Toshiba 5200/100 Orange gas plasma luggable ???

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ViperSan

ViperSan

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So ..got one of these on my bench atm ..
It does sometimes allow me to boot into windows 3.1 which is installed ..
However to get in I have to navigate the Bios every time..
Atm I have the unit partially diamantled and I'm in persuit of the rtc battery.
I believe it is a 386 cpu ..though yet to prove it.
I had to saw of the locking lugs from the mechanical combination lock just to gain access having tried every number ofrom 000 to 999 ..
The lock was broken it seems.
So ..it appears to take 2 fullsized ISA cards ..and does supply a colour output via Dsub ..
EGA /CGA ..err no idea ..
In truth I cant find a serice/disassembly manual ..
If anyone can help with a link I'd appreciate it ..cos I'm currently working blind.
First job is to remove and image the hard drive (full sized 3.5 inch IDE)
A couple of pics of the disassembly so far attached..
I suspect this probably cost as much as car or possibly even a house when it was first bought ???
anyone know for sure ?
comments welcomed

..a link to show one in action..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNI1RhmUU-o

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So ..
got the hard drive out ..but definately not one I could call standard ..
made by Connor ...and although 3.5 inch ..it is double thickness ??
How to image this I have ..as yet no idea
rgds
 

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http://www.sinasohn.com/cgi-bin/clascomp/bldhtm.pl?computer=t52001

BIOS will probably be ok, if you can replace that battery. (the biggest problem being that a dead CMOS battery forces you (usually, unless auto-detected each time) to have to re-input HD info) (presume that it's the little white box between the HD and FD)

Conner drive is fairly 'standard' IDE, just fatter in those days...

https://www.computerhope.com/hdd/hdd0037.htm

776/8/33 -100MB

appears to have 4 more 30-pin* RAM slots, so you could upgrade there pretty easily, I cannot (from photos or net) confirm whether or not its a 386SX or DX (though a 16-bit data bus suggests an SX, if accurate), a DX should support a minimum of 32MB (or more) an SX is limited to 16MB.

(*maybe not :/)
 
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Fingers crossed the battery I've order will be a suitable replacement ..
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EVE-AA-3...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I will have to mount it in a sping contact battery holder as this has no solder lug connections.
but the current is almost the same ..the voltage is correct at 3.6v ...and is AA size ..
I could have ordered a Toshiba relacement but at £25 ..
err no way ..
I will mount the replacement in a more accessible location under the keyboard as stripping this down is anything but easy.
rgds
VS

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Probably getting ahead of myself here ..but only one of the ISA slots is currently occupied by a network card ..
Hmmm ..
I wonder how easy it would be to install an ISA soundblaster card ..in the vacant slot ?
I'm sure I have on somewhere in my loft ..

rgds
VS
 

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looks like its a standard 8-bit ISA slot...so an old SB 1.0/1.5/2.0 8-bit should be fine (watch the clearance on that board sticking out to the left in the photo, older SB were a little long) ...or later SB if you don't need the network card.
 
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Close examination of the cpu would indicate a 386DX-20
Some more photos of the chips on the mobo.

As regards the hard drive ..
Not easy to image the Connor on account ..it won't physically fit in my clone dock ..
Suggestions welcomed ?
 

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Looks that S-X ...
40 pin non standard ..
That might indeed be a problem.
 

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I assume the system has 2MB on board and the SIMMS are 1MB (+parity) each for a total of 4MB (with a max of 16MB, if you can find the RAM, slots themselves seem to indicate a max of +14MB), 4MB is definitely the absolute minimum to even use a 386 properly (in my view), but 16MB would also improve Win3.1 considerably... (system would run WFW3.11, but 4MB not really enough to make it usable)
 
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Well ..fwiw I'm posting on a forum that might have someone reading this with a few legacy ram sticks gathering dust in a drawer ..
you never know..
 
out of curiosity, what is the smaller slot, immediately beneath (to the right on the earlier photo) the 40-pin slots, it isn't by some miracle a lonely 30-pin slot which might be given a 4mb stick...? (my hopes aren't high :P)

(one thing I came across suggests its just to provide parity for the 40-pins if they are NP ones...)
 
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Interesting you should ask that ..
I've just been looking at that myself ..
It physically does take these I just dug out of my scrap box.
The slot is labelled 'parity' on the mobo masking..
 

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yes, something i came across suggested it was just to provide parity should the 40-pin sticks be non-parity type...

other than discussions pertaining to this precise system, I cannot find any other references to the 40-pin SIMMs, however...not even from Toshiba...
 
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Yep ..
according to the link you gave me earlier ..
Suggested minimum system is 2mb ...expandable to 14mb ..
I guess not many folk could afford such luxury back then..
sad really But I'll keep looking..
It makes me sad to think of such legacy tech having possibly gone to land fill back in the day ..or indeed more recent years.
doh!!
 
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ah, so the 14MB indicated on the ram slots were a max total (2+12)

yes, these are the systems I love, today you just add more...back then you had to do some tweaking to make them perform a bit better...lots of fun, though...I recall guys in computer shops trying to tell me "you CAN'T run Windows 3.1 on a 286 with 1MB RAM!" :P (you CAN, it's just kinda sucks :) )
 
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Oh well ..
nothing to do but wait for the battery now...
Time to go grab some food and settle down to watch season 3 of H&CF..
real geek TV..
even if it is fiction..
lol
 
Well ..I sort of have this working but the ancient Connor is in danger of failing at anytime ..
I have learned that the only real way to avoid it becoming a doorstop in the future ..and for anything like upgrade possiblities is an XT-CF ...
Where would I get such a beast ..
Who makes them and are they still being made ?
rgds
VS
 
Heh - I used to have one of those Conner IDE hard drives - in fact I think it was the same one - 100MB - yes .... had it in a 386-DX40 ISTR.
FYI - its known as HH (=Half-Height) = 1.7" I think .... half the height of the orginal 5.25" FH (=Full Height) - surprisingly enough.
When 3.5" hard drives - became 1" high (same size as they are today) - there were gasps of amazement :-)

The Conner drive you have - is it just a 40-pin connector with master/slave jumpers ?
 
you CAN often also just use a newer drive with the HD settings in bios set as 1024-16-63/528MB and just leave it at that (or use a drive overlay to utilize the whole drive)

I have a 10GB IDE drive working in my Tandy 386SX25 that way (it is also much speedier than an older type IDE drive as well)

being a 386 system it should just be standard IDE (ATA33), there are IDE->CF around.
 
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Toshiba in it's infinate wisdom wrote protection into the bios to prevent the use of any hard drive not Connor or in fact prefixed CP
..a proprietory thing I believe to prevent any 'not in house service'.
Thankfully there are folk interested in reverse engineering the bios and hopefully making it live again.
Another problem is that the Floppy dive is also NON standard and uses a 25 pin header connection..so this too prevents any modding..
Spares are rare as you might expect ...and as far as I know the XT-IDE is the only current workaround ..but maybe at some point there will be a bios fix..
This is what I'm actually after ..but expensive post and import charges is stopping me from buying it..
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Glitch-W...278524?hash=item3f8ee47cfc:g:E14AAOSwSZFZ2RU5
rgds
VS
 
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I've had one of these units for 15 years or so, they're decent machines. The RAM is proprietary, I have NEVER been able to find RAM for sale since I got the thing.

You might consider throwing a SCSI card into the 16-bit slot. I did and was able to avoid the whole IDE issue.
 
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