G'day Arnie,
> 5) Would like to find a source for parts/peripherals/info on an AT&T
> 6300 PC. It is an Intel 8086 16-bit cpu, 640k RAM, 32mb HD with a
> green monochrome monitor. I know they were available new with color
> monitors - I almost bought one about 1985/86. This computer is still
> working. I need a keyboard (several broken keys), a color monitor, a
> modem that will work with it... and somebody to tell me the secret to
> opening the case! Seriously, I have tried again and again and cannot
> get the case off this machine, so I don't even know what kind of slots
> it may have, whether it has a second serial port, etc. Help!
I've got an old AT&T here which matches your description. The keyboard
uses 5 pins of a standard 9-pin D-connector. I'm guessing that these
5 pins may correspond directly to the 5 pins of a standard keyboard
connector. Try building yourself an adaptor from a 9-pin male D-connector
and a 5-pin female DIN socket viz:
[ 9 -|
[ A -| wires |--- D
[ T p -|=========| | I <--- normal PC/XT keyboard
[ & i -| |--- N plugs in here
[ T n -|
Mine also has a green mono monitor. Snooper and most other programs
detect it as a CGA, although the text display is cleaner than a CGA's.
Unfortunately, the video display circuitry is built into a strange
backplane-style board, and I see no easy way to upgrade to EGA/VGA :(
I haven't investigated the possibility of changing the machine over to
a normal PC or XT-class motherboard to allow use of standard video cards.
To open the case (on my specimen):
- undo the four bolts at the corners of the rear panel
- lift the rear edge of the top cover. This disengages
the retaining "fingers" (at the front edge) from slots
in the bottom of the case.
- lift the top cover away, taking care to avoid snagging on wires.
I should mention that my specimen has a massive "annexe" on the power
supply - apparently to convert 240V down to 110V - so the case may
be nonstandard (for AT&T).
The slots are ordinary 8-bit ISA so anything designed to go into an
IBM PC/XT should work. For example I acquired this AT&T with a dead HDD
controller and replaced it with one from my spares box. Mine happens
to have a floppy controller with 2 serial ports on it, but many PCs of
this vintage had a separate serial port card.
Another possibility would be to install a High Speed Serial Port card
- most of which are 8-bit(!) - and use this with an external modem.
cheers,
Fraser Farrell
http://www.dove.net.au/~fraserf/
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