Booting an IBM MP 3000 S/390 System

On 8/6/2015 8:54 PM, Guy Sotomayor wrote: It may have been packed by IBM for the customer. This is standard service available to mainframe shops. Most of them who have assets which have value get them packaged by IBM either under their current maintenance contract, or at extra cost if they are not on their plan. The service used to be called MSL, I think, but it has been a long time since I dealt with such. Even if you bought it from a scrapper, the original shops frequently just have them packed like that and then rolled off the floor for storage, because when IBM packs them they are certified ready to go back into service with a lot less if any re-certification charges for maintenance. If you disconnect the components yourself (and who do you know in IT does that unless they are getting it for scrap if the hardware guys will do it) that can / does void that they can go back online w/o a big fee. IBM dropped a huge bomb on the third party business of doing this and trading equipment by making it free in the early 90's which wiped out a large number of equipment dealers who were buying / refurbing / reselling peripherals. There were a few bad players, and IBM's take on that was to make the profit part for the dealers free, and wiping them all out. I lost the home for my systems when that happened. Thanks Jim