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My "As Original As Possible (ish)" case mod!

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May 16, 2015
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Motherboard
MSI Z97 PC Mate
CPU
i7-4770K
Graphics
RX 580
Mac
  1. MacBook Pro
  2. Mac mini
Classic Mac
  1. iMac
  2. Power Mac
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Hi there everyone!

I haven't got much time at the moment, and this may take a while to complete fully, but I am planning to build a Hackintosh over the summer out of a really beaten up PowerMac G5 (Dual CPU) case that I have bought.

I have attached images and here's a list of what I have done so far:


  • removed the motherboard
  • detached the central divider, rotated 180 degrees (so that the fans are mounted underneath the G5 CPU heatsink cover plate)
  • Placed in a demo (broken) MicroATX motherboard to design the layout (as seen in the photos)
  • removing the original PSU innards (I have a replacement board which fits inside, but won't mess around with that until I can get the stuff working outside the case)
  • replacing the IDE DVD drive with a SATA one and a molex to SATA power adapter (soon to be replaced with a black one).
  • replaced the Short SATA HDD cables with longer ones (I will eventually get black ones too)

Standard stuff still to do:


  • Buy parts
  • Sand down all metal (minus the grill part, as that is actually in perfect condition), and then spray paint it.
  • Move standoffs to new positions for the new motherboard.
  • Cut motherboard divider to accommodate the new motherboard while being screwed to case at each end.
  • Rewire all the fans, speaker, original HDD/DVD power cable (which goes under motherboard originally).
  • Route power for new motherboard (underneath it if possible) as the connector will most likely be at the top in my configuration.
  • Buy long PCIe extender/riser cables to attach graphics cards/other back panel cards (in the future)
  • Buy extension cables for rear USB, Audio, onboard HDMI/DVI (using PCI back plate).

The cool bits:


I plan to use a Raspberry Pi (always on, transformer connected to the normal 3 pin IEC on the back too) to control the operations of the front power button & LED. This will (if it works) allow me to have the LED at 80% when on, 100% when HDD is active, and best of all, recreate the breathing effect when in sleep mode! These will be sensed by the outputs on the motherboard going into the Pi, with the front power button going into the Pi first and then going out to the motherboard.

Furthermore, I plan to LED light the case (the air baffle will remain in place, acting like a case window), so these may also be able to be controlled by the Pi if I can draw enough current through some break out board. Eventually, as a side project, I plan to make a web-based interface for the Pi so that I can remotely control the custom LED lighting inside and even start the machine remotely. This will be done with a USB WiFi card plugged into the Pi.

Conclusion:

It's a few weeks till my summer holiday, so there won't be many updates for a while, but if anyone has any hints and tips, that would be great! I'm going to make sure everything works outside the case first, so you'll see me getting help with Yosemite (or El Capitan at this rate) elsewhere on the forum!

Until next time,
Matthew.
 

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Your Raspberry Pi idea is very creative and I'm interested in the result.

As for rewiring the fans, some say that they are much louder than the fans you can buy in the shops nowadays, even if you run them at the same voltage. I have no experience with this issue since I don't use the stock fans but you may / should ask someone who has, and maybe consider buying new ones. You can however put fans of the same size in the plastic tray to mount them as they used to be. I did that with my rear fans and it worked out perfectly.
 
Interesting. However, I would definitely use an Arduino Nano instead of the Pi. The Nano is WAY smaller, draws less power, and is more suited for controlling LED'S than the Pi. The Pi is simply overkill for this :)
 
Interesting. However, I would definitely use an Arduino Nano instead of the Pi. The Nano is WAY smaller, draws less power, and is more suited for controlling LET'S than the Pi. The Pi is simply overkill for this :)

Only thing is, I already have a Pi I am not using :) I understand your point though :)
 
Update: Due to the lack of a DAC (digital to analogue converter) in the Pi, I am now unlikely to use it for the time being.

However, I have build and tested a new circuit for the LED on the front of the case! The operation is as follows:
  • On power-up, the LED fades in.
  • When powered and heavy hard drive usage, the LED dims a bit.
  • When sleeping, there is a nice breathing / fading in and out effect (depends on the speed the power LED line flashes at).

Videos, circuit diagrams and photos will come soon (hopefully). :)
 
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