pbagain wrote on 2025-03-20, 21:13:Hi all, […]
Show full quote
Hi all,
I got this interesting Packard Bell tower consisting of a base with a removable top part that contains an LCD display, cdrom and floppy drive. Presumably the idea was to keep the top unit on your desk and everything else on the floor. The two are connected by a ribbon cable. At the time the seller demonstrated how to remove the top unit. Pictures below show the top unit still attached, because the latch has since seized up. Something to take a look at later on..
The attachment front.jpg is no longer available
The attachment rear.jpg is no longer available
The attachment latch.jpg is no longer available
Strangely I can't find any information on this model using the model number or any combination of keywords: no pictures, manual, drivers, nothing. Presumably the original software included a driver or utility for the LCD display? Unfortunately no harddisk or software were included in the sale. Anyone know anything about this model?
Bit of a necro, but I can give you some info, mainly based on the sticker on the rear of the computer.
The "regulatory type" actually contains the most relevant info:
- "GEMINI" - that's the name of the case, referring to the twin base+drivebay design. Other than that gimmick, it's plain ATX with pretty decent soundproofing for a 1997 design.
- "ATL" - that's the motherboard, the Packard Bell i.e. Intel OEM Atlanta, AL440LX, the first slot 1 motherboard with i440LX chipset, SDRAM and AGP.
Other than that, the P/N ends in 05, which suggests this is a Dutch model.
The FN is the format code, needed when restoring from MasterCD if you changed the hard disk. As you say, this one doesn't seem documented anywhere online - but it will either be a Hermes or Reno system (1997/1998 late Windows 95 builds) and I suspect it's Hermes. There's an - incomplete - list of them here: https://web.archive.org/web/20051024035821/ht … b/faq/model.htm
Now, this specific model isn't in there, but that's because model numbers were different between markets. What the page does tell you is that - in the UK at least - the Atlanta board was generally paired with ATi Xpert XL AGP card and with one of several Aztech AZT2320-based sound cards, either sound/modem combo or separate sound and US Robotics modem. Functionally no difference incidentally. It also gives you part numbers for Master Floppy Disk and Master CD. The latter is for the UK version, ending in "01", but a Dutch version would end in "05". The floppy is universal. Instructions for how to restore can be found here (in French): https://www.passion-pb.fr/tattoo.php
For a different take, here's the only images of the case I can find, but from a Norwegian model:
https://www.digi.no/artikler/multimedia-plugg … kabinett/339263
"med fancy kabinett" indeed. The Nordics were run pretty independently to Benelux/FR/UK/IE, so I'm not surprised to see pretty different
specs here, with an Elsa Victory Erazor AGP (Riva 128 4MB) and Ensoniq AudioPCI sound card instead and a Cinemaster MPEG2 card (the latter was also used in UK/IE/NL systems).
