TP770 series external FDD - FRU of removable module?

[Edward Mendelson]

Recently I bought an external FDD for the TP 770 series, FRU 05k2643 P/N 05k8805. This is a case with a removable FDD module inside. The FDD model didn't work, so I threw it away, and have been trying to replace the unit. I can't find this unit in the US on eBay (the one seller who offers one says he's away for another month), so I would like to find the removable module if possible. After throwing away the bad module, I can't find the FRU for the module alone. Does anyone know what that FRU might be?

Thanks for any help.

[NathanA]

Hah, is this the same dead floppy that you referenced in your Marketplace thread (that you also said you pitched in the trash), or a different one? I had assumed you were talking about an UltraBay II FDD that had died in that thread.

The enclosure you have accepts an UltraslimBay FDD. UltraslimBay (not to be confused with UltraBay Slim, for T/R/G/Z4/5/6x!) devices are for TP 600 series machines. I don't know because I've never tried, but I assume the UltraslimBay FDD enclosure can hook up to a 770, since the connector on the end of the cable is physically compatible. But make no mistake: both this enclosure and the drive that goes inside were intended (and sold) as accessories for the 600, not 770.

ThinkWiki says that the IBM P/N for the TP600 floppy drive is 05K8874.

Why not just get another UltraBay II FDD, though? Those can also be hooked up externally, and without needing an enclosure...there's a cable that (as far as I know) shipped with every 770 which plugs directly into the side of the UBII FDD. Are you missing this cable?

[kfzhu1229]

Recently I bought an external FDD for the TP 770 series, FRU 05k2643 P/N 05k8805. This is a case with a removable FDD module inside. The FDD model didn't work, so I threw it away, and have been trying to replace the unit. I can't find this unit in the US on eBay (the one seller who offers one says he's away for another month), so I would like to find the removable module if possible. After throwing away the bad module, I can't find the FRU for the module alone. Does anyone know what that FRU might be?

Thanks for any help.

I can confirm with my external enclosure the FRU is indeed 05K8874.
Gotta say you probably should've tried to open it up and do some basic repairs before you throw it away. And also if basic functionality is what you wanted I believe the floppy drive itself inside the Ultraslimbay caddy is generic - it looks like the same ribbon style connector found on the floppy drive on my old Latitude XPi!
EDIT: If you have trouble finding this drive on eBay, I have found someone locally on facebook marketplace with the entire enclosure of the exact same FRU. It's not cheap though.
Also, here's one on eBay: https://www.ebay.ca/itm/IBM-ThinkPad-60 ... SwPPxeISyr
Though that price tag is insane compared to what I paid for for mine.

[Edward Mendelson]

Very briefly:

1. The first 770Z that I bought (the one in terrible shape) did not have a floppy. So I bought a 05K2643, but the floppy module inside it was bad so I threw the module away (this was before I bought the second 770Z described in step 2).

2. I then bought a very nice 770Z via this forum which had an UltraBay II FDD module. I did not know at first that it could connect as an external drive with a cable, so I ordered the cable.

3. On the 770Z in terrible shape, the UltraBay II floppy and cable work perfectly. On the 770Z in good shape, the UltraBay II floppy works internally, but, when connected via a cable, does not read any diskette.

4. In order to experiment, I was hoping to get a working FDD module for the 05K2643 so that I could experiment whether the cable connection on the 770Z is bad, or only the cable that I've been trying to use with the UltraBay II FDD.

Apologies if all this is confusing. My goal is to get an external floppy working with the 770Z that's in good shape, and that's why I'm looking for the module that goes in the 05K2643.

Will report further progress if any!

[kfzhu1229]

Apologies if all this is confusing. My goal is to get an external floppy working with the 770Z that's in good shape, and that's why I'm looking for the module that goes in the 05K2643.

Ah I see what you mean now. Are you able to find any good deals on eBay (certainly less than USD$50) on one of those or do you need my help in getting one locally in Toronto (C$50, seller said tested working) and send it to you?
Also, other manufacturers like Dell offered the diskette cable but connects to the parallel port instead, any idea if one of those would work? (as the floppy drive for those are much easier to find)

[NathanA]

Also, other manufacturers like Dell offered the diskette cable but connects to the parallel port instead, any idea if one of those would work? (as the floppy drive for those are much easier to find)

If he acquired one of those, it would not satisfy the conditions of the experiment he is trying to set up in his point #4 (if I'm reading him correctly, he is trying to confirm without any doubt that one of his 770Zs either does or does not have a defective external FDD port...whether or not an external parallel port floppy drive works with the same machine proves nothing in that regard).

That said, if the UBII floppy + cable works fine on one machine but not on the other, yet the FDD itself works when inserted into the UltraBay of the same machine where it doesn't work when connected with the cable, I think the question has already been answered: if the cable were in any way bad, I don't see how it would work just fine on the other machine...

If he finally arrives at that conclusion and still wants to find a way to use an external floppy with his cosmetically-good 770Z, I'd probably recommend getting a USB one. The parallel one may or may not work, but the USB one certainly will. He won't be able to boot via the USB one sadly, but I doubt the BIOS of the 770 would support booting from a parallel port floppy, either.

Regardless, I can also certainly understand the desire to have a complete set of complementary peripherals, though: having an external 600 floppy enclosure without a 600 floppy drive to go with it seems wrong.

I can find a handful of TP600 floppy drives + enclosures being sold together on eBay for well < USD$50. Problem is that if you buy one of those, then you're *still* stuck with at leat one enclosure without any drive to go with it.

Check this out though: supposedly new-old-stock "naked" TP600 FDDs for under USD$20 shipped: https://www.ebay.com/itm/143610179805

Very same seller is also selling the exact same product on another eBay listing for $42 before ship. Catch with the above auction seems to be that though it's the exact same thing, if you pay $42 they give you a 2-year warranty, whereas if you pay $9 there's no warranty & no return.

[Edward Mendelson]

I bought a 05K8874 FDD module for $20 (including shipping); I'll have it next week, I hope. And yes, I realize that the chances are that the good-condition 770Z does NOT have a working floppy port, but it's worth it to me to make one more try.

EDIT: NathanA, yes, the one I bought was the one you linked to:

Check this out though: supposedly new-old-stock "naked" TP600 FDDs for under USD$20 shipped: https://www.ebay.com/itm/143610179805

Yes, a USB floppy will do the job. The only reason to have the external floppy port working is to be able to boot from a floppy and then run something from a CD. Windows NT needs this setup for installation, and it's the only way to upgrade the bios on the 770's internal CD-ROM drive.

Thanks to everyone for all this detailed, expert advice!

[olex126]

Hi Edward.

Late to the party, but I just pulled the floppy drive assy from my 770Z caddy:

FRU/PN: 05K8874

ASM P/N: 20L1931

Good luck with yours!

Regards.

Dave

[Edward Mendelson]

Late to the party, but I just pulled the floppy drive assy from my 770Z caddy:

FRU/PN: 05K8874

Hi Dave,

That's the one I ordered. Will report. Thank you!

[NathanA]

Yes, a USB floppy will do the job. The only reason to have the external floppy port working is to be able to boot from a floppy and then run something from a CD. Windows NT needs this setup for installation, and it's the only way to upgrade the bios on the 770's internal CD-ROM drive.

Fortunately, if the one 770Z's external floppy connector is confirmed to be stone-cold dead, you have another 770Z that you could either perform those tasks on (stick the CD drive whose firmware you want to update into the other 770), or use as a bootstrap (stick the hard drive that you want to install WinNT to temporarily into the other 770 and perform phase 1 of the install on there, then move the HDD and CD-ROM back over to the first for phase 2).

[Edward Mendelson]

Yes, a USB floppy will do the job. The only reason to have the external floppy port working is to be able to boot from a floppy and then run something from a CD. Windows NT needs this setup for installation, and it's the only way to upgrade the bios on the 770's internal CD-ROM drive.

Fortunately, if the one 770Z's external floppy connector is confirmed to be stone-cold dead, you have another 770Z that you could either perform those tasks on (stick the CD drive whose firmware you want to update into the other 770), or use as a bootstrap (stick the hard drive that you want to install WinNT to temporarily into the other 770 and perform phase 1 of the install on there, then move the HDD and CD-ROM back over to the first for phase 2). :)

That's what I've been doing. But two 770z units are a lot for one New York apartment, and I hope to get rid of one. (And I now see that the floppy port seems to be on the video card, not the system board, so it's a little bit easier to replace if I decide to try it....)

[atagunov]

two 770z units are a lot for one New York apartment

Hi Edward, what's your overall count? I'd guess mine is about 10 but I'm not sure.. And yes the room is filling up

[Edward Mendelson]

two 770z units are a lot for one New York apartment

Hi Edward, what's your overall count? I'd guess mine is about 10 but I'm not sure.. And yes the room is filling up :)

Not counting my wife's machine and a machine that I plan to sell: an X240s (modded by RBS), an X370, a 760XL, and an unopened T25 that I bought when I thought I might actually use it. Plus these two 770Z models. Not as bad as it could be...

[atagunov]

Not as bad as it could be...

Wife's and kids' machines do count if they're Thinkpads
The ones not sold yet count too!!

So I counted 8
I would say indeed it's possible to amass quite a bit more - and I have reached a point when I'm no longer sure how many they are - since some are just a pile of parts..

X240s (modded by RBS)

So what did you guys do to it? Just being curious, never came across an X240 's' or otherwise in my life.. The only machine I've seen/touched from this generation is T440p

[RealBlackStuff]

Edward has had a story about that genuine prototype X240s in the pipeline for quite a while, maybe now is the time to go public?

[Edward Mendelson]

Edward has had a story about that genuine prototype X240s in the pipeline for quite a while, maybe now is the time to go public?

It is - I'll try to get to it this weekend, but this is paper-grading season in American universities so it may take another week or so. It actually involves two genuine prototype X240s units, one of which I'm finally almost willing to sell.

Dr Watson said about one of Sherlock Holmes's adventures that it was "a story for which the world is not yet prepared." I wish that could have been my excuse for not telling this story before, but the real reason is laziness.

[RealBlackStuff]

No pressure here, apologies if I pressed the wrong button, paper-grading is much more important!

[Edward Mendelson]

No pressure here, apologies if I pressed the wrong button, paper-grading is much more important! :oops:

No pressure felt! I've wanted to do this for a while...!