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The Compaq Deskpro 8086, finally!

compaqportableplus

compaqportableplus

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I've finally gotten another one of my "holy grail" systems, the original Compaq Deskpro 8086. This thread will be documenting the Deskpro as I build it up to how I want it to be.


As some of you already know, the Compaq Deskpro was released in 1984, and was Compaq's first desktop computer.

Since IBM released the 5155 portable earlier in 1984 to compete with Compaq's own Portable, Compaq decided to make a desktop to compete with IBM's PC and XT! Compaq used the full 8086 instead of the 8088, making the Deskpro a faster machine than IBM's own PC and XT. It also used the same dual-mode graphics sub system that the Compaq Portable used, allowing for high-res text and graphics on the same monitor. IBM had to have been more than a little ticked off. ;)


Here is my unit in its current state with an original amber monitor that I found for a great price:


IMG_6138.jpg


Such a nice looking desktop. Built like a tank too, It's heavier than an IBM XT.


The system unit I got from someone in Huston, Texas and I believe from what I was told that it came from Computer Reset. It's in excellent condition. No rust or anything. It is 100% stock, with two 360KB drives, the floppy controller and a graphics adapter. Nothing else, not even a serial port. So I'll be the first one to ever upgrade it. :)


The only thing I had to replace in it were two shorted tantalum caps on the floppy controller board. Finding that fault didn't take long, as the system would only start with the floppy controller removed. Otherwise it hasn't needed any other repairs.


Here's another pic of it running Windows 1.01 (from floppies, as I don't currently have a hard drive installed):


IMG_6139.jpg


:happy3: :happy3: :happy3: Looks so good in amber. I can't even express how excited I was to see this running on here. I will be doing a full install of it once I get an MFM/RLL hard drive in there.


I will be sure to get an internal pic of this machine next time I open it.


I did also find an original Operations Guide for the Deskpro, which I'll upload a pic of later. It's in great shape, aside from smelling a bit like a cigar. Hopefully it'll air out in time.


And I actually found a set of drive rails for this machine on eBay! I thought I was going to have to make something, but a few days later I found some, which makes things a lot easier.


The next item to find is the original keyboard.


That's all I have for now. LOTS more to come...
 
Absolutely amazing! Love seeing these classic 8088/8086-based machines fully restored and working.

I myself am waiting for one of my "holy grail" machines to arrive from UPS (not spoiling what it is but I'll post my own thread once I can test it.) I'd also LOVE to get my hands on an IBM PS/2 Model P70, but they command OUTRAGEOUS prices even if broken, and Compaq Contura 3/25 also proving difficult to find.
 
The correct keyboard seems to be hard to find and is pretty pricy, but I'm pretty sure the "compaq enhanced keyboard" should work with it, although it's a little newer, but it seems to be easier to find. I've tested the enhanced keyboard and it worked on an IBM 5160 and 5170, so I think it's an auto-switching keyboard.
 
compaqportableplus said:
...
The next item to find is the original keyboard.

...
Click to expand...

Excellent. It can be challenging to find the original keyboard. If you find yourself in a pinch, the Compaq Enhanced keyboard will work fine with the Deskpro and can be easier to acquire. I did this until I found an original keyboard as it kept the proper aesthetic.

attachment.php
 
jafir said:
The correct keyboard seems to be hard to find and is pretty pricy, but I'm pretty sure the "compaq enhanced keyboard" should work with it, although it's a little newer, but it seems to be easier to find. I've tested the enhanced keyboard and it worked on an IBM 5160 and 5170, so I think it's an auto-switching keyboard.
Click to expand...
Ha, you beat me to it.
 
1ST1,

Thanks! I did benchmark this machine in CheckIt and got a pic of the results. I’ll upload it a little later.


TH2002,

Thank you! Yeah, these old 808x systems are really a lot of fun to restore. I will keep an eye out for your thread on the new machine you are getting! Yeah, I’d like to have a P70 too, but as you say, they are just too expensive most of the time. You’ll definitely find a Contura 3/25 eventually, I got one super cheap off of eBay last year. The Conturas are really cool. I have the 3/25, 4/25, 4/25c and 4/25cx. The only ones I am lacking are the 3/20 and 3/25c which I would like to get eventually.


jafir,

Yeah, the keyboards are definitely not super common these days. But yes, the enhanced keyboard will work and I have been watching for a reasonable priced one as well. I’d actually like to have both it and the original. I’m pretty sure I saw one a year or so ago on eBay that ended for extremely cheap, so I don’t think they’re terribly pricey, just hard to find. Wish I had bought it but since I didn’t own a Deskpro then I passed on it.


resman,

Great system you have there! Yes, I have been watching for a good enhanced keyboard as well. Ideally, I’d like to have both it and the original. I also see an original Portable to the very right and a III or 386 just barely to the very left. :)
 
There are a couple of keyboards on ebay right now, but they are both around $100, before shipping. I've been tempted to put in a really low offer, but I'm also hoping that I can go back to computer reset and maybe dig one up, if I'm lucky. There is even an a deskpro 286 keyboard on ebay, that I've never seen before, it looks like the 10 function key 8086 version, but has the dreaded L shaped enter key that I hate. I've got an 8086, 286, and 386 (a 386/25, not the original deskpro 386) so it might be cool to get all of the keyboard varieties, just for authenticity.
 
jafir said:
There are a couple of keyboards on ebay right now, but they are both around $100, before shipping. I've been tempted to put in a really low offer, but I'm also hoping that I can go back to computer reset and maybe dig one up, if I'm lucky. There is even an a deskpro 286 keyboard on ebay, that I've never seen before, it looks like the 10 function key 8086 version, but has the dreaded L shaped enter key that I hate. I've got an 8086, 286, and 386 (a 386/25, not the original deskpro 386) so it might be cool to get all of the keyboard varieties, just for authenticity.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I saw those. That person has been trying to sell them for ages, which tells me they probably aren’t open to reasonable offers.

Yes, that is the keyboard the early Deskpro 286s came with. It uses the AT layout, same as the original IBM AT keyboard did. The Compaq Portable 286 also has the same layout. I don’t have any issue with the layout personally.
 
My issue is that I always hit enter when trying to hit backslash. I have trouble with XT keyboards too these days, even though that's what I started on. Maybe I just need more practice on my old stuff :)
 
jafir said:
My issue is that I always hit enter when trying to hit backslash. I have trouble with XT keyboards too these days, even though that's what I started on. Maybe I just need more practice on my old stuff :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, a different layout can be odd until you adjust. I remember when I got my first IBM model F how completely lost I felt using it, but now I can type really fast on it!
 
compaqportableplus said:
1ST1,
resman,

Great system you have there! Yes, I have been watching for a good enhanced keyboard as well. Ideally, I’d like to have both it and the original. I also see an original Portable to the very right and a III or 386 just barely to the very left. :)
Click to expand...

I've got a few Compaqs:
Portable w/ Tiny286, XT-IDE
Portable 386
DeskPro w/ NEC V30, 2xST225 running Xenix 86, XT-IDE running DOS 5.0 (original keyboard)
DeskPro (enhanced keyboard)
DeskPro 286/12
DeskPro 386/25
DeskPro 386/20e w/ Cyrix486dx2, FastMath, 16MB running Win95/Linux/NT 3.51(NT4 shell)
DeskPro 486/33L w/ 486DX4, 38MB running NT4 - had it running OpenStep but the drive died.

Still waiting to find an original SystemPro, and then I'm done ;-)
 
resman said:
I've got a few Compaqs:
Portable w/ Tiny286, XT-IDE
Portable 386
DeskPro w/ NEC V30, 2xST225 running Xenix 86, XT-IDE running DOS 5.0 (original keyboard)
DeskPro (enhanced keyboard)
DeskPro 286/12
DeskPro 386/25
DeskPro 386/20e w/ Cyrix486dx2, FastMath, 16MB running Win95/Linux/NT 3.51(NT4 shell)
DeskPro 486/33L w/ 486DX4, 38MB running NT4 - had it running OpenStep but the drive died.

Still waiting to find an original SystemPro, and then I'm done ;-)
Click to expand...

Nice!



Here's a screenshot of a CheckIt benchmark of the Deskpro. About twice as fast as an XT. Pretty nice.


IMG_6141.jpg


And here's some pics of the original manual I managed to find for this machine:


IMG_6144.jpgIMG_6145.jpg


Really well made book.


And here's something really incredible I found on eBay, and original boxed copy of COMPAQ MS-DOS 2.12!


IMG_6152.jpgIMG_6153.jpgIMG_6154.jpgIMG_6149.jpgIMG_6150.jpgIMG_6151.jpg


I just love that '80s look that box has. Got this for a great price too. It's all in great shape, although the diskette had noticeable moisture damage, and the magnetic coating started to come of when I attempted to clean it, so I made a slice in the side and replaced the "cookie" with a good one, giving me a good original disk! The image for COMPAQ MS-DOS 2.12 is easy to find online, so that wasn't an issue.


I'm think I'm gonna go crazy authentic with this thing and actually load DOS 2.12 on the hard drive once I get it installed! Most of my software seems to run on it, with the only real bummer being that Windows 2.x is not compatible with DOS 2.x, requiring 3.0 or later.


Also, with the DOS 2 manual, I have finally taught myself how to use EDLIN! I have been meaning to do that for years and have just now gotten to it. It's really not hard at all. Looks like I wont be needing the DOS 5/6 editor for earlier version of DOS anymore. :)


More to come!
 
Last edited:
After struggling with CP/M's ED, I refused to use edlin. A solution I came up with was use Turbo Pascal 2.0's IDE as a text editor. Small & quick. You just have to remember some Wordstar commands. ;)
 
As promised, here are some internal pics of the Deskpro:


IMG_6171.jpgIMG_6172.jpg


As you can see, I now have a serial port card and MFM hard drive/controller installed!


The MFM controller I installed is a Western Digital WD1002S-WX2a. It has a universal BIOS, so it'll work with any MFM drive.


The hard drive I chose is the Miniscribe 3438P. The 3438P (the "P" meaning "Plus") is a faster version of the 3438 with a lower seek time. This is an RLL-certified version of the 3425P, but I have it formatted as MFM, which gives 20MB of space instead of the 30MB you would get with RLL formatting.


I actually ended up with two of these drives:


IMG_6174.jpg


The one on the right is the first one I got, which has a beige faceplate. I was both happy and a little disappointed when I saw this, because while the beige faceplate is considerably less common than the black, it wasn't going to work for this Deskpro. So I got another and specifically stated to the seller that I wanted one with a black faceplate. That is the one on the left.


These drives were sold as "for parts or not working" but "tested working before shipped." The one with the beige faceplate works fine and has no issues. However the black one gave me issue right away and gave a "Track-0 bad" when formatting for DOS after a low-level format. I spent many hours with it and in the end was able to loosen and rotate the interrupter on the stepper motor a little bit to reposition track-0, which did finally allow me to format it with DOS. Before that I tried many other things and even removed the cover and the stepper motor.


I was a little disappointed that the drives had some bad tracks though, as none are stated on the defect map on the drive. I noticed that ALL of the defects were on head 2 and 3, which are the top two heads. This gave me an idea....


These drives use the newer thin-film platters (not the brown iron-oxide ones), and I have a few nice ones that I removed from a dead Maxtor drive, so I ended up swapping the top platter in the Miniscribe out for one!


I put the drive back together and prepared for disaster. Connected it up to the Deskpro, fired it up and it seemed to spin up and do its self test like before. No nasty metal-on-metal sounds or anything. So, I low-level formatted it, ran Fdisk, formatted with DOS, and what do you know, NO MORE BAD TRACKS!!


I had a huge smile on my face when I saw this. This is my first ever successful platter swap. I have been using the drive for a couple days and have scanned it with 4 different programs now, and no errors have been found! I could not be happier.


Here is a pic of the inside of the Miniscribe before I changed out the platter:


IMG_6177.jpg


Love the way these look on the inside. The sounds these Miniscribes make are some of my favorite old hard drive sounds. One thing I have noticed is that the stepper motor in the 3438P sounds completely different that the regular 3438. It also sounds noticeably different than the 3650.
 
I bought one as "turning-on" from eBay, but it actually didn't turn on, PSU is dead. Down about 200$

I then bought a working PSU, and thank fully it does work. But motherboard isn't. The light comes on, but nothing else. Down another 80$

I then bough a old-new stock, the motherboard, as working, but it didn't work, it actually started a small fireworks. Down another 100$

So far my Deskpro Model 1 experience wasn't stellar :)

I'll probably try to dick around with replacing all tantalum capacitors and see if this fixes one of the two motherboards.
 
dhau said:
I bought one as "turning-on" from eBay, but it actually didn't turn on, PSU is dead. Down about 200$

I then bought a working PSU, and thank fully it does work. But motherboard isn't. The light comes on, but nothing else. Down another 80$

I then bough a old-new stock, the motherboard, as working, but it didn't work, it actually started a small fireworks. Down another 100$

So far my Deskpro Model 1 experience wasn't stellar :)

I'll probably try to dick around with replacing all tantalum capacitors and see if this fixes one of the two motherboards.
Click to expand...

Wow, I’m shocked to hear all of that. These are usually pretty robust from what I can tell.

Probably a silly question, but are you using the original Compaq monitor or an aftermarket CGA one? With the stock card a switch settings, a regular CGA monitor won’t work properly. Now if you changed the settings to CGA or have a known-working Compaq monitor, then you are good.

The motherboards in these are pretty tough, so I’m betting you should be able to get at least one working. Most XT-era hardware is pretty damn reliable from my experience.

Another thing I actually wanted to discuss with this thread, is that most people incorrectly refer to all Deskpro 8086s as the “Model 1.” The Model 1 refers to the base model Deskpro 8086 with 128KB of RAM and one 360KB floppy drive. Then there was the Model 2 with 256KB of RAM and two 360KB drives, the Model 3 with 256KB of RAM one 360KB drive and a 10MB hard drive, and finally the Model 4 with 640KB of RAM one 360KB drive, a 10MB tape backup drive and a 10MB hard drive. So I much prefer to call it the Deskpro 8086 or “original” Deskpro. :)

That may sound nitpicky, but I just hate to see the little details lost to history. :)

Anyway, I hope you can get you Deskpro running soon!
 
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