Mooner's HackPro (Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3 in Mac Pro case)
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I just got a PM from another person on this forum asking me some questions that I hadn't even thought about... I had put a lot of thought into these simple decisions, but in retrospect, they really are major decisions in the process of deciding how to approach your hack... So I'll re-post them here:
Evo-L wrote:
1 - Why did you need the MiniSAS adapter thing? Cant you just plug the hard drives directly into the motherboard?
2 - Attaching the motherboard to the case - did you glue the attachments on there in lieu of just buying something like this? http://www.mountainmods.com/mountain-mo ... -p-56.html
Hi Evo-L-
I hope my experience saves you some time... My "journey" was mostly trial-and-error, but I learned a lot from the other builds on this forum...
1: If you want to use the original Apple hard drive trays (slide in under the optical drives), you really only have 2 options:
Option A: Use the existing hot-swap connectors -- this allows you to slide the drives in and they "automatically" connect to the docking connectors -- both power and data. It works the way that Apple intended...
Option B: Remove the existing hot-swap connectors and connect the drives "PC-style" using standard SATA data and power cables. This can be done easily -- but you will probably have to cut off (or bend out of the way) the metal tabs that hold the SATA docking connectors. The tabs will impede your ability to use "standard" PC-style cables.
Once you cut these mounting tabs off the chassis, they are gone forever -- so make this decision carefully. Option A is probably a bit more expensive -- but is not really much more work. There is some electrical work to make everything work, but with Option B, you need to do more case-modification (e.g. cutting) work. So I think the "level of difficulty" is about the same... It's really about personal preference.
2: Yes -- I wanted the back of the finished "Hack Pro" to look as close to stock Apple as possible. I really didn't want to cut out the whole back of the case to put in a motherboard tray. The tray may actually be a more elegant solution in the long run, but requires a LOT of extra cutting and other metal work. I wanted to do as little modification (e.g. damage) to the original Apple case as possible and still get decent results. So, I cut out the smaller rectangular hole around the ATX connectors on the mobo and used the PCI slot metal-work from the original Apple part of the case. Plus, using epoxy to glue the standoffs to the inside case was really easy...
If you do it the way that I did it, there is nothing that would prevent you from later changing your mind, cutting out the whole back of the case and putting in a mobo tray -- if you start down the tray route, you're fully committed as soon as you start cutting... I didn't want that kind of inflexibility on my first major build.
Hope that helps!
-Mooner
Evo-L wrote:
1 - Why did you need the MiniSAS adapter thing? Cant you just plug the hard drives directly into the motherboard?
2 - Attaching the motherboard to the case - did you glue the attachments on there in lieu of just buying something like this? http://www.mountainmods.com/mountain-mo ... -p-56.html
Hi Evo-L-
I hope my experience saves you some time... My "journey" was mostly trial-and-error, but I learned a lot from the other builds on this forum...
1: If you want to use the original Apple hard drive trays (slide in under the optical drives), you really only have 2 options:
Option A: Use the existing hot-swap connectors -- this allows you to slide the drives in and they "automatically" connect to the docking connectors -- both power and data. It works the way that Apple intended...
Option B: Remove the existing hot-swap connectors and connect the drives "PC-style" using standard SATA data and power cables. This can be done easily -- but you will probably have to cut off (or bend out of the way) the metal tabs that hold the SATA docking connectors. The tabs will impede your ability to use "standard" PC-style cables.
Once you cut these mounting tabs off the chassis, they are gone forever -- so make this decision carefully. Option A is probably a bit more expensive -- but is not really much more work. There is some electrical work to make everything work, but with Option B, you need to do more case-modification (e.g. cutting) work. So I think the "level of difficulty" is about the same... It's really about personal preference.
2: Yes -- I wanted the back of the finished "Hack Pro" to look as close to stock Apple as possible. I really didn't want to cut out the whole back of the case to put in a motherboard tray. The tray may actually be a more elegant solution in the long run, but requires a LOT of extra cutting and other metal work. I wanted to do as little modification (e.g. damage) to the original Apple case as possible and still get decent results. So, I cut out the smaller rectangular hole around the ATX connectors on the mobo and used the PCI slot metal-work from the original Apple part of the case. Plus, using epoxy to glue the standoffs to the inside case was really easy...
If you do it the way that I did it, there is nothing that would prevent you from later changing your mind, cutting out the whole back of the case and putting in a mobo tray -- if you start down the tray route, you're fully committed as soon as you start cutting... I didn't want that kind of inflexibility on my first major build.
Hope that helps!
-Mooner
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Re: Mooner's HackPro (Gigabyte Z68MX-UD2H-B3) - USB 3.0 WORKING!
Ok -- ran MultiBeast 4.2.1 -- rebooted -- now USB 3.0 is working fine on Etron EJ168 chipset. I now have 4 working USB 3.0 ports!! Easy as pie...
Hooked up a couple new Seagate 4TB drives to test. One is the external Seagate GoFlexDesk (USB 3.0 model) and the other is an internal Seagate ST4000DX000 (Barracuda XT 7200 RPM) -- the GoFlexDesk has the exact same mechanism (ST4000DX000) inside the plastic case.
I used BlackMagicDesign's Disk Speed Test tool to run a quick speed test. My baseline is a Hitachi DeskStar 2TB 7200 RPM drive -- but it only has a SATA 2 interface. Both the Hitachi 2TB and one of the Seagate 4TB drives are connected to SATA 3 ports on the motherboard.
Interestingly, the USB 3.0 drive actually scored slightly HIGHER on the Read test -- while the SATA 3 connected drive scored slightly higher on the Write test.
Hitachi DeskStar 2TB (SATA 2):
Seagate ST4000DX000 4TB (SATA 3):
Seagate ST4000DX000 4TB (USB 3.0):
MultiBeast 4.2.1 Settings:
Ok -- ran MultiBeast 4.2.1 -- rebooted -- now USB 3.0 is working fine on Etron EJ168 chipset. I now have 4 working USB 3.0 ports!! Easy as pie...
Hooked up a couple new Seagate 4TB drives to test. One is the external Seagate GoFlexDesk (USB 3.0 model) and the other is an internal Seagate ST4000DX000 (Barracuda XT 7200 RPM) -- the GoFlexDesk has the exact same mechanism (ST4000DX000) inside the plastic case.
I used BlackMagicDesign's Disk Speed Test tool to run a quick speed test. My baseline is a Hitachi DeskStar 2TB 7200 RPM drive -- but it only has a SATA 2 interface. Both the Hitachi 2TB and one of the Seagate 4TB drives are connected to SATA 3 ports on the motherboard.
Interestingly, the USB 3.0 drive actually scored slightly HIGHER on the Read test -- while the SATA 3 connected drive scored slightly higher on the Write test.
Hitachi DeskStar 2TB (SATA 2):
Seagate ST4000DX000 4TB (SATA 3):
Seagate ST4000DX000 4TB (USB 3.0):
MultiBeast 4.2.1 Settings:
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Audio Problems??
If you're like me, every time you run an Apple Software Update, your audio dies...
10.7.3 was no exception...
Here's the latest fix -- was quite easy for me:
viewtopic.php?t=45413
If you're like me, every time you run an Apple Software Update, your audio dies...
10.7.3 was no exception...
Here's the latest fix -- was quite easy for me:
viewtopic.php?t=45413
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Mooner (or anyone else in the same position):
Did you ever get the FW800 ports on the FRONT of your hack working? I'm seriously considering doing my first build but i just want to buy trusted parts so that i know everything will work (or thereabouts, with as little 'tweaking' as possible) straight off the bat.
Thanks for your help
Did you ever get the FW800 ports on the FRONT of your hack working? I'm seriously considering doing my first build but i just want to buy trusted parts so that i know everything will work (or thereabouts, with as little 'tweaking' as possible) straight off the bat.
Thanks for your help
neilhart
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mrmeister said:
Yes I have both FW400 and FW800 on the front panel working on my Mac Pro hack.
Everything but audio auto detection works on the front panel (you have to choose the front audio in the Sound preferences).
See the detail here: http://www.tonymacx86.com/mac-pro-mods/28892-neilharts-mac-pro-hack.html
neil
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Thank you for the reply. Its good to know that the front panel will still receive FW connections. I can't find any other cases out there with a front facing FW800 (i need them for hot-swapping my audio drives and don't want to mess around at the back of the case).
Ummm, after viewing your pictures the connections on the your panel is different to what i'm looking at. The 2009 model has a 44-pin connector for 1 audio, 2 USB and 2 FW800... Would this be the same process of buying a FW800 PCI card with an internal port, or would i have to do something different?
Again, thanks for your help
Ummm, after viewing your pictures the connections on the your panel is different to what i'm looking at. The 2009 model has a 44-pin connector for 1 audio, 2 USB and 2 FW800... Would this be the same process of buying a FW800 PCI card with an internal port, or would i have to do something different?
Again, thanks for your help
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MrMeister-
Your 2009 Mac Pro front board has a much different wiring scheme...
See here:
http://aquamac.proboards.com/index.cgi? ... 087&page=2
You can use an IDE header (same 44 pin connector), but you'll have to break out the individual wires and figure out the correct pinout to make Firewire work. I specifically chose my case because the front panel was much simpler to reverse engineer...
-Mooner
Your 2009 Mac Pro front board has a much different wiring scheme...
See here:
http://aquamac.proboards.com/index.cgi? ... 087&page=2
You can use an IDE header (same 44 pin connector), but you'll have to break out the individual wires and figure out the correct pinout to make Firewire work. I specifically chose my case because the front panel was much simpler to reverse engineer...
-Mooner
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Ahhh, i see, thats a bit of a pain. How do Apple manage it, do you know? Could you not use an IDE to IDE at all? Forgive me if that sounds stupid, i'm just trying to keep my faith in this project and want it to be as easy as possible 
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