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Author Topic: Modernized IBM 5150 Project - Looking for optical drive like the MAC for PC?  (Read 32458 times)

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DaveLembke

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So a friend of mine finally located a good IBM Model 5150 for me to modernize. I have plans to make a custom DVD-ROM which uses the existing massive 5.25" drive face  to keep it looking original, and will fabricate a way to use the 5.25" wide slot for inserting Optical Discs.

At first I was going to yank the optical drive out of an old Toshiba Qosmio G35 which had an optical DVD/CD-RW drive which accepts discs the same as a car stereo does in the slot, but thought that I should look online first to see if there is a better alternative than to destroy the old Toshiba Qosmio for its optical drive.

Looking online I found some external optical drives for MAC's that are USB .. as shown here which can be modified to hide behind the 5.25" floppy drive face and be able to insert and remove modern optical CD or DVD's from, but not sure if this drive is supported bu PC for drivers etc? : http://www.ebay.com/itm/USB-External-Slot-in-DVD-RW-Drive-Burner-Superdrive-For-MacBook-Air-Mac-mini/281052533677?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D163%26meid%3D9190943806458593393%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D170652192549%26#ht_2471wt_1170

BUT.... there is no information suggesting that these will work with PC with Windows OS. USB is usually pretty universal, but not sure if anyone has tried an external MAC drive on a PC to confirm it works?  If I can go the route of using this external USB drive then I can just wire it directly via USB to the motherboard and make it the first boot device in BIOS.

The computer case for anyone who doesnt know what an IBM 5150 looks like is this: http://oldcomputers.net/ibm5150.html

The outside of this computer is going to look all original, but I have plans to stuff my old gaming computers guts into it making it a 2600Mhz Quadcore with a ASUS ATI HD5450 Video Card with 1GB DDR3. I am going to hack the old original power supply with some custom electronics to use the large power switch lever as the soft power switch. To do this I am going to add a custom circuit that gives a relay a 1 second signal that acts like you are pushing the power button on for 1 second, and the relay drops out breaking the connection so that the computer doesnt shut itself down seconds later as if you held your finger on the power button. When the switch is thrown the opposite position ( normally off position on the original computer ) it will send another 1 second relay pulse to turn it back on again after the OS was given command to shutdown the computer and wait for soft power condition to be true to power again. * Otherwise I would have to flip it off when the computer is already off and back on to boot and that seems like too many motions when off position can also be used as the next soft power on condition.

The hardest part is actually going to be the metal work that needs to be performed. I am going to try to keep the rear of the computer looking as original as I can, but will have to cut out and weld a modern ATX chasis to the old case so that the IBM 5150 is ready to be populated with an ATX motherboard and cards. I am not the first person to take a 30+ year old computer and stuff it with modern guts into it, but others I have seen were modernized both internally and externally, and one of which went with nixie tube clock in one of the 5.25" bays to kind of steam punk it a little to look like a computer from Fallout the video game. I want this to look like a 30 year old dinosour and yet be a system that plays modern games. 

Unfortunately I cant think of any cool mod for the original monochrome display, so this is going to be paired up with a modern flatscreen, however if I wanted to keep with the looks of the early 80s, I suppose someone could stuff VGA CRT guts into the monochrome monitor case and limit themselves to maybe 14" of display space. I need 17" minimum on 1024x768 or better these days.

Also if I have to stick with the same drive that is in my Toshiba Qosmio, I found an IDE adapter to run laptop optical drives into desktop computers as linked here: http://3btech.net/noslideadco5.html The old gaming computers motherboard has a single IDE port for 2 drives if needed. I plan on using SATA for the hard drive(s).

I also want to locate a cheap 5.25" original to this IBM 5150 build Hard Drive bracket and face plate to mount the hard drive behind and tie the LED of it into the HD LED connection on the motherboard as for this system I was given has no hard drive, just the A: and B: 360k Floppy drives and it also only has 512k RAM, but that doesnt matter because its going to have all new internal guts.

Its going from:
CPU = 8088 4.77Mhz
RAM = 512k
OS   = DOS

To:
CPU = Athlon II x4 620 2600Mhz
RAM = 4GB Corsair DDR2 800Mhz XMS2
OS   = Windows 7 Home Premium

 ;D

Was thinking about RAT FINK'ing the computer case with a decal since its an old Chasis with far more powerful modern guts under the hood, but decided not to at this point to keep it as original looking as possible. http://www.ratfink.com/rat-fink-art.php

camerongray



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Arg!  Seems a real shame to cannibalise a 5150 assuming it's working!

Would be worth a lot more in its original form than after the modifications!

Whatever you do I beg you not to do anything irreversible like cutting/drilling the original casing and hang on to all the original parts!

BC_Programmer


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You can sell a 5150 on ebay and get enough to build a new PC. It's hard to tell exactly how much it can go for. A complete system seems to go for around 300-400 dollars. If you also happened to get a copy of DOS 1.0, that can often go for $500. Since you wouldn't need it if you modded the machine I can't see that being a bad thing.

As to your considerations:

-the Original IBM PC used a completely different Motherboard size, and the screws were in a completely different location from either AT, Baby AT, or today's's ATX motherboards, so you might have trouble getting the motherboard in. *You seem to have covered this somewhat, reading further*

-To my recollection the system didn't use an I/O Shield and instead had specifically cut holes in the back of the case for the various ports. You'd need to mod the case to get access to your ports and even possibly to install a modern motherboard at all.

-The power switch normally found on the back of the system sticks out from the power supply. This switch, unsurprisingly, doesn't exist on a modern power supply. So you'll need to create your own power switch. This will also require modding of the case in some fashion.

You cannot use the original Power Supply for Several reasons. Aside from the original Power supply providing only 90 watts, It wasn't even sufficient to install Hard Disks in the original system. It doesn't use the correct connectors, either. A Modern system requires connectors for your CPU and GPU and Motherboard which differ from any connectors available. (The fact that the default PSU could barely power a modern CPU on it's own notwithstanding). It also uses a Linear Transformer so it's both a lot more dangerous to tweak yourself (even more power is kept about through capacitance in the innards) and so on.

This isn't even the mention the fact that you would need to modify the PSU in your case to have those connectors as well as magically conform to the ATX specification (sending PW_GOOD, PS_ON, +5V Standby, etc. and allowing the system itself to drive the Standby voltage down and shut-down the machine. (to my understanding that is how "soft power" is handled.)

I'm sure there are many other things that will require custom modifications, such as front-panel connectors and indicators.

I'm not sure why you are deliberating over the Optical Drive. the 5150 has room for two full-height drives, which means there is room for four full-height drives in that area.

If you end up stuck with a useless MDA monitor you could turn it into a lamp.

Honestly I'm more or less with Camerongray on this opinion wise. Seems like the sort of thing you keep in original condition and capability as long as possible. Their value has almost doubled since 2003, and it's likely they will go up as more and more people think they are worthless and modernize them.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

DaveLembke

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If you also happened to get a copy of DOS 1.0, that can often go for $500

Interesting price tag. I am guessing that $500 is a sealed box never used in mint condition? Or is this just the 5.25" floppy itself in proven good non corrupt condition?

Had a good laugh about turning monitor into a lamp.

*My friend who got me this computer works for a computer shop and told me that this computer was one of the better condition computers from the lot of about 20 that were cleaned out of a companies basement and sent off to the computer recycle center along with old servers etc. He ended up grabbing some of the older Apple II's to add to his collection. He is still looking for a LISA...  ;D  .

Going to have to share with him that complete working 5150's are a few hundred bucks in working condition. *I had a few 8088's with 512k and 640k RAM in the past that I gave away for free that were working because I had a 386 16Mhz that could do far more than just DOS/Games. There was only like 2 games that executed (RUN) too fast on the 386 16Mhz that were written for 8088 4.77Mhz.

As far as this 5150 goes the deal with getting it for free from him was that I would bring it through the conversion process and document it for him. I get to keep the computer as my own. So this box cant be saved. Its not in mint condition. I am planning on saving the guts though since they probably work. I have a collection of old guts in my closet in ESD bags. So if I find another 5150 with say just 512k RAM and want to max it out to 640k, I can grab RAM chips out of it etc for the extra 128k.

BC_Programmer


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As far as this 5150 goes the deal with getting it for free from him was that I would bring it through the conversion process and document it for him. I get to keep the computer as my own. So this box cant be saved. Its not in mint condition. I am planning on saving the guts though since they probably work. I have a collection of old guts in my closet in ESD bags. So if I find another 5150 with say just 512k RAM and want to max it out to 640k, I can grab RAM chips out of it etc for the extra 128k.

If you came across a broken IBM PC you could also put your guts into it too.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

camerongray



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Personally I'd really consider looking on eBay to either find a broken/incomplete one or even just a case - Seen a few on there recently.

BC_Programmer


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If you came across a broken IBM PC you could also put your guts into it too.

Of course I meant the guts from the existing and possibly working PC. Not your guts. You probably need those.
I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

DaveLembke

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Of course I meant the guts from the existing and possibly working PC. Not your guts. You probably need those.

LOL   ;D

Also regarding Camerongray's post of:

Quote
Personally I'd really consider looking on eBay to either find a broken/incomplete one or even just a case - Seen a few on there recently.

I will check it out. If I can get a dead IBM 5150 for $30 or less maybe I'll pick it up instead. Shipping alone is probably close to $20.