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Kaby-Lake HS inside Apple ][ Floppy Drive

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Apr 10, 2013
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Motherboard
Ace Magician GK3Pro
CPU
Celeron N5105
Graphics
Quadro K420 (kepler)
Mac
  1. iMac
  2. MacBook
  3. MacBook Pro
  4. Mac mini
  5. Mac Pro
Classic Mac
  1. Apple
  2. Classic
  3. iMac
  4. Power Mac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
I have been wanting to do this build for a long time. I know there was a version with a mac mini core solo back in 2009 (Gizmodo), but I wanted a little more power. Here is the hardware I chose:
  • i7-7700 3.6GHz 65W Kaby-Lake
  • 32GB SDRAM (2x16 SODIMM DDR4)
  • 250GB M.2 WD SSD
  • Gigabyte GA-H110MSTX-HD3
  • Broadcom BCM94352Z NGFF Dual Band 802.11ac Wifi BT 4.0
  • Apple ][ Floppy drive for the case
  • Apple IR
  • Dell notebook 2Watt internal speakers
  • USB3/C expansion hub
  • Apple slot load drive from macbook pro
I have all the hardware/software working except HDMI audio, which I hope to correct shortly. I retained the original floppy locking tab and it functions, but you have to open it before trying to eject a CD/DVD so it does not jam the optical drive. I originally purchased the ASUS mini-STX H110 Desktop kit (used), but the mobo fried and I didn't like the cheezy drive connectors, so I switched to Gigabyte which has real SATA connectors and a built in 2Watt audio output. I have to finish some painting and cleanup, and will post all the kexts and configuration info soon...
525drivefront.jpg 525driveHS.png 525driveside.jpg HackMini6-2 STX i7-7700 GB4.png

Standard UniBeast install, (yes I am a noob so I don't always know which tools to use or how to implement them) and these are the hacks used to get everything fully functional. OOTB, things that didn't work: 630 iGPU graphics, wifi, audio, onboard Ethernet port. RehabMan has a lot of good fixes out there. FakePCIID_Broadcom_WiFi kext fixed my wifi, FakePCIID_Intel_HD_Graphics kext fixed the 630 graphics, RehabMan's IntelMausiEthernet kext fixed my wired Ethernet, and AppleHDAPatcher app fixed my internal audio. The IR receiver is from a macbook (bought off eBay), simply soldered to jumpers and put on the internal motherboard USB header. I am using a 3.5" drive face with two USB 3.0 and one USB-C as well as the audio jacks on the right side of the case, since the motherboard connectors on the front of the motherboard are not accessible. I have a USB-C to USB3.0 adapter on the right side as well.
 
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My complete hardware write up is on Instructables, I will add the software write up soon!
 
A very significant feature of this build is that this is the first Gigabyte GA-H110MSTX-HD3 that I have seen posted.

I am pleased that you will share what you needed to do to get this to work with HS and possibly a copy of your EFI directory.
(Was there any problem with the Realtek ALC255 codec?)


Your implementation in the Apple ][ Floppy drive is amazing. I do have some questions:
  1. Your DVD drive using the floppy door is great (the door latch still works). Do you have a template for your homemade adapter for the latch?
  2. The activity LED is a good idea. Can you provide a drawing of the LED circuit and parts you used? (possibly in the Instructable)
  3. The internal speaker option is a nice touch. Where did you install the internal speaker in the case?
  4. Where did you install the IR sensor in the case?
  5. The additional cooling fan is nice as well. What is the model of the cooling fan? (I can't read the number from the photo.)
Also, I like the M.2 SSD as the storage option in addition to the i7-7700 CPU and 32GB of memory.

Another minor question though. Why did you only attach one antenna to your WiFi card? You can see that there are two connectors on the PCIe card.
 
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This is amazing... thanks for sharing.
 
This is so cool. You could cross post it to Applefritter.com as well. My next build isn't going to have an optical drive probably, just a little external USB drive on the off chance I need it, but you stuck one into a tiny case mod. To be fair though it was kind of begging for it.
 
A very significant feature of this build is that this is the first Gigabyte GA-H110MSTX-HD3 that I have seen posted.

I am pleased that you will share what you needed to do to get this to work with HS and possibly a copy of your EFI directory.
(Was there any problem with the Realtek ALC255 codec?)


Your implementation in the Apple ][ Floppy drive is amazing. I do have some questions:
  1. Your DVD drive using the floppy door is great (the door latch still works). Do you have a template for your homemade adapter for the latch?
  2. The activity LED is a good idea. Can you provide a drawing of the LED circuit and parts you used? (possibly in the Instructable)
  3. The internal speaker option is a nice touch. Where did you install the internal speaker in the case?
  4. Where did you install the IR sensor in the case?
  5. The additional cooling fan is nice as well. What is the model of the cooling fan? (I can't read the number from the photo.)
Also, I like the M.2 SSD as the storage option in addition to the i7-7700 CPU and 32GB of memory.

Another minor question though. Why did you only attach one antenna to your WiFi card? You can see that there are two connectors on the PCIe card.

I will try to answer all these...
1. I don't have a template, but I can take some more pics next to rulers as I am going to do some more mods to it.
2. I will attach a wiring diagram of the dual LED light here.
3. The internal speakers are rough, just slapped them on some spare space on the faceplate... I did pull some nice round ones from an iMac and I will see if those sound better.
4. The IR sensor is in a small hole in the indent under the latch. If you look close on the instructables site you will see a pic with a hole drilled in the middle of the faceplate. The IR sensor is black, so it matches the faceplate.
5. The cooling fan was pulled off another cpu cooler. I did find a 1U cooler with side exit and I may try swapping out the CPU cooler and eliminating the 2nd fan.

Wifi/BT card has two antenna slots, yes my original plan was two on the rear, but the mentioned iMac donor had 3 internal antennas, so I will use one on the second port and stick it to the inside of the faceplate (assuming its for bluetooth).

It weighs 3lbs 12oz so under 4. This same motherboard fits inside an old 2006 MacMini case as well, so that will be my next build.
 

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Here are more photos of the Latch bracket (cdrom rear mount), latch clearance, and 2nd fan details.
 

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Here is a screen capture of my EFI folder.
 

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That is a damn awesome build! I like the re-use of the Apple ][ drive (hoping you didn't gut a working drive). That build is as much art as it is a Hackintosh build. :clap:
 
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