Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Neat IBM 5150 Case Mod

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the remember-these-things dept.

kminogue sent in a case mod that definitely is different then the ones we've been seeing lately. Instead of tricking out something ultra modern w/ lights and windows, this guy modded an IBM 5150, yes, thats right, it's the original PC, back for a new generation. The color scheme is a little disturbing, but the end results are pretty sweet. To say nothing of the nostalgia I feel when I see that case. Update: 08/27 03:00 AM GMT by T : citroidSD wrote to say: "I put up a mirror at another stronger server."

40 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. The Barney Computer! by jerw134 · · Score: 2, Funny

    You know, he could make computers with that color scheme, and market them to little kids as "The Barney Computer"! Seriously though, it's great to see the cool things people do with their old computers. I have to admit, this one is unique!

  2. You bet it's state of the art... by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 2

    ..wow, it's even got dual floppy disk drives!

    --
    Finding God in a Dog
  3. Re:Only one problem I can see... by TotallyUseless · · Score: 3, Informative

    it doesnt use those floppies. the bezels in the front swing up on a hinge to reveal the real drives. neat

    --

    Time for some tasty Shiner Bock!
  4. Spacing for slots in the back..? by uniqueusername · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm pulling from some really old memory here, but I recall from many years ago that the very first IBM PCs had slots that were just slightly closer together than the AT standard used today. I recall seeing upgraded original IBM PC cases with the metal cut from between the slots on the backplate, and new screw holes drilled because of this.

    This guy doesn't mention that he had to do anything special in order to make a modern ATX motherboard (still with AT slot spacing) fit.

    Am I hallucinating here?

    1. Re:Spacing for slots in the back..? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You remember correctly. The slot spacing was changed
      when the PC was supplanted by the PC-XT. It has stayed
      pretty much the same since then.

    2. Re:Spacing for slots in the back..? by Zenjive · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You are correct, the spacing changed between the original PC and the PC XT.

      I remember being very confused when my brand-spanking-new 386DX-20 motherboard wouldn't fit quite right in my old PC case. I think I used the get-a-bigger-hammer method until I managed to un-seat some surface mount chips.

      --


      A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with. - Tennessee Williams
  5. VH by geomcbay · · Score: 2

    I'm not much of a Van Halen fan, but it would be pretty funny to see an IBM 5150 case modified with the Van Halen logo.

  6. Mirror mirror on the wall by nlh · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, the site appears to be totally slammed.

    So....Google to the rescue!

    Here is google's cache of the main page.

    Here is google's cache of all the pictures from the site.

    Enjoy...

    nlh

    --
    Ferrari and other exotic car rentals in New York
    1. Re:Mirror mirror on the wall by psych031337 · · Score: 2, Informative

      ...and there is another cheap rip on http://web.intru.de/mylinkz/retrocasemirror.

      Has all the html pages and the pictures in context as compared to google.

      --
      +++ath0
  7. Re:Only one problem I can see... by Lally+Singh · · Score: 3, Interesting

    actually, there's probably a good market for retro CDROM faceplates that look like that...

    --
    Care about electronic freedom? Consider donating to the EFF!
  8. Wow by Sarcasmooo! · · Score: 5, Funny

    How the hell did he turn that laval lamp into a monitor?

  9. *Why* of a different sort.. by _Mustang · · Score: 2, Interesting

    " Instead of tricking out something ultra modern w/ lights and windows, this guy modded an IBM 5150,"

    Well, why does something that's already "ultra modern" need tricking out?

    Ok I can understand some good reasons why it's cool to rehash these old pieces of crap, ranging from "just plain fun" to "save the planet with the three R's". All very cool stuff, this example no less so.
    But so far I've seen articles demonstrating dozens of example of modern equipment which has been modded and customized, including some neat stuff using "lights and windows". I've also seen a dozen or so similar articles to this one showing off cool ways to reuse old equipment.

    What I'm wondering is why guys who are obviously talented at this type of reengineering don't design new and wicked cases *from the ground up*. So far I've seen only a single example, that completely transparent case (from those guys in Vancouver, BC ?). Sure there are a few mass-produced cases which have a custom look such as the penguin/cat/dog cases and such, and a few manufacturers have made the rare attempt (apple's cube anyone..?)but I'd love to see more.
    Why can't we have geometric shapes such as spheres and pyramids? Or if not *that* different how about just a really COOL personal design of some kind that doesn't start with the usual "beige-box" syndrome....

    1. Re:*Why* of a different sort.. by norton_I · · Score: 2

      First of all, there is a limited market for these things. Very few people are willing to pay the extra it would cost to get a tricked out case.

      Second, they would be really expensive. If you make these as a hobby, part of the goal is to have fun building it, and in the end you have a unique case that you made yourself. If you make these to sell, you have to charge people for your time, and that bumps the price way up.

      In the PC market, you just can't make money off of this sort of thing. The only place it works is when you have a single supplier of something. Hence, the distinctive looks of Apples, SGIs, NeXT, and Cray computers (to name a few). You buy the hardware you want and automatically get a nice looking case to go with it (depending on your tastes).

      The other factor is availability of peripherals. It is difficult for an end user to even find black CD-ROMs, much less ones to go with a specific case design, or other peripherals that match their color scheme. Again, the only way this works is with a single supplier, or if you are going to do the mods yourself. Witness how you can get a keyboard, mouse, USB hub, scanner, and floppy drive to all match a G4 or an Imac, but in the PC world you don't even get perfectly matching shades of beige.

    2. Re:*Why* of a different sort.. by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 2

      The limiting factor in all of this is that you can't mod a motherboard. Or at least you can't mod every motherboard anyone might want to use with your case.

      Apple, SGI, even Sony and Compaq all have custom internals that don't have to comply to the industry standards because the cases don't need to support more than one motherboard. Unless you started bundling custom motherboards with your cases, you simply won't be able to do much. For a niche company, it's not worth it.

    3. Re:*Why* of a different sort.. by unitron · · Score: 2
      "...but in the PC world you don't even get perfectly matching shades of beige."

      Anybody can buy a NeXT, an SGI, or one of the non-beige Apples, but the challenge in the PC world is picking and arranging just the right different shades of beige so that they co-exist in subtle and graceful harmony. :-)

      On a different note, I'd like to thank everybody destroying these irreplaceable early boxes, thus moving the negative worth of my boat anchor stock PC-XT and Apple IIe from not worth throwing away back up closer to zero and maybe even one day into the exalted realm of actual shiny copper-colored hundredths of dollars.

      --

      I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

    4. Re:*Why* of a different sort.. by Squirrel+Killer · · Score: 2
      What I'm wondering is why guys who are obviously talented at this type of reengineering don't design new and wicked cases *from the ground up*.

      I have to confess that I just don't understand this kind of attitude. Some guy goes out, on his own, with his own money, scratching his own itch, and The Taco feels it's worthy of /.. You then, feel the need to bitch that he didn't do what you wanted him to do. Guess what?

      Do it yourself!

      Don't know how? Learn. Don't have the skill? Practice. Don't have the time? Make some. But don't fscking whine that this guy didn't make your dream spherical box.

      -sk

  10. Because than it's not an "original" creation... by nougatmachine · · Score: 2
    You mentioned Apple, who is one of the few manufacturers to use non-standard, non-boxy cases recently. Do you remember the reaction when the iMac was first introduced? I know some people who went ballistic over the thing: "How dare they try to make computers cute!", and whatever else. How do you reconcile the obsession many geeks have with tricking out cases to make them different, from this reaction to pre-built different cases?

    You have to take into account that when someone mods a case by themselves, it will then be considered unique to them (even if someone else is probably doing something very similar). This is the Slashdot crowd we're talking about, the people who like to compile their own programs. If it's already done for them, what's the point?

    1. Re:Because than it's not an "original" creation... by _Mustang · · Score: 2

      "You have to take into account that when someone mods a case by themselves, it will then be considered unique to them (even if someone else is probably doing something very similar). This is the Slashdot crowd we're talking about, the people who like to compile their own programs. If it's already done for them, what's the point?

      Very true and I am not implying that the results are anything less than unique and often very cool. But I would expect the difference between *unique* and *original* to be the very reason reusing or modifying *someone else's design* should be so much less gratifying than an actual original designed from scratch.

      Using your parrallel to source code; those that can write their own code do so and "publish it" (equivalent to mass manufacturing of cases) while those that can't make use of the existing source and modify it as best as they can (the equivalent of hacking existing equipment).
      It's all cool, but wouldn't everyone rather *create* rather than *maintain*...?!

    2. Re:Because than it's not an "original" creation... by Glytch · · Score: 2

      I don't think a lot of us geeks who dislike the iMacs did so because of the form, it was because Apple had sacrificed functionality for the form. At least, those are my reasons. I can't really speak for others.

  11. Oh well. by toybuilder · · Score: 2

    Dang, I was going to do an Apple II retro conversion, but this has taken the wind out my sails. :(

  12. Irony by mbrubeck · · Score: 2, Funny

    CmdrTaco calls someone else's color scheme "a little disturbing"?

    1. Re:Irony by HydroCarbon10 · · Score: 2

      In case anyone is wondering why this is funny, check out taco hello. It's a shame taco removed it.

      --
      The best way to accelerate a windows box is at 9.8 meters per second square.
  13. Sun Box. by tinla · · Score: 4, Interesting


    I haven't got any pictures together yet but I've just squeezed a Celeron@1.1GHz (OCed of course) into a Sun SparcStation LX box.

    I used an excellent motherboard from shuttle (the 7"x7.5" FV24) which includes almost everything onboard (from audio to network via firewire. Everything), so the build was easy.

    I got the idea from a similar project I saw over at this place but because the FV24 is so tiny I managed to get everything, including a 1U psu, in the standard LX box.

    It looks very odd indeed with my massive monitor perched on top... Retro modding is the way forward :)

    --
    0daymeme.com: Great stuff.
  14. Its cooler to do retro/exisiting instead of new... by GoofyBoy · · Score: 2


    ... because its sort of an in joke.

    I just saw recently a computer in a He-Man/Greyskull Castle.

    Its cool techinically and invokes your childhood for those who included He-Man. Not everyone gets it.

    A computer in a globe is cool for about 2 seconds and your really can't talk/laugh about it.

    --
    The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
  15. numerism by chizor · · Score: 2, Funny

    isn't 5150 a british legal document or status pertaining to incapacitation or madness? ergo, van halen's album, as well as a black sabbath instrumental by the name of E5150.

    little odd that IBM chose these digits for its PC, eh?

    --
    ... !
  16. My idea of a great Q computer... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2, Interesting

    would be filling a Unisys AN/UYK-7 case with modern stuff. Actually wiring the control panel to work would be a trick...

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  17. I'm still using an original PC case myself... by Medievalist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The original PC case had only five slots, so I ditched the bottom half years ago and installed an XT chassis with the full eight. This was about the same time I upgraded to a 386.

    I kept the original top half, though, so my case still looks like an original type A, which is what it started out as.

    The CD-ROM drive I put in it was a salvaged junker; it had a stripped gear which I rebuilt and now it works fine. But, while I had it apart, I spray-painted the faceplate and tray black to match the floppies.

    Currently it houses an ATX motherboard with an AMD chip, two IDE drives, a 3.5 floppy, and a CD-ROM. I just got rid of the last 5.25 floppy when I put in the 30 GB drive... I'm thinking about putting it back now and losing the older IDE drive.

    Despite what somebody else's post said, I've never had any problem with slot spacing. In fact, the AGP video card fits into the eighth slot perfectly, which is very convenient. And I salvaged a huge fan that fits exactly into the existing faceplate behind the slots (I haven't modified the front of the case in any way) so I don't require a blowhole. It's also convenient that my modern high-watt ATX power supply is so much smaller than the original 63.5 watt model... otherwise I wouldn't have enough airspace to cool the hotter modern chips.

    The only real problem is that I've hacked out so much metal over the years (as I've gone through half a dozen motherboards) that the bottom part of the case has very little structural integrity left. If you pick it up without the top shell on, it bends from the weight of the drives. I added a steel bar taken from an old lamp across the top but that hasn't helped much.

    My server, incidentally, is in a Honeywell DPS6 case. I find this highly amusing since I run linux on it... the gigantic case is nice for all my salvaged hard drives, and of course the UPS batteries.

    --Charlie

  18. Cool, but... by x136 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...wouldn't a slot loading CD/DVD loading through the floppy slot be awesome?

    --
    SIGFEH
  19. err by Scoria · · Score: 2

    The site is Slashdotted. I made a mirror here, which is still being created at the time of this writing. It is mostly complete, though, so you shouldn't have much of a problem viewing it...

    --
    Do you like German cars?
  20. Re:Only one problem I can see... by mbourgon · · Score: 2

    That's actually limp. He should've used a slot-load, so you could put them in the CDs "correctly". That would rock.

    --
    "Sometimes a woman is a kind of religion, she can save your soul & set you free from all your sins" - Bad Examples
  21. In car talk, this would be called a "Sleeper". by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 2

    Seriously though, it's great to see the cool things people do with their old computers.

    For sure!

    I built a server once for a guy who didn't want to replace an old case he had kicking around. It wasn't quite of this class, it was a really nasty old 486DX-25 fullsize tower generic clone. But he *loved* that case, and wanted it to have a little more oomph.

    Into that case, I was able to stuff an Asus ATX motherboard with a Pentium II 350 (back when they were still current), with many of the same obstacles this guy had in building his Barney case.

    In the end, the ole 486 looked completely original. Keyboard adapter to get a Compaq Deskpro 286 keyboard (the old two-tone brown one) connected to it, and an NEC Multisync 3D. He used it more as a lightweight server, but especially enjoyed the look of the front LED display on the case still set to 25MHz.

    One of my favorite pastimes is working on old cars, and this is very much the high-tech equivalent to stuffing a 7.2L Chrysler big-block V8 into a four door 1970 Dodge Dart. It's a Granny Car with an attitude. And I think a Celeron under the hood of an original PC certainly qualifies - especially with more attention to having it look dead original.

    Here's my own sleeper. It's a Chevette with a Buick 231 V6 stuffed under the hood. It looks crusty, with faded paint and a cheesy hood scoop on it. But it pulls 12.8 seconds on the 1/4 mile, which is faster than the 13.1 the guy in the Camaro beside me pulled. Heheheh.

    I love sleepers, whether they're computers or cars.

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
    1. Re:In car talk, this would be called a "Sleeper". by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 2

      Drag racing is a purer test of the car itself.

      Drag racing is all about how well you know your engine's torque curve and how good your timing is. Most of the challenge of drag racing is the scientific and intellectual pursuit of lowering the car's weight and improving things like power and traction.

      Most of the guys who are really into it are very bright, but they're not educated. They seem to mostly work on unrefined gut. It's an interesting crowd.

      Juan Montoya could probably outdrive any one of us on a road course even if we were in his FW23 and he were in that '93 Prelude or that Chevette.

      For sure. But a Chevette maintains the advantage of being rear-wheel-drive, which makes it a *lot* more predictable in high-speed cornering. So you can push it harder.

      If we were talking about anything rear-wheel-drive, I wouldn't have offered to race for pink slips.

      --
      Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  22. Re:losers by fmaxwell · · Score: 2
    Complete, absolute, losers, case modders, every one.


    Since I have 50 Karma points to burn...


    I agree with you 100%. It's one thing to improve the cooling of a case, but fancy paint, clear windows, lights on the inside, etc. is just idiotic and tacky. Case modders are like the lowrider crowd -- they spend a lot of time and/or money to make their machines look stupid and perform worse than stock (many modded cases spew RF, have inadequate cooling, have dangerous high voltages for neon lights, and have component access problems - like hinged doors disguised as 5.25" floppy drives). These people need to get lives -- or at least a little good taste.

  23. Went ahead and mirrored my site by citroidSD · · Score: 4, Funny

    So I go to check my email tonight, and notice that Eudora can't find my mail server. Thinking that my crappy DSL connection is down again, I open up a browser. Well my default homepage (Slashdot) comes up with no problems. So I figure I might as well skim the headlines and see what's new.... "IBM Creates 1st Single Molecule Computer Circuit." Hmm that sounds interesting, but let me skip ahead and see what else we havew. Oh look, someone modified a 5150 IBM case, I did something similar a while ago, maybe I should check it out..... Oh wait.... It links to my site.

    Well, I'm happy and congratulate all that decided to slashdot my site and host into mush. I went ahead and mirrored it here if you still want to see my little mod. I think this server can take better beatings:

    http://64.41.77.124/retrocase

    citroid

  24. Re:OT: A Challenge re: Sleepers by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 2

    Please, I'll take you on in whistler with some all wheel drive from my Audi S4.

    Now, that's a challenge I will *not* accept in my Chevette. [grin]

    But if you want to go off-roading, we can take my '76 Ram (not actually my Ram, but similar) down some old logging trails, summer or winter. The winner gets to pop her into four-wheel-low and back over the loser's car. Game?

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  25. i didn't realize this was cool. by AugstWest · · Score: 2

    i've been running a web server and proxy box in this same case for 4 years now. somehow it didn't seem that cool.

    actually, it was all running on a 120 meg Mac IDE drive from Apple's first attempt at cutting costs by dropping SCSI. talk about a frankenstein machine, i didn't have the adapters to use a 3 1/4" floppy drive power with the big ol' honking drive power supply connectors, so to boot the box from floppy for the install I had to drag the thing over next to my main PC case and "jump" the floppy power over....

    almost makes me nostalgic for my first days of linux use. almost.

  26. Re:Nostalgia? by Glytch · · Score: 2

    Just an anecdote, but I remember using IBM XTs as far as 1990 in my cash-strapped junior high school. It was quite a treat to move up to the new 286s they bought. The even had these cool "hard drive" things that let you boot the computer without a disk.

  27. Re:losers by fmaxwell · · Score: 2
    It's called a hobby. Look into it. Hobbies are harmless and fun and in no way make a person a "loser."


    I know what hobbies are and have lots of them including woodworking, computers, SCUBA, motorcycling, boating, fishing, and lots more. I agree that a hobby does not make a person a loser, but there are certain hobbies that tend to attract people who are losers. Case modding and lowrider cars are two very good examples.


    Spewing RF through Plexiglass windows and interfering with television is not harmless. All we need is some case modder interfering with the TV of some member of Congress and we may see legislation requiring that computers only be sold as FCC-approved, pre-built units. Do not be too quick to write this off as paranoid delusion. There are a lot of major U.S. corporations that would benefit tremendously if we all had to buy complete computers, rather than new motherboards and CPUs, each time we wanted to upgrade. Compaq, Dell, and Gateway, would love such legislation. So would Microsoft since each new big-name computer sold goes out with another copy of Windows. Once the ball was in play, the corporate PC giants would have "experts" testifying before Congress and making claims that home-built PC cause everything from cancer to aircraft navigation system failures.


    Then the case modders would not be the losers. We all would.

  28. Re:OT: A Challenge re: Sleepers by BigBlockMopar · · Score: 2

    Ya right, do you really think that _I_ have an Audi S4... I wish! I'll be up there in November, and if I had those wheels, I'd so be game. :)

    I'll take you for a ride in the Ram. It gets about 7 MPG, so you'll get to pitch in for gas, but it's a *lot* of fun running over trees.

    :)

    Ready for the Gatineau Mountains in January?

    --
    Fire and Meat. Yummy.
  29. Re:losers by fmaxwell · · Score: 2

    I think your[sic] the loser.

    I am crushed. I live for the approval of illiterate, anonymous cowards on Slashdot.

    O wait, you have one, making fun of people that enjoy what they like to do.

    I also like making fun of people that dislike doing what they like to do. And let's not forget making fun of those who enjoy doing what they dislike doing.

    Who the hell are you to judge what people like to do and how they do it.

    I'm someone qualified to do it in this case. I understand RF emissions, PC hardware, and the legislative process. It doesn't take a genius to see that pollution, whether automotive exhaust, noise, or RF, invariably leads to restrictive regulations. When someone else's "hobby" looks like it may lead to restrictive laws that will limit my ability to enjoy my hobby, it becomes my business.