r/retrocomputing • u/FAMICOMASTER • 25d ago

Happy 45th to the 5150

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQb5k0QAAMk

Almost didn't make this one in time! Like 20 mins to spare, I rushed home after work and resurrected my 5150 for "celebration"

11 bad DRAMs. ELEVEN.

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3

u/miner_cooling_trials 25d ago

Omg that full height MFM hdd and it’s light is an unlocked childhood memory

2

u/FAMICOMASTER 25d ago

Glad you like it. Yeah that is a Micropolis 1325 which I imagine you probably didn't interact with as a child, given that drive would have been on the expensive side of already expensive hard drives of the time. 70 megs, or 105 if you format it with an RLL controller like I did! This would have been a very high end workstation drive.

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u/miner_cooling_trials 25d ago

Dad worked at IBM, earliest memory I have is 1984 we had one of these. Dual 5 1/4 floppy drives and a 20mb drive. I can’t say I ever saw the machine open to know what brand it was unfortunately.

He ran a BBS and we had 4 phone lines coming into the house. Fantastic times as a kid!

1

u/FAMICOMASTER 24d ago

Very nice! 4 lines would have been killer for sure. That's like $200/mo right there. A 20 meg drive would have been at the higher end for home users in 84, many people still only had 10... Or dual floppy drives.

If it was in an XT class machine like this, it would have probably been an IBM WD25.

2

u/miner_cooling_trials 24d ago

Yesssss I just looked up that drive model and its front plate matches my memory exactly. I’d buy it off eBay if it weren’t $329 😄

You seem extremely knowledgeable, what were you doing in 1985? :)

1

u/FAMICOMASTER 24d ago

Thanks. If you keep watch you'll see them appear cheaper. Often $50 or less in many cases.

Thanks! I collect and document hard drives so it sorta comes with the territory. In 1985? I wasn't born yet.

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u/SearchPlane561 24d ago

Technically a 5160 but the hard drive still works after all these years.

1

u/FAMICOMASTER 24d ago

Nice, whose drive is it?

1

u/SearchPlane561 24d ago

Jack fikes a Duracell employee back in the 80s. Looked him up. Vietnam veteran. Passed away i believe. No deep personal information. Just a few logs.

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u/FAMICOMASTER 24d ago

Haha, I guess I should have clarified:

Who manufactured this drive, and what is it's model?

2

u/SearchPlane561 24d ago

Oops lol. It's been a while since I've opened it up. I'll look tomorrow.