IBM PS/2 Model 53 486SLC2 Computer Overview and Demonstration

[@Kenny-bw2cz]

I'm amazed with your knowledge and the fact that you can just talk as if you are reading all this from a script!

[@TheFlyingScotsman]

This is what a computer video should be. A story about how the machine came to be, a wee anecdote about how you got it, and a hands-on with it

[@nelizmastr]

I haven't seen any ps/2's for quite a while around here. Great to see another video about one on your channel.

[@vwestlife]

@uxwbill Yes, but if I remember correctly, the DOS mouse driver provided within Windows 98 doesn't recognize the left-handed arrangement, so when I run a full-screen DOS program, the buttons are swapped back to normal.

[@dosman01302]

once again a fantastic video Bill, love to hear about the history of these old machines!

[@vwestlife]

I remember our bank in town having PS/2 model 55SX'es in use well into the mid-'90s. That may have had some correlation to OS/2's heavy use in the banking industry. The IBM 486SLC2 and Blue Lightning were also briefly popular in standard aftermarket "Baby AT" PC motherboards, until "real" 486 chips came down in cost enough to drive them out of the market -- although the Blue Lightning was actually the first x86 CPU to reach 100 MHz, beating Intel's 486DX4 by a few months.

[@bratina501]

I think Canyon being used is because many people remember it as a demo on Windows 3.1 and 3.11 along with Windows 95. Plus remember the Chip's Challenge video game that was part of the Windows Entertainment Pack and the Best Of Windows Entertainment Pack? Said song was featured in one of the levels.

[@IamFat32]

yay! a PS/2 video! I've been waiting for 1 year for this moment!

[@semco72057]

I rebuilt a PS/2 computer out of spare parts which was given to the state by some company and the computer worked just fine with the SCSI system and I enjoyed it, but no one other than myself knew how to operate it other than a few inmates who was assigned to our department. It had Windows 3.11 and MS-Dos installed on the hard drive.

[@ACA332]

My jaw dropped when I saw you pull out the MCA sound card. GIMME GIMME!

[@Maxxarcade]

Ya, they still work. The funny thing is, they were in a box of parts I got that had been sitting for many years. I turned them on and the batteries were still good. They were the original Duracell type. Nowadays they've been sitting lonely on a shelf, but I wonder if the day will come when I need a small portable amp.

[@semco72057]

There is a computer at home which is the Aptiva from IBM with Windows 95 on it and it still works just fine and I don't use it all the time due to it's age and I installed a second hard drive on this computer and loved how well it was built. I hated to see IBM get out of the PC business as they built great units, and HP and a few other companies built great computers during that time. I purchased a PS/2 computer for home use, but ended up selling it, but kept the Aptiva since I got it new.

[@Lachlant1984]

Only you could do a 37 minute long video about an IBM PS/2, that's amazing, and what's more amazing is that I watched the video from beginning to end and I enjoyed it a lot. That's quite an interesting computer and it's good that it's lasted so long. Do you think you could please do a detailed video like this one about what you can do with IBM OS/2 assuming you have any computers that have OS/2 installed? Some relatives of mine had a PS/2 once, I think it was a 386, that's what they said.

[@AshtonCoolman]

That Chip Chat MCA soundcard was expensive in 2012 and it's expensive (and impossible to find) in 2020. DAMN do I want one!

[@ewasterecovery]

I luckily just came across a ChipChat 32 with the Wavetable

[@TheFlyingScotsman]

And by that I mean - I really enjoyed this video and it makes me excited about what Trouble I can get into with my Compaq Presario 2240 :)

[@vwestlife]

@uxwbill Don't forget Ambra -- IBM's short-lived mail-order division designed to compete with Dell and Gateway. Although Ambra did use Model M keyboards, pretty much everything else about the entire division and their products was a complete failure. IBM also branched out into a line of hardware accessories and add-ons for all brands of PCs. I remember my aunt put an "Options by IBM" CD-ROM drive and sound card package into her Dell 486DX-33.

[@Jerkwad152]

This little PS/2 is still useful today. No reason you can't make up your reports, read your e-mails, or check your message boards with it.

[@truebassB]

Hello. Thanks for your comment! I'll try to catch you up on a PM next time i'd have a question. I think i can get one of these for free if a guy i know finds it,i would definitely give it a shot.

[@TechTimeWithEric]

I used to use a set of those Labtec in my backpack with my walkman for when I rode my bike school.

[@WaybackTECH]

I was always in love with the name "Blue Lightning"

[@mrdoofa9357]

I know this might sound crazy, but have you ever considered doing videos covering book/literatures reviews? I mention this as a suggestion rather than a “video request”. It’s just that you’ve mentioned that you enjoy writing in this and other videos, so I thought you may have a general interest in literature. I personally enjoy reading as much I enjoy tinkering with old, forgotten pieces of antiquated computer junk. I think that other people would enjoy listening to your critique of literature as much as I would and I’m always interested to hear other views on the subject too... I’m obviously aware that your channel tends to cover tech and mechanical subjects, but nonetheless I thought I’d suggest it as a potential idea for any future videos. I think you would do the subject justice.

[@uxwbill]

I haven't considered doing that. Even as much as I love to read, I don't get to do so anywhere near as often as I'd like. The writing was something my brothers and I did for fun, and it's basically gone dormant at this point, as we've gone our separate paths in life. I would not rule anything out, and certainly appreciate the suggestion.

[@mrdoofa9357]

@@uxwbill If you should ever make a video reviewing literature, I will be certainly the first one to watch!

[@TechTimeWithEric]

OMG the Labtec speakers. I remember I used to have a set of them in my back pack hooked to my Sony Disk man when I road my bike to school

[@80sCompaqPC]

I really like these IBM PS/2's.

[@theGuyFromMakiki]

The PS/2 is stylin'!

[@billheffley2455]

Blasts from the past with Windows 95. Amazing that 95 runs on that computer.

[@IamFat32]

I used to have some old Creative Battery operated speakers that came with a Multimedia kit I bought with a sound blaster, CD-ROM drive, ect. 2 C batteries in each one.

[@krist0sh]

I can manage to use the right hand, only for small tasks. "Gaming" is not what I do most, but I am using my left hand for that. Im glad im not the only one ;)

[@vwestlife]

p.s. I'm right-handed, but I have become equally adept at operating a pointing device with my left hand, as you might have surmised from the position of the trackball on the Deskpro that runs my radio station.

[@mafiafilpjes]

That's a amazing piece off IBM Technolgy !

[@Acc0919mc]

I have always loved the look of these computers. :)

[@Aeduo]

Heh, I seem to recall analogx in the late 90s/early 2000s for providing all kinds of neat little utilities. They were kind of the go to developer for all the computer related TV and magazines of the time period.

[@88ariesk]

How are you ever going to fill that hard drive? I have a 500 MB, but Barely have a quarter of it full. Crazy amounts of storage there..

[@truebassB]

Hello. Thanks for the video! I'm very attracted by the IBM Computers starting from the 5150,although i haven't messed around much with "newer" and this helped me get a few details on it. Can i ask a question? Of course only if i don't bother you. What do you think of such machine as a Windows Gaming Machine for Vintage games of the 90's? Is it effective or it is better to use something "cheaper",more easy to find,and one that is not made solely for professional use? Thanks.

[@eatingpineapple1326]

they used to throw these away at the goodwill clearance around 2003, everybody was hunting used p3's and slot a machines.

[@macjj0077]

Great Video uxwbill! I have a Model 53 486SLC2 and have recently did the Dallas Time clock Mod. Do you happen to have a disk image of the reference disk for the 53 486LC2? I've found some good sources of PS/2 reference disks, however, I could only find the diagnostic disk images sadly. Thank you for all your help!

[@IamFat32]

@Matthew55904 yes IBM made the PS/2 port standard with this line of computers.

[@PearComputingDevices]

Very nice! I had a model 90, and a 30.

[@james42519]

i have never heard of the canyon song before. also have have some speakers that could take batteries. i miss powered sound cards and not having to have power for the speakers though.

[@TheBlueMoons]

Could You Make a Tour Of All Of Your computers sometime. i mean not in one video, but broken up into several parts. i would really like to see your massive collection

[@lmull3]

man, 2.88mb floppies would have been great for what i used floppies for back in the day. i was using zip 100 and 250 back in my early computer days though.

[@TheLazurus]

Got a PS/1 off craigslist, great condition except for the Dallas chip, attempted replacement with some others I had off ebay, now its not booting....RIP PS/1

[@kinmanyuen]

sweet pc great video. My fondest memory was the "uh oh" voice. btw is that a pci or isa riser?

[@TCGProductions03]

Neither. It's a proprietary IBM Microchannel riser card.

[@MrComputerfan]

ok, thanks, I will buy one maybe.

[@NJRoadfan]

I firmly believe the lack of a cheap and widely available soundcard is whats killing all the PS/2s in circulation. :) That and the fact these machines all use non-standard floppy drives and hard drives. I solved the storage problem by luck with an Adaptec AHA-1640 out of a rare Leading Edge Model D3/MC Microchannel clone (that was the machine's OEM storage system). Never did find a soundcard though. What does the "System" part of the device manager look like on an MCA machine in terms of entries

[@ENB2002]

Have you heard of the opl2lpt or considered using it in a system such as this with a MCA bus?

[@Lachlant1984]

Did IBM always place the reference diskettes inside the system on top of the drive cage as appears to be the case in this video, or is that something you do? I've seen this in other videos you've uploaded to KZbin about the IBM PS/2.

[@ncrdisabled]

I have worked on a lot of IBM over the years . I have never worked on one of those I did have a IBM MCA sound card from the late 80s when I was a electronic tech and system network computer tech for the I wander if the computer would accept a IBM memory expansion card? How much did you pay for the sound card and did it come with the .adf files .

[@james42519]

@uxwbill these didn't connect to a net. had to use floppy disk for stuff. think there was dos. not sure what model the all in ones were. they all look alike to me. don't remember from back then but think it had a color screen at least.

[@1mrhamel]

@UXWBill Hey, how do you make those beginning slides, use PowerPoint then take a screenshot? Because it looks different from anything that I would see on iMovie.

[@TripleEBattery]

still thanks for comment back i hope to get a ps/2 someday

[@pleinair6318]

I want some of these so badly

[@HazelTheHare]

Windows 95 and you didnt play Clouds.mid or show the easter egg? :O

[@TCGProductions03]

I saw an Intel 80387 coprocessor installed alongside the main microprocessor.

[@JoshuaWagner]

Awesome video! Thanks!

[@charger334]

could that disclaimer at the beginning take anymore video time?

[@Madness832]

Why would you have a floppy disc sitting inside on top of the HDD?

[@MxArgent]

I'm due to snag a 55SX off none other than Glitch (i.e. of Glitchworks) himself and put my boxed copy of OS/2 2.0 to use with it sometime soon - you want the honors for naming 'er, Bill?

[@uxwbill]

I'm probably the last person in the world to ask about good computer names. Most of mine get functional names.

[@thedebug3866]

Pushing youtube's website on a 486. Now that's some raw power. Then again, now that it's 2016, it would probably just crash.

[@ayadiv]

Nice review! :)

[@ISometimesAgree]

Hello uxwbill, I just found one of these computers and im trying to get it running, during the POST it beeped on CP 6C, but then continued to CP:70 and CP:71 where it stopped and showed the crossed out OK and the arrow to the 3 pages...hitting f1 let it continue to the next screen where it said "Invalid system disk Replace the disk, then press any key. I was wondering if you could possibly shed some light on what is wrong with it as I have never messed with a computer this old before.

[@ISometimesAgree]

***** I think it is a older one, not entirely sure. I don't see a CR2032 battery. Also next to the processor, its hard to see in the video, the Intel i387 is missing. I don't know if that really matters or if that's the problem. As for the disk drives, I have no way of knowing if it is good or not.

[@Lachlant1984]

@uxwbill Is there any chance of you making a video of a PS/1 computer?

[@TripleEBattery]

hey bill i was wondering if you had any 300gl's i just picked one up for a dollar and wanted to see what i can do with it

[@VSigma725]

I went to a store today in Pottstown, PA called Kemner's Surplus Warehouse and he had either one of these or a 55SX, I honestly couldn't tell. Unfortunately everything he had was rusted or in otherwise poor condition and seriously overpriced, otherwise I'd have come home with the guy's rare PC XT 286.

[@Blazer2533]

Darn I thought this was for a very rare IBM playstation 2....only to find out it was another computer..(being a smartypants) good video

[@LOLZpersonok]

Would any type of Wireless card (WiFi/Network Connection) work in something like this? I know it's highly unlikely, but I'm still not quite sure.

[@jacobrhodes7433]

As fast as an Intel 33MHz 486SX? Given the 16bit bus and clock doubled nature, are you sure it is not closer to a 25MHz 486SX?

[@uxwbill]

Likely in terms no more precise than how it felt. Hard telling, since it's been such a long time since I made the video... Edit: Performance would be considerably boosted for any code and data that could stay within the confines of the 16KB L1 cache.

[@DFX4509B]

486SX also needed a coprocessor if you wanted to run Win9x on it, as did IIRC the 386SX. I presume a 486DX or a 486SX+487SX coprocessor would be needed to run DSL as well.

[@uxwbill]

Neither the 386SX or the 486SX required a co-processor to run Windows 95 or 98. (A "secret" switch could be passed to the Windows 98 installer to make it skip that particular check. No version of Windows 95 setup performed that check, and a 386SX was officially supported in all releases.) Despite the similarity in name, a 486SX and a 386SX are two very different things. Their only similarity is a cost savings at the expense of some performance. The 487SX is actually a fully functional 486DX offered under another name. It's not a simple math co-processor as previous x87 chips were. Linux does not require a math co-processor to function.

[@DFX4509B]

Wish I had known that when attempting to throw 98 on a CDS520 a few years ago.

[@TheBasscompany]

very nice computer, i have the same model, mine is a black painted one with a 2.1gb hdd, it runs windows 95 but how can i get internet on it? i have a working network card in it but it has no internet explorer on it, what can i do?

[@Maxxarcade]

OMG, I still have a set of those same Labtec speakers :-)

[@burkezillar]

I'm buying a Model 70 from a guy off eBay at the moment, and he's said that the PC has a 486 chip in it and not a 386 one. Is this true? Or possible? I always thought they only came with 386 chips. And yes, it is a Model 70! I've been after one for 10 years!!!

[@FlamingPhoenix40]

is there a floppy disk on top on the floppy drive?

[@MrComputerfan]

@uxwbill cool, I will look for a ibm ps2 like that, so that means these are dead or i cant use them in a pc?

[@RubyIsBored]

you say you are not selling them on youtube, do you have an ebay store?

[@uxwbill]

I'm not selling them anywhere.

[@RubyIsBored]

oh just you always said on youtube thats why i thought you might sell things somewhere thank you for clarifying

[@kbhasi]

What's with the floppy wedged in the drive cage?

[@MrComputerfan]

@uxwbill I dont like the thing at the PS/2s that you cant upgrade something like the HardDrive has a long cartidge input that is complete useless for other PCs. or the ram too.

[@MrComputerfan]

@uxwbill How many Mhz has the second ibm PS/2 have? I never thought they can run win95. I ordered on ebay a ibm 0661 and 0664 scsi hard drives with 160mb and 2gb.

[@jetmike747]

i see you modified the RTC with an external battery. any instructions how to do so?

[@dannyjaar]

nice vintage system

[@Firthy2002]

So at what point did the 2.88MB drive become standard on the PS/2?

[@Bewefau]

How would you find an IBM that use's a IDE hard drive ?

[@MylarBalloon]

where do I find a model 90 or model 95? I see them never on ebay.

[@vwestlife]

Format another Y,N ? And your answer is... "B"!

[@valdarmort]

i've worked on some old systems but i draw the line at Pentium 3. older then that and it's on it's way to the curb

[@james42519]

always seen these in schools. the ones i seen never hard a harddrive though and they used a floppy for stuff. also remember the all in one version that don't seen as much for some reason.

[@JoeRader]

Can't. Stop. Watching. Time for bed.

[@allboutk]

class video

[@luckybear0301]

Great sale!

[@MrComputerfan]

@uxwbill So that means they are like the Deskstars (Deathstars) becouse these were actually the first drives of IBM using a different park-place i dont know how this technology is called, I just thought these two ibms are something for my HardDrive collection that grows and grows... I first need to go to the dump and get some more win95 machines, but the last time those guys from the dump saw me and kinda chased me, to dont pick up pcs, I could only take a Tandon 8mhz pc, but no pci.

[@lordmmx1303]

Thank you for selling me one of those beauties :) ... just kidding [teasing others] ... I really enjoy your videos!

[@MrComputerfan]

how mouch "Mhz" does the model 70 have?

[@Tr3vor42532]

@3:44 I'm guessing that you know from experience?

[@klamberext]

@Samthebam4044 Yes, Lenovo has done a good job. I too owned 3000 N100 and now i own thinkpad t410. Also owned Thinkstation E20 and they have been just a joy to use. Computers quality is good and there is still a lot of IBM in those Lenovos.

[@AiOinc1]

If I happen to find one of these for about $100 should I pick it up?

[@AiOinc1]

It's missing some of the backplates and one of the drive bay covers, and the floppy disk drive is not functional.

[@AiOinc1]

Thought you might find it funny in a way that I found a PS/2 8580 system (Cosmetically rough shape, but fully functional with disks and everything original except monitor) for 99 US Cents. The killer bit is that I can't afford shipping of $75...

[@sminkycorp]

+AIO inc. Depends........ For firing out of a cannon at a macuser that is a bit pricey.

[@AiOinc1]

sminkycorp What? I don't believe I've ever been within 20 feet of a cannon, let alone fired out of one. Macs are overpriced. These are collectors items, they have a reason.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Can't hear the name windows 95 without getting a bad taste in my mouth. So many bad memories.

[@petenielsen6683]

My biggest regret at the time was buying the then Niagara Mohawk Power Co. stock instead of a little company called Microsoft a few years before Windows 95 came out!

[@Jerkwad152]

Just for kicks, try putting K-Meleon on that thing. It'll run the latest Flash. :3

[@MylarBalloon]

how much did you pay for it? MCA sound cards are very rare

[@zx8401ztv]

Ahh windys 95 :-), a simple o.s with no nagging, and dos:-) Loved using dos fdisk/format/copy/erase or delete/cd\ cd cd.. and other subdirectory bits. Not folders, "Subdirectorys", and i still call them the same, even in later windows. COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT simple bat making. And microsofts well known Edit for .txt or .bat :-) Although i did use DigitalResearch dos as well, very similar. Nice vid bill:-)

[@NightWolfx03]

I think I might have a SCSI card that would run in that machine.

[@Samspianopage]

It's also a shame that IBM doesn't make PC'S Anymore (even if Lenovo does it's not really the same is it?). It doen't set good standards anymore, and it's a pity it lose the plot when it came to OS/2 and GUI's in comparison to what MS had in sight, as it would've kept the PC Industry in at a much higher quality level than what you now typically see (well in non-apple,workstaion or server market computers anyway).

[@armankordi]

Forget the chipchap, use a disney sound source or a covox speech thing.

[@armankordi]

Windows 3.x and 9x will still support it

[@Lachlant1984]

+Arman Kordi The other limitation of the Sound Source is that it can't play MIDI files or record sound.

[@armankordi]

Lachlant1984 true