LGR - Restoring an IBM XT 286

Hey Clint, I just watched this, and your video from last year about the arcade cabinet. I was shocked when I saw the Old Town banner outside the arcade shop because I live in Rock Hill. I have an IBM XT 286 case and power supply in decent shape if you want it next time you're in the area. I found it with a bunch of other retro computers in an old building in my home town, It had a DTK motherboard in it and I was thinking of retro-modding it to hold a modern machine, but cant bring myself to do it. I don't want to ship it because of the weight, but if you are around Rock Hill and want to grab it, it's yours. I also have a 5153 monitor that needs a cable replaced, but powers on. Once again, I planned to try and reuse it for something else, but it probably won't happen anytime soon and is just taking up space in my storage unit. If you are interested, I can take some pictures and send them your way.

DrummerGeek

Thank you, I'm glad to bring on some brightness during all the weirdness!

LGR

Best video of lockdown LGR! Thank you for making this difficult time much brighter with a wonderful video! You are the KING of jazz and beautiful wood finishes!

Seth C

Sure will, thank you for the support 😊

LGR

Oh man the nostalgia. I remember my dad filling up the house with IBM AT's and XT's, including my own room. Ah good times, heh

I love this video so much. This is why I Patreon-ize LGR. Please do more retro goodness like this in the future.

Maurice Lawless

The one from the rustbucket worked! Hoping I can coax the first one into functioning now.

LGR

I don't know the technical reason, no. But it does that on any of these machines when the battery's been removed.

LGR

I only have so many Adlibs, haha. They're all currently installed in other machines.

LGR

That sounds like a fabulous 286 rig, and very jealous of the sound setup (makes sense that you're Youtube's Mr. Roland!). By the way great job on the composition for David's Casio MT-540 video!

Joon Choi

Yep! I actually made a whole video on removing sticker residue, heat was an included strategy.

LGR

I second this - ASMR for older nerds

Joon Choi

The sound if the HDD! Can you make us a LGRBlerp video with nothing than the HDD spinning up and then accessing files for several minutes?

Have you ever tried using heat to remove sticker residue? Sometimes you can hit it with a hair dryer and it makes removing it so much easier.

Andrew Paul

Network the 2 IBMs together! :-D

Eric Siegel

Which hard drive controller card did you use in the final machine? Didn't one work better than the other?

Eric Siegel

Those two computers humming side by side is like nostalgia heroin shot straight into my veins! 👍👍 Looking forward to the follow up videos on the other XT 286 and the Hardcard. 😉 You should be able to get at least 3 full videos and a blerb or two out of this one.

Joon Choi

What a great video, thanks! I found it very fascinating that Gsetup showed time as 77:80 and date as 145/147/0135. Would be interesting to see how different programs and even Windows handle those. Any idea why it did that?

Love these retro computer videos

Great episode. Kinda surprised you didn't put an Adlib in there but I guess, future video? Anyway, looking forward to seeing the second 5162 and whether or not the hardcard is working.

Johan Petur Klüver Dam

Sweet! That was a great episode man! Flashback to my 286, even though it was a real AT from Bull Systems - Zenith something desktop. Wish I could have kept it. Had some nice gaming experiences with it. 16 MHz CPU, 2 MB RAM, 40 MB HDD and 1 MB VGA card plus my Roland CM-32L and Sound Blaster Pro 2. Those were the days! :D

Anders Enger Jensen

((hears original Foods music in intro)) Hmm yes time to make some delicious 286 sandwiches!

This model was my first computer, gifted to me by my grandpa in the mid 90s. Over the next couple years I upgraded it with various parts I acquired, and eventually had a 386 SX-16 with a 2x CD-ROM and 100 Megs of HDD space in that same case. I don't have that upgraded machine any more, but I do still have the original 286 motherboard. Since then, I've acquired two other 5162s, and have gotten them both working. Those chirping sounds the Segate MFM hard drives make are music to my ears. This is great stuff, it's cool to see another 5162 brought back to life.

The Beck banner made me LOL for reals

Asaf Sagi

I like the idea of an episode of you restoring just an absolute disaster of a piece of machinery.

Not in video form, but I did this interview with iFixIt that goes over my most-used stuff: https://www.ifixit.com/News/33776/lazy-game-reviews-whats-in-your-toolbox

LGR

True that, looks can be deceiving! I don't always show the drying process since it's just *that* much more junk to film, but I always blast every inch with an air compressor and leave them out in the sun for the day. Seems to work nicely 👍

LGR

Great to see Planet X3 running on it! The thing is, with that being an original IBM CGA card, we know the composite colors will be right, so X3 would look great on a composite display especially with the extra speed of the 286! I don't think I've seen or used a 286 with composite before. To be honest, most 286s I ever saw or used had EGA or VGA in them. This might be a good computer for Wing Commander since it is about the right speed, and not too fast!

The 8-Bit Guy

The main problem with washing cases is you can get water trapped in parts that are folded under.

Ðementation

That was really cool. Have you ever posted a list of the tools/cleaning supplies you have in your restoration kit? I'd like to see some of those, so I could get ideas for my own projects.

Steven Zakulec

Awesome stuff. Can't believe you've left us hanging with the Hardcard thought, need to know if it works and if so what's on it :)

Mark Elliott

This was the PERFECT video for the may day eve (Vappuaatto), thanks! :) Thumbs up for rust bucket! :D

I love these restoration videos! It's therapeutic, almost like asmr to me. 👌

Aggs

A glorious cacophony. I'd love to set up all my IBM machines at once in a big room just to hear it!

LGR

It stands for "organize name." Sorts files and directories in alphabetical order!

LGR

Maybe my memory is failing, but I've never seen the /on parameter used before. (dir/w/on) I tried looking it up, but can't find anything on it. What does it do?

Gary Leigh

Hearing both those machines boot up in tandem is like music for the soul! Miss the sound of a room full of XT's humming away <3

Mat Cooper

Thank you. Going to have another crack at getting the ps2 5150 i rescued working again. Error 161 on boot.

DOSGamerMan

Haven't yet tried it! Will be doing so sometime soon though.

LGR

Nice, I hope you enjoyed!

LGR

Oh my, that sounds crazy exciting. I hope that it went well, congrats :D

LGR

Haha, quite possibly. I love the way this thing sounds.

LGR

Aw yeah, we were overdue for a long one again.

LGR

Hey, awesome! Should be a fun time indeed 👍

LGR

Definitely on the agenda, though all my previous experience with those cards doesn't give my much hope for success.

LGR

Me too! Would be awesome to finally see (and hear) one of them in action.

LGR

Fantastic, that's what I like to hear! I wish you luck with it.

LGR

Exactly what I was doing at 33:39 with an XT-CF-Lite card, just not shown in detail :)

LGR

Excellent! It really does have a lovely sound.

LGR

Heh, yeah I used to just take in anything and everything. Not sustainable at all!

LGR

The ST-4038 is a self-parking drive! Lift/lock/park capabilities were standard in IBM's drives by 1987. The only MFM drives I have from them that need parking are a couple years older. Though, being as old as it is and having gone through who knows what it's possible those safeguards have failed.

LGR

The heads might not have been parked in the HDD from the Rustbucket; that might've explained the not fun noises when you first started it despite the drive working perfectly fine following. I recall from using the HDD on our old Tandy 1000 SX that many old HDDs need to be manually parked before moving the compy to avoid problems, unlike most drives from the 90s onward where the heads park automatically from a loss of power just due to their design. :B

Kris Asick

I relate to your collecting rule so hard. I work in IT and get soooo much e-waste that I now stop myself and go "can I find a purpose for this in the next couple months?" and if not, I don't take it home. Otherwise, I'd be able to make a house out of all the Optiplexes we get 😂😂😂

DFawlt Uzr

I love this video! What a nice hard drive sound :)

Uncleawesome

22:30 As a general rule, if a drive throws errors and then suddenly works again, I naturally assume it's going to fail on me again after giving me false hope and treat it as such :) Given that, I usually just put an XT-CF-IDE in it with a CompactFlash card and set everything up from there. Also unlike IDE, MFM drives are just a dumb mechanical device that accepts seek and provides read/write pulses from the controller card (much like how the floppy drive works). Also I once got off of eBay what was basically an am386sx motherboard installed in an IBM 5150 case (I knew what I was getting, don't worry). Those boards are awesome.

11:54 That's what happens when programmers assume 80x25 text. There are DIP switches on the motherboard to tell the BIOS to use 80x25 CGA, right?

What a classic LGR video! Thank you for taking on this project. I have a 5160 in questionable shape waiting for me to show it some love. You’ve inspired me!

Retro Viator

I also have owned several hardcards, none have ever worked, even a Zorro hardcard for an Amiga! I really hope yours bucks the trend!

RetroSwim

Copywrite!!! I remember my uncle using that to copy disks that had weird copy protection on them before I learned too much.

Jason Wellband

Do test the hardcard in the rebuilt machine, I'm curious what's on it and if it even works anymore

Curus Keel

This inspired me to buy a HP Pavilion 6730 off eBay. I paid more than what it was really worth (nothing) but its very close to what I had back in the day except more powerful, so I look forward to getting it cleaned up and turn it into something decent at running the games I played on my HP back 20 years ago

mychemicalbromance

Ooh long-form LGR. Niiice!

50_SHADES_OF_BEIGE

That battery leakage was heartbreaking :'(

RetroSwim

Did the Hardcard work? I had one in an old Compaq Luggable.

Matt Standish

Are we going to get a stream dedicated to the dulcet tones of this new machines defragging, too? :D

Honorary Octopus

Is there anything more enjoyable than watching a man play two games of wheel of fortune at once on his IBMs, I think not

Zachary Outen

Also just saw there's a new 8-Bit Keys tonight too... What a great evening!!!

Becka Pitts

The computer gods must have known that I was having a bad day and needed a pick-me-up... Really excited to watch this, Clint! These restoration videos are my FAVORITE. 🤘🏻

Becka Pitts

This picture brings back memories of my very first PC, an IBM Clone XT 8088 that had a very similar casing. I remember my dad coming home with it, setting it up, pulled up a chair and told me : "Here you go, son! Have fun!". It must have taken me a week just to learn how to boot DOS 3.1

Frederic St-Georges

Ive been jonesing for a new LGR restoration video, so this is a pleasent surprise, thanks Clint👍👍👍😃😃😃

Ohhh yeah! going to watch this while I wait for 23:30 to arrive... the time at which my horror short airs on national TV. I think I'll be shitting myself slightly less if I watch Clint do something great.