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IBM PS/2 Model 60 8560-041, 8560-071

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PeterNY

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This evening I commenced the process of rehabilitating the IBM PS/2 Model 60s I bought two weeks ago.

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$(KGrHqYOKioE3Gvwc-ZyBN2p(nTsng~~_12.JPG


Anyway: they both came with 1 FDD and their original (huge) HDDs, 1 each. I will need to replace the batteries. They boot up (each 1 MB RAM) to ROM IBM BASIC. So I guess the FDDs are no longer functioning. They do not boot to the HDDs either so I guess those may be garbage as well. ;)

I also spent an hour cleaning out the black slime (e.g. the foam that deteriorated over 22+ years). I covered the areas that originally had foam up with utility tape. :cool:

These are really cool machines. It will take me a while to get them up to 100% running condition though.
 
:) I also have a Model 60 8560-071 and I went through the exact same exercise a few weeks ago !

Cleaning that black slime out was a huge mess. Does your's have the ESDI hard drive ? You'll need
to find a working floppy drive and create a Model 60 reference diskette to set the configuration.
I bought a battery locally at a Batteries Plus store....cost about $10.

My floppy drive also would not read diskettes or boot until I used one of those head cleaning diskettes
with some alcohol. After that it boots fine and my hard drive was still accessible...had a copy of
Windows 3.1.

I have two PS/2 SCSI hard drives, and I'm currently looking for a SCSI controller. I'd also like to
add a memory card to boost the memory up to at least 2 MB.
 
mikey99 said:
:) I also have a Model 60 8560-071 and I went through the exact same exercise a few weeks ago !

Cleaning that black slime out was a huge mess. Does your's have the ESDI hard drive ? You'll need
to find a working floppy drive and create a Model 60 reference diskette to set the configuration.
I bought a battery locally at a Batteries Plus store....cost about $10.

My floppy drive also would not read diskettes or boot until I used one of those head cleaning diskettes
with some alcohol. After that it boots fine and my hard drive was still accessible...had a copy of
Windows 3.1.

I have two PS/2 SCSI hard drives, and I'm currently looking for a SCSI controller. I'd also like to
add a memory card to boost the memory up to at least 2 MB.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! I will look into that floppy drive cleaning approach! :D I believe both my 8560s have ESDI drives yes: the huge and heavy black ones.
 
Model 60's have the same issues model 80's have, the drives die with age (some can be fixed).
Those PS/2 batteries are the same as some used for cameras, you might find them cheaper on ebay (where I tend to get mine).
Any interesting cards inside?
 
Unknown_K said:
Model 60's have the same issues model 80's have, the drives die with age (some can be fixed).
Those PS/2 batteries are the same as some used for cameras, you might find them cheaper on ebay (where I tend to get mine).
Any interesting cards inside?
Click to expand...

I think the problem with some of the drives is related to bad capacitors.... here's a link to a page that describes how to repair the drives.
I'd certainly try the head cleaning diskette first though :) My drive has been working fine since

http://ibmmuseum.com/ohlandl/floppy/FD_144_01.html
 
PeterNY said:
...They do not boot to the HDDs either so I guess those may be garbage as well...
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that if the configuration is lost from a bad battery, and you can't run the Reference Diskette, the hard drive controller is not recognized by the system...

These are old-school PS/2s (the submodel encoding is simplistic on early PS/2s), so I can tell that the 041 submodel has the 44Mb MFM HDD, and the 061 submodel has the 70Mb ESDI HDD:

http://ibmmuseum.com/ohlandl/8565/8560.html

I'll have to fix the link to the planar picture...

Any interesting microchannel cards on either?...
 
IBMMuseum said:
Keep in mind that if the configuration is lost from a bad battery, and you can't run the Reference Diskette, the hard drive controller is not recognized by the system...
Click to expand...

I will order 2 batteries today and hopefully I can restore at least one of the FDDs.
 
PeterNY said:
Please check it out here: http://www.vintage-computer.com/vcforum/showthread.php?25565-IBM-PS-2-Parts-Lot. I do not collect microchannel cards so those that have no purpose are removed.
Click to expand...

Token Ring cards are viewed as "no purpose" commonly, unless you have a TR network running. Ironically, they are the faster (16Mbps) NIC for microchannel (100Mb microchannel adapters can't sustain that speed, and the next step down is 10Mbps). Rather than a TR-to-Ethernet bridge, even the collectors put an Ethernet NIC in them nowadays.
 
IBMMuseum said:
Token Ring cards are viewed as "no purpose" commonly, unless you have a TR network running. Ironically, they are the faster (16Mbps) NIC for microchannel (100Mb microchannel adapters can't sustain that speed, and the next step down is 10Mbps). Rather than a TR-to-Ethernet bridge, even the collectors put an Ethernet NIC in them nowadays.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought. Very much like ISA modems. :D
 
PeterNY said:
That is what I thought. Very much like ISA modems. :D
Click to expand...

I did mean to say that the single (Olicom) 100BT microchannel NIC couldn't sustain near that speed in real-world testing. There is an Ethernet 100BT adapter that IBM made for microchannel RS/6000 workstations, but attempts to port it to PS/2s have been futile (it uses a PCI bridge chip). 10Mbps is about the most you can expect from microchannel Ethernet (not so much an issue on a Model 60, but on a top-end Model 95 used as a server it becomes restrictive).

If you do have a 16Mbps Token Ring network set up with a bridge to an Ethernet uplink, it can really work quite well to get PS/2s online. There is also TR 16Mbps 8-bit adapters that can be used to get PCs connected too. Later TR adapters (made in many of the different bus types that were out in that span of time; It is a way to get diverse system types connected) added better features and sometimes more than a single port.
 
IBMMuseum said:
I did mean to say that the single (Olicom) 100BT microchannel NIC couldn't sustain near that speed in real-world testing. There is an Ethernet 100BT adapter that IBM made for microchannel RS/6000 workstations, but attempts to port it to PS/2s have been futile (it uses a PCI bridge chip). 10Mbps is about the most you can expect from microchannel Ethernet (not so much an issue on a Model 60, but on a top-end Model 95 used as a server it becomes restrictive).

If you do have a 16Mbps Token Ring network set up with a bridge to an Ethernet uplink, it can really work quite well to get PS/2s online. There is also TR 16Mbps 8-bit adapters that can be used to get PCs connected too. Later TR adapters (made in many of the different bus types that were out in that span of time; It is a way to get diverse system types connected) added better features and sometimes more than a single port.
Click to expand...

Sure. My point did not concern the speed. It concerned whether or not there is any real residual value in holding on to ISA modem cards. Like MCA token ring they appear to be complete obsolete. :D
 
Chromedome45 said:
Good luck Pete. I have fixed a few of those floppy drives in the past. Mainly the Mitsubishi drives. And it was only by replacing the 4 caps mentioned did at least have some success. And I used the smaller Tantulum capacitors not the electrolytics. Link: http://asavage.dyndns.org/PS2/FD_144/FD_144_01.html
Click to expand...

Thanks Grandpa Frank! In case I do not get them to work after cleaning I may ship them to you to attempt to repair them for a fee. I do not have the tools or skills to replace components. :(
 
Well a 286 PS/2 itself is obsolete, so running a TR network card on it can't be much worse.

Personally I like the TR cards with the RJ45 jack, at least you don't have to run around looking for special ends to make working cables for those.
 
Unknown_K said:
...Personally I like the TR cards with the RJ45 jack, at least you don't have to run around looking for special ends to make working cables for those.
Click to expand...

Agreed that the "Type 1" cabling is a PITA. "Media filters" to go to CAT4/CAT5 aren't much better. Years ago I bought up all of the microchannel "Auto" adapters that I could.
 
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