Ersterhernd's NUCiMac G4

[ersterhernd]

Question and suggestion for you; since I am selfish, I will start with the question. How easy is it to clean up an iMac case? A lot of the ones I see on ebay either have some black/grey scuff marks or have yellowed. I assume the yellowing is impossible to fix, but how about the scuff marks? Alternatively I have seen "brand new" enclosures also on ebay for like 25-40 bucks, but they do not have the silver Apple. Is this silver apple just stuck on the case or is it inlayed?

That turned out to be more than one question didn't it?

My suggestion regarding the wifi range is this: why not dremel out a section of the metal cage in the shape of those wifi antennae? The plastic shell will make the missing chunks unnoticeable and I am sure that it will not damage the structural integrity of the cage. I can see your problem with the throughput using one antenna, but to me the bigger concern is the fact that it looks so purty on its own and that eyesore of an antenna ruins its lines. I mean why not just plug in an ethernet cable at that point.

Obviously still waiting for the right to come up on ebay, but once it does I'll begin following in your footsteps again. On a different note I got my new board from intel with the proper headers no problem. I'm trying to figure out a way to get a 1 TB 2.5 HDD into the Cube PSU so I only need to have a power cord and HDMI cable coming out the back.

Hi Spence, I really can't comment on how to clean the dome, as mine was spotless. The little silver apple actually covers up a screw mount that secures from the inside, so I'm not sure if its actually screwed down or not.

Thats actually a very clever idea to dremel out antenna spaces. I think one would have to be careful to dremel very slowly so as not to heat the metal to the point where the plastic melted. The two actually touch each other. I mounted the exterior antenna receptacle as a contingency plan in anticipation that there would be zero signal strength from inside the dome. I don't see myself actually using it with an antenna mounted now that I'm getting reasonbly strong signals from inside.

Great news about the NUC board with the pins. Kinda stupid that it wasn't shipped that way in the first place. I've used all 5 USB in this iMac. About the iMac, if you can buy locally, Spence, I recommend you do that. Test the iMac screen with a dead pixel tester app in all the different colors and look for pressure marks in the LCD at the same time. I would never take someones word for a perfect screen, a lot of people don't even know what a dead pixel is. Would be a shame to get your system running only to have a bright pixel staring you in the face from the center of your screen. Just my 2 cents.

Thx for the response...


Ersterhernd

 

[kiwisincebirth]

How easy is it to clean up an iMac case? A lot of the ones I see on ebay either have some black/grey scuff marks or have yellowed. I assume the yellowing is impossible to fix ...

turns out the yellow can be fixed.

http://www.tonymacx86.com/hardware-parts/93167-cleaning-polishing-restoring-plastics.html

 

[iCubeFan]

On a different note I got my new board from intel with the proper headers no problem.

Hi Spence

How long did it take to get your replacement board? I contacted Intel and they agreed on replacing my board

Cheers

 

[chmille3]

Wow, this is great! I saw Dremel Junkies build and it made me want to build one. I have the iMac, I am just waiting for the $ to get the rest of the needed components. Thanks for such a detailed build log. I will definitely check it out in more detail when I build mine.

 

[spence4]

Hi Spence

How long did it take to get your replacement board? I contacted Intel and they agreed on replacing my board

Cheers

About a week. I live in Hong Kong and I had to ship it to Malaysia. Not sure if that makes a difference, but thought I'd let you know.

Spence

 

[spence4]

Hi Spence, I really can't comment on how to clean the dome, as mine was spotless. The little silver apple actually covers up a screw mount that secures from the inside, so I'm not sure if its actually screwed down or not.

Thats actually a very clever idea to dremel out antenna spaces. I think one would have to be careful to dremel very slowly so as not to heat the metal to the point where the plastic melted. The two actually touch each other. I mounted the exterior antenna receptacle as a contingency plan in anticipation that there would be zero signal strength from inside the dome. I don't see myself actually using it with an antenna mounted now that I'm getting reasonbly strong signals from inside.

Great news about the NUC board with the pins. Kinda stupid that it wasn't shipped that way in the first place. I've used all 5 USB in this iMac. About the iMac, if you can buy locally, Spence, I recommend you do that. Test the iMac screen with a dead pixel tester app in all the different colors and look for pressure marks in the LCD at the same time. I would never take someones word for a perfect screen, a lot of people don't even know what a dead pixel is. Would be a shame to get your system running only to have a bright pixel staring you in the face from the center of your screen. Just my 2 cents.

Thx for the response...


Ersterhernd

Ugh why do you have to be such a downer with your dead pixel warning! I have been all over the place here and no one has an old iMac G4 that they are willing to sell. Maybe I will have to wait until I am back in the US. Can you not separate the plastic from the metal in the base? From pictures on the interwebs, it seems like the is a metal cage with a plastic shell around it, much like the Cube PSU. Is this not the case?

 

[ersterhernd]

The pieces will come apart, but that should happen at the start of the project. In my case, I'd have to disassemble everything and it's not worth it.

I'd be looking for even a junk machine or at least a second neck, Spence. You'll potentially save yourself a ton of grief by utilizing the LCD wires from the spare neck.



Ersterhernd

 

[MacTester57]

Ersterhernd,

I have a question: did you connect your "VCC" cables (iMac TMDS Pin 22-24) to 5V or 3.3V on your pico PSU?

During some investigations for my upcoming iMac mod, I've found the link to this (iMac 17") LCD data sheet on DremelJunkie's blog: http://www.beyondinfinite.com/lcd/Library/LG-Philips/LM171W02-A4.pdf

It says on page 6, that the "Max Vcc Voltage" is 3.5V!!

DremelJunkie says in his guide:

Despite this, I have not seen any problem with using only 12V and 5V

I think, that the LCD will be destroyed sooner or later, if it is connected to 5V!

MacTester

 

[ersterhernd]

3.3V on the PicoPSU, MacTester. I had the same concerns about the 5v.

On page 8 of that document it clearly references pin 22-24 at 3.3V as well. Good point you make, very important! Great find.


Cheers!

 

[spence4]

The pieces will come apart, but that should happen at the start of the project. In my case, I'd have to disassemble everything and it's not worth it.

I'd be looking for even a junk machine or at least a second neck, Spence. You'll potentially save yourself a ton of grief by utilizing the LCD wires from the spare neck.



Ersterhernd

I actually have my brother's old 15 inch iMac G4 but the case is pretty crappy and the monitor/neck is suffering from ED - it can't get it up. Could I use the wires in the neck of the 15 for my extra set of wires or do I need another 17?

Spence