1. yes all 808x systems are limited to 1mb. the top 386k is for video memory, rom, etc hence 640k
2. yes, but not worth it. The point of an 8086 system is to run software at native speed.
3. again, possible. I haven't tried, but it is supposedly as easy as swapping in the correct drive. I don't have the part number in front of me, but there is a gentleman with a model 25 on youtube (same base system) that will know. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ-dCqvXx4pWe8-Z7EtdwQ

love the video! IBM machines are certainly not for the uninitiated! It still pains me to hear one described in such a painful tone though. It sounds as if you were expecting something more with this machine.

There are model 30's that come standard with 1.44mb floppy drives and 286 processors. You might try to source one of these.

Sadly the hard drive delima is 100% accurate. Personally, I'd go scsi. But I'm a strange person. XT-IDE is a no brainer for these systems. The adlib is a fine choice. I personally put a ati stereo f/x in mine. MCGA is no slouch on these computers. You need to remember just how slow the processor is! Most games supported mcga just as well as ega/vga. Worst case scenario, you can just install a vga card in the machine.

As far as networking goes. 8-bit ethernet cards are not uncommon. I have a box of them if you want to try one out. Shoot me a PM if you want to work something out.

Don't get me wrong.. i still love the machine.. i've always wanted one just never able to get my hands on one because they don't pop up very often. I wanted a 286 ISA model but this was just the machine i stumbled upon. Someone was selling it cheap nearby and i picked it up because i can't resist anything this clean.

More and more with my collecting, i'm trying to make due with what i can find locally, and around here the pickings are SLIM. I just can't bring myself to spend $200-$300 shipped for one on ebay.

I just think if someone had to have ONE machine (i'm sure that use case is very small here on vogons) to run this generation of games, they're better served by a whole bunch of other machines (ATs or AT clones to name a few, or several Tandys). When you choose the PS/2, you must REALLY want it (as I did in this case) and it takes a certain commitment to the platform. Growing up the PS/2 always had this mystique as something much more advanced than the PC/XT/AT, and I guess that stuck with me all these years.

Performance actually isn't terrible, but i was running Thexder and several times it seemed to lag.. I'm beginning to wonder if my relatively new keyboard might be causing problems as i've read there are some issues using really new PS/2 keyboards.

Also with only 3 slots i don't want to sacrifice one for a VGA card. Part of the reason i wanted a PS/2 was specifically for MCGA.

I've got a bunch of stuff going into this machine, was going to try a spare 16 bit ISA NIC in the hopes that it'll work (i've read some NICs would work in an 8bit slot) .. if you've got one you're willing to part with at a reasonable price I'll pm you.

thanks for the info!

not a problem, I'm happy to see the uninitiated steered away from these machines. Not from a sense of superiority, but their idiosyncrasies are just too much to learn at the same time as learning old machines. Learning IBM is like learning to ride a bike without training wheels. Experience any other XT system and then IBM is a simple step.

DaveJustDave wrote on 2018-02-13, 18:18:

So i managed to build an XT-IDE CF board to get it booting at least. Works great.

I am completely stuck at this step.

I have the xt-ide where you can insert a CF card, but so far I could not boot from any of my CF cards. Either it just stays there saying "booting from C", or OS not found, or can't boot DOS.

Also, I am not getting the colorful menu, just the B&W one where you have the option to boot A, C or boot from ROM. There's alost the F6 options but it is unclear what it does.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.