My Third Case Mod....Thawing an Ice Cube

[Einsteiniac]

Yeah I am not sure I know the rubber will compress quite a bit though.

 

[chaosdesigns]

I did have these rubber fan mounts available, but they were too large to fit through the tapped holes.

But thanks for reminding me that the G5 fans have some..... I will go and root through my parts pile and see if a smaller set is available.

chaos

 

[Jeffinslaw]

No no no no, don't buy anything "designed" for computer fans. I went to my local True Value Hardware and picked up 40 rubber O-rings for my fans. Super cheap. They work GREAT!

Jeffinslaw

 

[chaosdesigns]

Thanks Jeffinslaw......Home Hardware, here I come!

 

[chaosdesigns]

Finalizing the Touch Sensor

When I re-assembled my cube, I began to have problems with the proximity sensor. The cube would shutdown and startup randomly
So I shortened the cable to the sensor and ensured things were grounded. I also moved the sensor cap (glued to the metal "can") closer to the proximity switch.

Shown here is the ground jumper.

I created a shorter cable that has a ground wire running through it to minimize stray signals.

I added some Duct Tape to the circuit side of the PC board, so it could be mounted closer to the "can" on my custom sensor bracket.

Now the switch behaves predictably.

Happy Modding!
chaos

 

[chaosdesigns]

Adding USB and Audio Jacks to the DVD Slot


Instead of an optical drive, I want to add the ablity to use USB devices and headphones without flipping the cube over. So I'm going to mount 4 USB jacks and a Line In and Headphones Out in the slot where the optical drive used to be.


Here are the USB and Audio components I am going to incorporate into my cube.

I "stole" just the audio ports from an Obsidian Front Panel Upgrade Kit. I trimmed up the bracket that came with the USB ports and created one of my own for the audio jacks out of a small scrap of aluminum.

I used JB Weld to "glue" them all together on the top plate.

Here is a photo with the ports installed.

....and the rear... a bit messy due to the JB weld.

Installing the ports was a simple matter of re-attaching the top plate, routing the USB and audio wires and plugging them into their respective headers on the motherboard.
USB Connectors

AUDIO Connector

And here is a view from the top.

and..... they work!

Happy Modding!
chaos

 

[Einsteiniac]

Finalizing the Touch Sensor

When I re-assembled my cube, I began to have problems with the proximity sensor. The cube would shutdown and startup randomly
So I shortened the cable to the sensor and ensured things were grounded. I also moved the sensor cap (glued to the metal "can") closer to the proximity switch.

Shown here is the ground jumper.

I created a shorter cable that has a ground wire running through it to minimize stray signals.

I added some Duct Tape to the circuit side of the PC board, so it could be mounted closer to the "can" on my custom sensor bracket.

Now the switch behaves predictably.

Happy Modding!
chaos

I remember when these machines were a few years old the original design started to have issues and Apple was replacing those rubber gaskets to resolve the issue. It has been so long but if I remember correctly the gaskets were compressing over time allowing for excess heat to build up around the sensor which triggered an event in the sensor.

 

[minihack]

Yes, and one of the cures is also to use a bit of sticky tape over the sensor.....all good "hacking".

 

[chaosdesigns]

Interesting! I did not know that. I have had my cube running for a couple of days now, and the temps are quite good. I don't think I will have a heat issue with my sensor, as it is no longer in the "chimney path", in fact there is nothing near it that generates any heat.


chaos

 

[chaosdesigns]

Project Completion


And with a final polish to the plexiglas case, my cube is complete.


Special thanks to:
neilhart - for finding this motherboard and figuring out how to make OSX work on it,as well as project support thru-out.
minihack - for figuring out all about the touch sensor and providing support thru-out the project.
Einsteiniac - for actually reading my error messages and providing support thru-out the project.
eelhead - for providing support thru-out the project.
The Entire TonyMac Community - for making projects like this possible!


Here are some photos of the finished project.

The Core:
Top

Front

Side

Side

Bottom

Back

I have attached my build notes. They include the major parts list, my BIOS settings and the Mountain Lion installation procedure.
View attachment Intel Cube Build.txt


This project took 5 weeks elapsed time. All the modifications were done with common tools you would find in most garages.


On to the next project....Cube Two! Happy Modding


chaos