iMac g5 hackintosh

[shibirian]

But will it fit in an iMac?

And will the screw holes on the mobo fit the screw holes in the iMac?

Good question,...maybe that here's for you:

http://www.tonymacx86.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=38647

 

[Thomth]

The intel Dh61AG seems nice. The display connector fits the LCD of the iMac

But the most important question: will the screw holes be at the same spot? Does anybody know?

 

[eelhead]

No

No Apple computer will have the same mounting points to any ATX or mini ATX board.
Almost all Mac desktops are custom fit Logicboards. Any Mac customization requires you to think out side the box and figure out ways to mount your new hardware.

Be advised that when doing any Mac case mods its not a simple slap in new PC hardware and your good to go.

 

[Thomth]

So I need to think something out to mount the motherboard? What would be the easiest? A mini itx board or a microatx board?

How can I mount the motherboard? Any ideas?

 

[veng58]

hi, i am looking at converting my old g4 into a hack ,first thing you notice is the logicboards are in reverse so straight away you are cutting the back panel up and riveting it back together the right way around so the pci slots all line up ;to mount the board in the g4 have used an old atx case and utilised the board mount panel out of that and bolted to the mac panel ,just one way out of making it complicated,power supply is the other issue as well out of the case as a seperate or in the case alot of cutting about ,you makes your choice and go for it ,!!!

 

[Thomth]

So you just cut out the mounting plate from a normal case and mount in the iMac. That's a good idea!

 

[veng58]

the ones i had here ,were screwed on each corner ,just had to unscrew them drill four holes in the g4 and used the motherboard brass mounts to attach it to the g4

 

[jberg44]

Thomth, I have some experience with modding the iMac G5 and may be able to help. For the most part I have converted them to external monitors (using parts from a 20" Cinema Display), however I briefly thought about putting an ECX (3.5" core 2 duo motherboard in the G5). In terms of the depth of the iMac G5, it varies, the iMac G5's design evolved considerably over time. The first generation iMac G5 is about 2" deep and the LCD attaches to the front panel of the case. This will not fit a standard mini itx, but actually has a decent amount of room. Just to let you know the ECX board (Keex-4020) did fit in the area below the LCD, however, I do not remember if it would have fit behind the LCD itself. Here is a couple pics I took when I was working with the first generation case. The first picture shows the case open with the ECX beside it. The second picture is the completed mod from the side.

IMG_0010.JPG
IMG_0011.JPG

By the time you get to the iSight the case design is much slimmer, with the LCD now attached to the rear panel. Almost nothing fits here, even the nearly flat cinema display inverter and control board are a tight squeeze. Here is the iSight iMac G5 with the case open and the LCD in place. (The iSight and mic were converted to USB and that is the cable running across the screen):

IMG_0012.JPG

You mentioned that the iMac G5's LCD panels were LVDS, however, this is not the whole story. They are in fact TMDS panels (though they may have LVDS passthrough - I can not myself verify this). The LG LM201W01(A5)(K1,2,or3) are the pre-iSight models and are TMDS compatible. The LG LM201W01(ST)(B2) found in the iSight is also TMDS compatible. These are interchangeable with the 20" Aluminum Apple Cinema Displays LCD and the iMac G4's 20" ID Tech. However, the white intel iMacs use LM201W01(SL)(A3), which is LVDS only. This is an advantage as TMDS can be converted directly to DVI and the pinout is the same as my iMac G4 mod (I do not know how different the native inverter is though).

If you are interested in doing this let me know and I will open up my 1st generation mod and take measurements for you. However, I can fairly certainly say that a full size atx, matx, or mini itx will not fit within the depth of the case. As most iMacs are, the G5's components are closer to laptop than desktop components. A laptop mobo with an HDMI or DVI video out port would probably fit the best. Good luck and hope this information is helpful.

 

[neilhart]

But will it fit in an iMac?

And will the screw holes on the mobo fit the screw holes in the iMac?

No the board will not fit and the screw holes will not be in the correct places.

neil

 

[Super_12]

that's awesome but umm a off topic question umm how do i install mac os snow leopard using iboot legacy on a imac 4,1 1.86 ghz with 2 g of ram