM model F XT keyboard that I have by comparing the pictures here, but I'd love confirmation.

This is a picture of the keyboard:

IMG_6649.jpg

I noticed that I get a 301 error before the RAM check with this keyboard plugged in and googling shows that's a keyboard error, so I'm pretty sure it's not functioning and this is why F1 wouldn't work. I tried a keytronic kb101 plus professional series keyboard that has the same type of connector and the 301 error goes away. I cannot tell if this is actually an XT keyboard or not, but it seems to interact a bit with the computer while it's giving my error beeps. The F1 to continue still doesn't work, but this may be due to the cpu halting with the U19 chip failure after further research about this specific error. If anyone has experience with this, or knows if it's XT, I'd love to know that too.



I do not have a chip remover yet, so I haven't made any progress on that part of things. I'm a bit hesitant to pry on this thing since it's been in there since 1983 I'm assuming. Once I get that tool, I'll check out the chip and report back.
 
Success!! I went through my bins of electronic stuff and found an old pc repair toolset I had with a chip puller. I pulled the U19 chip out, cleaned the pins and socket for the heck of it and put it back in. It now will POST successfully without the HDD installed. Either there was a bit of gunk or it was just seated weird. Either way, I'm one step closer to enjoying this thing! I included pics of the chip for reference. Thank you all for the help!


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I do believe this is the IBM model F XT keyboard that I have by comparing the pictures here, but I'd love confirmation.
Confirmed.

I noticed that I get a 301 error before the RAM check with this keyboard plugged in and googling shows that's a keyboard error, so I'm pretty sure it's not functioning and this is why F1 wouldn't work.
So, per [here], a 301 error without a preceding byte.

But maybe your IBM XT keyboard is good, and it's the keyboard interface circuitry (shown [here]), or a solder joint, on the motherboard that is at fault. Obviously, using a known good XT-class keyboard is a quick way to work out which.

In the absence of a known good XT-class keyboard, use of test equipment would be required. A multimeter may be good enough (it depends on what has failed and the failure mode), but a logic probe or oscilloscope may be required. Offline, I have worked with people (who had a logic probe or oscilloscope) to identify the faulty component.

Consider using a suitable converter ([example]) so that you can try/use an AT-class keyboard. However, such converters may not be compatible with all AT-class keyboards.
 
I’m not sure what search you made to find it, but finding that manual for the keyboard was the trick. The keyboard was set up to be used as an AT keyboard. Switching the DIP switches to XT worked like a charm. So now I know that I have a working keyboard port and a known good keyboard. Thank goodness I don’t have to find someone local with the more special tools needed to trace down a bad keyboard port. The bad news is my model F is going to need some TLC it seems. Gonna tackle that after focusing on the pc itself.
 
I’m not sure what search you made to find it, but finding that manual for the keyboard was the trick.
Well done Jafir.

The bad news is my model F is going to need some TLC it seems.
I suggest that the first thing to look at is the cable, checking continuity from the pins in the DIN connector through to the black plug within the keyboard.

The diagram at [here] may assist. If your keyboard is a 'type 2', the reset wire may be absent. Wire colours may be different.

Gonna tackle that after focusing on the pc itself.
So the 1701 error is the only remaining problem ?
Don't forget about post #6.
 
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