IBM System 38 Computer Rescue and Restoration

Hello friends, my name is Joe George and one of my nerdier but more rewarding hobbies is restoring and documenting old IBM Midrange computer systems.

When these systems were "new" (or at least "new-ish") in the 80s and early 90s, I was a Field Engineer who worked on the whole family of IBM Midrange business systems, from the System/32, System/34, System/36, System/38 and the "newfangled" AS/400.

About two years ago I found a System/34 system in a building being demolished in Lincoln, NE, and realized that these kinds of machines are getting to be rarer and rarer, and working examples of them are getting to be few and very far between. Getting the machine here in the timeframe it needed to move was more than I could handle, and friends suggested a GoFundMe to get the machine out of danger and start restoring it.

Two years later, the "good as new" machine was shown at the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast and ran like a champ! The total restoration cost was about 3x the amount raised in the GoFundMe, but that initial "Push" of the fund got the machine safely into our hands. You can check out a slideshow of the restoration process to see our success.

One of the good things about doing a high-visibility restoration like that is that people see your work, and sometimes can help with parts, information, documentation, or just general support.

One of the BAD things about doing a high-visibility restoration like that is that other rare machines start falling out of the sky in your lap, because the people who are holding on to them know that we're serious about restoration, not in it to "make a buck" and have the skills to work on these old machines and the memory, for now, to remember the details needed to get them running again.

So of course, it happened again. This time, the rescue is for an even RARER midrange machine called the System/38. Very few of these machines remain in existence because IBM took as many of them in trade (to scrap them) as they could when they were replaced by the AS/400. Our research earlier this year identified NINE machines left in the world, and as of August 2024 only six of them remain. Of those six, two are static displays in museums, one is in a private collection in New Zealand, and the remaining systems are in computer museums in RI and PA in the US and Barcelona and Majadas in Spain.

And none of them work. One powers up but will not completely boot because it's missing a disk drive, and there's not a complete copy of the S/38 Operating System available.

Not a single functional example exists anymore.

Or so we thought.

A few months ago we were approached by a collector who's had a System/38 in storage in Canada since the late 80s - it was deinstalled and put into storage, complete and intact, both in hardware and software on the machine. The photo at the top of the page is the exact machine we're trying to rescue, snug in its Canadian warehouse.

There is a very real possibility that we can extract the operating system intact from this machine and make it, and possibly other machines like it, live again.

This is an important historical system. The first machine to use "single level storage", the architectural and software predecessor of the AS/400 and "IBMi" systems that are still in production today.

Again like the System/34, the timing and initial acquisition of this machine comes at a terrible time (personally) and at a large initial cost. The machine is in Canada, and has to be re-imported in to the USA and then shipped 1000+ miles to safety here before we can even think about starting the restoration process.

And again, as much as I hate doing it, I am holding my hat in my hand and asking for your help. I can't let this machine go to the scrapyard. There are too few of them around and this one is quite likely the only one that still has an intact operating system. We've got to do everything in our power to do, and the initial rescue needs your help.

The acquisition cost of the machine from the owner is about USD$1000 (this is actually dirt cheap, there was one making the rounds on Ebay for years for $5000+ that was severely water damaged beyond repair). The owner is offering to reimport the machine and deliver it to Buffalo NY for us for free. Shipping from Buffalo NY to Atlanta is about $1300 whether we ship it or rent a truck and get it ourselves.

Since the System/34 rescue, we've been trying to find a way to show the world we're serious about this kind of restoration work, and find a way for our gracious supporters to know that we are a good home for your donations and support.

To that end, I'd like to introduce you to:

The Crusty Computer Club, Inc.

We have incorporated as a nonprofit organization, with the goal of restoring, preserving, and documenting historically significant computer systems such as this very one. We are no longer a merry band of nerds with a hobby, and are now a merry band of nerds with a GOAL. And an EIN. :-)

We are new enough as a nonprofit that we haven't achieved tax-exempt status yet, as we've not filed the application to the IRS, but we qualify for it according to the IRS. For the moment donations and support are not tax-deductible, but when that status changes I'll update this fund to note.

Those of you who know me know how much it pains me to ask for your financial support. But if you know that much about me you also know how important a rescue like this is to me and what it means for the preservation of a system like this, and you know that I don't take financial support like this lightly. Your donations will be well spent solely on this rescue operation and the costs around it, and nothing more. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thank you for reading this far, and thank you from the bottom of my nerdy little heart for anything you can do to help rescue this system and help it live again. Anything helps. Donations, of course, but even a kind word of support. A forward on your favorite social media platform. Karmic well wishes. It's all appreciated with our deepest thanks.