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Imprimis 94208-51

J

jc179

Experienced Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
99
Hi Everyone,

Looking for some help accessing an old drive I have. I think it is a IDE, not sure if its XT-IDE or AT-IDE spec. I believe it came from a very old Compaq 286 I had years ago, and I don't have the controller card which was used on it back then (some ~20 years ago when I saved it, I clearly wasn't thinking ahead).

Anyways I am not able to get the drive to do much of anything, when I connect it to an IDE interface on a 486, the machine either does not post, or setting drive type 17 just reports in HDD failure. I have tried multiple IDE cards, one of which is suppose to support XT-IDE, all give the same result (hdd failure, or no post when cable flipped) - I am not 100% sure where pin #1 is either, as there is minimal markings on the pcb for that identification.

The drive did work when stored, not that it means much, 20 some odd years later, however my concern is in my younger years I may have removed or moved the jumpers around - I cannot find *anything* on what the jumper settings are / should be for this drive.

googling 94208-51 gives some results : 94208-51 40MB 5.25" IDE HH COMPAQ , and a few links to a ref book, but no jumper settings are noted that I've been able to find.

Does anyone have a working one that could check the jumpers, or share anything that might be helpful?

thanks very much
Jonathan

Jonathanhdd-label.pnghdd-connector-ide.pnghdd.jpg
 
There's are pictures of a similar driver here which might give you some clues about jumper settings if no one has messed with it:

www.recycledgoods.com

CDC 94208-62 54 MB MFM HH 5.25" HDD Imprimis

Shop The CDC 94208-62 54 MB MFM HH 5.25" HDD Imprimis , Quality Checked, Fast Shipping.
www.recycledgoods.com www.recycledgoods.com

For identifying pin 1, you can go by the missing key pin 20. The circuit board pad for pin 1 is also usually a different shape than the rest.

I wouldn't be surprised if that drive is dead based on how scratched up the case it. It looks like it has received a lot of rough treatment.
 
I once owned one of these CDC ATA HH drives. I'd come to expect its lifetime to be on a par with the FH Imprimis SCSI drives, but mine failed in about a year. I'll check around and see if I still have the instruction sheet for it, but I'm not hopeful. FWIW, I still have an installed and functioning 330MB FH SCSI drive that hasn't given a lick of trouble over many years.
 
andy said:
There's are pictures of a similar driver here which might give you some clues about jumper settings if no one has messed with it:

www.recycledgoods.com

CDC 94208-62 54 MB MFM HH 5.25" HDD Imprimis

Shop The CDC 94208-62 54 MB MFM HH 5.25" HDD Imprimis , Quality Checked, Fast Shipping.
www.recycledgoods.com www.recycledgoods.com

For identifying pin 1, you can go by the missing key pin 20. The circuit board pad for pin 1 is also usually a different shape than the rest.

I wouldn't be surprised if that drive is dead based on how scratched up the case it. It looks like it has received a lot of rough treatment.
Click to expand...
Ah right, DUH. thanks for pointing that out.
It does look a little rough, unfortunately some of this stuff was almost tossed years ago, I can't say what happened to it.

At least its good to know its not some weird IDE implementation like was used in XT.

Will shelf it for now , thanks.
 
Chuck(G) said:
I once owned one of these CDC ATA HH drives. I'd come to expect its lifetime to be on a par with the FH Imprimis SCSI drives, but mine failed in about a year. I'll check around and see if I still have the instruction sheet for it, but I'm not hopeful. FWIW, I still have an installed and functioning 330MB FH SCSI drive that hasn't given a lick of trouble over many years.
Click to expand...
What is the full functioning FH SCSI drive you have going ? Overall the FH 5.25 SCSI drives seem to be pretty stout, at least based on the few I have. Too bad they consume some 25-30W .

I have a 280 meg Maxtor XT-3280, 1.2 G Seagate ST41200, Maxtor P0-12S, but the drive I like the most failed, which was a CD branded 94161-155.
Drive is a pretty complicated build, has 2x full size boards below it and a rear one for the motor drive.
Looks good too, red blinken lights and all, but unfortunately, I think the one I have had a head crash.
 
It's a Wren IV, probably 94171-(mumble). I picked it up when CDC closed their retail store in the Twin Cities. (yes, they had a storefront operation for a short time) If you're really curious, I can get the drive model from the SCSI ID information.
 
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Yeah, still fire up a system (my second in life) with a FH Fujitsu 330MB and Impris 330 MB ESDI drives.

IDE, in those early days, did have a reputation for relatively quick failures compared to SCSI. The advice, then, was not to use them for anything requiring data archiving or data integrity (flakey was the term).

Kev
 
Thanks everyone - It seems this one is dead, at least until indepth time permits to look into it further... lol.
Have other drives I'm currently going through / trying to fix the easy ones!

Jonathan
 
My recollection was that my ESDI (380MB) and SCSI (330MB) drives cost about $1,000 each back in the day. IDE and small ST506 drives were for the consumer market and probably not built to the same quality. (and I also have a Miniscribe ESDI drive). OTOH, my HP 9GB FH SCSI was comparatively cheap.
 
Chuck(G GB SCSIG) said:
My recollection was that my ESDI (380MB) and SCSI (330MB) drives cost about $1,000 each back in the day. IDE and small ST506 drives were for the consumer market and probably not built to the same quality. (and I also have a Miniscribe ESDI drive). OTOH, my HP 9GB FH SCSI was comparatively cheap.
Click to expand...
You are correct in that. My FH Fujitsu was s/h and cost, I think, about £200 and the HH Impris was double that. 1 (one) MB of SDRAM was about £30 - £50 depending on time frame.
The cost a 1 MB VGA card - lets not go there. The gaming fraternity would laugh their socks off!
But I bet that HP 9Gb SCSI drive weighed a ton (tonne?).

Kev
 
It's a heavy drive all right--and still works. I've got it installed in a 20MHz 80386 AT-clone box. It's not entirely quiet, but it works very well.
 
In the AT case I have the FH hdd that it is fitted in I find that it is supported by a "shelf" and not just the guide rails found to-day!

Kev
 
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