VOGONS


First post, by qoekeur

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I recently found that someone left an old IBM PC outside their house for free. I have limited experience with old hardware like it, but I was intrigued so I took it home.

It's incredibly dusty and I'm trying to get the motherboard out of it so I can clean it, but for some reason I can't dislodge it.

I've already unscrewed virtually every connection, but the motherboard still won't come loose. It seems to have something to do with the IO plate as that's where it is stuck.

I haven't been able to find much documentation on how to take a pc like this apart, so I figured I'd ask on the forum to see if anybody who has experience with these kinds of PCs has any clue what could be causing my problem.

Thanks.

Reply 1 of 5, by Horun

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++

Can you take a picture looking into the case at the board ? Also: Check the IO plate for two screws along one side of it.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 2 of 5, by qoekeur

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

https://imgur.com/a/IhrB3KH

There was a screw on the side of the IO plate, but as you can see I unscrewed it.

Reply 3 of 5, by Repo Man11

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

The images I see of those motherboards show that people leave the I/O plate attached, so it should be ready to pull out. Maybe try lifting the right edge of the mobo first?

After watching many YouTube videos about older computer hardware, YouTube began recommending videos about trains - are they trying to tell me something?

Reply 4 of 5, by qoekeur

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I figured out that there was a small screw which was obscured by the CPU cooler and some dust. After I removed that I was able to get it out with some force. Thanks for the help guys.

Reply 5 of 5, by ODwilly

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

Just a note iv recently found it's picky with high capacity ram. Need matching double sided 256mb sticks to max it out. Had to go through a weird stack of ram to set one up with a k3-333mhz@ 400mhz and make sure it still worked. It did not like any pci gpu's I tried in it bit a Voodoo1 with the Rage worked fantastic.

Edit: By weird ram I mean just a bunch of 1gb and 512mb sticks of pc133, along with newer single sided 256mb pc133 and a smattering of pc66 stuff. Even as far back as ecc 66mhz EDO sdr at 5v at 128 and 64mb.

Main pc: Asus ROG 17. R9 5900HX, RTX 3070m, 16gb ddr4 3200, 1tb NVME.
Retro PC: Soyo P4S Dragon, 3gb ddr 266, 120gb Maxtor, Geforce Fx 5950 Ultra, SB Live! 5.1