Manufacturer: IBM
Machine Type: PC RT
Model Number: 6151
Serial Number: N/A
Current Status: Complete and working
Acquired: May 1997
Remarks:
This is an unpopular machine it seems. It's IBM's first RISC based machine which came out before the RS/6000 models. It's also very heavy, over 40 pounds. The RT has an AT bus which contains a monochrome video/printer adaptor card, ESDI hard drive and floppy controller, 2 memory cards for a total of 16 megabytes, 80286/287 emulation card and a multiport serial controller. For a long time, the computer went untested due to lack of a keyboard. Thankfully a USENET reader had one available. It's a standard corporate 101 key keyboard, but has a square connector just like the IBM PCjr. With the keyboard plugged in, the machine boots and loads AIX 2.1.2 off the 70meg hard drive just fine in about 5 minutes. Beyond that, the machine has not been used.
All PC-RT models (6150/6151) have a diagnostic digital display that shows various checkpoints as the machine is booting up. Listed below are some checkpoints and what they mean:
22 boot disk bad
25 software problem during IPL
81 5085 failure
94 failing or missing display adaptor
99 keyboard locked
02 damaged disk
30damaged disk
99 (blinking) bad failure <!?>
Additional Resources:
IBM PCRT FAQ
[Classic Computer Intro Page] [Computer Collection Index Page (A-Z)] [D.B.Young's Page]
Questions about the IBM PC-RT? Email the curator