iMac G4 20in NUC mod - CelestialTower

[muk546]

UPDATE:

I'm now running the display off my ATX PSU it turns out it was the cheap molex AC brick I was using; looks like I'll be buying my NUC today!

 

[InsaneCultist]

Muk,

How are you planning to power the PicoPSU? The ones you linked take a 12V DC input. Based on your power diagram, it appears as if you want to connect it to AC power? If not, the only option I see based on the diagram would be to power it off the NUC brick, but as E and I have found, 65W from the NUC brick isn't quite enough to sustain the backlight and the NUC, which is why the 90W Antec is used.

 

[muk546]

I wasn't clear sorry;
I want to use both native bricks the one for the pico PSU and the one for the NUC they will both be internalized and spliced into the AC input, this may mean I lose the DVD drive but I want to keep my NUC as safe as possible. So in the end the original bricks will be virtually untouched!

I also had an old laptop charger lying around and I cracked it open and removed the outer casing and I found it can shave the dimensions down if need be and should be safe (I need to ask a friend of mine who's more familiar with this stuff)

 

[muk546]

@IC

Are you sure too many amps blew your inverter? As far as I know amps don't matter just the voltage has to be correct then the electoric device will draw what it needs?

I'm asking because I'm planning on using this is my power solution (for the nuc, display, peripherals:

http://www.fspgroupusa.com/ecommerce/retail-psu/mini-itx/fsp150-rebn2.html

It's 19v 150watt 7.9 amps (watts = volts * amps)

Are you sure you didn't feed too many volts into the inverter?

 

[InsaneCultist]

Didn't actually blow my inverter, but a friend of mine is an electrical engineer and specifically warned me against using the larger up-converter for my display. Now, I'm no expert on electrics (actually, I failed electrical engineering) but it makes sense that more current being driven through the inverter would blow it up.

 

[muk546]

Ah ok well my NUC is here (HD 5000) and i used the mini HDMI to DVI cable and I'm getting some minimal artifacting It could be a loose ground (like what caused it last time). I will investigate further but if I can't resolve this ill have to try to return it or sell it on ebay...then ill buy the "safe" HD 4000 model but hopefully it doesn't come to that because I tested it with the mini HDMI (on my Tower's graphics card) and it artifacted until i found a loose ground (wire's still aren't finalized) then it worked flawlessly. So hopefully i'll fix it; has it been good for you IC?

 

[InsaneCultist]

Ah ok well my NUC is here (HD 5000) and i used the mini HDMI to DVI cable and I'm getting some minimal artifacting It could be a loose ground (like what caused it last time). I will investigate further but if I can't resolve this ill have to try to return it or sell it on ebay...then ill buy the "safe" HD 4000 model but hopefully it doesn't come to that because I tested it with the mini HDMI (on my Tower's graphics card) and it artifacted until i found a loose ground (wire's still aren't finalized) then it worked flawlessly. So hopefully i'll fix it; has it been good for you IC?

No further progress has been made on my mod, but I've been steadily using my NUC attached to the G4 screen with no issues. Even light gaming breezes on the NUC and artifacting is a thing of the past. I would make sure all your shielding is together and that there is no EMI from the up-converter.
-IC

 

[muk546]

Well I got nervous and returned it; I'm buying the HD 4000 model with the savings I'll add more storage. Adding shielding did help and the problem was very minimal but I couldn't justify the $349 investment in a kinda works scenario so for around $180 ill grab the last gen NUC. Glad it worked for you .

 

[ersterhernd]

Frustrating as it was to use the previous gen NUC with a brand new Haswell unit already purchased, it achieved complete stability for my 20" build. Never regretted it, the system still works perfectly to this day.


Cheers!

 

[muk546]

I completely agree! Besides I got the thunderbolt version so if I can get a good deal on a thunderbolt hub (which has been reported to work with OSX with the NUC) ill just use that.
It would be ideal to internalize something like this: http://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapt...hunderbolt-Laptop-Docking-Station~TBDOCKHDPBC

This will allow for ethernet, audio in and out, usb 3 and more all with one cable off the NUC!!!