Building a computer to run OS/2 Warp Server

In October, 1999, I decided to build a PC to run OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business. My strategy was to select no component unless I was certain that I would run with OS/2.

Parts List

Assembling the pieces

The first step was to unpack the Antec tower enclosure and examine all the pieces. These enclosures usually come with a huge assortment of screws and other fasteners. This enclosure came with a slide out drawer for the mainboard and electronics.

I managed to get the motherboard attached to the Antec tower enclosure without cutting myself on the sharp metal edges. This is not because there are few of these edges, but because I was quite careful. The floppy and hard drive went in without much difficulty, and the CD-RW with only a little more fuss. The RAM and CPU fan were quite easy to install, and I did not need to alter a single jumper on the motherboard. The PCI sound card and PCI network card were also easy to install.

I was lucky. The computer came up the first time. But I was prepared with bootable OS/2 and DOS diskettes, and a bootable OS/2 CD-Rom from the WSeB distribution.

Software installation is covered in another essay.