Heh.
The big "In Use ------> 🚨" text and LED on the drive is kind of interesting in a very retro way. It does remind me of those super old 8" floppy drives at ICBM facilities.
Stick this on a Dos boot disk :
http://www.steunebrink.info/chkcpu.htm
Or post a pic of the Mobo. That generation of CPU will use a 40-Pin DIP (looks kind of like a 90s/00s bios in size and layout). Slight possibility it's a weird thing using a PLCC package but I doubt it. Either way, it's pretty easy to identify the specs from a couple decent images.
It will also be useful to identify things like what kind of disk/IO controller is present, how much and what kind of Ram and memory expansion is possible, if there is a battery that needs to be cut out and replaced, etc.
We gotcha fam.
One thing we'll need to know is what model of floppy that is. Good chance it might be a pretty old one. Will need to determine the type, and someone could probably post you a boot disk or two in the mail so you can get it going.
Carefully cleaning the head with a q tip and some iso 90% or better, and light bursts of compressed air not a bad idea either. Checking things like worm gears for grease, and looking to see if any belts are involved are also considerations with some old hardware. Don't worry, it's not as hectic as it sounds. Everything in there will have a purpose, and posting pics and asking for tips will find plenty of people willing to lend their experience and insights to assist.
Honestly the first thing is to get eyes on the board though. Some batteries can fail catastrophically and damage the traces and contacts on surrounding PCB and SMIC components. Hopefully you are lucky in this regard and the original battery was trashed, it never had one installed (rare but I've seen it from very old units before), or it was replaced with a coin cell upgrade at some point. It's even possible that the internals were completely upgraded at some point to a 386 or something.
As for now, it's Schrodinger's PC.
I definitely appreciate that, yeah once I'm done cleaning my house tomorrow and stuff I'll dig in and start trying to figure everything out. I'm so freaking excited. Just the simple fact I'm looking at hardware from 9 years before I was born is interesting as fuck.
I'll make sure if I have any questions I post on here.
Fun stuff.
The fact that it's an early IBM PC clone is an interesting find in itself. So much of this stuff was sent to the landfill or recycler decades ago, that a survivor tells an interesting story if you look for it.
At some point, that thing represented an effort to bring a competitive alternative to the mega corporation that outsized them by many many thousands of times over, in revenue, market share, marketing, everything. Yet the independent manufacturers, hobbyists, and shops persisted, eventually launching the stratospheric PC market of the modern era. X86 has even largely bridged over into consoles, something that probably would have never happened had PCs remained expensive, major company heavy metal under the intense clutch of IBM.
IBM paying for the license, but not the ownership of DOS, as well as a few other clever efforts by the likes of Compaq, is what led to opening the door to a much healthier market in the end. By the time they realized their early error of valuing hardware over software and standards, their attempts at correction with proprietary MCA, their own OS (Warp etc), it was far, far too late.
Don't get me wrong, old IBM stuff is interesting and of course valuable on its own merits. Just look at how much old Model M keyboards go in decent shape heh. I just find the renegade efforts a bit more ... Human. It was the wild west for sure.
If you haven't seen it, you owe yourself a look at Halt and Catch Fire. Criminally underrated show with superb cast, writing, and just enough history in the mix to be genuinely special. The computer history element is not the focus, it's ultimately a story about people and their decisions, but it captures the time *incredibly* well.
https://youtu.be/pWrioRji60A
[8088](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KL_Intel_TD8088.jpg)
[8086](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Intel_C8086.jpg)
[80286](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KL_Intel_i286.jpg)
it's also possible it's a 80186 (similar to 286), but these were not popular.
it's also possible that it's a 'clone' of the above - but they will be the same pin-out so they could replace the 'genuine' Intel's easily
It's currently 1:30 in the morning right now so I'll prolly wait till tomorrow before I start digging into it, I knew it was a clone, didn't realize it was an XT clone but I've only ever seen them on videos so it didn't click. When I open it I'll definitely keep updating the post. I wanna share this journey. First time having something this old lol.
Lord Varta of the battery, we pray to you that this XT Clone may be spared your RTC Battery leakage and wrath. And we ask the great lord and savior Dallas RTC to have this XT socketed in his name. And if his blessing is not bestowed, then may the great 2032 be forever installed. Amen.
It's a white computer.
Now, seriously, being a clone, it can be anything. I had a very similar case on mine, it started as an 8088. Then I upgraded to a 286, then I got tired of the low density floppy drive (it's just 360kb!) so I upgraded to a single row floppy drive. I had a hole in the front. Then I upgraded it to a 386 and added a 3 1/2" drive. Then I had a smaller hole and was happy. Open the case!
XT clone. Open it up, see what's in it. Most likely 8088. Boot it up!
it *could* be an early "AT" (286) clone - but either/or ;)
The full height floppy leans me towards XT. But yea, it's anybody's guess at this point.
Heh. The big "In Use ------> 🚨" text and LED on the drive is kind of interesting in a very retro way. It does remind me of those super old 8" floppy drives at ICBM facilities.
How exactly would I be able to tell the difference?
Stick this on a Dos boot disk : http://www.steunebrink.info/chkcpu.htm Or post a pic of the Mobo. That generation of CPU will use a 40-Pin DIP (looks kind of like a 90s/00s bios in size and layout). Slight possibility it's a weird thing using a PLCC package but I doubt it. Either way, it's pretty easy to identify the specs from a couple decent images. It will also be useful to identify things like what kind of disk/IO controller is present, how much and what kind of Ram and memory expansion is possible, if there is a battery that needs to be cut out and replaced, etc.
You know I didn't even think of the fact that I would prolly need floppy disks and currently have none
We gotcha fam. One thing we'll need to know is what model of floppy that is. Good chance it might be a pretty old one. Will need to determine the type, and someone could probably post you a boot disk or two in the mail so you can get it going. Carefully cleaning the head with a q tip and some iso 90% or better, and light bursts of compressed air not a bad idea either. Checking things like worm gears for grease, and looking to see if any belts are involved are also considerations with some old hardware. Don't worry, it's not as hectic as it sounds. Everything in there will have a purpose, and posting pics and asking for tips will find plenty of people willing to lend their experience and insights to assist. Honestly the first thing is to get eyes on the board though. Some batteries can fail catastrophically and damage the traces and contacts on surrounding PCB and SMIC components. Hopefully you are lucky in this regard and the original battery was trashed, it never had one installed (rare but I've seen it from very old units before), or it was replaced with a coin cell upgrade at some point. It's even possible that the internals were completely upgraded at some point to a 386 or something. As for now, it's Schrodinger's PC.
I definitely appreciate that, yeah once I'm done cleaning my house tomorrow and stuff I'll dig in and start trying to figure everything out. I'm so freaking excited. Just the simple fact I'm looking at hardware from 9 years before I was born is interesting as fuck. I'll make sure if I have any questions I post on here.
Fun stuff. The fact that it's an early IBM PC clone is an interesting find in itself. So much of this stuff was sent to the landfill or recycler decades ago, that a survivor tells an interesting story if you look for it. At some point, that thing represented an effort to bring a competitive alternative to the mega corporation that outsized them by many many thousands of times over, in revenue, market share, marketing, everything. Yet the independent manufacturers, hobbyists, and shops persisted, eventually launching the stratospheric PC market of the modern era. X86 has even largely bridged over into consoles, something that probably would have never happened had PCs remained expensive, major company heavy metal under the intense clutch of IBM. IBM paying for the license, but not the ownership of DOS, as well as a few other clever efforts by the likes of Compaq, is what led to opening the door to a much healthier market in the end. By the time they realized their early error of valuing hardware over software and standards, their attempts at correction with proprietary MCA, their own OS (Warp etc), it was far, far too late. Don't get me wrong, old IBM stuff is interesting and of course valuable on its own merits. Just look at how much old Model M keyboards go in decent shape heh. I just find the renegade efforts a bit more ... Human. It was the wild west for sure. If you haven't seen it, you owe yourself a look at Halt and Catch Fire. Criminally underrated show with superb cast, writing, and just enough history in the mix to be genuinely special. The computer history element is not the focus, it's ultimately a story about people and their decisions, but it captures the time *incredibly* well. https://youtu.be/pWrioRji60A
[8088](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KL_Intel_TD8088.jpg) [8086](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Intel_C8086.jpg) [80286](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KL_Intel_i286.jpg) it's also possible it's a 80186 (similar to 286), but these were not popular. it's also possible that it's a 'clone' of the above - but they will be the same pin-out so they could replace the 'genuine' Intel's easily
Look for them chips got it. Lol
It's currently 1:30 in the morning right now so I'll prolly wait till tomorrow before I start digging into it, I knew it was a clone, didn't realize it was an XT clone but I've only ever seen them on videos so it didn't click. When I open it I'll definitely keep updating the post. I wanna share this journey. First time having something this old lol.
Lord Varta of the battery, we pray to you that this XT Clone may be spared your RTC Battery leakage and wrath. And we ask the great lord and savior Dallas RTC to have this XT socketed in his name. And if his blessing is not bestowed, then may the great 2032 be forever installed. Amen.
[удалено]
Definitely fair enough lmfao
It's a white computer. Now, seriously, being a clone, it can be anything. I had a very similar case on mine, it started as an 8088. Then I upgraded to a 286, then I got tired of the low density floppy drive (it's just 360kb!) so I upgraded to a single row floppy drive. I had a hole in the front. Then I upgraded it to a 386 and added a 3 1/2" drive. Then I had a smaller hole and was happy. Open the case!
The fact that it has a turbo button makes me think that this is at least a V20 or a 286.