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IBM 5160 hard drive

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EverythingIBM

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So my college had a full height IMPRIS 5 1/4" HDD (now this is the proper size of hard drives). I'm ASSUMING it came with a 5160 as it has the little square red light and such.

They told me it had the potential to be broken.

So anyways, I put it in my 5160. The problem is... I don't have a hard drive controller card, or any cables. I thought it was IDE, but it has way too many pins. So maybe SCSI then? I do have a half-height 5 1/4" SCSI which seemingly has the same interface. But as I'm unfamiliar with old hard drives, I'm walking in the dark.

When I powered on the 5160 hard drive (without being interfaced to the computer of course), it didn't make any sound (does that mean it's dead?). The half-height drive did/I] make up a spin-up sound the last time I turned it on; but at the time it was in some sort of gross beige enclosure (to match a mac classic), I took it out though as I didn't want it, just the hard drive.

In any case, I'd like to know what I need to interface either of these old hard drives to a 5160 (and if the full-height one is broken from not making any spin-up sounds when being powered on).
 
Imprimis had MFM, ESDI, IDE and SCSI drives. MFM* have 2 sets of connectors**; SCSI should only have one set of pins probably 50. Check the model number against this list http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/imprimis/ and then you will need a matching controller card. Finding an 8-bit controller that would work with a specific drive was challenge 25 years ago; conditions have not improved. The general purpose external enclosure might well have been more useful.

My full height SCSI Imprimis 1GB drive would light up and spin once power was applied. This one is black in the classic old look but wasn't built until 1990 so was unlikely to ever be paired with an XT. Since it is in an external enclosure, it would do that even while the main computer was still not turned on. I would provide more information but that external enclosure's power supply died yesterday and I have not gotten around to fix it. Not hearing noise isn't good but might not be evidence of a serious problem.

* MFM (really ST-506 and ST-412), RLL and ESDI are all related designs and it is not instantly obvious which interface is needed. These controllers tend to be more limited in the models of drives that can be supported. Some drives will work with most matching controllers; others only have a few.

** Pin count is for the cables running from controller to drive; power and jumper blocks may also exist.
 
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For a SCSI drive, the drive may have its 'motor start/stop' jumper set in the enabled position. In that case, the drive will not start the spindle turning on application of power, but upon receipt of a certain SCSI command ('Start Stop Unit' with its LoEj set to 'Start motor').
 
I apologize for forgetting about this, but the model # is 94181-385H. I did try jumpering it quite a few times from the diagram on stason. But no spinup.

When it gets power, there's a subtle click, and when it powers off, it also makes a click. Guess it's the brake or whatever.

EDIT: So I guess that means I got a very elaborate door stop.
 
I wouldn't throw it out until you have something to plug it in to to double check, but a 330Mb SCSI drive is pretty crazy in a 5160 :)
Normally the 5160 would be fitted with a 10Mb or 20Mb MFM.
 
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SpidersWeb said:
I wouldn't throw it out until you have something to plug it in to to double check, but a 330Mb SCSI drive is pretty crazy in a 5160 :)
Normally the 5160 would be fitted with a 10Mb or 20Mb MFM.
Click to expand...

I don't think it was actually from a 5160, I just guessed as I didn't know any better at the time! :p
It is/was residing in my 5160 though.
 
EverythingIBM said:
When it gets power, there's a subtle click, and when it powers off, it also makes a click. Guess it's the brake or whatever.

EDIT: So I guess that means I got a very elaborate door stop.
Click to expand...

It may have stiction, and can't spin up on its own because the heads are stuck to the platters. If you can get access to the bottom of the drive spindle (such as by removing the circuit board) you can try rotating it by hand to help it get un-stuck. Or if the heads have some kind of mechanism which is accessible from the outside, rotating that will work too. That's the trick I use to get a sticky Miniscribe drive un-stuck -- I rotate the part that has a warning sticker on it saying "DO NOT ROTATE"! :)
 
vwestlife said:
It may have stiction, and can't spin up on its own because the heads are stuck to the platters. If you can get access to the bottom of the drive spindle (such as by removing the circuit board) you can try rotating it by hand to help it get un-stuck. Or if the heads have some kind of mechanism which is accessible from the outside, rotating that will work too. That's the trick I use to get a sticky Miniscribe drive un-stuck -- I rotate the part that has a warning sticker on it saying "DO NOT ROTATE"! :)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I did remove the circuit board, but it was closed off underneath (just a bunch of wires leading into a hole).
The only solution would be to open the top and try not to get dust in it I wager.
 
Yeah it was only really early MFM drives that gave you access, and only from some brands.
I had to do the 'head unlock' on an NEC D5126, judging by the scraping noises when seeking, I think my drive heads were a little TOO attached to the platters ehehe
 
yep, pop the top and be VERY careful about it, if it spins up, i'd let it run until it gets to operating temp, then for about an hour or so. might be enough to see what's on the drive, hell, it may just need to be ran for a while..
 
With the 330Mb SCSI, do nothing until you have a controller and a cable connected though.
You should try to make sure you've tested it in ideal conditions before opening stuff. Could just be some irrelevant electrical fault/design issue that doesn't affect operation.
 
Try this: if you have a turntable set the hard drive on the turntable and give it a couple of quick back and forth rotating jiggles. The inertia of the platters as you jiggle the outer part should unstick the heads. It worked for me.
 
I did give it a good few shakes, however, I'm not entirely sure if stiction is the ailment, and if it isn't, I could just be wrecking a drive that has some potential to be running.
I'll try hooking it up to a controller (have some PCI adaptecs lying around with 50 pin ribbons).
 
Alright I got it working.

NOTE TO ANYONE WHO HAS AN OLD SCSI HDD: Connect it to a SCSI controller first.
(I used an AHA-2940, rescued it from being scrapped: very nice card on that note)

The HDD sounds healthy and all. Bearings are decent. Great. Can't wait to play with it later.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and help.
 
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