IBM PS/2 Model 30

coinich · 07-29-2009, 11:29 PM

I really don't know where to put this, so I hope this forum will do. I don't even know what OS, if any, exists on it.

Well, I've attempted to resurrect an old IBM Personal System/2 Model 30 computer, made in 1987-88 or so. Yeah, I'm bored. Right at the moment, I should have the startup files I need, but I somehow am supposed to put them on a 720kb floppy. Amazingly, I have a few, but every time I attempt to reformat them so I can put the image on, I can only get 713kb of space. I need all 720kb sometimes. Does anyone know of a way to set it up and get the full image on there? Other attempts give me only ~613kb of space, but the computer refuses to load on it. Do I somehow need to give it a boot capability?

The computer seemed to boot without a disk about twice, but I can't reproduce it. It went into some sort of BASIC or Dos mode after some sort of prompt with a floppy icon flashing; I inserted a random boot disk then. Would anyone know how exactly I triggered this mode? I can't get it to run off any floppy disk at all, even the one that worked those two times.

If this is incoherent, sorry, its past midnight here...

Maurice119 · 07-30-2009, 04:03 PM

The IBM PS/2 uses OS/2. I don't know how to obtain it, as it is pretty old, and I'm not really an expert, so I can't really help you.

You can however contact IBM and ask if there is any way they can send you the floppies you need to reinstall OS/2.

07-29-2009, 11:29 PM	#1 (permalink)
coinich Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 1 OS: WinXPSP3	IBM PS/2 Model 30 I really don't know where to put this, so I hope this forum will do. I don't even know what OS, if any, exists on it. Well, I've attempted to resurrect an old IBM Personal System/2 Model 30 computer, made in 1987-88 or so. Yeah, I'm bored. Right at the moment, I should have the startup files I need, but I somehow am supposed to put them on a 720kb floppy. Amazingly, I have a few, but every time I attempt to reformat them so I can put the image on, I can only get 713kb of space. I need all 720kb sometimes. Does anyone know of a way to set it up and get the full image on there? Other attempts give me only ~613kb of space, but the computer refuses to load on it. Do I somehow need to give it a boot capability? The computer seemed to boot without a disk about twice, but I can't reproduce it. It went into some sort of BASIC or Dos mode after some sort of prompt with a floppy icon flashing; I inserted a random boot disk then. Would anyone know how exactly I triggered this mode? I can't get it to run off any floppy disk at all, even the one that worked those two times. If this is incoherent, sorry, its past midnight here...

07-30-2009, 04:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
Maurice119 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 14 OS: Ubuntu 9.04 "Jaunty Jackelope" & Windows XP MCE '05 SP2	Re: IBM PS/2 Model 30 The IBM PS/2 uses OS/2. I don't know how to obtain it, as it is pretty old, and I'm not really an expert, so I can't really help you. You can however contact IBM and ask if there is any way they can send you the floppies you need to reinstall OS/2.