First post, by polishvito
So I have an 8086 PS/2 Model 30 (8530-002). This model came up with two 720k 3.5" floppy drives.
Now the computer itself actually works. BIOS settings were cleared when I first got it. I've already replaced the barrel battery with a CR2032 one. When I put an XT-IDE in it everything seems to work, will boot to DOS, games play etc.
Everything that is except for the floppy drives - which I know is a common issue for the PS/2s. Their proprietary connections don't seem to help. For both drives, the lights will come on as the computer POSTs, there is a hum and a little bit of activity but it does not seem like the proper seeking I would expect. Known good 720k discs do not work - it will not boot from them nor will it access after I boot into DOS. I've switched the drives around with no difference. I tried recapping one of the drives but same behavior. Cleaned the drive heads as well.
I ordered one of the PS/2 floppy to standard floppy adapters from texelec thinking I could at least run the setup disk and install DOS cleanly (I've been borrowing a CF from another machine). I used a known good 1.44mb floppy drive. To my surprise, the new drive with the adapter exhibits the exact same behavior and I still can't read any disks.
This is what is leading me to wonder if there is a floppy drive controller problem? Does anyone more experienced than me have any ideas about what I should do next in terms of troubleshooting? I can technically live without the floppy drives, but I can't set any of the bios settings, I'll have to set up a new CF on a different machine which isn't optimal, plus I'd like to just have them working just because.
Thanks in advance.