• PS/2 Model 56 SLC

    From Douglas Davis@21:1/5 to All on Sat Jan 15 22:14:20 2022
    I have an old PS/2 Model 56 SLC Type 8556 which appears to have a 486 (upgrade?), 8 MB RAM, and 180 MB hard drive. There are also two FutureDomain MCA SCSI cards, and two MCA EtherPac 2100+NT cards. I don't know if any of the MCA cards are function,
    although I suspect the EtherPac cards are not because there's a crack in the C34 capacitors on both boards.

    After replacing the system battery, it boots to DOS and also loads Windows 3.11.

    I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I could send it off for e-waste recycling, but I wanted to check if any parts of it might actually be useful to someone.

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  • From James Hall@21:1/5 to Douglas Davis on Sun Jan 16 05:53:43 2022
    On Sunday, January 16, 2022 at 1:14:20 AM UTC-5, Douglas Davis wrote:
    I have an old PS/2 Model 56 SLC Type 8556 which appears to have a 486 (upgrade?), 8 MB RAM, and 180 MB hard drive. There are also two FutureDomain MCA SCSI cards, and two MCA EtherPac 2100+NT cards. I don't know if any of the MCA cards are function,
    although I suspect the EtherPac cards are not because there's a crack in the C34 capacitors on both boards.

    After replacing the system battery, it boots to DOS and also loads Windows 3.11.

    I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I could send it off for e-waste recycling, but I wanted to check if any parts of it might actually be useful to someone.

    Douglas, I'd be interested in the entire unit. Where are you located or would you be willing to ship the PC?

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  • From Louis Ohland@21:1/5 to Douglas Davis on Sun Jan 16 07:50:57 2022
    On 1/16/2022 00:14, Douglas Davis wrote:
    I have an old PS/2 Model 56 SLC Type 8556 which appears to have a 486 (upgrade?), 8 MB RAM, and 180 MB hard drive.

    486 upgrade? Does it plug into the co-pro socket?

    https://ardent-tool.com/CPU/upgrade_modules.html

    Or is it an MCA adapter? Or is it an upgrade system-board?

    I >ASSUME< it is a module.


    two FutureDomain MCA SCSI cards,

    MCS-350? MCS-200?

    https://ardent-tool.com/SCSI/MCS.html

    EtherPac 2100+NT

    Huh, another unknown card. But William Walsh already foundt out the truth...

    "Notice: This card shares its card-ID with the Asanté EtherPAC 2100+NT
    card! Both of these cards are said to be identical, so using this ADF
    should not make any difference in the functionality of the Asanté card."

    http://ps-2.kev009.com/mcastuff/de320ct/index.html

    @56EA.ADF - D-Link Ethernet Card DE-320CT
    @56EA.ADF - Asante EtherPaC 2100+NT MCA card
    same card - different name

    https://mcamafia.retropc.se/mcapage0/adf/%4056ea_as.adf



    There are also two FutureDomain MCA SCSI cards, and two MCA EtherPac
    2100+NT cards. I don't know if any of the MCA cards are function,
    although I suspect the EtherPac cards are not because there's a crack in
    the C34 capacitors on both boards.

    After replacing the system battery, it boots to DOS and also loads Windows 3.11.

    I'm trying to decide what to do with it. I could send it off for e-waste recycling, but I wanted to check if any parts of it might actually be useful to someone.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Louis Ohland@21:1/5 to Louis Ohland on Sun Jan 16 12:54:53 2022
    Crack or slit?

    Just say no to crack.

    Some solid caps have a fine slit in them.

    On 1/16/2022 07:50, Louis Ohland wrote:
    crack in the C34 capacitors on both boards

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From Grant Taylor@21:1/5 to Louis Ohland on Sun Jan 16 12:15:19 2022
    On 1/16/22 11:54 AM, Louis Ohland wrote:
    Some solid caps have a fine slit in them.

    I have always taken this to be a slit deliberately cut in some (few)
    capacitors as a method of tuning them to be a specific value.

    Either as close as possible to listed value, e.g. high precision, /or/
    the value needed to properly tune a circuit, independent of the value
    listed on the side of the capacitor.



    --
    Grant. . . .
    unix || die

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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  • From gfretwell@aol.com@21:1/5 to gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net on Sun Jan 16 15:40:40 2022
    On Sun, 16 Jan 2022 12:15:19 -0700, Grant Taylor
    <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:

    On 1/16/22 11:54 AM, Louis Ohland wrote:
    Some solid caps have a fine slit in them.

    I have always taken this to be a slit deliberately cut in some (few) >capacitors as a method of tuning them to be a specific value.

    Either as close as possible to listed value, e.g. high precision, /or/
    the value needed to properly tune a circuit, independent of the value
    listed on the side of the capacitor.

    They score capacitors so they will blow open easily instead of
    exploding when they go bad and start swelling up.
    OTOH sometimes they just melt. https://gfretwell.com/electrical/Blown%20cap%20SSR.JPG

    I am not sure if the cap took the SSR or the other way around but it
    was a smoky mess.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Tomas Slavotinek@21:1/5 to gfretwell@aol.com on Sun Jan 16 23:49:38 2022
    Are you talking about the components that look similar to a classic through-hole disc capacitor but with a precise slit cut into it from the
    top? These are spark gap capacitors. They are there to protect the
    circuit from voltage spikes.

    Often used in the frontend section of network adapters.

    For example here (C7 next to the AAUI connector): https://www.ardent-tool.com/NIC/LAN_A_Old_Photo_Front.jpg

    On 16.01.2022 21:40, gfretwell@aol.com wrote:
    On Sun, 16 Jan 2022 12:15:19 -0700, Grant Taylor
    <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:

    On 1/16/22 11:54 AM, Louis Ohland wrote:
    Some solid caps have a fine slit in them.

    I have always taken this to be a slit deliberately cut in some (few)
    capacitors as a method of tuning them to be a specific value.

    Either as close as possible to listed value, e.g. high precision, /or/
    the value needed to properly tune a circuit, independent of the value
    listed on the side of the capacitor.

    They score capacitors so they will blow open easily instead of
    exploding when they go bad and start swelling up.
    OTOH sometimes they just melt. https://gfretwell.com/electrical/Blown%20cap%20SSR.JPG

    I am not sure if the cap took the SSR or the other way around but it
    was a smoky mess.



    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Douglas Davis@21:1/5 to Tomas Slavotinek on Sun Jan 16 21:21:47 2022
    So it appears to be the IBM 486SLC2 Upgrade for Model 56/57with an empty 387SX FPU socket.
    https://ardent-tool.com/CPU/855x-486SLC2_Upgrade.html

    The Future Domain SCSI cards are both MCS700 short versions (PN 71G3575). https://ardent-tool.com/SCSI/MCS.html#MCS-600_700

    They are indeed Asante branded EtherPaC 2100+NT cards with both BNC and RJ45 connection options. What I thought was a broken capacitor looks exactly like the one on the right hand side of the picture that Tomas shared, so maybe they're functional after
    all.

    I'm in the Midwest United States. I'd be willing to ship it, although I'm not sure of the best method to do it. I'd forgotten how heavy the thing is, so I'm curious what's the best way to protect it during shipping. Also, I vaguely remember that old
    drives didn't auto-park the heads, you needed to run some sort of utility before shipping to prevent damage. Any idea on if I'll need to do that in this instance?

    I'm still looking through all the old stuff, so I might have various install disks for Windows as well as some manuals.



    On Sunday, January 16, 2022 at 4:49:41 PM UTC-6, Tomas Slavotinek wrote:
    Are you talking about the components that look similar to a classic through-hole disc capacitor but with a precise slit cut into it from the top? These are spark gap capacitors. They are there to protect the
    circuit from voltage spikes.

    Often used in the frontend section of network adapters.

    For example here (C7 next to the AAUI connector): https://www.ardent-tool.com/NIC/LAN_A_Old_Photo_Front.jpg
    On 16.01.2022 21:40, gfre...@aol.com wrote:
    On Sun, 16 Jan 2022 12:15:19 -0700, Grant Taylor <gta...@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:

    On 1/16/22 11:54 AM, Louis Ohland wrote:
    Some solid caps have a fine slit in them.

    I have always taken this to be a slit deliberately cut in some (few)
    capacitors as a method of tuning them to be a specific value.

    Either as close as possible to listed value, e.g. high precision, /or/
    the value needed to properly tune a circuit, independent of the value
    listed on the side of the capacitor.

    They score capacitors so they will blow open easily instead of
    exploding when they go bad and start swelling up.
    OTOH sometimes they just melt. https://gfretwell.com/electrical/Blown%20cap%20SSR.JPG

    I am not sure if the cap took the SSR or the other way around but it
    was a smoky mess.



    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From IBMMuseum@21:1/5 to All on Sun Jan 16 23:28:06 2022
    I'm in the Midwest United States. I'd be willing to ship it, although I'm
    not sure of the best method to do it. I'd forgotten how heavy the thing
    is, so I'm curious what's the best way to protect it during shipping.

    "The Midwest" is still a big area - can you pin it down to the state?

    Also, I vaguely remember that old drives didn't auto-park the heads,
    you needed to run some sort of utility before shipping to prevent
    damage. Any idea on if I'll need to do that in this instance?

    Nope, the drive is SCSI...

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From James Hall@21:1/5 to IBMMuseum on Mon Jan 17 06:53:04 2022
    On Monday, January 17, 2022 at 2:28:07 AM UTC-5, IBMMuseum wrote:
    I'm in the Midwest United States. I'd be willing to ship it, although I'm not sure of the best method to do it. I'd forgotten how heavy the thing
    is, so I'm curious what's the best way to protect it during shipping.
    "The Midwest" is still a big area - can you pin it down to the state?
    Also, I vaguely remember that old drives didn't auto-park the heads,
    you needed to run some sort of utility before shipping to prevent
    damage. Any idea on if I'll need to do that in this instance?
    Nope, the drive is SCSI...

    Douglas,

    Stores like Staples and UPS will properly box up the computer for you and ship it. I live in Albany, NY, so picking it up will not be an option. I can be reached at my FireFox mail address directly: 6mqxyvtzb@relay.firefox.com
    I can pay you via PayPal.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Douglas Davis@21:1/5 to jbha...@gmail.com on Mon Jan 17 21:42:46 2022
    I'll look into options for boxing and shipping it out and let you know.

    On Monday, January 17, 2022 at 8:53:05 AM UTC-6, jbha...@gmail.com wrote:
    On Monday, January 17, 2022 at 2:28:07 AM UTC-5, IBMMuseum wrote:
    I'm in the Midwest United States. I'd be willing to ship it, although I'm not sure of the best method to do it. I'd forgotten how heavy the thing is, so I'm curious what's the best way to protect it during shipping.
    "The Midwest" is still a big area - can you pin it down to the state?
    Also, I vaguely remember that old drives didn't auto-park the heads,
    you needed to run some sort of utility before shipping to prevent
    damage. Any idea on if I'll need to do that in this instance?
    Nope, the drive is SCSI...
    Douglas,

    Stores like Staples and UPS will properly box up the computer for you and ship it. I live in Albany, NY, so picking it up will not be an option. I can be reached at my FireFox mail address directly: 6mqx...@relay.firefox.com
    I can pay you via PayPal.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From lharris428@gmail.com@21:1/5 to jbha...@gmail.com on Wed Jan 19 22:50:22 2022
    On Monday, January 17, 2022 at 9:53:05 AM UTC-5, jbha...@gmail.com wrote:
    On Monday, January 17, 2022 at 2:28:07 AM UTC-5, IBMMuseum wrote:
    I'm in the Midwest United States. I'd be willing to ship it, although I'm not sure of the best method to do it. I'd forgotten how heavy the thing is, so I'm curious what's the best way to protect it during shipping.
    "The Midwest" is still a big area - can you pin it down to the state?
    Also, I vaguely remember that old drives didn't auto-park the heads,
    you needed to run some sort of utility before shipping to prevent
    damage. Any idea on if I'll need to do that in this instance?
    Nope, the drive is SCSI...
    Douglas,

    Stores like Staples and UPS will properly box up the computer for you and ship it. I live in Albany, NY, so picking it up will not be an option. I can be reached at my FireFox mail address directly: 6mqxyvtzb@relay.firefox.com
    I can pay you via PayPal.
    Hello from Ravena NY!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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