QQAT - the Quick Question Answer Thread for PowerMac G5 Hacks

[jsahlen]

Those readymade cables sold on the InsanelyMac forum apparently use a jumper cable to ground the Firewire connector, making the front panel work even when the Firewire is not connected to anything. Not sure about which pins etc though.

 

[Dschijn]

Anyone know of a guide to wire up the G5 front panel for motherboards without Firewire? My Ga-Z77X-UP7 does not have an internal Firewire connector and I don't want to buy a card because I have no use for Firewire.

Thanks! Jeffinslaw

You just have to connect the front panel firewire ground port to the ground port of the powerswitch on the motherboard.

 

[Jeffinslaw]

You just have to connect the front panel firewire ground port to the ground port of the powerswitch on the motherboard.

Thanks!

Jeffinslaw

 

[Wolfie81]

Hey guys, Im seriously stuck here. Im SO close to finishing up my transfer over to the new system and I hit a wall. A wall when I least expected to hit one.

Its inserting the DVD drive back in. Now i youtubed, followed all the guides and have the screws in place and all. The drive does not want to easily slot into the grooves into the attachment. I used all my force and I still couldnt get it to slot in. I dont know if the dvd flap on the G5 isnt installed correcyly which is hindering its movement. It seems it needs to be forced towards the front of the G5 and forced from the side to try get it to line up. I just cant do it. I cant see any hinderance.
My biggest concern is the dvd flap has not been installed correctly but it really seems fine....
If it isnt installed correctly does this mean removing the top shelf again. I really dont want to do that as the locking mechansim and everything else is all done...

 

[Dschijn]

Have you removed the front part of the new DVD drive?

 

[Wolfie81]

im at a loss, all ive removed from the DVD drive is the lip that covers the ejection tray as what google tells me to do. For the life of me I cannot slide it in. I even started bending and distorting the metal frame of the dvd with the pressure im exerting.
How can we check the DVD flap attached to G5 is properly secured?

 

[neilhart]

Hey guys, Im seriously stuck here. Im SO close to finishing up my transfer over to the new system and I hit a wall. A wall when I least expected to hit one.

Its inserting the DVD drive back in. Now i youtubed, followed all the guides and have the screws in place and all. The drive does not want to easily slot into the grooves into the attachment. I used all my force and I still couldnt get it to slot in. I dont know if the dvd flap on the G5 isnt installed correcyly which is hindering its movement. It seems it needs to be forced towards the front of the G5 and forced from the side to try get it to line up. I just cant do it. I cant see any hinderance.
My biggest concern is the dvd flap has not been installed correctly but it really seems fine....
If it isnt installed correctly does this mean removing the top shelf again. I really dont want to do that as the locking mechansim and everything else is all done...

Maybe this will help:

If you have not removed the optical drive bezel, please do so. See this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usimq6Q3Pa0 and at a minute into it the instructions begin.

Reach into the G5 PM case and press the optical drive door actuator bar towards the front of the case. The door flap should slide down (open) freely and return to the closed position when you release the actuator bar.
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Insure that the 4 Apple shoulder screws are installed and that the large shoulder is fully contacting the optical drive case.
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At the top tray, position the two grey locking levers fully open and feel for the open detent. You should feel a small snap as the locking lever enters the detent.
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Place the optical drive into position, feeling for the rear shoulder screw entering the rear top panel slots. At the same time the front shoulder screws will enter the slots at the front locking levers.
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The optical drive will stop when you reach about 70 to 80% engagement. You then use the locking levers to fully engage the Optical drive. Feel the final small snap as both levers are closed.
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If the above does not work for you there must be a problem with the top tray or the optical drive. Try another optical drive. Check for burrs or other obstructions at each of the top tray optical drive mounting points.

Worst case is pull the top tray out of the machine and work out the problem on the bench.

Let us know what you find to be the problem.

Good modding,
Nell

 

[jamba]

can you spot where exactly it is stuck?.. at the front, the sliders..and dont use force when sliding in or it will be damaged..

 

[Wolfie81]

Right guys I finally figured out the problem. What annoys me most of all was the time spent on this damm issue and the in/out of parts which lead to scratching up whatever I spray painted. It took me the good part of today to work out why and how to resolve it.

First of all I was right, I wasn't day dreaming thinking its normally this difficult to get the DVD drive in. I first tried some more to slide it into the slots to no avail then I grudgingly pulled out the locking mechanism and top shelf, pulled off the DVD flap attached to the G5 again and took a look around, did a bit of experimenting/fitting. The flap attachment was then put on and it was definitely attached right.
Then I screwed the top shelf back in and tried to put in the DVD to see if itll go in before redoing the locking mechanism. It didn't fit again. I was stumped.

I thought to myself, I need to somehow try 'shift' the top plate towards the back of the G5 where the i/o ports are. This would then not leave such a huge distance to force the dvd drive into the slot by applying pressure from the back of the DVD drive towards the front of the G5.
I checked where the G5 top tray screws in and it was in the middle of the 'groove'. I couldn't shift the screwhole in the G5 towards the left which I needed to do and I was stumped.

I then discovered the reason all along for my troubles. The top G5 plate was already jammed against the back i/o port panel that I got from laser hive hitting one spot in particular. So i decided to fix it. I retook out the top G5 shelf and cut a 'notch' into the shelf where it impeded on the tray being able to slide back when screwed back into the G5. See the picture.

Once this was done I had normal leeway of the G5 tray and so I shifted it against the backplate as far as possible, which in turn allowed the DVD rive to be closely aligned with the sliding holes of the tray to lock it into place.

After a few goes of the DVD drive, I was satisfied and put everything back together.
Im glad its resolved but Im annoyed at the time that got away.
I did also modify the acrylic motherboard tray when I originally installed it into the G5 as it wouldnt sit and had to make a certain hole a bit wider/ That was easy, I guess this back i/o panel was somehow faulty (unless I installed it incorrectly, though it seems all my PCI cards lineup fine etc)
Anyway, all done.

Thank you so much for all your help, this is why this forum is great as theres always those ready to dedicate time to helping others out. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you all.

EDIT: after speaking to minihack, there was a communication breakdown in modification of the top tray. It is crucial users remove 3/4 the width of the top tray when cutting it to fit the motherboard underneath it otherwise it will impact on the I/O panel.

 

[Skiwa]

Dear Neilhart, could you please make a guide on how to connect the power button, LED and 3,5mm jack directly to the motherboard front panel? since you have a lot of experience in modding and such


Thanks in advance!