Troubleshooting an IBM 5155 - (portable personal computer)

[Kelly Leavitt]

> From: John Allain [mailto:allain at panix.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2005 9:59 AM
> 
> > Any suggestions or comments in general about this machine?
> 
> I gave myself 30 minutes to get one of those going once.
> I got access to just about all subsystems/components in that time.
> The coolest thing that really made me like the machine was that the
> video monitor was IIRC 5V,NTSC in, picture out.  Very easy to use.
You're correct about disassembly. It was much easier than I thought. The
biggest problem was getting to the drive mounting bolts on the side by the
expansion cards. After removing all the cards, there was just enough room
for a socket and ratchet to fit in there.

> - - -
> You might want to try Rewriting fresh floppies on a true 360K drive, 
> heat,time, and 1.2M drives all can degrade the data to some degree.

I do use a 360K drive in my 486 just for creating these discs. I guess I
wasn't clear on this.

Now, by disassembling and cleaning the B: drive, I was able to get the
machine booting off this drive (cabled as A:). However, the same cleaning
procedure on the A: drive did not allow it to boot. I still have to clean
the heads. Maybe that'll make a difference. If not, I think I may have other
Qume drives without the IBM monniker on them that I can swap the bezels
with. I just have to dig through the cabinent and see what'll fit.

> 
> John A.
> 

Thanks,
Kelly