jdgabbard Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 So I recently acquired an IBM 5160 and a few other old computers for $50. $20 more than the individual wanted. So, basically I got an XT for $15. It was in horrible shape, and needed extensive TCL, including a paint job, and cutting out some of the tantalum caps (read: fireworks). But after a few days I got it running. I'm pretty sure the floppy drive is dead, and I don't have a clue about the HDD, since I don't have a CGA monitor. But I get post codes through the speaker, including what I suspect is the ram test. Now, with CGA monitors basically extinct in my area, and purchasing one outside my current budget, I'm curious about what I can do to get this usable. At first I though about a VGA card, but then learned it was a little hit and miss on compatibility. But then I got to thinking, it may display something over serial on the ASYNC card. However, I'm in the process of moving, and my terminal is packed up. Not to mention I don't know what handshaking method or speed it uses. Can anyone shed some light on this? I know someone here has some experience with these. My earliest PC experience is from the 286 era. If you want to check out the computer there is a video below, with about 20mins of commentary at the end. Excuse the quality, it was shot with my phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 CGA come in two forms : One is composite out, allowing to use 16 colors, but it come with the default of composite on a video standard made firsty with dedicaced displays in mind : Note that if you can put you TV in B&W mode, you'll eliminate the color bleeding issue. The other is the RGB out form. It's not a standard SCART RGBi format, but TTL RGB. There are boards to convert CGA to VGA : (note that this board is used in arcade, and can also convert SCART RGB to VGA if you might liek that for your game consoles) One last solution is to find a 90's CRT monitor that accept CGA and find a DB15 to VGA passive connector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgabbard Posted May 5, 2016 Author Share Posted May 5, 2016 I'm familiar with the different modes:composite, RGB, also many had a B&W mode. The particular board in this PC offers color and B&W, but no composite. As for the converter board, from what I have read, those are made for arcade RGB, which uses a slightly different format. A passive cable and a suitable crt could be possible, but they're hard to determine if they will work while in the wild. Those are the reasons why I'm particularly interested in whether there is a terminal mode for RS-232 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) Arcade is analog rgb PC cga is ttl digital rgb not that it would be that hard to knock up a dac Edited May 5, 2016 by Osgeld Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 The board I link have input for GCA and EGA video, look on the connectors in the left down corner And I wouldn't be surprised that some arcade board used TTL RGB... it was used by CGA, but also by the Spectrum 2+, and other computers, including a good bunch of Soviet ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Also, there are several schematics on Internet to turn TTL RGB into analog RGB. If you use a LM1881 chip with it, you can obtain a working RGBHV signal. Or if you keep the sync signal, a RGBi signal to be used on SCART inputs. But it require some soldering skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebulon Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 This would be a good match for your IBM computer: http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-CGA-Color-Monitor-5153-for-vintage-computers-5151-5154-5160-5150-XT-AT-CRT-/111988072108?hash=item1a13025eac:g:eLsAAOSw1DtXK3Fp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgabbard Posted May 7, 2016 Author Share Posted May 7, 2016 This would be a good match for your IBM computer: http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-CGA-Color-Monitor-5153-for-vintage-computers-5151-5154-5160-5150-XT-AT-CRT-/111988072108?hash=item1a13025eac:g:eLsAAOSw1DtXK3Fp Yeah, as I mentioned above, it's outside the budget at the moment. I'm moving, and a) I don't want to lug it a move, and b) finances are a little tight until I get settled. So I'm looking for a cheaper alternative. The board I link have input for GCA and EGA video, look on the connectors in the left down corner And I wouldn't be surprised that some arcade board used TTL RGB... it was used by CGA, but also by the Spectrum 2+, and other computers, including a good bunch of Soviet ones. Hey! I didn't see that before. Looks like a .200 spacing. Should be fairly simple to wire up with a DB9 connector and shroud. Or just do something panel mount in an enclosure. I think those were pretty cheap too, like $30 if my memory serves me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 I would suggest one of these : http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/store/index.php?_a=product&product_id=22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgabbard Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 I would suggest one of these : http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/store/index.php?_a=product&product_id=22 Seems rather pricy for something that looks to do the same thing as the lower price item mentioned above. (I checked they go for about $20 USD.) It does have a nice enclosure. I can fab an enclosure, I've been working with ABS for quite a while now... is there any specific advantage of this unit over one of the others? Or is this just a unit you have used and recommend? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 (edited) Seems rather pricy for something that looks to do the same thing as the lower price item mentioned above. (I checked they go for about $20 USD.) It does have a nice enclosure. I can fab an enclosure, I've been working with ABS for quite a while now... is there any specific advantage of this unit over one of the others? Or is this just a unit you have used and recommend? The "CGA" to VGA converter goes for about $20, but you will not get more than 8 colors from this device. To get the full 16 colors with a proper brown, you need the additional board that converts digital CGA RGBI into analog RGB. This is the price of the bare board : http://www.microbeetechnology.com.au/store/index.php?_a=product&product_id=23 There is another source for a similar board that can do the color conversion, but the seller does not deserve your money. Edited May 8, 2016 by Great Hierophant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgabbard Posted May 8, 2016 Author Share Posted May 8, 2016 Ok, I understand, it's an issue with the colors. I guess another alternative may be to check pin 7 on the computer. From what I'm reading, there may be composite video on that pin. I guess once I get done moving this week I can break out my oscilloscope and check it to see. There isn't a jack on the board, and if my memory is correct, there isn't a place on the board. So it's possible that pin 7 is occupied, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted May 8, 2016 Share Posted May 8, 2016 You get composite video on an IBM CGA card either through the RCA jack or pins 3 & 4 on the 4-pin header on the board. Pin 7 on the D-shell connector is not connected to anything on a CGA card, it is used for the main video signal on an MDA card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caterpiggle Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Hello to you all, I have an major problem like yours that has 5160. Okay, I have a few different graphics long cards & 1 short card onto 5160. I have a few different monitors. None of them is works expect Princeton HX-12 RGB is almost works BUT it ONLY show an complete WHITE screen ! What is going on .... I will list all the possible cards and monitors that I have in my hand soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caterpiggle Posted March 1, 2017 Share Posted March 1, 2017 Hello to you all, I finally got BASIC Cassette version on my IBM PC XT 5160. BUT I would not figure out how to access to the internal HDD. There are HDD and 1 floppy drive BUT the problem , the version is Cassette ! How can I solve the problem ? I did typed "SYSTEM", "System" , and "system". Nothing works , try to access to MS-DOS Prompt from BASIC Mode. Anyone who can help me out of this issue ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Cassette Basic doesn't have a way to access the drives. It comes up when the BIOS cannot boot from any of the installed drives (floppy or fixed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr_me Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 Hello to you all, I finally got BASIC Cassette version on my IBM PC XT 5160. BUT I would not figure out how to access to the internal HDD. There are HDD and 1 floppy drive BUT the problem , the version is Cassette ! How can I solve the problem ? I did typed "SYSTEM", "System" , and "system". Nothing works , try to access to MS-DOS Prompt from BASIC Mode. Anyone who can help me out of this issue ? If you have IBM DOS it would have a Basic that supports drives; it actually used the cassette Basic code on the rom. MS-DOS did not come with any Basic; you would have had to get GW-Basic seperately. MS-DOS and GW-Basic were meant for IBM compatibles that did not have a Basic rom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Great Hierophant Posted March 3, 2017 Share Posted March 3, 2017 (edited) If you have IBM DOS it would have a Basic that supports drives; it actually used the cassette Basic code on the rom. MS-DOS did not come with any Basic; you would have had to get GW-Basic seperately. MS-DOS and GW-Basic were meant for IBM compatibles that did not have a Basic rom. True MS-DOS always came with a BASIC program. If you had an IBM PC or PS/2 and IBM PC-DOS, you used Disk BASIC or Advanced BASIC, otherwise you were stuck with Cassette BASIC (earlier PS/2s and PS/1s included it for compatibility) and no ability to load or save programs unless you had an IBM PC 5150 or IBM PCjr. If you had an IBM PCjr., you could use Disk and Advanced BASIC with Cartridge BASIC. If you had an OEM MS-DOS, you got GW-BASIC. In MS-DOS 5.0 and above, it was replaced with QBASIC. I don't know what DR-DOS did. Edited March 3, 2017 by Great Hierophant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Usotsuki Posted March 4, 2017 Share Posted March 4, 2017 DR DOS didn't come with any sort of BASIC interpreter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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