Forcing an IBM PC case open

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I have an old IBM [really!] PC and it has a case with a slide lock on the back. I’m going to give it to an org that’ll either find someone who wants to play with it or will recycle it. Problem: the lock on the back is jammed. I have no idea why I slid the thing to the “locked” position but now it won’t go back to the open position so I can remove the hard drive. Any ideas on how to “convince” the case to open?

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The only thing I can say is there were only 2 or 3 different keys for just about every IBM case. Those locks were really there to keep the honest, the curious, and the untrained out. I have even seen those metal file cabinet keys open them. So look finding a key should not be too hard.

Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!

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There’s no “key” — there’s a tiny sliding “tab” on the top left of the rear of the case that in the “locked” position aligns with a hole and when in the locked position you can _really_ lock it by putting a padlock through the tab.   I have no idea why I kept it locked, but I never put an *actual* lock on it – I just slid the tab to the locked position … and now I can’t slide it back so I can’t get the case open.   It is just jammed.

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Try spraying some WD-40 oil.

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I”ll give it a try, but it ‘feels” like something is not lined up properly rather than just caught by friction… but wd-40 here I go 🙂

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Oil – careful, not drenched – plus: press hard in/out/sideways/wiggle/whatever_works on the tab.

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Is this PC an “Aptiva” by any chance? I once had an IBM Aptiva with a screwless case and slide in power supply, etc. There was a tab to pull under the case that released the cover so you could slide it off of the main case of the computer. It didn’t lock though, so no keys. It may just be that some WD-40 will do the trick.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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There’s no “key” — there’s a tiny sliding “tab” on the top left of the rear of the case

Oh, sorry. I understand what you are saying now. I have my doubts WD-40 will work because it is jammed, not rusted – or so I am assuming. You can try it, but frankly, not sure I would like WD-40 around any of my electronics.

I suspect you could very carefully wedge some flat tip screw drivers between the front panel of the case, and the removable portion. You only need to loosen it a fraction of a millimeter and it should slide off the rest of the way. If your better half has some of those cuticle pusher thingamabobs, those might work without marring the case.

Bill (AFE7Ret)
Freedom isn't free!

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I’ve gotten it done!!   When I stopped hammering on it and thought a bit, I realized that to _unlock_ the slide should disengage from something inside [if i was trying to like the slide would have to engage with something and if something were bent it’d never go]   SO — I then realized that it must just be jammed, rather than obstructed.   I slide it a little way  and I could see the back end of the slide through a small hole in the back of it.   With a narrow screwdriver I managed to get the slide to slide farther..  and then.. <bang> it was completely disengaged.

So I’m now holding in my hands the 16GB Quantum Bigfoot drive from the thing.  Now to figure out how to open the damn drive.

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