Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The IBM Personal Computer, aka the Model 5150, literally started the PC revolution. The IBM PC launched in 1981, and according to Wikipedia, "started at $1,565 for a configuration with 16 KB RAM, Color Graphics Adapter, keyboard, and no disk drives." Fortunately mine is better equipped, likely shipping from IBM with 64KB-256KB of RAM and at least one floppy drive. (I can't tell if some of the RAM in mine was installed after shipping, or had bad RAM replaced after purchase.)
And someone go some good use out of this 5150: it has a third-party CGA card (possibly to get an extra parallel port without taking up a separate slot), an AST SixPackPlus card, and a Miniscribe hard card.
When this computer had its Wheel of Regrets™ debut, it threw a double temper tantalum on power up. (And yes, I tested for shorts first - there were none.) One tantalum on the motherboard and one tantalum on a floppy drive both contributed to the smoke show. I'm glad I was behind my "blast shield" and wearing my nerdy safety glasses!
Tonight, we are going to pick up where we left off last Monday - now that we have figured out that the CheckIt floppy drive test requires a formatted disk, and have confirmed that the known-working floppy drive is still working, we need to swap its control board to the questionable mechanism.
Will the questionable mechanism still not write to head 1 with the known-working control board? Will I get to re-capping the last floppy drive? Will we have another temper tantalum? You'll have to watch to find out!
*
Ways to Support the Channel:
☕️ Tips or Support via Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/jdmcs
🈷️ Support me on Patreon: patreon.com/jdmcs
📦 Amazon Wishlist: jdmcs.net/wishlist
... or simply do the YouTube things: Like/Dislike, Comment, Subscribe, Enable Notifications, and participate in the Chat. These things help the channel, too!
**
Read Computerized Start™, my Official Blog: jdmcs.net/myblog
Follow me on Instagram: jdmcs.net/myinstagram
Follow me on Twitter: jdmcs.net/mytwitter
The IBM Personal Computer, aka the Model 5150, literally started the PC revolution. The IBM PC launched in 1981, and according to Wikipedia, "started at $1,565 for a configuration with 16 KB RAM, Color Graphics Adapter, keyboard, and no disk drives." Fortunately mine is better equipped, likely shipping from IBM with 64KB-256KB of RAM and at least one floppy drive. (I can't tell if some of the RAM in mine was installed after shipping, or had bad RAM replaced after purchase.)
And someone go some good use out of this 5150: it has a third-party CGA card (possibly to get an extra parallel port without taking up a separate slot), an AST SixPackPlus card, and a Miniscribe hard card.
When this computer had its Wheel of Regrets™ debut, it threw a double temper tantalum on power up. (And yes, I tested for shorts first - there were none.) One tantalum on the motherboard and one tantalum on a floppy drive both contributed to the smoke show. I'm glad I was behind my "blast shield" and wearing my nerdy safety glasses!
Tonight, we are going to pick up where we left off last Monday - now that we have figured out that the CheckIt floppy drive test requires a formatted disk, and have confirmed that the known-working floppy drive is still working, we need to swap its control board to the questionable mechanism.
Will the questionable mechanism still not write to head 1 with the known-working control board? Will I get to re-capping the last floppy drive? Will we have another temper tantalum? You'll have to watch to find out!
*
Ways to Support the Channel:
☕️ Tips or Support via Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/jdmcs
🈷️ Support me on Patreon: patreon.com/jdmcs
📦 Amazon Wishlist: jdmcs.net/wishlist
... or simply do the YouTube things: Like/Dislike, Comment, Subscribe, Enable Notifications, and participate in the Chat. These things help the channel, too!
**
Read Computerized Start™, my Official Blog: jdmcs.net/myblog
Follow me on Instagram: jdmcs.net/myinstagram
Follow me on Twitter: jdmcs.net/mytwitter
