My newest acquisition... EverythingIBM will like this...

[bhtooefr]

An IBM PC Server 500 System/390 8641-MYC.

Pentium 90, 32 megs of RAM, Dual LANStreamer, two ethernet cards, some XGA card, two RAID controllers, a System/390 processor with 32 megs of RAM, and 96 megs of additional RAM for the S/390.

Oh, and it's got 159.3 gigs of SCSI drives in there, with three empty hotswap bays.

Aww yeah.

This weekend's project will be getting it running again.

[TexasFlood]

Hell, I want that one.  Pretty cool.

[microsoft windows]

Windows NT 3.51 or NT4 would run great on that.

[bhtooefr]

Nope. Won't work at all.

Well, it'll boot fine, but the S/390 card only has drivers for OS/2 on x86, and AIX on POWER.

[ch_123]

Run OS/390 on it?

Do you have pictures of the System/390 card?

[bhtooefr]

I really don't want to extract it, because I've found that MCA cards are a pain to get lined up, and mine has a RAM card bolted to it, so I have to line two MCA cards up AT THE SAME TIME.

Anyway, I can run VM, VSE, and various OSes in the MVS lineage. (I believe up to z/VM 3.x, quite a ways into the z/VSE family, and OS/390 V2R10.)

I plan on running VM/ESA 2.4.0, and maybe some MVS version, although I have to be careful, as MVS is very, very heavy for this system.

[ch_123]

Found some pictures of it by googling around.

That server looks like it's industrial grey... Wonder if it was intended for such usage.

[bhtooefr]

Yeah, it is the industrial color, I believe, but this chassis was their generic "I want a server to run OS/2 or NT and have a crapton of drives" chassis, used by the PC Server 5xx and 7xx line. They may have bundled industrial Ms with them, I don't know, though.

[microsoft windows]

You need to get a matching IBM clicky keyboard for your server...

[EverythingIBM]

It totally has the industrial look (even the badge):


Too bad it didn't come with a 1985 Model M!

So what's wrong with it; does it just need an OS installed or something?

And yeah, that is pretty awesome to have a computer like that (probably huge too).

[bhtooefr]

It needs the CMOS battery replaced, RAID arrays rebuilt, and then I can install an OS.

[microsoft windows]

It totally has the industrial look (even the badge):

Show Image

Too bad it didn't come with a 1985 Model M!

So what's wrong with it; does it just need an OS installed or something?

And yeah, that is pretty awesome to have a computer like that (probably huge too).

That thing's probably almost as tall as my Gateway2000 and probably a little wider. Definitely has got a large footprint.

[D-EJ915]

That thing's probably almost as tall as my Gateway2000 and probably a little wider. Definitely has got a large footprint.

probably twice as long and 4-5 times as heavy lol

Those IBM PC Servers were pretty nice boxes, I want a PPro one but they never show up on ebay (and if they do the prices are absurd)

[EverythingIBM]

Yeah good thing people still want to get them working up again for fun (or maybe even have a minor use for them) -- throwing away massive machines like that would be a gigantic waste towards the environment.

I'm not a global warming nut, but I do believe people should try to find more uses for their old equipment, and there's always people who want stuff like that.

Besides, imagine all of the model F AT keyboards that were thrown away solely on the basis of being "too old", rather than being nice to the touch.

[bhtooefr]

If the PS/2 Server 95 Array's drive trays could take a 68-pin drive, I'd ditch this case in a heartbeat, admittedly. Too damn big. But, I'd sell it sans the front cover (the one external identification that this is a S/390,) not scrap it.

[EverythingIBM]

If the PS/2 Server 95 Array's drive trays could take a 68-pin drive, I'd ditch this case in a heartbeat, admittedly. Too damn big. But, I'd sell it sans the front cover (the one external identification that this is a S/390,) not scrap it.

That's a nice case, sure it's big, but it looks like it could have many uses (I can already think of a lot).

[bhtooefr]

Grr. OS/2 install keeps stopping (not erroring, not (AFAICT) freezing, just stopping dead) at C:\OS2\INSTALL\BOOTDISK\SYSINSTX.COM.

It's OS/2 Warp 4.52 CP2 Client (the server versions actually aren't recommended for this.)

[EverythingIBM]

Grr. OS/2 install keeps stopping (not erroring, not (AFAICT) freezing, just stopping dead) at C:\OS2\INSTALL\BOOTDISK\SYSINSTX.COM.

It's OS/2 Warp 4.52 CP2 Client (the server versions actually aren't recommended for this.)

Well, try installing something else, can you install DOS or something?

[bhtooefr]

For this machine, the only OS that will work is OS/2. I'm not running it to have a PC Server 500, I'm running it to have a PC Server 500 System/390, and that part requires OS/2.

Or I could get a MCA RS/6000, and that could run AIX.

Those are my two OS choices, if I want to use that card.

Anyway, I'm trying a different version of the RAID driver, I think the version I had was meant for OS/2 2.11. The version I'm using now is the one included with Warp 4.52.

Edit: Of course, all of this came down to a coaster problem. Burned a fresh CD, worked fine.

[TexasFlood]

For this machine, the only OS that will work is OS/2. I'm not running it to have a PC Server 500, I'm running it to have a PC Server 500 System/390, and that part requires OS/2.

Or I could get a MCA RS/6000, and that could run AIX.

Those are my two OS choices, if I want to use that card.

Anyway, I'm trying a different version of the RAID driver, I think the version I had was meant for OS/2 2.11. The version I'm using now is the one included with Warp 4.52.

I'm not sure that's true.  I poked around IBM support.  After sorting through some dead links from site changes, particularly splitting out Lenovo, think I found the right way to find info on this server.

Went to the support portal http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/ , clicked on the "quick start" link I saw on the upper left corner.  entered "pc server 500 s/390" and clicked on the little magnifying glass symbol.  I clicked on the box beside "PC Server 500" in the resulting list.  After that you can optionally select an OS and/or support category (such as installation), then click on "view your page" to see available resources.

There is a lot of stuff there and you can navigate around that page.  I saw a detailed hardware guide, firmware updates, install guides for both OS/2 Warp and SCO Openserver.  Looks like a lot of good info there.  Good luck.

[bhtooefr]

The PC Server 500 can run Windows NT just fine.

The problem is, there's no drivers for the Personal/390 adapter for any OSes other than OS/2 on x86 and AIX on POWER.

And, seeing as the machine is a PC Server 500 System/390, and the entire reason I have this machine is for that System/390 part, therefore, OS/2 is the only OS that I can run to do what I want.

[TexasFlood]

The PC Server 500 can run Windows NT just fine.

The problem is, there's no drivers for the Personal/390 adapter for any OSes other than OS/2 on x86 and AIX on POWER.

And, seeing as the machine is a PC Server 500 System/390, and the entire reason I have this machine is for that System/390 part, therefore, OS/2 is the only OS that I can run to do what I want.

OK, fair enough.  That being the case, I think it's likely you're find some valuable info there such as:
Required modifications to the OS/2 installation media
Software and device drivers section
Hardware Maintenance Manual
What the desktop icons mean
Initialization (S/390) - PC Server 500
Microprocessor complex configuration (S/390) - PC Server 500
RAID configuration and data scrubbing to prevent RAID rebuild failure
Etc... Have fun...

[TexasFlood]

Grr. OS/2 install keeps stopping (not erroring, not (AFAICT) freezing, just stopping dead) at C:\OS2\INSTALL\BOOTDISK\SYSINSTX.COM.

It's OS/2 Warp 4.52 CP2 Client (the server versions actually aren't recommended for this.)

In the VSE/ESA on a PC Server 500 System/390 redbook, it says OS/2 Warp V3 came installed on the PC Server System/390, not sure if there are problems installing newer.

Well, according to to this Technical specifications info, it's not just v3 that's supported.  In fact I saw some directions for nstalling OS/2 Warp Server 4.0 Advanced.

[bhtooefr]

By "recommended," I meant what is recommended on P370-L, not what IBM published as recommendations, BTW.

(There were/are some IBMers and former IBMers that posted on there, too. The main reasons to run client versions of the OS are to avoid HPFS386 (bad, BAD idea on a P/390 - apparently you get a nice memory leak pretty quickly,) and the client comes with a light version of Personal Communications 3270 that is more than good enough to serve as the console for the mainframe.

[bhtooefr]

Got OS/2 installed, and the P/390 software installed... now to install VM/ESA.

[EverythingIBM]

You should get a big IBM CRT to go with that server. $70, RCG is having a special today.

[bhtooefr]

That doesn't even look like a Trinitron.

And, black wouldn't go with it anyway.

[EverythingIBM]

I just realized something -- is the 96MB on the daughter card ECC as well? Otherwise, I've witnessed the first mixing of ECC and non-ECC RAM.

[bhtooefr]

Yeah, it's ECC.

(And the RAM on the PC side is 32 megs of ECC as well. Need to upgrade that...

[TexasFlood]

Got OS/2 installed, and the P/390 software installed... now to install VM/ESA.

Cool.  Did you do anything to get past it "stopping at C:\OS2\INSTALL\BOOTDISK\SYSINSTX.COM"? Looking over the links above, I wasn't sure what it might be except maybe the raid driver I saw mentioned in a couple of places.

[bhtooefr]

I replaced the CD. The CD that that file was on didn't burn properly.

[bhtooefr]

[ch_123]

Aside from running it from the sake of it, is there anything interesting and/or useful you can do with VM/ESA?

[bhtooefr]

Not really the kind of stuff that we hobbyists would do, and the ESA versions are to the point where they're old enough that they're obsolete in the real world, although it is capable of running a web server.

[EverythingIBM]

Oh hey! You did buy that IBM monitor (looks pretty cool!):


You might want to fix the geometry though...

EDIT: oh yeah, and you can remove the "69 lbs" tape label now.

[ch_123]

Not really the kind of stuff that we hobbyists would do, and the ESA versions are to the point where they're old enough that they're obsolete in the real world, although it is capable of running a web server.

Yeah, most of IBM's mainframe OSes look locked down and limited to certain pre-designated functions. Contrast with the likes of DEC's VMS which you could use as a regular OS if you had the right hardware.

Incidentally, this must be the third or fourth time today I have tried to reply to this thread. Every time I did beforehand, the forum just happened to die or screw up just as I was doing it.

[bhtooefr]

Actually, IBM's OSes are fairly general purpose - MVS OpenEdition was actually the first POSIX implementation, and VM can run anything - it's meant to be a very simple OS that gets out of your way - if you want, it can just give you a virtual mainframe of your own to do whatever you want with, and coexist with everything else, or it can give you a CMS environment that connects to other virtual machines that also run under CMS.