IBM 5155 Part 1 : Surgery - Bringing the luggable back from the dead. 

hehe .... part 2 is already done but I can already tell you there will be a part 3 ... found some additional surprises that needed extra attention

Thx a lot ! Every view is much appreciated ... not that easy for new channels to get some traction on youtube.

I was so impressed with your videos. I wanted to discuss donating what i have to you. Can you email me at sl12@hotmail.com. thanks

Hehe .. the place to store the most important floppies :) My first one only had 2 360kb floppy drives. Nice to have some extra storage now.

Thx ! Fun “little” project :)

Thought about it for a bit, but couldn't really find something that would be strong enough to solve the rusted screws but preserve the plastics ... the 3 screws are also pretty well hidden en I can put a nice cover on them :) Focus now is to get it in mint condition again.

Oh man that drilling was hard to watch. You can get extractor bits specifically for this purpose and there are plenty of plastic-safe penetrating oils for loosening up rusted screws. Heating the screw with something like an iron can also work it loose through thermal expansion, although you'd need to be careful with the temperature given the plastic.

@@xenonkay yeah it shows that I am clearly more of a software engineer than hardware engineer :) Wanted to open it up asap and didn't have any of those tools at hand here .... But will look into it as I have another heavily corroded IBM with 1 screw that is completely stuck due to heavy battery leakage.

@@RetroSpector78 AGREED...ive used those extractor bits to get at rusty screws..its a worthwhile investment

Thx ... glad you liked it ... www.minuszerodegrees.net is THE resource when it comes to IBM equipment. Can’t thank him enough for all of his valuable resources. Other than that, there is a great community of retro enthousiasts out there, and the rest is just a lot of trial and error :)

Depends on what retro hardware you want to play around with ... different time periods have different type of issues / difficulties. Both for most there are grea online communities.

@@RetroSpector78 Thank you for replying! I have zero knowledge on fixing hardware....and I was quite amazed when I see you know every piece of PCB and can detect and fix the problems of them.

@@totommymmy If you can't get into the hardware, you can always play around using emulators such as DOS Box. It helps to have a small background in electronics and computers. One thing that often goes on these old machines is the capacitors, so being able to identify the type/spec and having some soldering/desoldering skills is a pretty good start. But it's just like buying a vintage car. You need to know SOMETHING about how they work to be able to repair and maintain them. Fully working systems do go up for sale now and then, but they cost a pretty penny, and it's often more worth it to buy broken ones piecemail and fix them. You get much more enjoyment out of them that way.

@@BlackEpyon Thank you for the advice!

Took some brute force.... not the ideal way but was too excited to look inside :) When I pick up something untested and/or non-working I want to jump right in :)

next time I will try to show some reserve and patience and do it in a more professional way.

Did you get it up and running again ? Was lucky enough to have acquired a 5154 ega monitor a couple of weeks ago.

@@RetroSpector78 I tried cleaning and re-capping, it was no use, there was something wrong with the corroded board below the CRT. Got a second one working after re-capping the power supply, use it with my IBM 5150 PC and 5161 Expansion Unit.

It's a amber-monochrome CGA monitor, which is composite, and a horizontal refresh rate half what the Virge puts out, so no. With how extensively you'd have to modify it, you're better off just tipping a tower on it's side.

@@BlackEpyon there's no gui on my server, so... I mean, won't it work for console output? like.. text only no?

@@pmf026 Strictly for console output, sure, if your video card has a composite out. I haven't seen composite out on video cards since the early aughts (usually on a pig-tail breakout connector). You could also do a serial terminal using any XT-class system, since even modern servers still come with at least one RS-232 port.

There is no difference between the Intel 8088 and the AMD 8088. (I think you mean "produced by Intel" instead of "IBM" ? Don't think IBM ever produced an 8088 itself). Besides Intel AMD, there was also Siemens, Fujitsu, Harris, NEC, ....that produced 8088 (some using different clock speeds). But the AMD / Intel CPUs are identical.

You can thank IBM for insisting on multiple sources for the existence of AMD, Cyrix, VIA, and other x86 compatible CPU manufacturers over the years. IBM was legally allowed to make and sell Intel chips as their model number up to the 486, which they did.

@@RetroSpector78 Yup, I meant Intel. I was thinking IBM because I think they were the ones that insisted upon multiple 'reliable' sources of production for the 8088.

Have had 2 IBM 5155’s so far ... both with lots of different screws inside...

And then there's Compac and Dell with their Torx screws.

yeah ! party time :) Assuming you are one of the 1K, thanks a lot for watching , and I hope to continue seeing you here on the channel for lots more content !

No, I'm from about 600 something prehistoric era :D

@@badscrewold3162 hehe ... the good ol' days :) But got some great new content lined up so that we can hit that 10K ASAP :)

I can imagine a lot of them after seeing me drilling holes

Not a native english speaker .... and definitely not scripted. Sorry to hear it came across as painful. Was not my sentiment when making it :)

You could ask the same of people who collect and restore vintage cars. It's the same. We do this because we enjoy collecting, fixing, and restoring them. And once in a while, we'll take them out of the garage for a spin, just for the pure enjoyment, and to show off to like minded individuals.

@@BlackEpyon The problem with that analogy is that vintage cars are still very usable today. We don't have flying cars that would immediately make them obsolete. A restored car from 1960 would still be able to drive down the highway like one made in 2020. A computer from the 1980s would not be useful at all when compared to modern PCs.

@@Levy_Wilson If we used your analogy, cars in 2020 would be more "useful" because they can outrun the cops at mach 2. You can still type, do spreadsheets, and play video games on older computers, just as we did back then. They're not as fast or have as many features, but they're just as practical in the same sense that a car from the 1960's will still get you from point A to B the same way a modern car will, even if it doesn't have air conditioning. But people don't buy vintage cars to use as commuters, and you certainly wouldn't drive one in the snow and mud if you want to keep it's condition. In my area, there's lots of people who bring out their vintage cars on sunny weekends just to cruise around, show off at the truck stops, and enjoy themselves, not because they need to go anywhere with them (also true of bikers). People buy and restore them because they enjoy them, and the same is true for vintage computers. There doesn't NEED to be a "practical" value to them.