Ardent Tool of Capitalism

Model 5550 386

3070V150.zip Reference & Diagnostic Disk for 5530-S,T/5540-T/5550-S,T,V v1.50 (DOS/V)
   3070V150R.zip Reference Disk for 5530-S,T/5540-T/5550-S,T,V v1.50 (DOS/V)
   3070V150D.zip Diagnostic Disk for 5530-S,T/5540-T/5550-S,T,V v1.50 (DOS/V)
3070V136.zip Reference & Diagnostic Disk for 5530/5540/5545/5550/5570 v1.36 (JDOS)

General Information Reference Video (For S and T models) Memory Hard Disk interface Planar    Stage 1 (16/20 MHz) Planar    Stage 2 (16/20 MHz) Planar    V0/V1 (25 MHz) Planar    V2 (25 MHz) Planar CPU Upgrade 5502 Industrial Computer

PS/55 5550-V24

General Information

Japanese equivalent of PS/2 8570.

5550-S/T, the first Desk Top model of PS/55 line, were introduced to the market in Apr.1988 together with 5570-T (8580 20 MHz analogous). 5550-S/T were similar to the PS/2 Model 70, but IBM Japan modified many aspects of the original design. The most distinctive change is the number of MCA slots. The Japanese 5550-S/T has four MCA slots, compared to 3 of the Model 70. The 4th slot was added for Japanese Display Adapter to handle Japanese characters. For this reason the 5550 planar is a bit wider than that of the PS/2 Model 70, and as a matter of fact, the body is slightly wider as well (see the badge area on the photo below). The other exterior changes are fairly minor - the type & S/N sticker has been relocated below the power switch, and the LED/switch pictograms are slightly different as well. The base of the chassis is made of a sheet metal instead of plastic.

Front view of Model 5550-T (source)

A look inside (Stage 2 T Planar) (source)

The planar of early models S and T had some problem related to the bus mastering feature and those planars were called Stage 1. The later models that were void of this problem were called Stage 2. So there should be 4 types of planars for S and T models and another one (or two) for 25 MHz version.

Easy way to identify Stage 1 and Stage 2:
   If the Power SW lever is RED, most possibly it's Stage 1.
   If the Power SW lever is WHITE, maybe it's Stage 2.

Identifying with serial numbers.
Even if the Power SW is white, systems with following serial numbers belongs to Stage I:
   5551-S09 S/N before 97-19300
   5551-T09 S/N before 97-44700
   5551-T0A S/N before 97-58000
   5551-T0B S/N before 97-93100

Brief Chart of 5550 and Industrial 5500 models based on PS/55 System Guide
O: means the model is listed in the Guide Book
+ UG: means 486DX upgrade option is also listed

Most possibly switch over to Stage II from Stage I was made around May to Jul 1990.
As for 5530, 5530-T04/T08 (Stage II) and 5530-S12/S14 (ZSX on Stage II) were listed in Nov 1990 edition.

5551 386 Series Lineup (-S/T/V, original HERE)

Reference

Ref. Ver. 1.00 to Ver.1.36 are based on JDOS.
Ref. Ver higher than 1.4x are based on DOS/V.
Ver. 1.50 covers most of of all 386 models such as 5550-S/T/V, 5570-T/V, 5540-T, 5530-T.

Video

For S, T and Vo/V1 models

As like as PS/2 8570, PS/55 5550-S/T have VGA chip on the planar. But in order to handle true Japanese fonts, PS/55 Japanese Display Adapter II (with AVEC connector) is equipped with earlier models of 5550-S/T (and 5570-T). VGA port on the planar is covered with a plastic plug.

For V2 model

I'm not sure about a display adapter used for this model. V2 planar does not have a VGA chip and it has BVE MCA slot. Then most possibly Display Adapter B or B-2 might be equipped with V2 model.

Memory

Hard Disk Interface

Same as 8570, ESDI (roughly speaking).

Planar

There were various types of planar for 386-class 5550.

I've once heard that S stands for Sixteen, T stands for Twenty and V stands for twenty fiVe.

Stage 1 Planar (16/20 MHz) (also used by IBM 7561/7562)

Following outline is a Stage 1 T planar. Don't know how it differs from Stage 1 S planar. But most possibly these might be same except OSC Y5.
Following Stage 1 20 MHz planar looks like 8570 Type 1 planar.

20 MHz T Planar P/N 65X1377, EC 341537S

U111/128 BIOS Even/Odd, 2x27512 EPROM
   PS/55 Model 5550: 23F3012/23F3013
   IBM 7562: 65X1506/65X1507

Stage 2 Planar (16/20 MHz)

Recently I had a chance to see Stage 2 20 MHz planar and noticed it is totally same with my Stage 2 16 MHz planar except installed OSC Y1 and planar P/N.

1. Aside from the fact that 5550 has 4 MCA SLOT, Layout of Stage 2 planar is different from that of 8570 in following points.
2. 5550 Stage 2 planar has only one SIMM socket on the planar. another 2 sockets are placed on the Expansion card which is connected to the planar through J3.
3. Bus riser J7 is moved left (moved downward in the outline below), hence HDD/FDD riser is different from Stage 1 model and that of 8570 Type 1)
4. Speaker/Battery connector is not a riser type. SP/BT ASM is connected through wire and a male plug like 8580.
5. ZIP VRAMs are directly mounted on the planar.

See the diagram below and compare it with the PS/2 8570 Type 1 planar.

Stage 2 planar P/N 38F6776 (S - 16 MHz), 54G1612 (T - 20 MHz)

System Memory Expansion Card For 5550-S/T Stage 2 Planar (P/N 38F6776)

J1 102P planar connector J2 MEM 3 (2MB/4MB memory slot) J3 MEM 2 (2MB memory slot) U1 LS244 (SN74LS244N)

V0/V1 (25 MHz) Planar

Outline not available.

V2 (25 MHz) Planar

As a matter of fact, I have not actually examined complete V systems ever. I just have a V2 planar. When I draw outline of the planar, I noticed that 25 MHz V2 planar doesn't have onboard VGA. Man, this planar has 5 MCA slots and, to my surprise, there are solder pads for another 16-bit slots!
Bus riser slot J6 is shifted to the left comparing S planar I have. It means there should be more than three types of Bus Riser Card. Locations of bus riser connectors are different with each other.

25 MHz V2 planar P/N 79F5325, EC C27264D

CPU Daughter Board

Main differences between 8570 sub board and 5550-V2 sub-board are:

1. Pin orientation of 387 co-pro
2. Planar-daughter board connector

Memory
From 5550-V2 system guide;
One 4MB SIMM was originally installed, expandable up to 16MB on the planar.
Option SIMM's are:
1) 4MB P/N 79F2536
2) 8MB P/N 79F2500 (only one module can be used on a planar)

Overclocking
A guy once reported that he had changed 50 MHz osc to 60 MHz and system worked without POST error.

Riser card for HD and FDD

As written in V planar section, there are several types of bus riser cards. I once had two types of riser card but there should be three or more.

CPU upgrade

I tested following upgrade kits on my S and T models.

1. Evergreen upgrade modules with IBM486BL2 and BL3.
   Cyrix and TI chips could be used on S/T models but not on V models due to 64K L2 cache on the CPU board (I have not examined).
2. Kingston MC master 486 (originally made by AOX).
   I used it on T planar. MCMaster can take a 5x85 CPU but you can't use neighboring MCA slot in order to use 5x86 CPU with a heatsink. Not a good choice for 8570 because it has only 3 MCA slots.
3. PowerBoard
   In order to use a PowerBoard on S (Stage II) model, some adjustment is needed to place the board properly.
   1. Need to adjust location of metal parts for screw holes to keep the planar.
      Location of screw holes at left front edge is different between S and T/V.
   2. a Bus Riser card for FDD and ESDI hard disk for T model.
   3. battery and SP unit for T model.

Genuine option by IBM 80486 25 MHz Processor Upgrade Kit (P/N 57F0085) was listed for 5551-V0x model.

5502 Industrial Computer

5502 is an industrial model number.
Industrial models are numbered as " 5500" and each model has unique number such as 5502-S1x, -T1x and so on.

Number of Option Slots

System Guide describes number of Option Slots left for users except already occupied with a Display Adapter. So basically, one slot should be added to the number shown in a diagram.
Model S11 to T1B meet with the rule and one 16-bit AVE slot might already be occupied with a display adapter. Then how it comes that TGA and TGB were noted as 4 + 1? Wonder if these 2 models were not shipped with any Display adapters and use VGA on the planar?
Next question; it seems models Vxx models DO have activated 6th 16-bit slot shown in outline of 5550-V2 planar. 5550-V2 planar has four 32/16-bit slots including x1 AVE and x1 BVE slot. But above diagram shows 5500-V have three 32/16-bit slots and two 16-bit slots. If 32/16-bit BVE slot was occupied with a Display adapter, total MCA slots would be SIX including two 16-bit slots. Would like to see the planar.