Need PC DOS 1.0 on 5.25 Floppies
I just bought a genuine, one-owner 1981 IBM 5150 - complete system (two-floppy drives), monochrome green screen, keyboard and printer - all cables included AND original shipping boxes with foam inserts!
It looks good. All components work great. The pc boots up fine, and I rebooted via the keyboard. Everything is there except the floppies - none. I need the OS. I want the original 1981 PC DOS 1.0 on 5.25" floppies. I've downloaded the zip files for the O.S. and the manual from this website, but I don't know how to transfer it to floppies (total rookie, when it comes to this ancient stuff).
Are there still floppies available with 1.0?
By the way, my plan is to clean and document everything, get the O.S. up... acquire some old original games... then list it for sale online. I have a method for removing all UV yellowing and restoring to a bright factory finish.
Thanks in advance! 
Comments
I'm also owner of IBM PC DOS 1.00 (First Edition) full package.
Disk image of IBM PC DOS 1.00 is already uploaded on WinWorld.
(A few years ago, I dumped and uploaded it on WinWorld.)
You can transfer image by using Teledisk 2.1x, ImageDisk 1.18, TransCopy Optionboard (If you have) on DOS.
On eBay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dos-1-00-in-5-25-format-complete-with-case-manual-and-extra-Dos-1-10/263834637391
I wonder your IBM PC 5150 BIOS revision is.
P.S. (Do Not quote whole sentence to me.)
Does it have single sided or double sided floppy drives?
Generally you really want IBM PC DOS 2.1 or IBM PC DOS 3.3 for a 5150. Of course, it is fun to play with different versions.
Genuine 1.0 floppy disks come up on eBay every rare now and then but cost a fortune. 1.1 comes up occasionally and can be more reasonably priced as 1.1 was not quite as uncommon back in the day as some people think. Genuine 2.x and 3.x disks come up almost all the time.
But the best way to get things up and running is to use a “tweener” system.
An ideal system for this would have:
-Have any Pentium, K6, or Athlon era CPU
-Have a generic AT or ATX case
-Have BIOS support for two real, internal floppy drives.
-Have Ethernet Networking (easy to add)
-Have Windows 95 OSR2 or 98SE as the primary OS for easy DOS access (ME/2000/XP are more difficult)
-Have USB ports for flash drives.
-Have at least one ISA slot and plenty of additional slots (AGP/PCI)
-Ideally the FDC should support FM encoding, but that is rather uncommon and hard to tell just by looking.
-The motherboard should use a coin cell CMOS battery instead of a Dallas or Odin integrated clock/battery chip.
You will also need a 360k 5.25” drive rather than a 1.2mb drive as 1.2mb drives have problems writing 360k disks.
Basically, you just copy images over a network to the tweener machine and write them
The other way to write disks for yourself is with a Kryoflux. You can’t just drag and drop individual files though, you must write full disk images, sort of like burning a CD.
Here is the PC 5150 I bought yesterday.
Some questions:
Thanks,
Very nice machine! It looks in very good condition.
1 -How do I find the BIOS info?
The way I would do it is to remove the cover and look at the BIOS chips on the motherboard. The part numbers will tell you the BIOS version. If you plan to sell it, you will want some pictures with the cover off anyway.
See this site for details and a metric truck load of other information about the IBM 5150:
http://www.minuszerodegrees.net/5150/bios/5150_bios_revisions.htm
Software programs can also tell you the BIOS version, but you don’t have anything running yet.
2- What exactly is on this PC?
What do you mean “on” it? There is no hard drive. There is no software on it. All you have without a boot disk is ROM BASIC.
3- Was the printer 1981? -- the carton it came in has 1993 stamped on it.
Yes, that would be from around 1981. That is the printer that shipped with the original IBM PC. It is an IBM rebadged Epson MX-80.
According to ROM BASIC, version is C1.10
Therefore, BIOS version may be Rev.3 (Date: 10/27/82)
Here are some more photos:
Very clean under the cover. Hardly any dust at all.
The UPS metered stickers may have nothing to do with the date of purchase -- it's just a date that the boxes were moved at some point. Did IBM ship their products to individual buyers via UPS, or did they sell to distributors? Wouldn't they have used TL freight rather than UPS? Wouldn't the shipments be in legit shipping cartons and palletized?
I need to remove the printer's top cover so I can treat it and restore it back to the factory color. Does anyone know how to remove the hand knob? I can't tell whether it can be pulled off (with some gentle persuasion) or if it's permanently connected to the square spindle. I don't want to damage anything.
Yep, just pull the knob and it will slide off. With that off, just remove the screws on the bottom and the top part of the case will come of easily.
I also have a lot of IBM PC 5150 motherboard (Except Rev.1 BIOS).
Your mother seems to be 64-256KB (Late 1982 or Early 1983) with Rev.3 BIOS.
The BIOS is revision 3 on this 5150, and the date of that revision is 10-27-82 (U33:1501476); the motherboard is a 64K-256K.
Does rev. 3 deminish the value significantly, as opposed to rev. 1?
From what I'm reading, there's a bug in the 10/27/82 BIOS that incorrectly reports RAM unless all 4 banks are full. All 4 are filled on this board.
Which versions of PC or MS DOS can be run on this machine?
Any thoughts on what the value of this system w/ boxes is worth?
Thanks
Looks like the 10/27/82 revision (see my above comments).
Thanks... slid right of
The BIOS revision is not really important. However what you need to be aware of is that there is a difference in price between the very early 5150s and the later 5150s.
You have one of the later "B" versions. Take a look at that Minuszerodegrees site, they have a lot of detail about what the differences are.
Basically:
Most later "B" versions have a "B" mark on the back (it's not directly related to the revision, just roughly coincides)
Earlier version will have a lower serial number.
Earlier "A" version may have black painted ISA brackets.
Earlier "A" version may have a black painted power supply.
Earlier "A" version may have a 16-64K motherboard, later versions have 64-256k motherboard, and really late boards may be updated for 640k.
Earlier versions may have single sided (160k/180k) floppy drives, although most users upgraded those.
Earlier MDA video card versions secretly support color.
Very early FDCs that happened to use an Intel chip instead of an NEC can not read 10 sectors (512 bytes) per track like later revision.
And few other small differences.
So ones with any of those features would sell for more.
Not sure exactly what a "B" might sell for. But those come up on eBay all the time, so it should be easy to compare what other 5150s go for.
A 5150 can run up to MS-DOS 6.22 and I think the later PC-DOS as well. But practically speaking, the best fit for an 8088 based machine is MS-DOS 3.3, or 3.31 if you have a hard drive larger than 32mb. The big improvement in DOS 5.0 is memory related, but those tricks are only available on a 286 or later, even though it will still run on an 8088.
Oh, and keep in mind that the plastic cases on those CRT monitors are EXTREMELY fragile. If you ship it, you will need to be very, very, careful how you pack it.
Thanks... I found that section -- I just learned pretty much everything there is!
One thing... I'd like to get PC DOS 2.1
I'm looking on ebay, and there's one of those sets being sold. It's IBM DOS 2.1 by Microsoft. It comes in an IBM "pull-out" box, which includes instructions and what looks like two 5.25 floppies. It's got some water damage, but the discs look ok. My question:
How many floppies was 2.1 on? It looks like there are two discs in the set -- one looks like it's the OS. The label on the other one is kind of faded, but it looks like it's a "Supplemental Programs" disc.
Back when I was in P.C. repair school ('99), we had MS DOS 6.22 on three 3.5 floppies... Does PC DOS 2.1 on basically one 5.25 disc look right?
Thanks
Just look in our library
IBM PC DOS 2.10 ships on two single sided 180k 5.25" floppy disks. Obviously that will all fit on one double sided 360k disk, but the originals are compatible with single sided systems.
Just to get started, I'd think you would really want to get some disks that someone has tested as good.
Damage on the surface of the disk does not always show up in pictures. In fact, I was just trying to scan some examples of disk surface damage, but the damage is only visible when light is shining on it at certain angles.
Ugh, I guarantee you the disk jackets on those will be full of crud. A thorough washing and rinsing in hot water might get them clean enough, but I'd be hesitant to try them in a drive (especially a cheap Tandon) that I have never used before.
I still haven't figured out how to get mold/mildew out of paper successfully. The experts keep their secrets hidden.
I guess your motherboard was made in Feb - March 1983 before IBM 5160 was introduced.
This 5150 Type B (64-256KB) motherboard seems to be early release.
I also dumped IBM DOS 1.00 by SCP (SuperCardPro).
If you have SCP, you can transfer SCP image to floppy drive on modern Windows PC too.
(You don't have to get old PC with 5.25" drive)