• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

IBM XT build almost finished!

compaqportableplus

compaqportableplus

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
1,044
Location
USA
This IBM XT is coming together really nicely! This machine started out as an empty case, and I was going to build a 286 out of it, but the 286 motherboard I had didn't fit! So what I decided to do is obtain a real IBM XT motherboard, and build a real XT out of it.

The board I got is a 64-256KB mode, but I performed the 640KB hack on it, which worked out great. I also swapped out the AMD 8088 for an NEC V20.

Here's some pics of the beast:


IMG_4840.jpg IMG_4841.jpg IMG_4848.jpg IMG_4854.jpg


This thing truly is a Frankenstein; It has the case and 5.25" floppy drive of a late-model XT, the motherboard of an early XT, a 3.5" floppy drive from a Hewlett Packard and a Seagate ST-412 from a DEC! I do plan on swapping the 3.5" drive out eventually for a proper black one.

It's an awesome machine, and I had a blast putting it all together! Now I've got two XTs along with my three 5150s!

Of course, here's some shots of Windows 1.01 running:


IMG_4849.jpg IMG_4851.jpg


Anyone else just love playing with early versions of Windows?


Also, I found a Microsoft "gray-eyed" mouse on eBay for an irresistible price! This was Microsoft's second mouse, released in 1985 (the same year Windows was!). It is the 25-pin serial version, which is nice, because for the first time ever I won't have to use a 25-pin to 9-pin adapter for my mouse! This will be the primary mouse I use with my IBMs from now on. It hasn't arrived yet, but I'll post pics when it does!

I need a green-eyed mouse too! They actually aren't worth anywhere near as much a I thought. Love old mice, especially the Microsoft ones.

That's all for now!
 
romanon said:
You should adjust your contrast on monitor. There are two shades of green intensity on this cards/monitors.

View attachment 54405

Also 5,25" full height Tandon floppy drive would fit better there ;)
Click to expand...

I thought something looked a little off there! Didn’t even think to adjust that. Thanks for telling me!

I’ve thought about putting a Tandon in there, but finding one for a decent price is hard. I’m not paying 50+ dollars for one floppy drive. Not one as common as a TM100-2A for sure. Having the 3.5” drive is also pretty convenient though.

But, if I find a cheap Tandon, I’ll grab it! :)
 
compaqportableplus said:
...I’ve thought about putting a Tandon in there, but finding one for a decent price is hard. I’m not paying 50+ dollars for one floppy drive. Not one as common as a TM100-2A for sure. Having the 3.5” drive is also pretty convenient though.
Click to expand...
I've seen non-working Tandon TM100-2A drive's sell for silly money, I much prefer having a 3.5" and a HH 5.25" 360k in my XT, I find it far more convenient as i have the choice of using 360k - 720k or 1.44Mb, It was a common upgrade back in the day.
 
Do you have a special controller in yours? Because the stock controllers can’t do 1.44MB.

But yes, having a 3.5” drive is very handy.
 
I have a generic 16-bit IDE/Floppy controller in one of my XT's and use the XTIDE Universal Bios with a HD floppy bios appended to the XUB, which allows me to use CF connected to the 16-bit IDE and 1.44Mb floppy disks,
 
Malc said:
I have a generic 16-bit IDE/Floppy controller in one of my XT's and use the XTIDE Universal Bios with a HD floppy bios appended to the XUB, which allows me to use CF connected to the 16-bit IDE and 1.44Mb floppy disks,
Click to expand...

I see. Cool stuff!
 
The Tandon may be more appropriate to the original build, but it wasn't uncommon to see half-height drives in these original XT/AT machines as upgrades as soon as they came out, even if the colours didn't match.

Personally, I'd be happy as long as the colour matches. There's a plethora of old Pentium 4's and early Core2 machines that are now being retired and recycled from which one could grab a stack of black floppy drives from, since you've got a 2HD controller anyways. Then just spraypaint a 3.5" to 5.25" drive bay adapter to match, and you're good to go.
 
I do already have a black drive, but no black adapter. I’d rather just buy the proper black one, as last time I painted one (for a 5150), it stayed sticky and the whole machine smelled of spray paint for months.

If it were metal you could bake it to remedy all of this, but you can’t really do that on plastic.
 
My mouse came in a few days ago:

thumbnail_IMG_4876.jpgthumbnail_IMG_4877.jpg

Very cool mouse!


I also picked up another pretty cool accessory for it:

thumbnail_IMG_4878.jpgthumbnail_IMG_4879.jpg

I've been after a nice 5153 for ages. I was very worried it would show up in pieces like almost every other 5153 that has ever been shipped, but it was packed extremely well!

Now need to find a 5154!
 
compaqportableplus said:
I do already have a black drive, but no black adapter. I’d rather just buy the proper black one, as last time I painted one (for a 5150), it stayed sticky and the whole machine smelled of spray paint for months.

If it were metal you could bake it to remedy all of this, but you can’t really do that on plastic.
Click to expand...

What kind of paint did you use? I tend to use Tremclad or ArmourCoat enamel based paints, because that's what I keep on hand for welding projects and repairs.
 
The best way to colour plastics is to use vinyl dye, often sold as bumper paint. Rather than sitting on the surface of the plastic, changing its texture, it seeps in and dyes it. I've done a few computer parts that way and it works great.
 
blackepyon said:
Interesting... I assume you did multiple light coats, rather than trying to put it all on at once?
Click to expand...

I’m pretty sure I did, but it was about three or four years ago, so I may have been stupid and just blasted it all on at once. I have since restored several antique electric fans, and gained much more experience with spray paint.

Maybe I’ll have a go at practicing on some junk plastic parts again.


Okay, so I’ve found a good deal on a couple of untested full-height floppy drives, so at least one should work. They aren’t IBM branded, but my ST-412 isn’t either, so I don’t care.

What I’ve decided to do for some extra storage on this thing is add an XT-IDE with an externally-accessible CF card alongside the ST-412. That’ll make data transfer quick and painless, without sacrificing my beautiful ST-412 hard drive.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top