Shona's Retro-Themed HTPC : Complete. All pics added to post #1

You can guarantee that as soon as the new sofas arrive the PC won't look right and you'll have to redo it

 

Hehe, we planned the retro look to match with her decor.
She's got brown sofas coming so they should be fine.

 

Someone over on Deviant Forums where I can usually be found has 'modified' one of my pics.
I almost pee'd myself laughing when I saw it!

 

Hehe nice pic of you there

Ont.. Thats a heck of a sleeper!! Real nice mod.. Fun cleaning all the stuff up ?

 

Just as a Q, but does she know yet?

 

Love it!!!!!!!!!

 

Nice mod. Almost makes me want to find an old TV and...

 

Hehe, I struck a deal, I make the mess, she clears it!

I think the coolness of HTPCs has finally sunk in with her.
She's loving the thing now.
She's particularly happy about the radio for some reason?
I don't listen to the radio tbh but she likes it.

There's a few teething troubles to sort out however.
First, the TV guide stopped working but I fixed that.
Forgot to automate the downloading of the guide from t'internet.

2nd, the HDD vibration mount sitting atop the optical drive is putting too much weight on it and causing a rubbing noise when a disk is spinning.
Will need to re-inforce the mount a little methinks.

Lastly, the left USB port behind the front door thing doesn't work which is a bit of a pain.
I may leave it though since the holes in the back cover for the old aerial and power etc happens to sit nicely over the USB ports etc.

Might go take the money-shots now in natural daylight...

 

Really nice mod there My Aunt used to have the same TV when I was a kid, I always thought it looked like evil edna.

You youngsters these days though "were colour TVs available in 1980?" *tuts*

 

Sweet deal (though I suspect that making the mess & the computer was more work)

Did the USB bracket you're using come with the motherboard? If not then it's possibe that the pinouts for the second ports are reversed on the motherboard (I had that happen to me)

 

both USB ports were wired up to a single header.
It seems likely that my soldering skillz aren't l337 enough and that there's a break somewhere as I spliced some extra wire in to lengthen the cables.

 

On most of the motherboards I've worked with the USB header is:

Code:

RWGBS
RWGB_

But I wired one where it was

Code:

SBGWR
RWGB_

It could be the soldering but it wouldn't hurt to check the MB manual & look at the colours of the wires on the plug

 

I found another MB with that reverse pinout today - My friends MSI board died (had an Athlon 1.33 he uses for old games he still likes )

uhmm, so where's the tube? (I'd recomend disposing of it properly but still... - CRASH! - walks away whistling - what old tv? - ok, don't do that (probably gone already anyway))

 

The tube is still sitting in my kitchen atm.

Need to do something with it.

 

I have added all the pics to the 1st page in links for easier viewing.

 

great idea to use old retro TV, looks cool and it has to be great HTPC!

 

Hehe, thanks!

I'd almost forgotten about this thread.
HTPC is still going strong but I'm considering 'modding' my mod and making it full HD and blu-ray and free-sat compatible etc.
Just waiting for time, money and software compatibility...