New To The Group - IBM XT

[edwardh]

Hi:
I would like to introduce myself. I live in Orem, Utah, and have been interested in computers for quite a while. I have an IBM XT, with a monchrome monitor. It has 640K of memory, a 40MG hard disk, and two disk drives, one 5 1/4" and one 3 1/2". The computer also has an internal 2400 baud modem. The floppy disk drives do not work; but the machine boots up fine from the hard disk, and otherwise works fine.

Does anyone else have an XT? I didn't see much mention of them when I looked through the messages. When I got mine, it came with a 10 MG hard disk, and one 5 1/4" disk drive. It originally had 192K of memory. I upgraded it to 256K and then after a while to 640K.

I would like to learn how to troubleshoot the disk drives, and if its possible to replace one or both of them if necessary. If it turns out to be more than I am capable of, I would like to give my XT a good home; with someone who appreciates it as much as I do.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Chris2005]

If they don't even light up, check the power connections. Maybe the controller is dead. Look around for parts to scrounge. There's bound to be a pc collecting dust within a half hour drive from you.
You can often utilize a newer high density floppy drive as a 720k drive, but it might not like being the b: drive, and you will need a twist in the cable between it and the 5 1/4" floppy. We can help more as you start to explore. Take some pictures of your setup if you can.

 

[dreddnott]

Yes, take pictures!

You also might want to double-check the DIP switches on the motherboard. There are a couple that control how many floppy drives are present.

Have you opened it up to take a peek? I want to know, does the PSU have a power connector for a 3.5" floppy?

 

[Erik]

Welcome to the VC Forums!

Enjoy!

 

[mbbrutman]

Hi:
I would like to introduce myself. I live in Orem, Utah, and have been interested in computers for quite a while. I have an IBM XT, with a monchrome monitor. It has 640K of memory, a 40MG hard disk, and two disk drives, one 5 1/4" and one 3 1/2". The computer also has an internal 2400 baud modem. The floppy disk drives do not work; but the machine boots up fine from the hard disk, and otherwise works fine.

Does anyone else have an XT? I didn't see much mention of them when I looked through the messages. When I got mine, it came with a 10 MG hard disk, and one 5 1/4" disk drive. It originally had 192K of memory. I upgraded it to 256K and then after a while to 640K.

I would like to learn how to troubleshoot the disk drives, and if its possible to replace one or both of them if necessary. If it turns out to be more than I am capable of, I would like to give my XT a good home; with someone who appreciates it as much as I do.

Thanks for your help.

There are lot of IBM owners around here.

There are lots of ways to handle problems with floppy drives. The drives could just need a good head cleaning. Cleaning the rails that the head slides on is also important. The alignment of the head could be wrong, and that is hard to correct without specialized equipment. Depending on the drive, it could be rotating too slowly or too fast - belt driven drives are more prone to this.

I generally clean my drives as much as possible, but I won't try to realign heads because I don't have the equipment. Speed adjustments can be made, but the procedure depends on the drive.

There is a lot of old documentation on drive repairs out there, much of it in book form. Post some model numbers and we'll see what we can do.