NEC HD

[Pierre Deblaere]

I have to restore an old computer (early nineties).

Bios has lost its settings, so I have to find them.

For the HDs, I have to write in bios the number of heads, cylinders, tracks...
This was a time that HDs were not automaticaly detected.

For 1 HD, I've found this.

The other doesn't have a tag on it.
It's a NEC, 5,25" and full heighth.
Didn't find anything on www.nec.com.

There are some numbers on it:
G9XDE
13J
1897 K11
NEC-16T
G9XCF 24

Anyone who could give me the number of heads etc?

Regards,
Pierre

 

[BlueTDimly]

Can you put the HDD into a machine with autodetecting BIOS, write down the settings, and enter them by hand in the old machine?

 

[kd7fhd]

I believe what you have is a 120meg Quantum OEM drive. And, since they were bought out by maxtor, the info you need is gone. They might help you if you email them.

Another (and faster) way would be to put the drive into a newer computer and let the bios find out the info for you.

 

[Pierre Deblaere]

Unfortunately, the normal IDE cable of a newer computer doesn't fit.

The Nec drive has 2 connectors for flat cable:

One named J1 numbered from 02 to 34.
One named J2 numbered from 02 to 20.

 

[kd7fhd]

Heh, that's getting mighty old!!!

Sounds like a MFM drive.

You might be able to find out the chs by going to here:

Ultimate Boot Disk

Create the UBD and boot with it. It is menu driven and has a selection for info about the computer. I believe it will give you the info.

 

[Pierre Deblaere]

Guess you're right: MFM - forgot already about that system.

The "lowest" version for Boot Disk seems to be for Win95.

My old-timer dates from loooooong before that time.

I believe it will say: "This version needs a 80386 processor or higher".

The actual processor is a 80286.

Yep - it's really old.

 

[kd7fhd]