Calling out to the old timer techs (Zeos 386 tower just dropped off)

[kwest]

Customer needs his files of of an old 386 pc. I looked at the drive and not sure what to do from here. is the port on the old hard drive isa? it is wider than ide. Do they sell adapters to plug that into a current system to browse the files?

Thanks in advance

 

[KompuKare]

Wider than IDE? You sure it's not SCSI then? The pre-IDE stuff I've seen was narrower than IDE AFAIR. Also, by 386 times a lot of the old PC/AT interfaces were already in decline.

Anyhow, surely your first port of call is googling the part number of the drive.

 

[seedubya]

I don't think I ever saw a 386 with anything other than ATA or SCSI
Photo?

 

[NYJimbo]

Without a photo or the actual model of the HD we have to guess.

 

[kwest]

i didn't even think of googling the model number. it has been a long day.

st296n 85mb 5 1/4 drive scsi single sided

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/seagate/ST296N-85MB-5-25-HH-SCSI1-SE.html

 

[DCGPX]

I don't think I ever saw a 386 with anything other than ATA or SCSI
Photo?

Same here, given its era, a SCSI would have cost a fortune, the PC itself was more likely a couple of grand!

Def a photo will get a definitive answer, I'm curious as to what is myself now

 

[DCGPX]

Christ, havent seen those types since we used them in our early Image lift machines late 80s and they were nearly £6K each then!

Museum piece indeed, and still running!!

 

[seedubya]

OK, so is it booting?
If so, does it have IDE ports on the board?
If not, what state is the scsi controller in?

i didn't even think of googling the model number. it has been a long day.

st296n 85mb 5 1/4 drive scsi single sided

http://stason.org/TULARC/pc/hard-drives-hdd/seagate/ST296N-85MB-5-25-HH-SCSI1-SE.html

 

[kwest]

boots

lots of beeps

I don't have time today to play with it just trying to get the docs off of the 85mb drive.

 

[angry_geek]

Drive mounting
--------------
Never install PC board on the Top!

The drive may be mounted horizontally with the PC board down or on
either side. Mounting vertically on either end is a prohibited orien-
tation.
The drive should not be tilted front or back, in any position, by
more than 5*. For optimum performance, the drive should be formatted
in the same position as it will be mounted in the host system.

I'd forgotten these days . . . and I'm glad for it.

 

[seedubya]

boots

lots of beeps

I don't have time today to play with it just trying to get the docs off of the 85mb drive.

Ok then. How do you plan on getting the data off?

 

[NYJimbo]

Ok then. How do you plan on getting the data off?

+1 LOL.

Pretty sure a SCSI1 PCI card in any low end modern box will be able to read this. I know some cheapo LSI cards work on XP without added drivers.

He should just bill the client for the card and cables and see if he can pull the data on a generic XP (sp3) box.

 

[altrenda]

I believe I still have a Trantor Paralell SCSI cable and terminator.
Just hook it to the drive and your Paralell port and you're good to go.

Wait. Are there still paralell ports?

 

[TimJacobs]

I believe I still have a Trantor Paralell SCSI cable and terminator.
Just hook it to the drive and your Paralell port and you're good to go.

Wait. Are there still paralell ports?

I've seen parallel to USB adapters as seen here

 

[KompuKare]

Hm: USB > Parallel > SCSI I/II

That's a bit like running say an Spectrum emulator inside an Atari ST emulator inside a PC emulator which is running inside Basilisk II which is etc...

 

[joydivision]

Are you sure it is not an MFM drive? It is unlikely but I have come across some early 386 systems with one of these. The very early 386 systems appeared in around 1986 and MFM was just being phased out at that time.

Much more likely to be a scuzzy drive though as said.

 

[NYJimbo]

Are you sure it is not an MFM drive? It is unlikely but I have come across some early 386 systems with one of these. The very early 386 systems appeared in around 1986 and MFM was just being phased out at that time.

Much more likely to be a scuzzy drive though as said.

The MFM drives had the old blade type connectors, what he is seeing looks like a PATA but wider, so its likely to be a SCSI.

 

[Screwloose]

Plus MFM drives had twin connectors if I remember correctly.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Zeos....WOW..haven't seen that brand in a LOOOONG time.

Grab an old Adaptec SCSI card, slap it in your bench rig..slave the drive to it. Should be able to find one cheap through a parts distributor or fleabay....or even one of us techs here.

 

[Rob_NNCC]

Plus MFM drives had twin connectors if I remember correctly.

Yes, they did. I second that it is most likely a 50 pin SCSI connector. I have a bunch of old SCSI equipment if you need parts. (PCI and I think a few ISAs, as well as the cables that go with them. )