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- Apr 10, 2013
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G4 Cube Alternate Touch Power Button
This is my alternate method to power on/off a cube with a finger in proximity to the top, but does NOT replicate the LED power indicator.
I have seen the Hackintosh mods for the original touch button, but of the three I have tried, I could get none of them to work. I also tried several makes and models of touch sensors (arduino, adafruit, knockoffs), but none would work through the thick upper acrylic case. This lead me to search for other options.
Rather than capacitive, I started looking into Infra Red options. My first find was a door exit release that really works well, is isolated by a relay, and has a nice dual color button. The only drawback is the 12v power required, but I also found a 5v step-up device to run it off of the 5v standby power. But the button is also large, too large to fit into the sensor hole without modification. Back to the search.
I then found smaller IR distance sensors, most for hobby/robot type projects like Arduino or Raspberry Pi type applications. I acquired several and finalized on one with adjustable sensitivity, the right size, and the correct logical output to power on a motherboard (TTL Low on output pin). It goes by many names like "FC-51", "flying-fish", or "IR Optical Avoidance Sensor." Maybe there is a better one out there, but I have not found it yet.
The FC-51 works pretty well from a breadboard, so let's get it mounted into a cube and see how it performs. All components are on a single side of circuit board. The original has the two IR LEDs (IR emitter and IR detector) facing out a long end. If we place it in a cube as-is, the IR LEDs point sideways and the potentiometer may be too thick for your motherboard configuration (some motherboards have ram or power at the edge of the board where it would bump into the sensor).
To make the IR sensor fit better, I moved the IR LEDs and potentiometer to the other side of the circuit board. The screws for the original sensor are a bit wide and actually touch both of the surface mount LEDs on the circuit board. There is a potential to short things out, so a non-conducting washer should be used. I also moved one of the surface mount LEDs further away by adjusting it with a soldering iron.
The IR sensor LEDs final placement (soldered flush to the circuit board) is near the center of the power switch.
The top inner cube plate needs a notch to make room for the potentiometer, now accessible from the top to make adjustments.
Now the IR LEDs are pretty tall, and will impede the final placement of the inner cube into the outer shell, so I ground them off with a rotary tool and a grinding/cutting disc. This removes the focused lens of the LED and makes them a little less sensitive, which I think was needed. After the shortening of the LEDs, everything is flush without the black/white cube sensor disc.
Wiring is GND->MBPower-, Out->MBPower+, VCC->5v Standby.
This IR sensor cannot penetrate the thin top plastic membrane, so I was forced to cut a hole under the power switch. This membrane is rather tough, and a brand new Xacto blade still did not cut it smoothly by hand, so next time I will try a different method.
Since this is IR, there is a potential to be affected by other IR emitters. An example is an Apple remote, that when within 12 inches will activate the power switch. This does leave the cube top in a "not so original" condition, but restores the functionality of a "touch sensor," but not the power light. Many of my cubes have a different flavor than original, so the hole will hopefully be less noticeable on modded cases.
I hope this provides some useful information.
This is my alternate method to power on/off a cube with a finger in proximity to the top, but does NOT replicate the LED power indicator.
I have seen the Hackintosh mods for the original touch button, but of the three I have tried, I could get none of them to work. I also tried several makes and models of touch sensors (arduino, adafruit, knockoffs), but none would work through the thick upper acrylic case. This lead me to search for other options.
Rather than capacitive, I started looking into Infra Red options. My first find was a door exit release that really works well, is isolated by a relay, and has a nice dual color button. The only drawback is the 12v power required, but I also found a 5v step-up device to run it off of the 5v standby power. But the button is also large, too large to fit into the sensor hole without modification. Back to the search.
I then found smaller IR distance sensors, most for hobby/robot type projects like Arduino or Raspberry Pi type applications. I acquired several and finalized on one with adjustable sensitivity, the right size, and the correct logical output to power on a motherboard (TTL Low on output pin). It goes by many names like "FC-51", "flying-fish", or "IR Optical Avoidance Sensor." Maybe there is a better one out there, but I have not found it yet.
The FC-51 works pretty well from a breadboard, so let's get it mounted into a cube and see how it performs. All components are on a single side of circuit board. The original has the two IR LEDs (IR emitter and IR detector) facing out a long end. If we place it in a cube as-is, the IR LEDs point sideways and the potentiometer may be too thick for your motherboard configuration (some motherboards have ram or power at the edge of the board where it would bump into the sensor).
To make the IR sensor fit better, I moved the IR LEDs and potentiometer to the other side of the circuit board. The screws for the original sensor are a bit wide and actually touch both of the surface mount LEDs on the circuit board. There is a potential to short things out, so a non-conducting washer should be used. I also moved one of the surface mount LEDs further away by adjusting it with a soldering iron.
The IR sensor LEDs final placement (soldered flush to the circuit board) is near the center of the power switch.
The top inner cube plate needs a notch to make room for the potentiometer, now accessible from the top to make adjustments.
Now the IR LEDs are pretty tall, and will impede the final placement of the inner cube into the outer shell, so I ground them off with a rotary tool and a grinding/cutting disc. This removes the focused lens of the LED and makes them a little less sensitive, which I think was needed. After the shortening of the LEDs, everything is flush without the black/white cube sensor disc.
Wiring is GND->MBPower-, Out->MBPower+, VCC->5v Standby.
This IR sensor cannot penetrate the thin top plastic membrane, so I was forced to cut a hole under the power switch. This membrane is rather tough, and a brand new Xacto blade still did not cut it smoothly by hand, so next time I will try a different method.
Since this is IR, there is a potential to be affected by other IR emitters. An example is an Apple remote, that when within 12 inches will activate the power switch. This does leave the cube top in a "not so original" condition, but restores the functionality of a "touch sensor," but not the power light. Many of my cubes have a different flavor than original, so the hole will hopefully be less noticeable on modded cases.
I hope this provides some useful information.
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