1. Strongly push below latch to release. 
2. Work right to left. Lift edge of rear cover outward to clear catch. 
3. After releasing all the five latches, lift and remove the rear cover. 

NOTE: There are two additional catches, one to each side of the carrying handle.When you lift up the rear cover, it pivots on them. 

Open the case. (unscrew the three captive screws, pry out and up on the bottom edge). Pull up on the bottom edge and rotate it up on the pivots at the top rear of the case.

Look at the slots where the ports door hinges enter the case body. See the wide end? If you look on the interior of the case on the opposite of the wide ends, you will notice a pivot point for the metal hinge to fit into.

Remove the ports cover by pressing the hinge inwards (relative to the port cover).

Look at the "U" shaped arms of the hinge. Are they straight out from the metal strip? They should be at right angles to the metal strip. If they aren't, _carefully_ bend them so they are. 

Now reinsert the hinges through their slots and pop the hinge points back into the matching pivots. You may have to carefully press the hinges inwards, since the pivots have a lip around them. Shut door.

If the hinges want to pop free, carefully bend them outwards just a little more, so more force is exerted against the pivots,

CGA and EGA resolutions-Programs using CGA and EGA resolutions are supported by this display; however, program screens will not use the entire plasma display area, and graphics shapes could be slightly distorted. How much area of the plasma display is used by VGA, CGA, and EGA is illustrated in the figure below. For best results, use the version of a program that supports VGA resolution.

Color graphics contrast-The plasma display automatically converts program colors into different monochrome shades. Some programs start with colors that lose contrast when converted. You can usually change colors from within the program to help increase the contrast.

 

A program will not start; parts of a program screen are missing-Some graphics programs, for example, Microsoft Windows i386 versions 2.1 and below, may not recognize the graphics capabilities of the plasma display and other PS/2 monochrome displays. This could appear as start-up difficulty, or faded/missing information. To correct this situation, put the plasma display (or the attached PS/2 monochrome display) in graphics mode before starting the program. To do this, type MODE CO80 at the DOS prompt, then press Enter.

Text mode contrast-The contrast in text (non-graphics) programs is best when the plasma display is in two-shade text mode. The display is in this mode when the computer is turned on, but could be put into graphics mode by a program. To return the display to text mode, type MODE MONO at the DOS prompt, then press Enter.

Auto-dim feature-The plasma display is automatically turned off to extend its life if no data is received from the system or entered from the keyboard or an auxiliary device for 10 minutes (default value). The default value can be changed by using the backup copy of the Reference Diskette. To change the default value, go to the Auto-Dim Time. The following shows the path to the Auto-Dim Time.

Main Menu>Set Configuration>Change Configuration>Auto-Dim Time

There are two ways to turn on the display again:
1. Pressing SHIFT
2. Moving the mouse.

If the mouse picks up vibration from a desk which turns on the display again, change the Auto-Dim Reset from Keyboard and Aux. Device to Keyboard Only. The following shows the path to the Auto-Dim Reset.

Main Menu>Set Configuration>Change Configuration>Auto-Dim Reset

External PS/2 displays-The computer supports all PS/2 displays with VGA resolution. If you use the same program with the plasma display or an external PS/2 display, the best choice for program colors could change depending on the display you are using.

Color to Gray Mapping-There are some applications that are developed for color displays but can be used on monochrome displays. When using such applications, reset the Color to Gray Mapping to Green Signal Only. Setting RGB Mixed Signals (default value) may result in an unpredictable display image. The following shows the path to the Color to Gray Mapping.

Main Menu>Set Configuration>Change Config>Color to Grey Remapping

Turned-on Display-The default value, Primary, turns on only one display that is considered by the system to be the primary display. When no external PS/2 display is connected to the system unit, the plasma display is considered the primary display and only VGA mode is supported. But when an external PS/2
display is connected, it is considered the primary display and VGA or XGA mode is supported for the external PS/2 display. The value, Plasma and External, turns on both the plasma display and an external PS/2 display. Only VGA mode is supported. The following shows the path to the Turned-on Display.

Main Menu>Set Configuration>Change Config>Turned-on Display

How to Install the Brightness Program
  To change the brightness levels, you must first install the brightness program from the Reference Diskette onto the fixed disk drive or bootable DOS diskette.
  1 Start computer using the operating system.
  2 insert the Reference Diskette .
  3 Type A:BRIGHT and press Enter.
  4 Follow the instructions on the screen.

After Installing the brightness program, use the following instructions on how to change the brightness level.

To Change the Brightness Level
Go to the DOS prompt (usually “A> ” or “C> “), then: 
   Standard text brighter than emphasized text, <BRT /H - Enter>
   Emphasized text brighter than standard text, <BRT - Enter>.
Note: The brightness program is used only in the default monochrome text mode of the plasma display. It is not used with graphic modes, color modes, or an external PS/2 display.

First push back the lower edges into the case. Now push the upper edges back into the case. Seems odd, but it works.
 
 
 

Why does the screen on the P7x get so hot?
Peter Wrote:
   Well - this is a symptom of its function. The orange screen is commonly called 'Plasma Display' (a hot word ;-) ) but the correct technical term is 'Gas Discharge Display'. The principle of function is in brief that you have a cell with a luminous gas between two electrodes for each dot (or pixel). The one electrode is Ground, to the other is a voltage applied between 70 and 100VDC. The gas in the cell is caused by this voltage to emit light. You know these lights on the front of your oven in the kitchen
? same principle but much smaller and many of them combined in a large circuit. 
   The controller circuits are soldered directly to the back of the screen. Both - the gas-discharge element and the controller circuits give up some heat which is neither dangerous nor unnormal. That's all. These screens are a high-voltage technology unlike to LCD-screens (these black on whites as used in most modern laptops) - these LCDs are low-voltage / indirect lighting technologies - however the lamp to backlight them is a high-voltage again. The plasma-display is a high voltage / direct lighting screen, which needs no backlight. 
   The main disadvantage: some higher power-consumption, normally not possible to feed it from batteries, somewhat complicated shading / contrast control. Main advantage: rigid, temperature independent (while self-heating :-) ), not very much pressure sensitive. Makes a good hand-warmer in cold times .... !

"COOL" Windows Desktops
  WfW 3.1x - Control Panel>Color>Color Schemes, use "Plasma Power Saver". W95 - Display, set the desktop to black. Your display will stay slightly warm, but the display will be mostly black.

 
 
   Detach power cable from system board. 
   Detach SCSI cable from system board. 
   Remove both screws from the HD Bracket.
   Remove black screw from front corner foot.
   Pull drive cage up. 

 
 
 
 
 
 

T. Sunagawa sez:
   Letter "A" after 3130 is missing. I did same mistake and asked for 3130-6PA thus I got a brusque reply "item not found".
   The letter following.3130 stands for the diameter of guide hole of each signal wire.
    A: guide hole 0.85 ( suitable for wire 0.75 to 0.83 )
 none: guide hole 1.00 ( suitable for 0.88 to 0.98 )

Keyboard Connector Pinout

Pin	Vdc
2	+5v
3	Gnd
4	+5.0
5	+5.0

27 Nov 01- Trying to convert between the four pin header and the common PS/2 port. My urge is to allow installing a short female PS/2 plug to stick an external PS/2 keyboard on. You might even want to create your own extension cable, because finding the special extension cable is about as likely as finding Elvis in your kitchen.

David Beem wrote:
    On second look it appears to be:

Pin 2 = +5VDC (Red on mainboard connector)
Pin 3 = Ground (Black on mainboard connector)
Pin 4 = Data (Green on mainboard connector)
Pin 5 = Clock (Yellow on mainboard connector)

    Still trying to get an "M" apart for cross-comparison.

NOTE: NC means No Connector, there is nothing in the socket. 

External Storage Device Cable
           A new cable (#2716) (23F2716) is available for attaching appropriate external backup devices and diskette drives.  The cable features Hoshiden connector to attach to the P70 with an industry standard 37 pin D Shell connector that connects to the external powered devices.  The length of the cable is 35.5cm (14 inches). 
  Mondo 6 pin wide by 5 pin high rectangular connector. Still slogging through IBM Technoslavian, it's referred to as a "B drive" like on the Model 70 that does not take up the B letter as one would expect, but appears as "D". 

External Storage Device Cable Pinout
   Do you want to get access to the DB37 header conductors? Unscrew the splined nut where the cable meets the DB37 shell. Pull the nut back along the cable, then simply pull the plastic shell after it. Now you can see that the metal hood inside is a two part deal. Note that there are two little latches on each side of the hood at the front, next to the hex posts. Use a fine bladed screwdriver or a knife to pop the hood open, one side at a time. 

Hosiden Connector to 37 pin Connector Pinout
   Now THIS is something I personally tested with the P70 to 4869 5.25 External Floppy. Note that this is the end of the 23F2716 cable!

NOTES:
Pin 10 on the DB37 connects to TWO pins 
NC means there is no connection. 
Shield to shield 
 
 
 
 

External Storage Device Cable Source
  Search for 23F2716 on the net.

From Peter 
   Looks like a slightly buggy power supply -or- systemboard. The PSU is a little sensible against aging and overheating after many years, because it is a known "dust collector". The PSU fan sits awkwarly mounted over the PSU and only blows half (or less) through the PSU, which causes dust particles to stay in the PSU. I would recommend that you remove it from the machine and give it a good blow with a compressor and air-nozzle to get out the dust bunnies from it. Make sure the fan is in working order. 

On various occasions I saw failing mainboards. They refused to come on - and I don't know why. They simply died from one day to the next and could only be replaced. Back in the "good old days" with full IBM support and machines under warranty that was no big problem. Today things look different. If cleaning the power supply doesn't help - and if removing all adapters and testing with the bare sysboard doesn't change the misbehaviour: suspect the mainboard to be damaged and look for a replacement. 

Under rare circumstances a poorly seated card-riserboard caused trouble. Have the small two-slot riserboard removed, clean the contacts and spray a good amount of TV-tuner cleaner in the board connector. Let it dry for 10 minutes and use a piece of stiff card pushed into the connector with one edge and move it up / down the connector. Then spray the connector once again and let it dry for an hour. You might also repeat these steps on the two MCA slots on the riserboard. Especially on the slot pointing towards the top of the unit, which collects dust when left with no card installed for a longer time. 

Some older units also developed a sort of "creeping short" along the FDD cable where the FDD cable enters the "flip out" FDD bay. There was an ECA for the FDD cable from IBM for the earlier models, where FDD cables broke, shortened DC-voltages to GND or FDD signals and caused a dead systemboard. (Few only - IBM fixed it in an early stage). 

Another potential problem has been reported with the memory modules. The system takes only 1 and 2MB modules anyway, but certain 2MB modules installed on the sysboard connectors with double sided 10 chips layout (20 chips total - 2 x 8 data + 2 x 2 parity - 16 bigger and 4 smaller chips) caused overload of the memory driver lines. This usually resulted in either a 200-something memory error -or- a machine failing to come up at all. 

I take from the 16MB you'd mentioned that the upper slot contains a memory card (the lower is too short anyway). So you should probably check the card connector as described further above and check if you cannot use memory modules with lower amount of chips. Usually the memory installed on cards causes a 200-series memory error in first place before dumping the machine to total darkness - but you never know. 

I have several P70 in my collection and all of these run with double-sided 2MB chips ... but I had a customer machine in '93 or so, which didn't. We used later 2MB/70ns 9-chip modules "hardware-recoded" (with soldering) to 2MB / 85ns and the system worked like a charm. 

With the pins shorted, power-on the computer. This erases the power-on password. Remove the short after POST is finished.