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IBM Model 8530-021 help!

R

rafanaty

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2019
Messages
31
Location
UTica NY
Hi.
I got a few IBM PS/2, but I am copping now with a crippled model 30.
I don't know anything about this machine and I got a few question for model 30 owners.
First, about my machine.
The PSU quits after 2 minutes. It does not get FDD neither HDD.
Questions:
1- What kind of FDD it uses? I read it is 720 kb. Is not any way to hack this FDD for a normal 1.4 Mb with a 4 pin mole connector for 5 VDC + 12VCD?
I hacked the FDDs of model 35SX and 55SX for normal 1.4 Mb FDD with the pin mole connectors. These are cheap and I got 8 in stock.
2- What kind of HDD it uses? I got IDE and ESDI.
3- Video: Can I connect a normal VGA display in the VGA connector?
I am sorry for my complete ignorance of the machine, But I need some help to get the expenses to the minimum.
I already did the Reference disk (720kb) and tested that it works on my 35SX and I soldered an 2032 batt. instead of the standard battery
THX.
Ralph.
 
Hi Ralph,

1- If it is plain model 30 with 8086 cpu (there is also a model30-286 with 80286 cpu) then the floppy drive is 720 kB DD PS/2 type (proprietary interface), but you can install 1.44 HD PS/2 drive too. They often go bad due to the bad capacitors on the spindle board (and sometimes due to dirty heads/guide tracks thanks to the lack of flip cover which minimizes dust ingestion) If you have soldering skills (or know somebody) then replace the caps on the bottom spindle board and clean the heads and the guides, you will bring it into life again.

If you can't repair your drive for some reason, you can also modify a regular floppy drive in order to use in your PS/2 computer, have a look

2- HDD interface of model-30 is proprietary. You need to source its original part or you can install a 8-bit SCSI card and use a SCSI drive instead. Much more easy than sourcing original drives.

3- You can, its video interface is standard VGA. But in most VGA cables, there is also a pin in place of the pin#9 but pin#9 place of the connector in your PS/2 is blocked (early standard) Either remove the pin#9 on the cable or drill a small hole in place of the #9 pin on the VGA connector.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have further questions.

rafanaty said:
Hi.
I got a few IBM PS/2, but I am copping now with a crippled model 30.
I don't know anything about this machine and I got a few question for model 30 owners.
First, about my machine.
The PSU quits after 2 minutes. It does not get FDD neither HDD.
Questions:
1- What kind of FDD it uses? I read it is 720 kb. Is not any way to hack this FDD for a normal 1.4 Mb with a 4 pin mole connector for 5 VDC + 12VCD?
I hacked the FDDs of model 35SX and 55SX for normal 1.4 Mb FDD with the pin mole connectors. These are cheap and I got 8 in stock.
2- What kind of HDD it uses? I got IDE and ESDI.
3- Video: Can I connect a normal VGA display in the VGA connector?
I am sorry for my complete ignorance of the machine, But I need some help to get the expenses to the minimum.
I already did the Reference disk (720kb) and tested that it works on my 35SX and I soldered an 2032 batt. instead of the standard battery
THX.
Ralph.
Click to expand...
 
Another alternative for the hard drive is to buy an 8 bit IDE controller...I have a restored 30-286 with an Acculogic IDE controller and a pretty standard 40mb HD (can't take credit for configuring it...bought it this way.)
 
the IBM PS/2 Model 30 came in two variants, the early model that came out in 1987 with an 8086 CPU, 640k of ram (128k on planer board & 2 256k simms) & a soldered battery on the expansion riser (eeewwww) which is the machine you have. it has an 8 bit expansion bus with 8bit ISA slots. they came with dual floppy drives as standard or an optional 20mb hard drive using a proprietary 8bit IDE like (XTA) interface. The floppy drives and hard drives do not have separate power connections, power is routed through the ribbon cable.

DxhT0oul.jpg


the later PS/2 Model 30 286 came out later, has a 10mhz 286 CPU and 4 sims slots that accept up to 4mb of memory (1mb standard?) & a dallas RTC module.the 286 version came standard with a 20mb hard drive using the same proprietary interface as the older model, but a 30mb drive was optional. the 286 system also included a 16bit expansion bus.

There are two annoying issues when trying to replace the stock hard drive. #1 the lack of any Molex power connector. this can either be hacked in, or you can use something like a Hard card (which draws power from the ISA slot) or an XT-CF (probably the best option)

#2 the bios. whatever hard drive card you install has to contain its own bios, as the PS/2 Model 30 bios has no way to "set up" the drive. its like an XT PC in this respect. something like an old MFM controller, or in my case a WD FILECARD with an XTA (8 bit IDE) controller is required.

the other option is to use an XT-CF (or any card) with the XT IDE universal bios. in the 286 machines the XT universal bios can be put in a boot rom socket of a network card and used with a standard 16bit ISA IDE controller. with the 8bit bus of the 8086 machine you are more limited.

My personal recommendation is the XT CF, compact, convenient, and quiet. not to mention reliable. The stock seagate ST125L and ST138L drives suck, and if they dont have capacitor issues they have mechanical issues. IDK about the WD drives but they probably aren't much better. the 8bit XTA WD drives i have in my tandy hard card and with other 8bit XTA computers just suck and seem to all be dead or dying.

ZfjcDHol.jpg


When I first got my machine I had installed a WD filecard as the stock hard drive was missing, I eventually realized the 3.5" WD hard drive would fit in the stock location and the cable on the hard card was long enough to reach both power and data. ugly, but it works. wouldn't really recommend unless (like me) you had an unused hardcard in a box.
 
pcdata76 said:
Hi Ralph,

3- You can, its video interface is standard VGA. But in most VGA cables, there is also a pin in place of the pin#9 but pin#9 place of the connector in your PS/2 is blocked (early standard) Either remove the pin#9 on the cable or drill a small hole in place of the #9 pin on the VGA connector.
Click to expand...

This is correct in a way. The early PS/2 Model 30 used MCGA graphics, which uses the same connector and monitor. It just doesn't have the same capabilities as the IBM 8514 VGA interface. IBM sold an add in graphics adapter The IBM PS/2 Display adapter to add VGA to systems like the Model 30.

the Model 30 286 has VGA on board.
 
pinkdonut666 said:
the 8bit XTA WD drives i have in my tandy hard card and with other 8bit XTA computers just suck and seem to all be dead or dying.
Click to expand...
I used to think that too, and probably discarded several of them unnecessarily, until I tried this trick on the Western Digital IDE-XT drive in my Zenith Eazy PC and it went from having seek errors and lots of bad sectors to working perfectly!

 
pinkdonut666 said:
The stock seagate ST125L and ST138L drives suck, and if they dont have capacitor issues they have mechanical issues.

.
Click to expand...

Yeah, just want to say I agree with what the people are saying above. I own a model 30 and everything I've read about the original hdd suggests it's not worth replacing at all. They're hard to find (and expensive) because most people just threw them out, there's also compatibility problems between hard drives meant for the 8086 version iirc, and they're completely unreliable, especially in modern day. Literally anything would be a better replacement. The "best" option is definitely an XTIDE based solution, as has already been said. But realistically I'd look around on ebay, your local craigslist or even on this site and just compare prices between different options like SCSI, IDE, or whatever you can find at the best price.
 
THx for the help. I have been out because I got a home inspection and I was focus on that. I passed w/o problems.
I am copping with the model 30. I think it is 8086-2. But I am not sure until I fix the PSU.
I ordered a PSU. I will try to fix the broken PSU, but I am respecting/afraid of it, the broken PSU already got me with the electric dis charge of a big capacitor. First time in a lot of years, I think that I lowered my guard. A
I never have used a card on IBM pcs and I think that you need a driver for every card and make a new bios configuration.
I don't have any ideas/knowledge how to do that, I got a few not used cards because I don't know how to use them. If some body can address me in the right direction to read about this theme I will appreciate it. I think that's the right solution for the 30 because never have seen a 720 kb FDD offered in any place. I got tokens and modems cards, but I don't want to exposes my machines over the internet w/o a good anti virus/firewall, It's not in my plans. I began with these old machines, because I found a 5/14" collection of my old floppy disks from the 80s and 90s and I wanted to know what was on them. I could recover 71% of them.
Yes, I can solder and got a nice electronic/computer education, but right now I am discovering these old vintage IBMs.
Really, IBM vintage machines got nasty surprises, but once that you got them running they are reliable/strong machines.
Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.
Ralph.
 
Hi.eBay item number:
283640778356 ebay item number:
I like the cf card idea. I will go that way. I have done in dell d 800 and OptiPlex 270.
You are taking about something like:
Ralph
 
pcdata76 said:
Hi Ralph,

1- If it is plain model 30 with 8086 cpu (there is also a model30-286 with 80286 cpu) then the floppy drive is 720 kB DD PS/2 type (proprietary interface), but you can install 1.44 HD PS/2 drive too. They often go bad due to the bad capacitors on the spindle board (and sometimes due to dirty heads/guide tracks thanks to the lack of flip cover which minimizes dust ingestion) If you have soldering skills (or know somebody) then replace the caps on the bottom spindle board and clean the heads and the guides, you will bring it into life again.

If you can't repair your drive for some reason, you can also modify a regular floppy drive in order to use in your PS/2 computer, have a look

2- HDD interface of model-30 is proprietary. You need to source its original part or you can install a 8-bit SCSI card and use a SCSI drive instead. Much more easy than sourcing original drives.

3- You can, its video interface is standard VGA. But in most VGA cables, there is also a pin in place of the pin#9 but pin#9 place of the connector in your PS/2 is blocked (early standard) Either remove the pin#9 on the cable or drill a small hole in place of the #9 pin on the VGA connector.

Don't hesitate to ask if you have further questions.
Click to expand...
How is that to use a normal FDD?
Ralph
 
Hi guys.
I don't know how to post this treat. Is a prolongation of the original treat.
Today I open up the 30 's PSU and first thing to look at with a meter is a big semiconductor that for me looks the one who manage the + output power. Here are the results:
It got 3 legs, from both extreme legs in both direction is a short, from one extreme to the center , reads as a diode, in one direction high in the opposite low, from the other extreme to the center is a short in both way. For me it is done. It says : IR7B.
_______________________________________________C30P048. The most that I found it is manufactured by Nihon. Don't know what is and where to buy. Can somebody help me?
 
Attachments.
I would like too know how to upload an attachment to my post.
I want to update my post about IBM model 8530-021.
I do not know how to do it.

Update.
Now I got a partially working model 30 w/o FDD, HDD and O/S.
I got the following questions:
1- I read that it runs PCDOS 3.3, will it runs MSDOS 6.2?
2-I got an ISA cards (PN 1533-21-03-6. Model 21) with IDE connectors for FDD (2 connectors X 34 pin male) and HDD (1 connector X 40 pin male), but the cards on bottom use an ISA edge connector with ISA but longer that the model 30 got. Is around another riser card for IBM model30 bigger than the one that I got ?
 
rafanaty said:
1- I read that it runs PCDOS 3.3, will it runs MSDOS 6.2?
Click to expand...
Yes.

2-I got an ISA cards (PN 1533-21-03-6. Model 21) with IDE connectors for FDD (2 connectors X 34 pin male) and HDD (1 connector X 40 pin male), but the cards on bottom use an ISA edge connector with ISA but longer that the model 30 got. Is around another riser card for IBM model30 bigger than the one that I got ?
Click to expand...

You cannot use a card like this in your model 30. You may be able to make an adapter, to connect a standard 720k floppy instead of the stock drive. I don't have the details...

To connect a different harddrive, you need a controller with it's own BIOS. An 8-bit SCSI card has been suggested, and that's an option. An XT-IDE card should work also I guess. I should test that myself - I have a model 30 with a dead harddrive ;)
 
UPDATE.

1- I formatted model 30 with DOS 3.3 and works nice, later I re formatted it with MSDOS 6.2 and still works better.
2-I learn how to hack the FDD. I am attaching a few pics. I only got success with a crimp tool and brand new connectors. About $ 40.00 USD in Amazon. Maybe you can use recycled stuff, it is up to your skills.
3- I would like to know:
a- Information about how to hook a FDD/USB as eBay pics. IBM model 30.
b- Information about how to hook up a CF card as HDD. IBM model 30.
I don't need details information, I need where to find how to. Detail information is welcome too.
sorry I don't know how to post pics with higher resolution .???
Ralph.
 
Rafanaty, the best way for you to post pics with higher resolution is to share a folder via Google Drive or dropbox, or a similar service. There isn't really a good way to post high resolution pictures to vcfed directly, unfortunately. You could always try cropping or scaling your pictures down to fit the required resolution, but that may not work as you could still end up over the maximum file size. So it's really better to just use a different service, organize the pictures to a folder and link it here.
 
Hi.
Update.
I got at least one model 30-8086 working.
It's not what I wanted.
got a hacked FDD and XT=Ide card, is working with MSDOS 6.2.
Thank you for your help.
Ralph
 
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