• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

Two Altos 586 Found in Trash Pile - What to Do

P

Piptro

Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2023
Messages
18
Hey, just registered to post about these two microcomputers I found in a trash pile at an antique store. They seem to be in good condition outside and as far as I've looked inside, so I was wondering what I should do with them. I do like collecting old PCs, but these are outside of my small knowledge base. From what I could find, mostly from wiki articles and museum pages, they were decently expensive multi-user Unix systems intended for businesses that didn't need an entire mainframe or minicomputer.

So begs the question, what do I do with them realistically? I'm pretty young and got into vintage computers recently, so if they do work I couldn't really do them justice on the user side, and is it advisable to even plug them in and turn them on? Do they need something specific to run that I'm not even aware of? I also know nothing about any non DOS/Windows operating system, so any advice for what to play around with on them if they work is cool too.
 

Attachments

  • 20230707_163022.jpg
    20230707_163022.jpg
    6.9 MB · Views: 73
As this is your first post - welcome to VCFED.

You have a way more capable machine there than a basic DOS/Windows box!

This machine was designed for Business use and was a multiuser, multitasking system running an operating system called XENIX.

You will find some documentation over at: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/altos/586_986/.

I assume you haven't got any software for it? But you may find some here: http://www.bitsavers.org/bits/Altos/586/.

Did you find any serial terminals with it by any chance?

I wouldn't just 'turn them on' as there is nothing you can do with them without a boot disk and a terminal.

You can 'file' a terminal with a PC and a serial port though. The issue then becomes one of the disks. It might be useful to post a photograph of the rear - or look inside (you may have a hard disk fitted?). Basically, catalogue what you have got, now I have pointed you in the direction of the manuals.

Dave
 
Last edited:
daver2 said:
As this is your first post - welcome to VCFED.

You have a way more capable machine there than a basic DOS/Windows box!

This machine was designed for Business use and was a multiuser, multitasking system running an operating system called XENIX.

You will find some documentation over at: http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/altos/586_986/.

I assume you haven't got any software for it? But you may find some here: http://www.bitsavers.org/bits/Altos/586/.

Did you find any serial terminals with it by any chance?

I wouldn't just 'turn them on' as there is nothing you can do with them without a boot disk and a terminal.

Dave
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I couldn't find any terminals or other associated hardware/software. Would the operating system not be on the internal hard drive, or was that not possible/a typical practice then?
 
If it has a hard disk inside then yes, of course.

Some systems had external hard drives. Hence the reason I suggested doing a little investigation as to what (exactly) you have.

Dave
 
Inside of the 586T. Besides a dirty tape deck I don't see anything immediately out of order, though correct me if I'm wrong. Has an internal Quantum Q540 HDD that hopefully still works. Thanks for all the info.
 

Attachments

  • 20230707_201915.jpg
    20230707_201915.jpg
    1.9 MB · Views: 55
  • 20230707_201954.jpg
    20230707_201954.jpg
    7.4 MB · Views: 56
Piptro said:
I'll take a closer look and inspect for any other things that might be leaking before I power on for the first time
Click to expand...

It actually looks pretty clean, but yeah makes sense to inspect. Now, that I am looking at with the board oriented correctly, it sure does look like a pot with some sealant to keep it at the value....feeling a bit silly :) blue ooze? the ones I have seen blown have basically been black crud.

pot2.jpg
 
That is indeed a hard disk.

I see a battery that will be inevitably dead...

Have you got a PC with a serial port and a terminal emulator you can use?

Dave
 
Yeah, I have an an older optiplex with XP, which if I'm not mistaken should have hyperterminal
 
The Q540s were very good Quantum drives--I've still got an one that did RLL just fine. You may need to give one rap on the side to get it spinning--I think there are probably some gooey bumpers inside.
 
Piptro said:
Inside of the 586T. Besides a dirty tape deck I don't see anything immediately out of order, though correct me if I'm wrong. Has an internal Quantum Q540 HDD that hopefully still works. Thanks for all the info.
Click to expand...
Nice find. I've seen a few of those drives in my time. They're okay, but suffer from stiction like most drives of its era, where the head sticks to the platter. Gooey bumpers... yup, common with some older Quantums, but lots of manufacturers had that problem. Nonetheless, pretty awesome find and welcome to collecting vintage stuff. I started myself while in high school, but this stuff really became truly vintage (when XT's were still only about 10-14 years old), and here I am 29 years later still collecting this stuff.
 
Hey just wanted to circle back to this thread. I have multiple Altos machines including two 586’s Interested in talking about it? :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top