Case Mod Project: Yarrrbox :: Update 4th November :: Dead PSU/Painting Done

[GuardianStorm]

Project: YarrrBox

This is the box I have started with:


And this is one of the designs that I have come up with for it:


The mesh on the top will not be madders mesh, but rather from this:


First things first, the inside of the case:


The first thing I did to this was to try and install windows. About 8 times. To do this I had to use several 44 pin to 40 pin IDE adapters. One I plugged into the motherboard, and into a regular rounded IDE cable. On the Slave end of the cable, I attached a spare CDROM drive, and then on the primary connector of the cable I attached another 40 to 44 pin adapter, followed by the laptop hard disk. As the Neoware lacks Molex connectors, I had to use my PC to power the hard drive and CDROM drive.

The main problem installing windows is the black post setup screen, which you normally only see for a few seconds (the one that just has (please wait... in the centre). Every time the setup reaches this point, it crashes. While normally this just means that windows won’t boot (does most of the loading screen, then blue screens), one time it appeared to work, I was in windows! Oh the short lived joy.

IE had been completely broken. this in itself id not a problem, as I use FireFox, however the Activate windows dialog uses IE, and this wouldn’t work at all. This meant that I cannot activate windows, which is not amazingly useful. So I tried installing server 2003. This installed all the way, and crashed on the Please Wait... screen again, however this time windows loaded, and I was able to activate it. However 90% of the OS didn’t work (Add/Remove programs, msconfig, services.msc, you name it), so I gave up on that.

I finally decided to install Ubuntu GNU/Linux. This installed first time, and worked perfectly. My only problem is I am a Linux newbie, so I am learning using this box

To attach this contraption to the Neoware's motherboard, I had to mod one of my adapters, as the processor's heat sink was in the way:


The heat sink, incidentally, seems to be epoxied onto the processor, as I can’t remove it, and the shape of the heat sink stops me from releasing the processor too.


Much to my surprise this worked, and the Neoware detected the both drives correctly.

I have also removed the motherboard expansion card, which gives one PCI and one ISA slot. The reason for removing this is not for space constraints, but it covers a handy metal bracket from which I will mount the fan I am going to put in:


This is the location of the hard drive and fan to go in, the reasoning being not the processor's generated heat, but the North Bridge's heat. The north bridge has a tiny heat sink, and gets very hot. This one fan in the case helps with airflow tremendously, and keeps the processor at around 24 degrees Celsius under full load:


The hard disk for this project is a 40Gb Samsung, which I bought from Scan for a very reasonable price. The hard disk is mounded on a custom made bracket (clone of the original bracket, but with holes in better places) which is situated at the front of the pc:


As there is not going to be a CDROM drive in this pc permanently (it can access a network shared one, or I can mount ripped CDs in the OS), I have used the small 44pin IDE cable that I got with the Neoware:


Questions Comments and Suggestions are always welcome

[ReFredzRate]

Stupid comment maybe, but all the bulbs in the fan, don't they restrict the airflow? I know I'd rather use smooth blades anyway.

Nice idea to be honest!

[Rocket733]

The "bulbs" on the fan blades help to increase turbulance and decrease the low pressure zone that can form on the back of the blade, as to whether it helps with anything is up in the air.

[dacust]

Originally Posted by Rocket733

The "bulbs" on the fan blades help to increase turbulance and decrease the low pressure zone that can form on the back of the blade, as to whether it helps with anything is up in the air.

I'm guessing the "bulbs" would be refered to as "dimples", like on a golf ball. The theory sounds good, anyway.

[GuardianStorm]

yeah, i bought the fans after reading the CustomPC Super Fan Test, and the Sharkoon Golf ball fans came out very good for noise to airflow ratios

I must say that 80mm (i also have 3 120mm kicking around) is very quiet, i can barly hear it at 12v (2000RPM).

[Damouse]

huh. How much did it cost you?

[GuardianStorm]

the fanless pc?

i bought it second hand off a guy on Bit, for £50 i got the Neoware, 44pin IDE cable and a small hard disk (im not using that though)

[GuardianStorm]

Update Time

To start with I need a new base plate for this box:


Made from 'reclaimed' 2mm clear acrylic (it was a notice board cover at my uni halls, which was being thrown out because of a large crack, so I now have a 3ft by 5ft sheet of acrylic ).

Attached to the base using the motherboard holes:


Next, for the side panels, this will be on both sides, but to check that the design works properly, I have only made one for now


Next create two half hexagons, and line up on the panel:



And this is what it looks like on the case side:



There will be the other half of the hexagon on the base, acting as the case feet.

Questions, Comments and Suggestions welcome as always

[GuardianStorm]

Update & Style Change

I decided to change the theme of this mod slightly, and go for something very simple and plain, after all, this is going to live downstairs in my parent’s front room, and they might not appreciate a small vibrantly glowing box!

The Case Panels

I took a sheet of metal that was the length of the height of the sides of the case + the width of the case + a little extra for bending inaccuracies. I then bent it into a U shape (for a guide on this see here). I then cut off the excess on one side (only a few mm):





And on the chassis:




^ A nice close fit

The Hard Disk Rack / Plate

Now the hard disk has to be floating at the front of the case, so I decided to use the heat sink and support bar in the case to support my Hard Disk plate.

This is the hard disk plate:


I then bent it in two places to form the lip


One Hard Disk Plate in place, if you look in the top right corner, I have added another hole to allow it to be screwed down (there was a pre-tapped hole on the bracket on the right already):


And with a hard disk (dead) on it:


All that remains to do for the hard disk plate is to add an acrylic space under the hard disk on both sides, for air flow and to stop it shorting out on the metal beneath.

Questions and comments always welcome!

[MrP]

i'm not sure if thats the same model we have at work, but ours have a habit of blowing their PSU's

[Teyber]

nice! awsome metal bending work!

[GuardianStorm]

Originally Posted by MrP

i'm not sure if thats the same model we have at work, but ours have a habit of blowing their PSU's

Cross fingers that mine won’t! It’s supposed to be a server, constant blowing up would be kinda counterproductive.

Originally Posted by Teyber

nice! awsome metal bending work!

Thanks

Painting

This week I have been doing a lot of painting! First off, I went to Halfords, and got some paint: Filler Primer, Peugeot Topaz Blue (Metallic) and Clear Lacquer.

This is the front bezel with the filler primer on it, hanging to dry after spraying. (I spray outside, and then move the items into the garage to let them dry without anything landing in the paint):


Some poor spider got its web filled:


I then started with the Topaz Blue:


And on the button for the facia:


This is the finished product (close up):


Somehow, the button for the facia has ended up a different colour to the facia, despite having the same about of base coats, colour coats and clear coats. This doesn’t bother me though, as it looks quite good:


And here are some shots of the facia with the sprayed case:






That will be it for three weeks, as I am going on holiday to Canada & bits of America, and then when I get back, I start a new job as a Software Developer. So I might not be modding for a while after while I settle in to the new routine.

Any questions, comments or suggestions?

[E.E.L. Ambiense]

OOhh...dang that's starting to look mighty tasty! I like where you're going with this.

[Cheapskate]

Aaaahhh! Gun metal blue is always a nice choice! Either you have big hands or that pc is TINY!

[tranc3]

Nice, it looks great. : i have an "HX-IDE-K" adapter, i bought it cause i thought i'd be able to connect my laptop hdd to an ide cable, but every time i try it doesn't work. Any advise?

[GuardianStorm]

Originally Posted by E.E.L. Ambiense

OOhh...dang that's starting to look mighty tasty! I like where you're going with this.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Cheapskate

Aaaahhh! Gun metal blue is always a nice choice! Either you have big hands or that pc is TINY!

Bit of both the case measures about 300mm x 60mm x 20mm (W x H x D)

Originally Posted by tranc3

Nice, it looks great. : i have an "HX-IDE-K" adapter, i bought it cause i thought i'd be able to connect my laptop hdd to an ide cable, but every time i try it doesn't work. Any advise?

try connecting the Laptop hard disk the other way round? make sure you have a common power (eg use power from the pc to power the drive).

I have use the Adapters both ways round, and at one point had this:

Mainboard (44 pin) -> IDE Adapter -> IDE Cable (40 pin) -- Master Connector -> IDE Adapter -> Laptop Drive. -- Slave Connector -> CRDOM.
then lengths i had to go to to get a CDROM and HDD attached to that damn neoware...

[tranc3]

lol wow thats crazy the adapters. wow well im going to try it later on today prolly since i haven't slept in a while i'll need to keep busy till it gets dark. thanks, and your case is amazing.

[GuardianStorm]

Problems & Paint
There is good news and bad news .

The good news is that the painting is done:




The bad news is that the PSU seems to have died which means I’m stuck for the moment. I either need a new PSU for it (not a normal PSU/pinout either) or to create/mod another power source for it. Oh well, it looks shiny though

So project on hold / dead until I get a PSU

Comments are welcome as ever

[erethryn]

Hi,

I know that this is a long shot after this much time, but I've been trying to obtain one of the PCI/ISA risers you took out of your Neoware box so I can use one to make a firewall (it's not much use with just one ethernet socket! ), and I was wondering if you would still have it available, and if you'd be willing to part with it?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I've been hunting for one of these for a while and getting nowhere!

Thanks.

[philyoung]

Originally Posted by erethryn

Hi,

I know that this is a long shot after this much time, but I've been trying to obtain one of the PCI/ISA risers you took out of your Neoware box so I can use one to make a firewall (it's not much use with just one ethernet socket! ), and I was wondering if you would still have it available, and if you'd be willing to part with it?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but I've been hunting for one of these for a while and getting nowhere!

Thanks.

LinITX have got a wide range of risers...
http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=162&pp=161,162

Not sure where you are based - I think LinITX are a UK company.

Phil