Pictures..... 512Mb XMS2700 A real black memory card (chop chop) Since the PCB inside my current memory card is loose with all my examining it, I've moved my saves to the new card and I'm using the old one to cut up. [edit] I know the memory will only run at PC2100 speeds, but the point is it's good memory. Plus it's low latency and the heatspreader is a bonus.
Most of the parts are ready to go. The only component I am missing is the hard drive which I will be buying in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'll be mounting the rest inside the case (including the cage for the hard drive - salvaged from an old laptop). I cut a trace on the power button PCB so I could bypass the rest of the circuit and later found out it would have worked fine. I was testing the contacts with my multimeter and one of the surface-mount LEDs lit up. Frustrated? Yes. I bought another set of buttons. No big deal. The ribbon cable has been split and soldered onto a copper stripboard for the motherboard headers. The LEDs are ready I've tested the circuit and it's working fine, I'm just waiting on relays and the parallel connection. All the bits laid out Memory card slots Rear PCB of memory card slots Power/eject buttons & ribbon DVD drive & fascia LEDs VIA Epia M9000 motherboard
hurry up and assemble it already! I want to see this baby finished. PS, your LED and drive bezel captions are back to front.
Great job so far, Ouija. Get those parts inside and get that baby running :Edit: Just one question; wheres the PSU?
Ummmmm That's quite a good question.... I think I forgot it Nah, I haven't ordered one yet. Ok, so the hard drive is one of the components I don't have (the other being the PSU). It'll be a DC-DC converter
I also should point out that no more work has been done to the sketchup models of the case, memory card, layout... or anything really. I just want to get it all working
Ok... a quick (and I mean very quick) update on the DVD-ROM drive... ...it's bust. I had it opened up and was tracing back the connections for the LED and eject button so I could relocate them, when I discovered a tear in the ribbon from the main PCB to the PCB which connects to laser unit. Underside of tray LED & eject button Ribbon cables which needed to be traced back to PCB Old LED trace cut Discovery of damaged ribbon cable
Shame about the damaged drive. How did you manage to cut it in the first place? Excellent project by the way.
If you can't close it up and send it back, I would suggest running wire from the ends...the ribbon usually connects to soldered connectors...right?
Yeah, but not very well. Don't try racing games with it. Although I managed to win a Chocobo race in FFVII using the PS2 remote Nice work, I really like the whole idea. Sucks about the drive but it happens. I know stupid question but why don't you just do a software eject for the drive and forget about the activity LED?
The drive is second hand so no warranty. I'll buy another anyway, it would be too awkward to repair and modify the LED/eject setup. It's not a big deal anyway, I just wanted to get it underway and see some progress. I'll just work on the LEDs and power/eject buttons instead. I bought a 7 pin ribbon cable for them and split the end into individual pins which I soldered onto a copper strip board. I'm half way through rearranging the pins to an easier layout to plug the motherboard headers onto them.
If you no longer care about this damaged cd unit, I'm pretty sure there are people (like my self) who would be interested in attempting to salvage the unit