(^^ subject to change) Nope, i like it just the way it is. Discuss Edit: Rules changed... No discussin thread... (only had one post anyway and you can read that further down on this page ) Let's get one thing clear. This mod was born more from necessity than pure modding zeal. I needed the case from the computer for another mod, so i made this to house the homeless computer in. I originally got the case from a recycling room for electronics in my dad's flat. To my astonichement it readily turned on and booted up during testing. The choice of wellpapp was an easy one, i like the looks and if i mess up...nothing expencive is lost. And i happened to have some heavy duty stuff laying around from a recent delivery. I should mention, this will live in my closet, on the wall, with some kind of suspended monitor (or just a shelf + monitor). The donor: This board has lived a harsh life until now, and will probably still be the recipient of some more torture. Looks like someone chewed that PS/2 connector. I started by cutting a piece about the size of the MOBO and later cutting it more precisely. This yielded very good results with a minimum of measurements and handling of large pieces of wellpapp so this was my method of choice during the build. Hot glue + brass standoffs = surprisingly sturdy construction The PSU will have vetilation from below, and a very limited ammount from the back. I hot glued it to the wellpapp as it was the easiest option, maintenance within it is very unlikeley. Should the need arrise i just have to cut the bottom out. After cutting a backside and, well, another backside i ended up with this: HDD in place too, not the real one though. I used a busted HDD while assembling and measuring. Assembly (hot glue): I found that wellpapp is a ***** to hotglue. It just dissapears down the "drains". To combat this i put some hotglue on, let it cure and then hit it with another string. Easy peasy. The slit you can see above the last PCI-slot is for sticking the bent part of the PCI-bracket in. The NIC had to be modded too, no pics though. I cut the bottom of the bracket off and the tip of the bent part had to go too... Cable management was the easiest i have ever encountered, atleast for the MOBO-power: All neat and tidy, yet very easy to change. Some might say this is just begging for a HDD crash, i'm inclined to agree: So i heatsinked it. Lots of white goop to transmit the heat. The heatsink ends up right outside the (rather meager) back ventilation of the PSU: There is some airflow there, but i might have thought this through and cut a bigger hole there... Done, almost (clicky for biggy): I just have to sort out some clever routing for the IDE-cable and some nice way to power it up. The power led will have to go somewhere. I think i will put the HDD-LED above the HDD, shining down on it, so the whole hole will light up. I'm thinking red.
Not much done today. I mounted the monitor to be used, i went with the shelf approach. Piccies when i finally get the "case" mounted on the wall. Testing: Benchmarking consisted of letting my sister's kids chat, lunarstorm or whatever lesser use they find appropriate. After testing my idea with the LED lighing up the HDD-grotto using yellow leds (had no reds) i feel pleased with it and will not be ordering new ones just yet. I felt the need to use more than one led due to the weak lighing they produce (2000mca). I used six... They will be pointed inward relying on the reflective properties of the cardboard/PSU/HDD to let out a nice, soft light. Might be able to see it through the PSU too. It turned out to be no small task to get into the backwater of my mind to dig out my long lost electronics skills. Had to read up on how transistors worked. I finally came up with a circuit to make all those leds run of the HDD-activity lead. Had to use a big power-transistor as that was the only NPN i had. I hope you drool over my custom, oak, prototypeboard with extra connectivity-thingies down the sides (they seemed like a good idea when making it, i actyally got to use them today). Drool some for the stripboard-holder made of beech too.
I thought i might write something up on this but forgot, gotta sleep right now. I'll fix it tomorrow... Sliding keyboard: Edit: Since imageshack FTP doesn't like me, i will update, well, later. More edit: I happened to have this lying around. The bottom of the shelf has theese grooves. It was once office furniture... What a nice fit you say, yes indeed. I cut it up. Fixed it to a piece of wood. And slapped it on to the shelf. Then i took it off, measured it against the keyboard to find the reight spot to fix it to. I opened it up to see if there was any reason not to drill holes in the back. There was. I was reasonably impressed that a keyboard this old didn't have the standard pcb you usually see. Since i can only put screws at the top holes i will use this stuff to fill/glue the other end. I really like this stuff, you cut a piece off, mess around with it till it turns white, stick it on. Brilliant! Finished: Four screws and some goop, rock solid. Edit: Seeing that last pic reminded me that i still only have one screw in that right bracket.
Done: In the spirit of actually doing one thing right in this build i made sure to include one resistor for each set of two leds. This to prevent the unlikeley event of them burning out because of inbalance in power consumption. Power board: I couldn't be bothered to buy a new one or find one on the mass of PCBs lying aroung here, so i used the 3A power transistor. As you can see this is hard-wired to the PSU and semi-hard-wired to the MOBO, not ideal, but the setup isn't likeley to change before i scrap the whole thing anyways... Very high tech insulation: In place: The LED-array is hotglued to the roof, all the cables are loose, yet stays in place. Power: Inspired by a similar guide on Bit-Tech i made a power-button by soldering one of theese (under the IDE-cable) little switches to the plug on the MOBO-pins. More cable-routing: I routed the cables for the power-LED (i can't figure out why there's three. The LED is dual color, but i never saw it do anything else but green.). The red wire is the positive one for the HDD-LED, going underneath the MOBO to a hole made for it. It's up...: Also added the 2xUSB connector and hotglued the cables in place. ...and has POWER: The yellow works beyond expectations! It shines up the hole bautifully and also is highly visible through the PSU, i'll try to get a nightshot later. I also have the very kinky plan of mounting a mirror in the ceiling above the mobo. PROBLEM: The shelf is slowly tipping over! The inner corner slowly looses grip and drifts higher and higher. I mounted it by screwing a board to the wall for the shelf to rest on. I also added a small bracket in the front to ceep it from just crashing straight down. I used four plugs each rated for 10kg downward force (they let go almost immediateley if you try to pull them straight out) in the drywall. Will have to beef it up further...
Beefing up: The stuff used: I like the quick fixes... I cut a bracket so it could just rest on top of the shelf without getting in the way. I was going to use more plugs but it seems there was some wood behind the drywall in the corner, not expected as this is a very strange house. None the less this meant i could screw directly into that for a better grip. Goodie. Had it not been for the leftover IKEA screws i used: I managed to get it up anyway... Not very much has happened due to the fact that i'm moving my computer to another room, you can spot some of the cabling required in the above pics. I've been building a new desk for myself too, i'll get to bragging about that in due time. In progress:
