Solve : Old 386 start issue?

1.	Solve : Old 386 start issue?
Answer» Noob here on the board, I tried a search on this with no luck. I have my old 386 that has been sitting in the garage for about 6 years. I would like to FIRE it up and retreive some old files. I think it has DOS 3.3. When I turn it on it PASSES the RAM check but runs into a XCMOS checksum failure. It asks for the boot disk to be installed in A:. I do not have the disk but one of the posts directs to a site where I can down load one. One of the problems is A: is a 5-1/4" and I have no way to write a disk in this size. B: is a standard 3-1/2" so I can make a new disk for that drive if I can get the PC to look there first. There is also some info missing about the hard drives in the table. Is there a way for me to get this running? SteveThe first thing you need is a new CMOS battery. The next thing is to set up the information in the BIOS as these are not autoconfigured as new machines are. You will need to enter the appropriate cylinders and heads for the hard drive that is in there. This can be found either on the drive itself or by searching the manufacturer's web site for the info with the model number. Other info will have to be set as well in the BIOS. If you still need to boot from a floppy, and you may not, then you can set B as the primary drive by entering the info in the BIOS and connecting the 3 1/2" drive to the farthest connector on the floppy drive cable. No doubt the 5 1/4" drive is there now. That ought to get you STARTED. Thanks for the input. I'll go pop the box open and see what I can do. SteveWe'll leave the light on. I was able to get a battery hooked up and get enough info in to get it to run with a start disk from XP. I can read floppies in A: and B: but I get errors (can't locate sector) when I got to C:. I still haven't been able to track down the HDD info through Mitsubishi so I guessed at values until it worked. Mitsubishi MR 535-U00, I think it is a 60Mb. From some of the searches it looks like it may be similar to a Seagate ST. I'm getting pretty close, now I need to remember how to operate DOS. Thanks, SteveGuess is not the best way for heads and cylinders. "Works" and "works correctly" are two different things. Keep searching for the correct info. You may well find the heads and sectors info printed on the body of the drive But if you are opening up the case, why not whip out the drive and pop it in your current pc as a slave and copy stuff off at your leisure. Or are you enjoying the challenge of getting a vintage pc up and running ? GrahamIf I remember correctly, those machines bios used to to let you set up the HD by selecting "drive type" and the heads and cylinders were selected automatically according to type. Try using type 27.I agree, "works" is not the end result I'm after. I still can't access C: but at least I can operate A: and B: I pulled the drive yesterday and looked it over for the info. Unfortunately the only other data I found besides manufacturers data was the error listings. I have looked at the drive type options and tried the ones that were close in size to what I thought the drive was. I will give 27 a try. Would the bios values be different if the drive was partitioned intoC:, D:? This has been an interesting challenge but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try and attach the drive to my current PC just yet. I have another PC about 6 years old that is running Windows 95? would I be able to read the drive if I just plugged it in to it? SteveQuote Would the bios values be different if the drive was partitioned intoC:, D:? The type would remain the same regardless of partitioning. Quote I have another PC about 6 years old that is running Windows 95? would I be able to read the drive if I just plugged it in to it? If you set it as a slave and boot to 95 it might be able to read the drive. The newer bios might also auto detect the drive. Those were some days......... Unless I miss my guess, starting an HD with improper specs can lead to data damage, oops. I seem to remember that type 27 was put in your own specs, which should be able to be located on the Seagate website. [google the drive & some archive should has the correct heads, cylinders, pre-comp & what not] bios is VERY low level, so the answer there is NO, the bios allows initial access, fdisk specs the drive sizes...; format cleans it up & boot time can set the drive lettering. [well beyond this DISCUSSION] what I would do: 1] verify proper either type [for YOUR computer {mostly they were standard, but}] or specs [see above] 2] plug those puppies into the bios [having a boot disk may help a little {RESETTING A&B might work too}] 3] get you OLD files & yeah. setting this drive as a slave in a new computer might not really be a good idea. an OLD standard 'large' size was 30Mb, ANYthing larger had to have multiple partitions.It's alive! 27 didn't work but I was finally able to get the drive info from http://www.pc-disk.de/. 47 is the number to enter your own specs on this one. I wasn't able to get anywhere on the Mitsubishi site. It starts up the way it used to. It doesn't appear that I have done any damage to the data with improper drive specs. This was a big drive in its time and had to have 2 partitions to operate. I need to get some floppies so I can transfer the files off the drive and then I can burn them onto a CD. It'll take a handful of disks and then only make a small dent in the CD capacity. How times change. Thanks for all of the help! SteveGlad you are all fixed up and thanks for posting back. There's a reason they let us old farts on the forum.

Answer»

Noob here on the board, I tried a search on this with no luck. I have my old 386 that has been sitting in the garage for about 6 years. I would like to FIRE it up and retreive some old files. I think it has DOS 3.3. When I turn it on it PASSES the RAM check but runs into a XCMOS checksum failure. It asks for the boot disk to be installed in A:. I do not have the disk but one of the posts directs to a site where I can down load one. One of the problems is A: is a 5-1/4" and I have no way to write a disk in this size. B: is a standard 3-1/2" so I can make a new disk for that drive if I can get the PC to look there first. There is also some info missing about the hard drives in the table. Is there a way for me to get this running?
SteveThe first thing you need is a new CMOS battery. The next thing is to set up the information in the BIOS as these are not autoconfigured as new machines are. You will need to enter the appropriate cylinders and heads for the hard drive that is in there. This can be found either on the drive itself or by searching the manufacturer's web site for the info with the model number. Other info will have to be set as well in the BIOS. If you still need to boot from a floppy, and you may not, then you can set B as the primary drive by entering the info in the BIOS and connecting the 3 1/2" drive to the farthest connector on the floppy drive cable. No doubt the 5 1/4" drive is there now.

That ought to get you STARTED. Thanks for the input. I'll go pop the box open and see what I can do.
SteveWe'll leave the light on. I was able to get a battery hooked up and get enough info in to get it to run with a start disk from XP. I can read floppies in A: and B: but I get errors (can't locate sector) when I got to C:. I still haven't been able to track down the HDD info through Mitsubishi so I guessed at values until it worked. Mitsubishi MR 535-U00, I think it is a 60Mb. From some of the searches it looks like it may be similar to a Seagate ST. I'm getting pretty close, now I need to remember how to operate DOS.
Thanks,
SteveGuess is not the best way for heads and cylinders. "Works" and "works correctly" are two different things. Keep searching for the correct info.

You may well find the heads and sectors info printed on the body of the drive

But if you are opening up the case, why not whip out the drive and pop it in your current pc as a slave and copy stuff off at your leisure.

Or are you enjoying the challenge of getting a vintage pc up and running ?
GrahamIf I remember correctly, those machines bios used to to let you set up the HD by selecting "drive type" and the heads and cylinders were selected automatically according to type. Try using type 27.I agree, "works" is not the end result I'm after. I still can't access C: but at least I can operate A: and B:
I pulled the drive yesterday and looked it over for the info. Unfortunately the only other data I found besides manufacturers data was the error listings. I have looked at the drive type options and tried the ones that were close in size to what I thought the drive was. I will give 27 a try. Would the bios values be different if the drive was partitioned intoC:, D:?
This has been an interesting challenge but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to try and attach the drive to my current PC just yet. I have another PC about 6 years old that is running Windows 95? would I be able to read the drive if I just plugged it in to it?
SteveQuote

Would the bios values be different if the drive was partitioned intoC:, D:?

The type would remain the same regardless of partitioning.
Quote

I have another PC about 6 years old that is running Windows 95? would I be able to read the drive if I just plugged it in to it?

If you set it as a slave and boot to 95 it might be able to read the drive. The newer bios might also auto detect the drive. Those were some days.........

Unless I miss my guess, starting an HD with improper specs can lead to data damage, oops.

I seem to remember that type 27 was put in your own specs, which should be able to be located on the Seagate website. [google the drive & some archive should has the correct heads, cylinders, pre-comp & what not]

bios is VERY low level, so the answer there is NO, the bios allows initial access, fdisk specs the drive sizes...; format cleans it up & boot time can set the drive lettering. [well beyond this DISCUSSION]

what I would do:

1] verify proper either type [for YOUR computer {mostly they were standard, but}] or specs [see above]

2] plug those puppies into the bios [having a boot disk may help a little {RESETTING A&B might work too}]

3] get you OLD files & yeah.

setting this drive as a slave in a new computer might not really be a good idea. an OLD standard 'large' size was 30Mb, ANYthing larger had to have multiple partitions.It's alive!
27 didn't work but I was finally able to get the drive info from http://www.pc-disk.de/. 47 is the number to enter your own specs on this one. I wasn't able to get anywhere on the Mitsubishi site. It starts up the way it used to. It doesn't appear that I have done any damage to the data with improper drive specs. This was a big drive in its time and had to have 2 partitions to operate. I need to get some floppies so I can transfer the files off the drive and then I can burn them onto a CD. It'll take a handful of disks and then only make a small dent in the CD capacity. How times change.
Thanks for all of the help!
SteveGlad you are all fixed up and thanks for posting back. There's a reason they let us old farts on the forum.

Solve : Old 386 start issue?

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