]> http://www.applefritter.com/taxonomy/term/64/0 en http://www.applefritter.com/node/3533 I've painted a few cases since joining Applefritter. Most have been 'experiments', which means: 1) They're done on old PCs that I don't care about, and 2) I wasn't impressed with them enough to move my daily-use motherboards into them. The Quadra 700 case I started with had been somewhat successful and useful. [center][thumb:3529][/center] It was painted with dark red Krylon Fusion. Fairly soon it chipped, and after resting my camcorder bag on top of it, the paint was damaged from the vinyl of the bag - and this was at least a month after painting. That experiment was a written off as a failure. The remaining Fusion paint my wife put to great use on garden pots. After seeing tmtomh's excellent [url=http://www.applefritter.com/node/view/3437]Quadra 7100b[/url], I decided to resurrect my 7100-in-700 project. The Quadra 700 case was sanded with a random orbit sander to remove most of the Fusion paint, then wet-sanded with 150-grit emery cloth to clean up. Planning on using the 7100's AV card this time, I cut a hole for it using my Dozuki saw, and cleaned up that hole, and the original cuts I'd made in the case, with a combination of the Dremel and files. I was stuck on how to repaint the case, until I stumbled across a photo of an F-18 jet painted up with a newer 'digital camouflage' pattern. I found the vintage-computer bitmap look quite appealing, and decided that's what the case would get. [center][thumb:3528][/center] The inside and outside of the case was sprayed with matte white Krylon enamel indoor-outdoor paint. It's recommended for just about everything, and dries quickly. [center][thumb:3524][/center] I removed the 'weatherstipping' from the inside of the case that presses against the lid. Anti-vibration? Don't know, but it had red Fusion paint on it, and I wasn't about to re-paint it or clean it. I removed the metal shielding from the back of the case. After cutting the hole for the 7100's AV card (thanks again for the advice tmtomh!) it was ruined anyway. In retrospect, I should have also cut a hole for the third Nubus card. The remaining metal shield on the side of the case was removed and painted with a matte black Krylon, as was the speaker housing, the power/operator buttons and the drive/floppy carriage. I removed the top panel from the power supply, and painted it black as well. [center][thumb:3525][/center] I was afraid the matte black would rub off on the matte white of the case, so I painted the fronts of the power buttons with a dab of gloss black enamel, and being extra cautious, gave them a dab of silicon grease to slide on. On to the camo pattern: [center][thumb:3523][/center] I'm lucky enough to own an airbrush: A Paasche model H. I considered masking and painting the camo pattern with a spray can, but figured the amount of masking involved, and risk of overspray and difficulty of cleanup made airbrushing a better candidate. I mixed up a medium gray using Liquitex acrylics, thinned with methyl hydrate (rubbing alcohol works as well, so does just water, but it takes far longer to dry). Using acrylics over enamels gave me the ability to wipe up mistakes on the surface without damaging the white undercoat. I made a printout of a few random shapes created by turning an image into a bitmap in Photoshop, and selecting a very small portion of that image. I blew it up until I had massive, square pixels, then saved it and printed it out from from Quark Xpress. From that, I cut out a few shapes to use as a stencil. [center][thumb:3527][/center] The larger shapes were held onto the case with two-way tape. I airbrushed the gray over the stencil, then carefully pulled the stencil off. This only made it through a couple sprays before the paper became mushy and ripped. I made s smaller stencil, and just rotated it to vary the pattern. I also used low-tack masking tape to create a few panels. [center][thumb:3522][/center] Once that had dried, I added white to the paint, and sprayed another layer of pattern. I kept the spray light, so some of the first coat of gray would show through, creating depth. I let it dry, then gave the airbrushed areas a coat of an acrylic matte coat to protect them from scuffs and scratches. [center][thumb:3526][/center] The 7100 logic board had its power LED removed, and a white LED put in its place. As you can see from the photo, the LED is a white-ish blue. The hard drive - for now an Apple-branded Quantum 500MB, has no built-in LED, and I have yet to find a connector small enough to attach to the drive's LED interface. If I do, it'll get a white or blue LED. The moment of truth... [center][thumb:3521][/center] All back together, it boots! The AV card was a bit loose, but once the lid of the case is on, it's held in firmly. Things to do still: Case badge: I've got some clear inkjet decal film onto which I'll print a case badge. "Feets:" Every Mac needs some feet to rest on. Home Depot carries transparent stick-on rubber buttons for putting under decorations and counter-top appliances. These should do the trick nicely. I figure I'll put four on the bottom, for a micro-tower position, and four on the side for a desktop configuration. The whole process took two days. I'm impatient when it comes to painting, which has ruined more than one project. To be really safe, I should have waited longer for paint to cure, but I didn't. Now that it's done, I've got to wait until I get the decal and feet done before I can use it, so it should have time for paint curing. Acrylic paint is cured within days, but enamels can take up to two months to be well and truly cured. I'm happy with how it turned out. The digital camouflage pattern looks just as I'd envisioned, and my hope is it'll be much more durable than the original paint. Mon, 28 Jun 2004 06:10:30 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/3437 [center][b]Macintosh Quadra 7100b[/b][/center] [center][image:3434][/center] A Power Mac 7100 in a black Quadra 700 case with a wireless keyboard [center][b]Introduction[/b][/center] I've always been a fan of hacking, case mods in particular. Recently I've felt the desire to do something a little less intricate, and at the same time a little more comprehensive, than the CC mods I usually do. I love the Quadra 700 mini-minitower form factor, and while I respect the 68k purity of it (it's my favorite machine for running A/UX), I've always wanted a PPC Quadra 700. PPC601 cards are hard to find and relatively expensive, so I decided to make a cheapskate's PPC Quadra from what I had around the house: namely, an extra Q700 with a discolored case and no RAM, and a really beat-up 7100 with a terrible case and no CD-ROM drive. I later added a G3 card, a MacPicasso 340 NuBus video card, and an old Dolch industrial 10.4" black LCD VGA monitor. The G3, MacPicasso and Dolch LCD set me back quite a few clams, but hey, hacking ain't supposed to practical! You can see some pics of the monitor here: http://homepage.mac.com/mruben/macstuff/PhotoAlbum51.html The black color for the case was inspired by a very cool black wireless keyboard I just got off eBay. The Acer Airkey is an infrared, ADB keyboard with built in mouse pointer and clickers. It's compact and just too cool. Finally, I'd been wanting to try out Molecubond, a spray dye designed for cars and boats that actually bonds to plastic. Unlike paint, it won't peel off, it won't scratch off (unless you really gouge it), and it won't obscure the texture of the plastic. [center][b]Step 1: Get out the Jigsaw[/b][/center] Step One was to modify the Q700's case to fit the 7100's mobo. Both mobos share the same form factor -- they're the same size and, crucially, they have the same two cutouts in the middle, which allows the 7100's mobo to latch securely to plastic standoff hooks molded into the base of the Q700's case. So the only real modification involved removing the rear port holes to accommodate the 7100's different port array. I also cut a hole in the rear of the Q700 to accommodate a monitor port from the 7100's HPV card, because I had no HDI45 adapter, and this mobo's HDI monitor port seems to be defective anyway. Here are the cutouts, made with a drill and a jigsaw. I started with a dremel, but it was taking forever and was melting the plastic -- yuk! (Inside, the Q700's shielding was cut with tin snips--wear gloves, the edges are razor sharp!) [center][image:3410][/center] In the foreground is an Asante NuBus ethernet card I had lying around the house. When I upgraded to a G3 card, I had to abandon the HPV video card - it would no longer fit in the case. Instead, I got the aforementioned MacPicasso NuBus card. I now wish I hadn't cut the HPV card opening, but it is relatively small and is in the back, so it's not a big deal. [center][b]Step 1a: Plow the Field[/b][/center] The top wouldn't close properly with the HPV card installed. It doesn't appear to stick up any higher than the ethernet card, but you can't argue with physics. So out came the Dremel. After three abrasive cutoff wheels shattered on me, I switched to the metal cutoff saw, which did the trick. The basement did smell like melted plastic for the rest of the night, however. :-/ [center][image:3426][/center] [center][b]Step 2: Molecubond![/b][/center] I'd read about the miraculous Molecubond, a paint that's actually a dye, and which promises to bond to plastic so that it can't be scratched or peeled off like paint -- all the while preserving the texture of the Mac's case. Molecubond is now ColorBond, and is made by Bryndana International Ltd.: [center][url]http://www.colorbondtuner.com/[/url][/center] [center][image:3428][/center] So I got two cans for -- ouch! -- $9.99 each, and went out in the yard to spray. But first I had to remove the Apple logo and the plastic piece that lets the power LED shine through: [center][image:3415][/center] That done, I began to spray the dye: [center][image:3416][/center] [center][image:3417][/center] Molecubond preserved the case texture as promised, but it covers very thinly, as evidenced by the above pictures, taken before the final coat. And it stinks to high heaven. If I were indoors I would've passed out from the fumes -- seriously! :o I went through both cans, which promise a combined 14 square foot coverage, and the case -- which is about 4.5 square feet -- still needed one more coat. I made sure to coat the front and top well, so they looked the most even: [center][image:3408][/center] [center][image:3425][/center] Here's some detail on the front, around the floppy and logo area, and around the reset button holes: [center][image:3414][/center] [center][image:3407][/center] And here are some shots of the little things: reset buttons, NuBus slot covers, and case feet: [center][image:3436][image:3421][/center] [center][image:3429][/center] After I took these pictures, I bit the bullet and got a third can of Molecubond. The case now looks much better, deeper black and much more even in color. [center][b]Step 3: Putting It All Back Together[/b][/center] This part was fairly simple, with only one little trick. Here's the 7100's motherboard, fully populated with 72MB RAM (4 16MB sticks I had laying around, plus 8MB on the motherboard). Also shown are the cabling, the HPV card and the ethernet card: [center][image:3418][/center] Here's everything stuffed back in the painted case... [center][image:3419][/center] ... except for the speaker. The Q700 has a different shaped speaker, (below, left) with a different impedance and a different motherboard connector: [center][image:3422][/center] So the 7100's speaker must be used. And because of its different shape and size, it won't fit into the Q700's speaker enclosure. So I attached it to the case with super-velcro: [center][image:3427][image:3424][/center] [center][image:3423][/center] BUT, I soon discovered that the original speaker's plastic bracket also helps steady the motherboard in its case. So I cut off the top of the bracket and reinstalled it, re-stabilizing the mobo. Finally, I snapped on the top and put on the feet: [center][image:3409][/center] In outdoor light, or by the flash of a camera, some unevenness in color showed up. But now, with the third coat of Molecubond on, it's a non-issue. [center][b]Step 4: Fire It Up![/b][/center] I'd installed a 2GB Seagate Barracuda I got from who-remembers-where, and I had no idea if it had an OS on it, much less one that would boot the 7100. So in addition to a monitor, I attached an external CD-ROM drive in case I had to install an OS from CD. Finally, I attached the super-cool Acer Airkey wireless keyboard, pressed the power button (the Airkey has no power key :( ), and voila! [center][image:3413][/center] Turns out the Barracura had OS 8.0 on it and booted right up. It was rather noisy, however, and I got sick of listening to it. So I swapped in a 500MB Apple/Quantum drive and installed OS 8.6. Now, at this point the Quadra 7100b got a little full of itself and started posing like the old Beige G3 towers, with its keyboard leaned up against it, sort of like a jacket slung over the shoulder: [center][image:3411][/center] When not in use, the keyboard fits perfectly on top of the machine: [center][image:3412][/center] Mon, 11 Jul 2005 17:22:36 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/3209 [center][image:3205][/center] Note the Blue LED I installed behind the Apple logo. It blinks whenever the disk array is accessing. [b]How I installed the LED:[/b] Basically I used a standard T-3/4 sized Blue LED. You can buy a mounting grommet for that size and then drill a 1/4 inch hole in the metal behind the apple logo. To locate the hole you should remove the front cover, remove the apple logo, and replace the front panel without it. You should indent the center of that area with a centerpunch or a pointy phillips screwdriver and a hammer (Don't worry, the steel of any decent screw driver is many times harder than the soft sheet metal of your G3.) You should remove the front cover before drilling and also you should consider that some small metal shavings will fall inside your machine if you aren't ready to catch them. Have a friend hold a paper cup under the drill site while you drill. To drive the LED, do not ever hook it up to the power supply directly or it will light very very brightly for about 1/10 of a second and get very hot. You have two choices. If you want it on all the time, wire the LED into the 5V supply with a 100 ohm resistor in series to limit the current. Or, if you have a SCSI card or hard drive with and LED output, you can simply hook it up to that. LED's are polarity sensitive, but it won't hurt them if you hook them up backwards. Be sure to consult the directions that came with your LED as they are not all created equal. If your LED only comes with a maximum current rating you can calculate the resitor value algebraically using the formula "voltage = current X resistance" Since you know the voltage of your supply is 5V and you know the maximum current rating of the LED, calculating the resistance is simple. Don't be surprised if you can't find the precise value of resistor you calculated, just be sure to buy the next highest value rather than the next lowest. If you can't find a proper resistor you can run the equation again using the 12V supply. If you're still stuck you can get creative by putting resistors in series and adding thier values or putting them in parallel and dividing thier values. Make sure to test the resistance with a meter before trying the circuit if you are not experienced in calculating complex resistor values. Also, you should run the formula again and calculate the current flowing through your resistor to be sure that you don't smoke it, either. [center][image:3206][/center] The marbling effect is cased by inconsistant translucency of the clear panels. [center][image:3207] [image:3208][/center] By painting the inside of the plastics, I was able to preserve the shine of the front panel. The Configuration: [list][*]Dual 500MHz PowerPC 7400 (G4) processors with 1MB of 250MHz cache [*]512MB of PC100 RAM [*]140 GB hard drive [*]True 52x Kenwood CD-ROM [*]16MB Rage 128Pro AGP Graphics Card [*]Airport [*]Adaptec 3950U2W SCSI card [*]Adaptec 2940UW SCSI card[/list] Fri, 13 Aug 2004 15:58:47 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1729 I have found a use again for the old Apple branded, and manufactured by Lacie, external SCSI drives. I was inspired to convert a case into a FireWire unit one day looking through the store at fwdepot.com. They sell boards that can be added into an external hard drive enclosure to add FireWire capabilities. These boards do not convert SCSI to FireWire, the old SCSI drive has to be junked and replaced with an IDE drive that connects to the FireWire board. The board I selected was the 142AS bridgeboard. for 69 dollars. There is unit a little cheaper (142AV) but space was a concern so I went with what I thought would be the easiest to fit in the case. This is by no means an example on how to save money. I was just interested in converting old hardware into something useful again. I like the fact it has the Apple logo and at first glance it looks just the same as before the change. This drive also has a an internal power supply that allows you to use a standard power cord so you don’t have to carry around an external power brick for your case. Many new 3.5� and larger Firewire drives use those stupid power bricks. If you need a drive that you can move around easily choose the smaller laptop size drives or get 3.5� drive that has a built-in power supply. Usually the built-in ones are a little more robust as well. The first few pictures here document the features these drives have for people who are not familiar with them. I know that at one point they came in 2, 4, and 9 gig sizes. [center][thumb:1647] [thumb:1648][/center] Taking this case apart is not real difficult as long as you are not in a hurry. I started with the 2 screws on the back next to the SCSI connectors. There are 4 feet on the case that can be moved around to allow the case to stand straight up or rest on its side. For this conversion 2 of the feet need to vacate so the case can be opened. [center][thumb:1653][/center] Taking things slow pays at this point. I had to set the case on its side and pry the top portion away from the bottom. I started at the pry points located at the front of the case and opened that part of the case just enough that it wouldn’t snap back into place. Next I did the same thing on the rear 2 pry points. Then I swung the top portion up like the hood on a car so that the rear was the hinge point. Then I had to pry the rear part a little more for the top part of the case to come off. Take a look at the pictures to see why I had to pry things apart gently. [center][thumb:1645] [thumb:1649][/center] Now I was into the case and thinking I was home free for removing the old hard drive, I was wrong. The HD is mounted to the chassis from the bottom. To get to those screws you need to remove six screws so you can separate the plastics from the metal chassis. The first four screws are pretty easy to locate but the last 2 are in the mix of wires near the power supply. There is a nice big capacitor in there and I made sure not to test and see if it was still charged up. [center][thumb:1652][/center] From this point things got pretty easy for a bit. I removed the HD from the chassis, and unscrewed the old SCSI connectors from the back of the chassis. As you can see from picture just showing the chassis it looks like there is a lot of room. You can also see the power cable zip tied to the chassis. I had to cut the the cord from the chassis later because of space issues. I also removed the SCSI ID selector cable, it was a nice easy to remove plug. I left the actual selector in place because I had nothing to put in its place. I tried to think of something useful to put there but came up empty. [center][thumb:1654][/center] I wanted to stay away from them but the next part required power tools. Unfortunately I moved recently and couldn’t find my Dremel so I couldn’t cut off these annoying little tabs located on the chassis in the exact spot that the bridgeboard needs to go. (see picture) So I bent them up with a pair of pliers. Not the prettiest way, but it sure was easy. With the tabs bent up I tested the board in the opening and found that the old screw holes from the SCSI connectors did not match up with the holes on the board. I wouldn’t normally use a drill to make the holes on the chassis bigger but I couldn’t wait to get it all done so I used the drill bit to grind away some of the chassis. I need a new drill bit now but it worked. With the bridgeboard in I soon realized I should have mounted the new IDE drive to the chassis first so I had to remove the board and put the HD in followed by the board. I would still suggest doing the fitting of the board before you mount the HD though. In the 2nd picture below you can see the the board directly behind the new HD and I do mean directly. If you don’t put the board in the top opening there is no way you can hook the power and IDE cable to the HD. [center][thumb:1651] [thumb:1644][/center] To make things appear nice and neat I took apart one of the original SCSI connectors and used it to fill the hole under the bridgeboard. [center][thumb:1650][/center] Once the board is in I just reversed the steps and put things back together. After a few days of use I didn’t like the noise from the fan and the rattling that came from the long IDE cable flopping around in the case. The cable is extra long and comes with the board. It is longer than I needed because the board is designed to be used with 2 IDE devices if you want. I popped the case open again and strapped the thing down real good so it will never move again. While I was in there I replaced the fan with a different one. I could do that because to be honest we have 3 of these cases and I just fired them all up to see which one had the best fan and then ripped that one out and put it in the modified case. The odd thing was how the other case had a soldered on SCSI selector cable and the HD power cord was routed completely different. So I guess that the build process at the factory was not always the same. [center][thumb:1646][/center] The new drive works great. Only problem I have had is trying to use it with 10.2.6 and my Newertech FW Cardbus card on my Wallstreet PB. During my initial testing of the case it refuses to mount on the desktop. If I boot into OS 9 it works fine with the case. Other FW drives I use work fine with this setup so I am not sure why this bridgeboard does not seem to be compatible. Doesn’t really matter since the drive is going to be used at work for backups and will most likely never be used again on my Wallstreet. I did some benchmarking at work and found that using OS 9 was a lot slower than OS X in the transfer of files. (by minutes) I don’t know if this is due to the kind of bridgeboard or the OS in general. I tried on multiple systems and got the same horrible results. I haven’t moved files in OS 9 with FW in a while and the results came as a surprise. I will have to test with some of our other FW drives and see the results. Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:44:39 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1493 [center][image:1490][/center] Crusader was my first attempt at a hack. It was a Power Mac 7500 that I had bought for A/V uses, and as such, I felt that it needed a custom paint job to complete the look -- beige just wasn't cutting it. I went out and purchased some Krylon silver spray paint, along with blue Testors clear spray enamel. As you can see, the Testors dries see through, so you can still read the letters on the keys. I wanted this effect to be quite prominent, and ran all of the plastics through the dishwasher first to help get them ready for paint. There's one key on the keyboard that isn't painted, for a rather interesting reason. I was prying the keys off with a little flat head screwdriver, and this key wouldn't come off. Afraid to break the board, I ignored it - and discovered that I did indeed break the little "presser thing" that connects the key. Oh well. The keys, power button, and eject button (for the CD drive) are all blue. Everything else is Silver. Crusader runs with a 132 MHz 604e processor, 64 MB RAM, and dual 2 GB hard drives. I added a USB card for the newer devices. One of my best friends moved away about half a year ago, and I gave this computer to him as a going-away gift. Needless to say, he loves it. Apparently it runs fine on the family's cable modem, and he uses Mac OS 9.1. [center][image:1491][/center] [center][image:1492][/center] Mon, 07 Jun 2004 12:55:55 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1359 by Ian at www.Fantasticthings.co.uk [center][image:1328][/center] [b]The SE/30 - An Overview[/b] For those of you not familiar with the SE/30, here's a brief rundown of the facts. The SE/30 is the finest compact Mac Apple ever produced, second only to the highly sought after Colour Classic I & II. It has the same all in one design as the earlier SE, but is much faster. Originally designed to take a maximum of 32mb of RAM, by using 16mb simms you can bump it up to a whopping 128mb! Although slow by modern standards, we love our SE/30 and use it for email, newsgroups, Irc, and writing scripts to send to the BBC. Oddly, they don't seem interested in a 'Mice on the Mouse Organ' spin off series, or 'Charlie Mouse - P.I.' [b]Our Mac![/b] [thumb:1322,middle] We're going to put this 'ere CD-ROM drive into this 'ere Macintosh! Anyway, onto our Mac. Our SE/30 has 20mb of RAM, an 850mb Hard Drive and is running System 7.5.5. [b]Why do this?[/b] You can of course attach an external CD-Rom drive via the SCSI port on the back of the machine, but this means an extra power socket is needed, and you end up with leads everywhere. This way everything is neatly stored in the one box. It also makes a dandy CD player! Just connect it up to an amp and you're away! Or plug some headphones into the front and chill while you work! [b]How we did it and what we used.[/b] [thumb:1354,middle] You can see our homemade long T-15 wrench on the right. The hacksaw on the left proved to be an essential. [b]Tools we used:[/b] [list][*]Long T-15 wrench [PICTURE] [*]Assorted screw drivers [*]Glue [*]Hacksaw [*]Needle files [*]Spanners [*]Drill [*]Pliers[/list] [b]Hardware we used:[/b] [list][*]50 pin SCSI CD-Rom drive [*]Half height floppy drive taken from an LC475 [*]SCSI cable with 2 drive connections [*]Standard PC power splitter [*]3.5" to 5.25" mounting brackets.[/list] [b]The Initial Idea:[/b] The plan goes thus: The SE/30 floppy drive is full height. Take this out and fit the CD-ROM in it's place, cutting a section out of the front of the case for the tray to pop out. Above that fit the slimmer floppy drive from the LC475 and the hard drive into the existing hard drive cradle. Then cut a new slot for the floppy drive. [b]Potential Problems:[/b] The floppy drive screws to the inner cage. The hard drive cradle then screws to the floppy drive. With the CD-Rom drive replacing the floppy, it may be tricky to fix the hard drive cradle. Can the PSU cope with the extra demand? Yes, we think so. The CD-ROM drive covers the only expansion slot. We may never be able to add a network card. The internal speaker is in the way and will need to be relocated. [h3]Step By Step[/h3] [b]Opening up:[/b] [b]Note:[/b] These sections are also relevant if you're opening up a Mac SE or a Plus [thumb:1317,middle] If you're opening up a Mac Plus, there is an extra screw behind the battery cover. Using the T-15 wrench, undo the 4 screws. The two black ones at the bottom, and the two deep in the handle. We made our own long wrench by cutting an L shaped tool and using it in a cheap multi-bit screwdriver. You can use a long flat head screwdriver if you've one the right width, and if the screws are not too tight, but this isn't recommended as you can damage the screw heads. If your Mac has the reset button on the side, take it off. It's just clipped on. Place the Mac face down and gently pull the back of the case away. [b]Removing the logic board:[/b] Remove the shielding from the bottom of the Mac. [thumb:1350,middle] Looking down onto the board from the back. Carefully pull the floppy cable from the board, followed by the hard drive cable. Slide the board towards you a fraction so you can get your big clumsy hand to the power cable. On the back in the middle of the connector is a catch. Squeeze the catch at the top and gently disconnect the cable. [thumb:1356,middle] You can see the tabs on the right side of the board that must be lined up with the notches in the cage. [thumb:1324,middle] The board removed. Now slide the logic board up until the notches on the right side match up with the notches on the cage. Gently lift the board out then pull away from the left side, but not too far as the speaker cable is still attached. Make a mental note of where the speaker cable is plugged in and remove. Place the board somewhere safe. You don't want to sit on it! [b]Removing the drives:[/b] [thumb:1337,middle] An empty Mac. Unscrew the hard drive cradle from the floppy drive and remove. Then remove the four screws fixing the floppy drive, and remove the drive. That's the easy bit. [b]The Speaker:[/b] [thumb:1352,middle] Once the speaker is removed you need to get rid of the lip as you can, but gently. The speaker has four fixings, but only two of them are actually holding in the speaker. We cut one of the fixings and then gently twisted the speaker out. The lip was then cut away to allow the CD-ROM drive to go right up to the front of the case. Some of the lip can be twisted out with a pair of pliers as the plastic is quite soft, but care must be taken as some of those grooves at the front are vents that are only fixed in a couple of places, so they are quite flimsy once you start prodding around. Once the speaker was free the cable was stuck between the front case and the cage. We removed the two screws under the cage, prised the cage and front cover apart slightly, and then slid the wire left (away from the PSU) until it came free, then we just pulled it out. [b]The CD-ROM Drive:[/b] [thumb:1333,middle] After removing fascia we replaced the front of the tray. We used a Toshiba drive. The standard Apple driver doesn't support it, but separate drivers are available. Or you can modify the Apple driver with ResEdit which may then do the job. Using a paperclip we opened the drive and removed the front of the tray, and then the front cover of the drive itself. We then replaced the front of the tray. Why? If you don't do this the drive will be too far back in the case when fitted. [thumb:1331,middle] By marking the edges of the floppy slot on the CD tray, and then removing the front of the tray and holding it over the slot, we marked out the hole for the CD tray. We placed the drive in position. We then marked on the front of the tray the position of the floppy drive slot. Then we removed the drive and the front of the tray, placed the front of the tray over the slot and lined up the marks. We then marked out where the hole for the tray needed to be cut. When the CD-Rom drive is eventually in place, the bottom of the drive is at the same level as the bottom of the floppy drive slot. So we just needed to extend the floppy drive slot for the bottom cut. The top's not as easy. The groove above the tray is a vent, and a bit flimsy. We could of course remove the groove completely but then the hole for the tray would be too high, and not look correct. [thumb:1339,middle] The first rough cut. We cut well within th elines and then filed it out as needed. The case is very soft plastic and easily cut. We took our time and cut well inside the lines, widening them with the needle files or knife afterwards to the correct size. Once the tray hole was cut we placed the drive in the Mac to make sure it was about the right size, and in the right place! Small adjustments can be made later. We then took the original CD-Rom cover, and broke any protruding bits of plastic off the back. Then, using the cover as a template we marked out where the holes needed to be cut for the headphone socket, volume control, LED and eject button. The smaller holes were cut by drilling first and then filing them out. [thumb:1341,middle] The smaller holes were drilled and then filed out. We used a hot needle to make a hole for the manual eject. You can just see it to the right of the eject button. You can also see the small hard drive LED lens above the CD drive. This marks the top of the new floppy drive slot, too. The CD-ROM drive then sits nicely up to the case, with everything sticking through as it should. You don't have to cut holes for the headphone socket and volume control of course, but if your drive has them you would have to remove them, otherwise the drive won't sit up to the case. Also remember that the volume control only effects the headphone socket. The audio out on the back of the drive is uneffected by it, and the Mac itself cannot control the CD volume. [b]Fixing the drive in place:[/b] The drive was screwed to the cage from underneath. Amazingly, we found that 3 of the 4 fixing holes on the bottom of the drive lined up with existing holes already in the bottom of the inner cage. [thumb:1326,middle] The CD drive is place. In the end it was only screwed to the cage at the front, and the rear was lifted using a couple of fnuts, which were then glued in place. The back of the drive needed to be raised until the front of the tray was in the right position. We fixed the CD-Rom to the cage using the front two fixings, and then raised the back using nuts, wedged and then glued in place. [thumb:1346,middle] With the Mac open, we connected the drive power to the CD-ROM and tested to see if the tray would open and close correctly. Small adjustments were then made. We were careful as the tube is powered up at this point. We then connected the power to the CD drive and switched it on, just to make sure the tray opened and closed properly. [b]The Floppy Drive:[/b] [thumb:1335,middle] The original floppy drive on the left, and the drive from the LC475 on the right. Quite a difference in height. The LC475 drive has the front fascia with dust flap removed here, but it was put back on for the final fixing. Tricky this one. The drive had to lay straight on top of the CD drive for the slot to be in the right place, so it needed to be fixed from the side. We could of course glue it to the CD drive, but then we'd struggle if we ever needed to replace either the floppy or the CD-ROM in the future. Using two brackets designed to fix a 3.5" hard drive into a 5.25" drive bay we sorted it. With the drive held in place we cut out a section of the case for the floppy disk. The hole was made a little wider at one side so we can push the disk right in. [thumb:1343,middle] The freshly cut floppy disk slot. [thumb:1318,middle] Above you can see the floppy drive with the hard drive mounted on top, with the two brackets on the left. [thumb:1325,middle] Here we've outlined the back fixing for the lower bracket. The front of the bracket is bolted to the expansion card fixing. Because the bracket is only fixed to the front expansion card fixing, there is a lot of movement there. So the rear bolt, which is fixed straight to the cage, is spaced to keep the floppy drive from swinging away from the front of the case. [thumb:1320,middle] You can see above the two bolts. The second bracket was then turned the other way up and fixed to the rear expansion card fixing. Using large washers the front of the second bracket was trapped using the spaced bolt, and the whole thing became rigid. Then we fixed one bracket to the drive. Then the bracket was fixed to the front expansion card fixing. The cage is a little flexible here so to keep the floppy drive lined up the back of the bracket was spaced with a bolt and several nuts. [b]The Hard Drive:[/b] [thumb:1344,middle] The hard drive is fixed to the top bracket as mentioned before. It is only fixed on this side, although that seems adequate. The picture here shows the drive too close to the tube. This way caused severe bowing of the screen image at the bottom. We turned the drive the other way around, and moved it as far back as possible, which sorted the problem. Before attempting the fix the drive we extended the wires for the LED and connected them to the drive. We fixed the second bracket to the other expansion card fixing hole, and then trapped the front behind one of the washers used on the spacing bolt. This also holds the floppy drive in place. The hard drive was then fixed to the bracket. We found that the drive had to be fixed with the power and SCSI connector towards the tube, otherwise the bottom of the screen image was bowed up in the centre, which caused distortion to any horizontal images. The drive also needs to be as far back as possible, to prevent distortion. [b]The Speaker:[/b] We mounted this to the back of the cage using an existing screw. [b]Hard Drive LED:[/b] The LED lens was removed to make way for the floppy drive. We then cut a small slot below one of the vents to one side of the new floppy drive slot and glued this in place. The LED was held in place behind the lens using soft putty. You could also glue it in place. [b]Plugging Things Back In:[/b] [thumb:1358,middle] You can see the speaker in it's new home. When the hard drive was turned around and moved further back, the speaker was moved to a higher postion, using an existing fixing screw. There's not a lot of room for all the cables either. Once the drives were fixed, it was time to fit the logic board back in place. The speaker cable was reattached first, then the board was slid into place. Then we reconnected all the leads to the drives and the logic board. The power splitter is used to connect to the CD and hard drives. The floppy drive has power and data fed through the one lead. Our 2 way SCSI cable was plenty long enough. The floppy cable was only just long enough to reach. [thumb:1348,middle] All systems go! You can see the floppy slot here too. The slot was made wider on the right side so you can push the disk right in. The hard drive LED is mounted right of the floppy slot, in the groove level with the bottom of the slot. With everything reconnected we plugged it in to see what would happen. A pleasant 'Ding' sound was made, and it booted up like the trooper it is! We installed the CD-Rom extension before the modification to save hassle. Then we tested the CD and floppy drives before putting the case back together. [thumb:1328,middle] The audio CD has been recognised, as has the PeeCee formatted floppy disk! Success! [b]Things still to do:[/b] If the SE/30 is going to be permanently connected to an amp, it would be tidier to mount an audio jack on the back of the Mac (like the standard audio out already there), and connect it to the audio out on the back of the CD-Rom drive. Some of the cutting is still a little rough and needs tidying, perhaps some rubbing down with very fine paper will sort it. [b]Problems after the modification:[/b] Before we turned the hard drive round, the bottom half of the screen suffered from bad distortion. It was a severe bowing upwards. That has now gone, although about a inch from the bottom of the screen there is a small strip that bows very slightly, without affecting the display above or below it. But this is very minimal, and isn't really noticeable. [b]There must be a better way?:[/b] If you put the slimmer floppy drive in the same place as the original then the slot doesn't line up. Leaving the original floppy fitted and then mounting the CD-ROM above it is a possibility, although that would be really cramped, and it's unlikely that you would fit everything in. Fitting a slot loading CD-ROM drive would look much neater, especially if you just cut a slot for the CD, and forgot about the buttons and lights etc. It may also be possible to mount a slot loading CD-ROM pointing upwards. A slot could then be cut in the top of the case front to back, and the CD would be dropped in like a toaster, just like the DVD drive on the G4 Cube! [b]How about other compact Macs?:[/b[ There's no reason why this couldn't be done with a Mac SE, as they use the same case. There's no way this could be done on a Mac Plus. There's no internal SCSI port for one, and secondly there's barely room for a hard drive, let alone a CD-Rom drive. We've never seen the inside of a Classic or Classic II so we couldn't say. Although the Classic has a curved front so a slot loading drive would be in order. It has been done to a Colour Classic though. Check out Cybermouse's page for links to other sites featuring customised Macs of all kinds! Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:34:22 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1314 by Jamie Pentland [center][thumb:1302][/center] I came up with the idea for the Kleenex Cube when I read the reviews, and users comments on Apple's new desktop machine. I was considering purchacing one, and kept reading about how everyone thought it looked like a toaster or a Kleenex box... Well, I got one! And I love it! Mine, however had gluemarks behind the Apple Logo, and some dust and such between the metal and plastic outside, and so I called Apple Canada. They promply sent me a new case, and told me to do with the other one as I wished. It seemed unrealistic to make it into a toaster, so I thought... Kleenex Box. And it's so easy to make one of these attractive pieces of art that it's as if Apple engineers made the shell to serve both purposes... [center][thumb:1300][/center] To make the KleenexCube, all I had to do was remove the ventalation panel from the top of the case. This can be done with a Torx screwdriver. Four screws are removed to release the vent panel and a grate that seems to serve as a guard against particles falling inside the computer (like coins, etc.) These items are easily put back on if you decide to un-kleenexize your cube shell. [center][thumb:1298] [thumb:1306][/center] Inside the shell, there are two latch-like metal panels that extend downwards from the top... And they are the perfect distance apart (approx 4 1/4") to grip a common tall-style Kleenex box! Just squeeze the box between these two latches, and voila! Pressure itself holds the box in!! You can attach a piece of tape to the latch to fully secure it. And that's it!! You'll be enjoying a fun, easy to use SuperComputer Kleenex Box! And no fan!! What a difference! [hr] [h2]More Pictures...[/h2] [center][thumb:1313] [thumb:1296] [thumb:1313] [thumb:1309] [thumb:1308][/center] Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:10:43 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1293 by Gavin and Graham [center][image:1290] Well, this is The Newspaper Mac. This is how it came to be...[/center] I was cruzin' around Applefritter's hacks area, and I stumbled across "Mercury." I thought, "Whoa that thing is so slick...I wanna make one." I went down in my basement and realized, "Dang! No spray paint!" So I searched through my mind for an idea...how could I make a Mac Plus look reeeeaally strange? Then I thought: newspaper. I got some newspaper out of the trash and then basically I glued it on. Not really that hard of a concept. If you want to make one of these (which I HIGHLY doubt) then do the following: Get Mac Plus (Or Mac Classic). Put glue on Mac. Put newspaper on glue. (simple, no?) Congrats. You have a Newspaper Mac. Here are the specs of it: No hard drive 512k RAM 8 mhz One 800k floppy drive A screen As you can see, The Newspaper Mac gives you only the finest technology 400 years ago. Everything but the screen works (oh joy). [center]More Pics: [image:1288] [image:1289] [image:1287][/center] Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:12:56 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1286 by Anonymous [center][image:1269][/center] A very simple yet eye catching project. Using "Ultra Flat Krylon" paint, I was going for a 'stealth' look that shows up much better in person (stealths weren't ment to be photographed) [center][image:1268][/center] This project required zero sanding due to the rough texture of the orginal beige case. The keyboard disassembly and painting the zip drive flip up cover were the most difficult to deal with. All of these pictures (except the one at left) were taken before the final touch ups along the seams of the panels and behind the CD doors. The photos below are a quick visual trip through the project! Enjoy, and feel free to post questions, suggestions, or comments below. [thumb:1285,middle] All the drives. [thumb:1272,middle] An empty case [thumb:1273,middle] Rear view [thumb:1274,middle] First Coat [thumb:1275,middle] Second coat [thumb:1276,middle] Speaker panel [thumb:1277,middle] Rear port cover [thumb:1278,middle] Drive bay covers [thumb:1279,middle] Stealth rear [thumb:1280,middle] Strike a pose [thumb:1281,middle] Pose #2 [thumb:1282,middle] Pose #3 [thumb:1283,middle] Pose #4 [thumb:1284,middle] Extreme closeup [thumb:1271,middle] On the desk Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:19:20 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1267 [center][image:1260][/center] This is the story of the rebirth of a lowly PowerMac 7200/75. One night after church I was talking to our assistant pastor when he mentioned that someone donated a computer to the church. He said it was a Mac and they couldn't use it and asked if I wanted it.  Of course I accepted even before I saw it.  When I loaded it in my car that night I had no idea what this discarded Mac's fate would be.  I was just going to keep it around to play with or possibly sell it on eBay. [center][image:1244][/center] One day as I was contemplating what to do with my newfound treasure; the idea hit me like a bolt of lightning!  My girlfriend is a pianist and was starting to do her own arrangements so I thought this would be the perfect gift for her.   The 7200's one-piece cover and it's three PCI slots made my job somewhat easier.  I had a Performa 6360 which was manufactured AFTER the 7200; the 7200, along with other Powermacs with the same design factor, was way ahead of the Performa series as far as case design and upgradeability. [center][thumb:1248][/center] Time was of great concern with this project since it was to be a Christmas present.  I had about 3 months to complete it and the fact that she was always coming over to the house made things a little challenging.  The case was fairly simple to do, but was very time consuming due to the amount of paint involved.  I used 100 grit sandpaper to rough up the case and take off a little of the texture.  I smoothed it out with some 320 grit before priming. As for paint, I used strictly Rust-Oleum lacquers.  I lost count with how many coats I used around 10; let's just say it was a lot.  I made the mistake of transporting the case between work and home.  Some of the coats of paint were just to cover up scratches and scuffs from banging into doors or chairs.  If at all possible, find a place for your project and leave it there until it's done. One thing you'll notice is the repositioning of the Apple logo. I just pried it carefully with a knife from its original spot on the left  side of the case, painted it gold, and glued it to the middle.  I thought the logo was a piece of molded plastic, but it's actually made from a thick metal foil. In any case, be careful when removing one if you're planning on keeping it because you could bend it pretty easily.  The logo was recessed into the case so I filled the hole with epoxy then sanded it smooth.  After the case was done it was onto the mini-piano lid! [center][thumb:1258][/center] The lid is made from 1" poplar.  Poplar is a hardwood with a smooth finish and is fairly inexpensive.  I drew the pattern and had my girlfriend's grandfather cut it out with his scroll saw.  The hinges that attach the lid to the case are just brass middle hinges you can find at about any hardware store.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to use screws in the top of the case for fear of hitting something on the inside.  Fortunately, the screws are just on the inside edge of the case and don't interfere with anything...whew. The 12" brass hinge that connects the two pieces of the lid was not an easy thing to find.  Most of your major hardware chains (Home Depot, Lowe's) don't carry anything smaller than a 3' hinge.  My girlfriend's father finally tipped me off to a small hardware store that specializes in hard-to-find woods and hardware. For the finishing touch I added felt pads to keep the lid from scratching the case and act as shims to add the proper spacing between the lid, case, and lid pieces.  The peg that props up the lid is made from scrap wood and isn't attached so it's removable. The two biggest and most important pieces were done and now we're headed into home "base", get it?  Base?  Nevermind, it was funnier in my head. [center][thumb:1246][/center] The base is a piece of 1"x12"x14" pine board that's had the edges rounded and painted black.  I wanted to make my own piano legs, but didn't have the time or the tools.  While looking for a hinge at Lowe's I found these pre-made hardwood legs.  All I had to do was screw them into the base and paint the whole thing black. The legs also have felt pads on the bottom to keep them from scratching the desk and help it slide.  I didn't mention it before, but these felt pads have self adhesive backs and can be purchased at most hardware and crafts stores.  Maestro sits on top of the base and isn't actually attached.  I did this to make it easier to transport if the need arose. [center][image:1261] [image:1247][/center] She really loved the mouse and thankfully it was one of the easier things to do.  Since she was used to using a trackball mouse I bought one off of eBay and painted it matte black. To prep the mouse I removed the trackball, covered the bottom and optical sensor with tape, and paper ball to stuff into the trackball bed. I used a gold paintpen to draw the treble clef and to do the "Maestro" lettering on the case. [center][thumb:1256][/center] The original keyboard for the 7200 had a key missing. Fortunately, I still had the keyboard from my old Performa 6360. There are just a few screws holding it together so it was a simple matter to take the actual keyboard out for painting. I also had to remove the rubber feet which were later reattached with a little glue; Superglue is a wonderful thing! I was going to paint the keys white, but I didn't want to have to repaint all the letters and numbers. With the painting done I focused on gathering peripherals and system upgrades. Here's a list of accessories and such: [list][*]Black Antec 17" monitor purchased at a computer trade show [*]Benwin GX-6 black flat panel speakers [*]ADS Tech external Firewire® 20GB hard drive [*]iXMicro 8MB PCI video card [*]Logitech USB Optical Trackball Mouse [*]Sonnet Tango Firewire/USB PCI Combo card [*]Sonnet Crescendo G3/400 PCI upgrade [*]Mac OS 9.1 [*]192 MB RAM[/list] Almost everything I added worked without a hitch, except for the processor upgrade. After following the directions and installing the card, Maestro wouldn't boot up. After swapping around the memory several times (Sonnet says you have to have the same amount or more memory on the card as is installed on the motherboard) I called tech support at Sonnet. They were very informative and helpful but I still couldn't get it to boot up. Before totally giving up and removing the card I tried a memory configuration that I hadn't tried yet. I installed one 32MB DIMM on the motherboard and one on the card, hit the power button, and PRAYED. To my great pleasure it started up and was zipping along at four times the speed! After playing with the memory some more, I was able to add a 128MB DIMM to the card for the final total of 192. A couple of things I regret are not taking more pictures through each step of the project and not using a 7500 motherboard because it would have been cheaper and probably run a little better; oh well, hindsight is 20/20. You'll be happy to know that Maestro is humming along quite nicely and is busy producing musical arrangements. It's good to know that another old Mac has been given new life. [center][thumb:1253] [thumb:1262] [thumb:1264] [thumb:1251] [thumb:1254][/center] Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:52:12 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/hal By: Shane Hale [center][image:1242][/center] [b]Ingredients:[/b] [list][*]Macintosh Classic, 4 MB of RAM, 40 MB Harddrive $5 [*]Apple Keyboard and Desktop Bus Mouse II [*]Krylon Interior/Exterior Sara Paint (1 Can Red) $6.00 [*]Plasti-kote Cracklin Finish (2 Cans Black) $6.00 [*]Clear Coat $4.00 [*]Sheet of plexiglass (11x14) 1/8 inch thick, Clear $2.00 [*]12v Lighted Switch [*]Rivet Gun, w/ rivets [*]Molex Power Splitter, $3.00 [*]12v Strobe kit [*]12v 6in Neon Light [*]Drill with bits [*]Dremel with Fiberglass Cutting Weans and Drum Sander bits [*]Various Electrical Connectors[/list] [b]TOTAL COST: Less Then $50.00[/b] [h3]Concept:[/h3] As odd as this seems, the concept came to me in a dream. It was just after I picked up the Classic, and spent most of the night looking at it and contemplating how to hack it. Well what I visioned was a black compact mac with red lightening, and glow from within. It appeared powerful and very evil. The next morning, I knew what I had to do, and brainstormed with my fiancé. She reminded me of an antiquating paint technique, with two colors and the top color imitates aging cracks revealing the first color. This technique will be applied to a mouse and keyboard. Second part was the window concept, glow and the lightening effect. Pulling from an automotive modification background I was very familiar with Automotive accessories. Namely an automotive 6in neon tube and a strobe kit. Both are 12v so I could power it right from the hard drive power cable with ease. I also had plexiglass readily availble. This would be great for my two side windows. First step was to disassemble everything and start planning how the project would be layed out. I organized a plan, so that any mistakes could easily be corrected. [hr] [h3]Window:[/h3] My original concept was to have matching windows on both sides of the of the Classic. This failed when I opened the case to discover the power guppy and video control board was mounted on the left side of the case. If a window was placed there, I would have a good view of nothing. So window ended up being just fine. First thing I did was cut the plexiglass down to size. I chapped it similar to the side of the case, with the front being at a slight angel knew I was painting the case dark later so I didn't worry about the lines on the exterior. I then marked the sides of the case to represent the glass inside the case then measured 3/4 if an inch in so I have plenty of room for mistakes and mounting. The second picture you can see the two outlines. I decided to cut the top right slash to match the case even further and duplicate the natural angles, already present. Next step was fairly easy. Cut. I tool a dremel with fiberglass cutting discs to cut out the window. I tried to keep the lines as straight as possible. I cleaned all the lines up with an electric sander. The window was then outlined with weatherstripping. This might be an anal step, but I wanted to create a tight see, not letting out any computer noise, and preventing any moisture from getting in. I figure its the finishing touches that really add to the final appearance. I will be drilling holes and riveting the window in. But that will be described later in the assembly process. [center][thumb:1231] [thumb:1232] [thumb:1233][/center] [hr] [h3]Painting:[/h3] Next came painting. Preparation was one of the instrumental steps to a good finish. My fiancé and I started, sanding the entire case, removing any imperfections, oils or decontamination. We used 220 grit sandpaper. It wasn't too aggressive but defiantly smoothed everything over. This included the keyboard, mouse and the case. Now, there was one major problem with the case. The classic was used for educational purposes by the Los Angeles Unified School District, at Belmont High School. And to protect against theft, they engraved this above the monitor. We took the Mouse sander and sanded down till it was gone. Painting was fairly easy. 2-3 Coats of the Red Krylon. This dried in 10-15 minutes. We were careful to cover every piece including the bottom of the case. Next came the Plasti-kote Cracklin Finish paint. We got this at Michael's Craftstore. Here they had both a top and bottom coat. Only problem is the colors were limited. We went with black, and used the red as a base. We took the chance that the bottom base coat was just standard paint and the top is what truly caused the finish. This paint is designed to be applied in heavy doses. So heavy, the wet paint looks like it will run. There are several options for the thickness of the cracks, depending on how thick the coat is. You can only do 1 coat, as the dry paint will not crack to reveal the red, if more paint is applied. So with my fiancé we slowly painted the individual pieces. Once covering the entire piece then going over it several more times, without waiting for it to dry. Within minutes the paint starts to dry and produce the cracklin finish. Taking a note from Mercury we painted each individual key red. Light coats allowed the black letters to still remain visible. [center][thumb:1238] [thumb:1239][/center] [hr] [h3]Assembly:[/h3] The assembly was essentially the reverse of the first step. However there were several new additions. 1) I added a light switch to the rear of the case below the bar code. This would control the neon light and the strobes. The catch was that if you ever wanted to disassemble the case, you must disconnect the switches also had to cut out some of the metal chassis to ensure the switches would fit without hitting any metal parts. The switches are standard Red Glow Automotive switches. I thought having the switch glow was a nice extra touch. The neon glows nicely and the strobe adds a little more attention to the case. (As if it needed more) 2) The window was then placed on the outside of the case. Drilling points were marked around the 3/4 in excess border I had marked earlier. One by one I drilled holes for the divots. Once complete I placed the plexiglass inside and riveted the window into place. The fit is very secure and I have 11 divots holding it in place. Some of the side chassis was cut to ensure proper fit. The divots are not flush on the inside but have 1/8 of an inch of metal sticking out. They clear the ram card fine. [center][thumb:1241] [thumb:1240][/center] [hr] [h3]Final:[/h3] Well all finished up. I must say that I am very pleased with the end result. There were a few snags, but they all worked out. Over all the project too a little over 2 days from start to finish. Cost was relatively cheap. Paint and lights took the majority of the budget. I can't wait till I find my next project... or perhaps finish another one first. My G4 already has the neon glow, but there is a lot of work until its complete. Its my main puter so I take that one real slow. If you have any questions or comments, please contact me. I would love to hear the feedback. [center][thumb:1234] [thumb:1237] [thumb:1235] [thumb:1236][/center] Mon, 07 Jun 2004 13:54:06 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/hacks/macrock by moose not a real hack on the true sense of the word as no macs were actually harmed in the creation of the 'MacRock', just a new set of clothes for, what would have otherwise been, another beige box in the studio... to create your 'MacRock' : step 1 : look in your cupboard for an old beige machine - you must have one somewhere! if not then just log on to eBay & get a pm7300/200 160mb/2gb for less than $60... it is possible if you are patient & bid in the last 10 seconds like i did! step 2 : take out all the buttons, lights etc that you don't want grey - you want to be able to see the lights & on switch don't you? spray the machine with undercoat - in my case a grey sandable primer by rust-oleum. **remember that 2 thin layers is better than 1 thick one** [center][image:1222][/center] step 3 : after that has dried, apply a thin coat of your chosen colour - in my case 'american accents - stone creation' by rust-oleum. apply a second coat later to get a weird stone speckled effect on the surface... remember that the cd tray must come out of the box so its probably best not to spray the cd-tray itself or the inside of the bezel if you are using 3d paint like the stone effect here. leave it as the undercoat and it'll look fine step 4 : leave to dry overnight (probably best to start to drink some beer at this point) and your machine *should* look like this... [center][image:1219] [image:1218] [image:1223] [image:1221][/center] i even sprayed a micropolis scsi mini tower... ...and if you do it properly even the caps lock light on the keyboard will still work. [center][image:220][/center] if you want to go a bit mental i know that there are a large colour range of speckled paints available - even purple! the grey in this case was actually chosen as the studio will be getting a grey coat itself very soon, and the covering on the box is very rough - will withstand minor scratches quite easily. in case you're wondering, this pm7300 has been fitted with a LynxOne pci audio card and i'm using it as a 24-bit replacement for my 16-bit DAT machines in the private studio - pigpen digital 8. the LynxOne allows me to run a cable from the AES-EBU output on the yamaha 02r into bias peak to keep a fully digital signal path. [center][image:1224][/center] Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:00:38 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1216 by Ian at www.Fantasticthings.co.uk [center][image:1210][/center] The Powerbook Duo 280c. Small, quiet, crisp screen, crap keyboard. Yes, as lovely as the Duo range is, the keyboard's are hard work. You can fit a later revision of keyboard, you can give it a good clean but even then you have to hit the keyboard too firmly for comfort. Batteries. They're expensive. A new or refurbished battery costs more than the Duo itself, so unless you really have to use a Duo on the move it's a bit of a waste of money. And so most Duo's these days no doubt spend their time fully docked, used as a desktop system, or remain in a cupboard, because you can't be bothered to unpack it, get the mains adapter out and plug it in. And the thought of that keyboard puts you right off. And so we come to my Duo, which has indeed spent most of it's time in the cupboard. It has 32 meg of RAM, a 328mb hard drive and a built in modem, so it makes an excellent backup email machine, or a nice quiet Irc terminal. I'd been thinking of doing something with the Duo for a while. The only thing that came to mind was turning it into a super slim desktop machine, with a proper keyboard and mouse. This has already been done with other Powerbook's of course, all of which can be seen on Applefritter. [b]Destruction Time Again:[/b] I didn't take any photo's while I was building it unfortunately, but here's a general description of what I did. First, I made myself a really hot cup of tea, and then made my way to the shed. I took out the keyboard, and dismantled the case, disconnected the screen and removed the hinges completely. With the case reassembled but the screen not fixed I basically slid the screen down over the base of the Duo, and fixed it in place. But this involved doing two things: i. I took the lid off the screen and cut a big hole in it for the display cable to pass through. ii. The display cable was too short, so I *carefully* sliced the covering on the back of the screen to free up more cable. Easy peasy. I then glued the back of the screen to the top of the base, and then clipped the rest of the screen in on top. I used a hot melt glue gun to hold everything together. These a great things to have, and cheap too. You put a rod of glue in the back, the gun heats up the end and out comes melted gluey plastic. It's kind of like plastic welding. It dries quickly, and although it holds firmly, it can be peeled off once dry if you make a mess of things. I went round the edges of the Duo with the glue gun, using much more where it couldn't be seen. You can only really see it down each side, and a strip of grey tape will cover that nicely. [center][image:1215][/center] Next I had to stop the Duo falling over once upright. I fixed the screen a bit lower down than I originally planned, as this in itself allows the Duo to stand upright, but it is unsafe, and can easily fall over. So spying a spare shelf taken from the fridge (don't tell The Wife!) I cut a piece off and pushed it through the hinge holes at the bottom. It was then just a case of bending the ends round and up slightly. I then added a couple of spongy bits which were inside the Duo's lid to the underside front to steady it. [center][image:1212][/center] Putting it to Work: Of course, the Duo has no ADB port, but thankfully I have a floppy dock, which includes one, so once plugged in we have a lovely little TFT desktop. One power button is covered now, but you can use the one on the back to switch it on, or even better, the power button on the keyboard works too! Networking is through the printer port for now using LocalTalk, but I can add a minidock, or preferably an etherdock at a later date. Once the Duo has ethernet, it will be able to connect to the Internet through my LAN, making it great for email or Irc. But in the meantime I can connect to the Internet through the built in modem. Although the screen is small, it's easy to read across the desk. This was a quick and easy hack to do, only taking a couple of hours, and I'm very pleased with the result. It's a silent desktop once the hard drive spins down that takes up very little space. You could even hang it on the wall! I did toy with the idea of fitting everything inside a Mac Plus case, but decided against it for space reasons. [center][image:1213][/center] The back of the Duo. I just need some little feet to cover the ends of the stand. [center][image:1211][/center] For size comparison, here is the Duo next to my 7600. Sun, 11 Sep 2005 12:45:11 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1209 by Brenton Beck These are pictures of, Radiation, a customized Apple Classic II. It has a silver paintjob covering the entire machine and red radioactive logos painted on the sides. Radiation also has a modified system fan position so that is on the side instead of on the bottom. [center][image:1207][/center] This is a side view of Radiation showing the silver paint, red radioactive logo, and modified system fan, which uses the dust filter from the original mounting of the fan as a cover on the outside. [center][image:1206][/center] Here is the front of Radiation also showing the silver paint, and the Apple logo. [center][image:1204][/center] Here you can see a closeup of the fan with the cover off. It's the regular system fan with a lengthened cord inside so it would reach. [center][image:1205][/center] Lastly, this is the fan with the cover off, showing the optional expansion bay brackets that made the mounting easier for me, and the bracket system made out of two pieces of thin metal bent around it. The compressiion of the fan on the metal holds it in place with the help of a screw at the top. Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:11:20 -0700 http://www.applefritter.com/node/1203 by Swordfish [center][image:1193][/center] What started as an experiment on how to cut the noise back has resulted into a mildly tricked-out Mac with all new case fans, a fan-failure warning siren, and an LCD temp monitor on the front. Here's how: For the longest time, I'm been wondering where the noise in my G4 comes from, and if I can make it quieter. All you have to do to figure out what's noisy is open your case up and start selectively unplugging stuff before turning on the main power: Temporarily disconnect the CPU fan. Try the big case fan. Maybe it's the hard drive that's noisiest? You won't hurt anything as long as you do this for short amounts of time. There's lots of bad advice online about how to do this, so I wanted to post real info on what works: The LCD temp monitor: Why? When you start experimenting with "under-cooling" to cut noise, you need to make sure you're not frying your CPU. I found a product called the CompuNurse at bigfootcomputers.com. [center][image:1194][/center] The CompuNurse just hooks up to a spare Hard Drive power line for power, and allows you to put the temp probe and display anywhere. The internal speaker is crap anyway, so I pulled that out and replaced it with the LCD, mounted to a piece of black bristol board. Use some silver 3M adhesive sign vinyl to cover the beige front of the CompuNurse to give it that "Factory" look where it shows through the speaker hole. Don't centre the LCD - you need to see the right edge of it, and that's all you have room for anyway (see top image). I re-routed the speaker to sit on top of the optical drive... [center][image:1198][/center] Cut a hole in the bristol board to fit the LCD... [center][image:1197][/center] And placed the temp probe on the heatsink. [center][image:1199][/center] While you're in there, you might as well clean up those cables with some split-loom wrap and zip ties. [center][image:1200][/center] DONE! Now that you can monitor the CPU temp, you can find a balance between noise and heat. This is a good idea. The 60mm Fan: Wow - this one is easy. I ordered a Panaflo 60mm "Low" fan. The only weird thing is that the Mac has a 2-pin connector and everything else in the world is a 3-pin. You could cut / splice the stock connector off the old fan onto the new one (smart), but what I did was try to force the new one to fit on (somewhat stupid). Match the positive (+) and negative (-) wire on the new one with the old one. I forced these two to work instead of splicing wires, resulting in a broken retaining clip on the motherboard side. Problem? No problem - just secure it with a small zip tie. [center][image:1190][/center] QUIETER FAN - WHAT TO BUY: The 120mm Fan: Somewhere online it was said that the main fan was probably the noisiest problem and that you should replace it with a Panaflo L1A fan. Too bad the stock fan is 25mm deep, and the Panaflo is 38mm. The air pushed by the 120mm fan needs to make a right-angle turn to get out of the case. So while the L1A series fans are very quiet and good performers they are too deep for the fan bracket - resulting in air bouncing back into the case instead of being exhausted like it's supposed to do. So I shopped around... OPTIONS: Evercool 120mm Aluminum Case Fan - 2000rpm, 79.14cfm of air, <30dba noise. Pushes TONS of air, at high RPM. Looks great and reasonably quiet, but it's just too much cooling for what you need. Vantec Stealth 120mm - 1500rpm, 53cfm, <28dba (supposedly). Well ya, it's the right size, and maybe it is technically quieter, but the airflow is much lower, and when it spins up there is a definate "note" or tone like a tiny air-raid siren. No thanks. (Note: One Dba makes a difference: 30Dba is twice as loud as 29Dba.) SOLUTION? Slow down the Evercool. Get either an "Alpha and Omega Computer Fan Speed Controller w/ Fan Alarm" or an "Evercool DC Fan Speed Controller SCB-A ". The first one (which I am using) is cool because it has a built-in warning siren that let's you know if the fan that it's connected to has failed. The second one is cool because it mounts to a spare PCI slot so that you can adjust speed without opening the case. These items are great for adjusting airflow to protect your CPU on a hot day. [center][image:1191][/center] Isn't that big Evercool fan sweet? The red stuff behind the fan is an adhesive film I used to cover the holes in the case. Maybe they're for some kind of brilliant turbulence or back-pressure (?), but I think all they do is give the air a place to go that isn't out of the case. I'm not one to second guess Jonathan Ive, but I find that my case temp is a few decimal points lower with the holes covered. [center][image:1195][/center] The 120mm fan mounts to the bracket with 4 screws, and the bracket mounts to the case with 2 screws. You can take the fan bracket on & off without removing any other components. Lining the lip of the bracket with felt and filling the gaps around the fan with foam will cut noise too. I also used some extra foam in front of the power supply to hopefully suck up a little noise and to give air a more direct flow from the CPU intake to the power supply / 120mm fan exhaust. *Make sure it doesn't get in the way of the case latch.* The other foam I put above that noisy IBM hard-drive (leave some room above the drive for airflow if you do this). [center][image:1196][/center] Finally, I found a backlit version of the temp monitor LCD! This is *REALLY* hard to find, but the same as the CompuNurse to install. It's way better than keeping a flashlight around to read the temp. [center][image:1192][/center] Next: A couple of nice quiet Seagate Baracuda V series 80Gb Hard Drives (very quiet), some Dynamat or Akasa Pax Mate for noise insulation, and maybe some Vantec noise dampening kits for the powersupply and the 120mm fan mounts. If I go insane I might buy a replacement G4 power supply and swap out the stock fans in it with some better quieter ones. Good luck - hope this info helps somebody. Keep on Moddin'! Mon, 07 Jun 2004 14:14:16 -0700