Cube Switch Modding

[iCubeFan]

Hi Minihack,

I've been trying to use the power switch without the picopsu ( needed to provide 5VSB).

Apparently pin 2 from the NUC front panel header provides 5V when the NUC is off.
so I switched the 5VSB connection from the picopsu to pin 2 and used pin 5 ( ground) to provide a ground for the switch plate.

The result wasn't the expected.The power switch's white LED glowed steadily and didn't power the NUC.

Any ideas what may cause this ?

Many thanks

 

[minihack]

Hi Minihack,

I've been trying to use the power switch without the picopsu ( needed to provide 5VSB).

Apparently pin 2 from the NUC front panel header provides 5V when the NUC is off.
so I switched the 5VSB connection from the picopsu to pin 2 and used pin 5 ( ground) to provide a ground for the switch plate.

The result wasn't the expected.The power switch's white LED glowed steadily and didn't power the NUC.

Any ideas what may cause this ?

Many thanks

I guess there are only two possibilities: 1., the pin 2 connection does not provide a true 5Vsb connection (check voltage with multimeter and see what it is and how it varies); 2. Maybe the ground is not the same ground as the PSU ground - unlikely, but you can check that easily enough with a multimeter with the Cube OFF and unplugged to see if there is a zero resistance between all grounds. Either way that is where I would start with trouble shooting....

and of course don't take anything for granted so check the actual connections at the Cube switch and again at the Power Switch connections for the board.

 

[Madtraxx]

Hi Guys,

Can anyone explain me the following;

I am building a cube and have purchased a PicoPSU 120Watt the PicoPSU comes with a power jack;

The guide says i have to connect a ground wire from a molex-plug (ground 5v)
I read on the internet that the supplied jack with the pico-psu has a ground connection and that will actually turn into 12v ground when a powerjack is inserted.
Could this cause an issue when i connect the jack pictured above to the metal-casing and run the ground from the 5v line to the casing? Will it be better to insulate the connection to the case?

 

[minihack]

Hi Guys,

Can anyone explain me the following;

I am building a cube and have purchased a PicoPSU 120Watt the PicoPSU comes with a power jack;

The guide says i have to connect a ground wire from a molex-plug (ground 5v)
I read on the internet that the supplied jack with the pico-psu has a ground connection and that will actually turn into 12v ground when a powerjack is inserted.
Could this cause an issue when i connect the jack pictured above to the metal-casing and run the ground from the 5v line to the casing? Will it be better to insulate the connection to the case?

Hi,

Grounding for the switch does not need to be from a molex, that is just an example. So I see no reason why you shouldn't in this case make the jack provide a direct earth to the casing.

By the way, the power jack you show there does have three terminals, the terminal will be the "+" for the DC power supply, next will be the "-" and the third is the chassis earth strap. So in fact this connector does not automatically provide any electrical connection between the DC return ("-") and the chassis. If you want to make this connector be the point where the DC return is connected so as to earth the case then you would need to provide a wired connection between the earth strap connector and the "-". Equally you can just connect up the "+" and the "-" and connect the case to a molex ground in the way mentioned in the first post.

 

[Madtraxx]

Hi Minihack,

Thanks for your answer, apparently the jack should have a ground.... but after reading some customer-reviews on radioshack people complained that the ground will also be "-" when a jack is inserted. I'll just go with the first option and ground through a Molex wire and discard the entire screw fitting jack. I'm going to run two wires through the vent-holes of the casing and connect a contra plug at the other end.

 

[knobsi]

hi mates,

i´ve got two general question:

1.) regarding the +5vsb connection:
do i need to get the +5vsb from the main board to the switch or from the power supply?

2.) the 500ohm resistor.. maybe you can show me a sample buy link for this kind of resistor
i´ve no idea what this should be…

thx & cheers, tom

 

[mrsalogo]

So I decided that I wanted to finish my Mac Mini cube project recently. I bought a Pico Psu and began wiring up the Cubes power switch, and I guess I was being careless while testing the wiring... Long story short, I fried my Mac Mini. I was wondering is there a way to know for sure which wire is the VE+ and which wire is the VE- on the Mac Mini. I plan on finishing the mod once I get another Mac Mini.

 

[minihack]

So I decided that I wanted to finish my Mac Mini cube project recently. I bought a Pico Psu and began wiring up the Cubes power switch, and I guess I was being careless while testing the wiring... Long story short, I fried my Mac Mini. I was wondering is there a way to know for sure which wire is the VE+ and which wire is the VE- on the Mac Mini. I plan on finishing the mod once I get another Mac Mini.

If you mean which is the + side of the power switch and which is the - side then you can check with a multimeter. The "-" side will always be at ground potential.

What that means is that if you check with a meter set to Resistance (Ohms) on the lowest scale and put one probe on the "-" side and the other probe to, say, the DC power supply return wire (i.e. a black wire) then the resistance reading should be zero Ohms even when the "switch" is not pressed/closed. Checking it against any other return wire should also work - e.g. if you check it against the zero volt line of a USB connection or the zero volt line to a hard drive.

Always do such tests with the circuit (Mac Mini) off and unplugged from the mains.

 

[mrsalogo]

I for the life of me cannot figure this out. I have followed all the steps, Grounding the plate, giving the switch 5v stand by power. But it wont work. The light on the board just stays on but the computer does not boot. Did I brake the board?

 

[minihack]

I for the life of me cannot figure this out. I have followed all the steps, Grounding the plate, giving the switch 5v stand by power. But it wont work. The light on the board just stays on but the computer does not boot. Did I brake the board?

Do you know if the board worked before you modded it?