- Joined
- May 27, 2010
- Messages
- 2,364
- Motherboard
- Dell Optiplex 9030 All in One
- CPU
- i5-4690K
- Graphics
- HD 4600
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- Classic Mac
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You may remember me posting a long time ago (well a few months back anyway) about my full ATX conversion to an MDD case (link at the bottom of my sig.). However I know also that the case is more likely wanted to be used for an mATX where the board is mounted in the original door position. So, after a while I re-visited this!
First, the problem:
The mirror drive door model, unlike all the other G4s has a reversed PCI slot configuration. This makes it impossible to re-use or re-purpose the original door mounting - especially as Apple seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to mount everything on the door in a way that makes it as difficult as possible! I have at various times tried to cut away some parts and keep others in an attempt to keep the "square" look of the back, but without welding gear and a lot of metal skills this is not possible.
So I turned to looking at what could be achieved by the hacker friendly methods of drilling and dremeling and trying to avoid using glue!
Earlier G4s all had a single skin (one metal plate) construction and used a plastic hinge latch to get them to close. The MDD uses a double skin with the outer skin having metal clips that form a strong closing latch that is much nicer than the horrible piece of plastic.
The inner skin of the MDD door however carries the motherboard and has a shape that is generally the same as the single skin present on the earlier G4s, so having removed the door from a G4 Sawtooth model, cutting a few holes in it to match it to some holes in the original MDD inner, trimming some edge parts and holding it up to the MDD body we see this:
The slipper fits! Or in other words a bit of hacking with a Dremel and we get a new 2 skin door made up from the outer skin of an MDD and the door from a Sawtooth (or other unloved early G4).
Other things needed to make it fit (complete with the hinge from the early G4) are: trim the hinge ends and drill new holes in the MDD floor to match the new hinge, and reduce slightly the height of the I/O panel from the Sawtooth. This last bit sounds daunting, but in reality it is this:
In the picture above, the area around the PCI slots has been reduced by making saw cuts in line with where the original two rivet holes are in the panel top, removing the original lip and folding over the remaining metal to make a new (lower) closing edge.
This allows you to get to a point where you have a door which has the closing mechanism of the G4, and an mATX (ish) profile and hinge mechanism from an early G4 which will shut properly. However, in this state alone of course you then have achieved a back panel that on one side is effectively a straight line and on the other is shaped like an old G4. However, a simple cosmetic way to hide this fact is by using a pair of matched panels which does not make the difference in shapes quite so obvious:
Note that in the picture above, I have actually used an mATX I/O plate from a Lian Li case - bonding this extra metal work from the Lian Li to the framework provided by the G4 Sawtooth door provides a combination that is now fully mATX compliant and gives adequate extra reinforcement to the rear panel.
The two parts of the door are held together by countersunk M3 6mm screws into nyloc nuts and standoffs are M3 threaded and approximately 6mm. The Lian Li I/O plate is bonded by JB weld to the inner door alone.
The original switch has been hacked to re-use it and the power led and the signals pass to the motherboard via the original ribbon cable. Also a HDD activity light has been placed behind where the headphone socket was so as to glow red whenever the hard disk is accessed.
A small laser cut panel at the front which has threaded holes matching positions of rivets in the MDD case provides a mount point for a new I/O panel - here is the front:
and the rear of this panel:
The original PSU case was re-used to house a 500W power supply from a Shuttle PC.
Cables are routed via the plastic panel to keep wiring clutter to a minimum and a 140mm fan at the front sucks air in to keep things cool:
The original drive holder is re-used, but I have cut it down slightly to avoid any problems with large graphics card.
The result is a drive holder that will take a single 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD (via a conversion bracket). There is ample space inside the case however to mount a few more drives if required.
In the final version (update soon) I'll put in a cable tidy to hide the cabling at the bottom of the case.
While of course I have cut the cosmetic panels with a laser cutter, please remember that all lasers do is cut very precise holes in flat materials like acrylic. With patience the same results can be achieved in a workshop with a saw, a drill and some acrylic sheet (or wood/mdf!!). The key to the success of this mod though I think is in using the MDD parts together with the door from earlier G4s - which can often be picked up on eBay for a tenner.
I'll be putting some more specific detail on this stuff on my home page where I'll also be posting a video - however as I have a very slow internet connection that video won't have finished uploading for a good few hours yet.
Thanks for reading and hope you like my different take on the MDD.
First, the problem:
The mirror drive door model, unlike all the other G4s has a reversed PCI slot configuration. This makes it impossible to re-use or re-purpose the original door mounting - especially as Apple seem to have gone to a lot of trouble to mount everything on the door in a way that makes it as difficult as possible! I have at various times tried to cut away some parts and keep others in an attempt to keep the "square" look of the back, but without welding gear and a lot of metal skills this is not possible.
So I turned to looking at what could be achieved by the hacker friendly methods of drilling and dremeling and trying to avoid using glue!
Earlier G4s all had a single skin (one metal plate) construction and used a plastic hinge latch to get them to close. The MDD uses a double skin with the outer skin having metal clips that form a strong closing latch that is much nicer than the horrible piece of plastic.
The inner skin of the MDD door however carries the motherboard and has a shape that is generally the same as the single skin present on the earlier G4s, so having removed the door from a G4 Sawtooth model, cutting a few holes in it to match it to some holes in the original MDD inner, trimming some edge parts and holding it up to the MDD body we see this:
The slipper fits! Or in other words a bit of hacking with a Dremel and we get a new 2 skin door made up from the outer skin of an MDD and the door from a Sawtooth (or other unloved early G4).
Other things needed to make it fit (complete with the hinge from the early G4) are: trim the hinge ends and drill new holes in the MDD floor to match the new hinge, and reduce slightly the height of the I/O panel from the Sawtooth. This last bit sounds daunting, but in reality it is this:
In the picture above, the area around the PCI slots has been reduced by making saw cuts in line with where the original two rivet holes are in the panel top, removing the original lip and folding over the remaining metal to make a new (lower) closing edge.
This allows you to get to a point where you have a door which has the closing mechanism of the G4, and an mATX (ish) profile and hinge mechanism from an early G4 which will shut properly. However, in this state alone of course you then have achieved a back panel that on one side is effectively a straight line and on the other is shaped like an old G4. However, a simple cosmetic way to hide this fact is by using a pair of matched panels which does not make the difference in shapes quite so obvious:
Note that in the picture above, I have actually used an mATX I/O plate from a Lian Li case - bonding this extra metal work from the Lian Li to the framework provided by the G4 Sawtooth door provides a combination that is now fully mATX compliant and gives adequate extra reinforcement to the rear panel.
The two parts of the door are held together by countersunk M3 6mm screws into nyloc nuts and standoffs are M3 threaded and approximately 6mm. The Lian Li I/O plate is bonded by JB weld to the inner door alone.
The original switch has been hacked to re-use it and the power led and the signals pass to the motherboard via the original ribbon cable. Also a HDD activity light has been placed behind where the headphone socket was so as to glow red whenever the hard disk is accessed.
A small laser cut panel at the front which has threaded holes matching positions of rivets in the MDD case provides a mount point for a new I/O panel - here is the front:
and the rear of this panel:
The original PSU case was re-used to house a 500W power supply from a Shuttle PC.
Cables are routed via the plastic panel to keep wiring clutter to a minimum and a 140mm fan at the front sucks air in to keep things cool:
The original drive holder is re-used, but I have cut it down slightly to avoid any problems with large graphics card.
The result is a drive holder that will take a single 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD (via a conversion bracket). There is ample space inside the case however to mount a few more drives if required.
In the final version (update soon) I'll put in a cable tidy to hide the cabling at the bottom of the case.
While of course I have cut the cosmetic panels with a laser cutter, please remember that all lasers do is cut very precise holes in flat materials like acrylic. With patience the same results can be achieved in a workshop with a saw, a drill and some acrylic sheet (or wood/mdf!!). The key to the success of this mod though I think is in using the MDD parts together with the door from earlier G4s - which can often be picked up on eBay for a tenner.
I'll be putting some more specific detail on this stuff on my home page where I'll also be posting a video - however as I have a very slow internet connection that video won't have finished uploading for a good few hours yet.
Thanks for reading and hope you like my different take on the MDD.
