Caluser2000 wrote:

Because you haven't bothered to do prior research before aquiring the machine?

Enjoy it for what it is, an OEM IBM MCA product with limited expandibility.Use a generic clone to do real stuff...

Actually... the PS/2s do 'real stuff' better than the generic clones once you configure them up and snipe up any MCA cards you need. For starters you get less noise on the bus which means recording audio is a lot better. Same goes for video. And there are a few expansion cards that offer possibilities that the ISA bus cannot, like the 486 CPU MCA cards (with cache). Limited cards, maybe-- but technically superior expansion options in terms of what can be done.

King_Corduroy wrote:

Hi guys, I have an IBM PS/2 Model 50z and I was wondering how difficult is it to install a soundcard in a machine like this? It's running DOS 5.0 and while I'm Pretty knowledgeable about old Computers in general most of my experience has been with Windows 3.1, 95 and 98. I know how to navigate DOS and edit files and stuff but like I said I've never installed a card on a DOS machine (mainly because in the past the only DOS machine I had was a PCjr).

Once you obtain an MCA sound card, you'll need the ADF (adapter definition file). Load it onto the BIOS by booting into the reference diskette, once that's done you can just tell Windows the type of sound card and the corresponding IRQ and DMA values.

The ADF system comes from system/360 and is a precursor to plug and play. Basically it allows the hardware to reachable in a higher level before drivers are installed (necessary in a mainframe environment). And if you happen to have a token ring NIC loaded up in the model 50, get yourself an IBM 8226 or 8228 Token Ring MAU (depends which jacks you need, generally go for RJ45 if your token NIC supports it as the hermaphroditic IBM data cables are expensive).

Fortunately MCA sound cards aren't as rare as you'd think, you just have to queue up a bunch of search queries in ebay and check it occasionally. MCA SBs can be fetched for as low as $70 at times. Since I already have four different MCA sound cards (two being creative) I let someone else get that one.