irack dv revisited

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irack dv revisited

Figured now would be a good time to follow up and resurrect an old forum thread:
http://www.applefritter.com/cgi-bin/YaBB/YaBB.pl?board=hacks;action=display;num=1042516415;start=0

Without reading, here is the recap:

Marathon makes a product called the iRack DV and it basically allows you to remove the PAV and CRT from a slot loading iMac. The trick of course, is the new ATX power supply conversion and video issue.

A few people have figured it out. like jonzgoda and some japanese guy

Pin outs exist and all seems right in the world.

Now, I've been in and out of iMacs, replacing logic boards, PAVs, down converters and CRTs, but this all seems a bit out of reach. I know "Vmarks" made and sold this converter board for the older iMacs. What I'm looking for now is someone to do the same for a slot loader. Without more detailed instructions, its easier for me to just pay someone for the needed parts.

Of course, I'm sure plenty of other people would buy this conversion. Its almost like I'm starting a small business for someone Wink

So, anyone up for the challenge?

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At the time that I did the tr

At the time that I did the tray-loader iMac-ATX adapter, there were only two others out there with any prominence: Marathon and another gentleman who sold his plans (not a working unit) for $40 USD. I sold the whole device and cabling for a range between 75-90 depending on the date sold, with or without cables, and what stock I had on hand.

At that time, there were no pinouts for the slot loading iMac available and I was halfway through determining them when the iMac I was using rendered itself deceased (power supply board, wouldn't you know.) This situation has changed, and pinouts are available, but I came to the conclusion that the number of slot loading machines out there is rapidly falling as they are being replaced.

My original goal was to make a universal iMac CRT adapter, one that worked with either tray or slot loading. I'm just not certain it's worth the time and expense to design the card and send it out for production when the market is so small. I was getting so few orders that I only had three boards made up at a time, and doing that small a run placed the boards at $50 a piece WITHOUT the connectors and discretes mounted on them.

So yes, it's possible. Is it economically sensible? I'm unconvinced. If I were to be otherwise convinced, I could make that universal adapter.

Lastly, it's nice to be remembered.

Victor Marks

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Thanks for the mention, the p

Thanks for the mention, the pinouts you mentioned are the ones I done for the older tray load iMac. I have just added the Slot load ones to my site http://www.so-weird.co.uk/iMacslPinouts.htm

I have also added a conversion table which should hopefully make it easier for anyone who wants to use a slot loading iMac logic board in an ATX type PC case http://www.so-weird.co.uk/iMacslatx.htm

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Did they work out soft power?

Did they work out soft power?

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Yes, the soft power works fin

Yes, the soft power works fine Acute

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Ice devil...could you post a

Ice devil...could you post a detailed picture of the atx 50 - 40 pin cable? I am unsure about which way round it plugs into the iMac etc.

Cheers

T

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Does anyone actually have one?

Does anyone actually have a working 1U rack space iMacDV/iRackDV conversion (or self-manufactured)? I've got the working LimeDV iMac, and the willingness to try this.

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1U iMac

Hi,

I've got an original iMac motherboard which I am building into a 1U rackmount case. While I doubt many of the specifics of what I am doing would be applicable to an iMac DV conversion, some here may find it of interest.

Most of the work is in two areas: creating a new power supply connector, and physically mounting the board. If you have a case, a motherboard, and some patience, it really isn't that hard.

I would like to say this about soft power - it is, or it should be, a complete non-issue when making a 1U. Rackmount computers are usually rackmount for either portability or for colocation. If for portability, it's not going to go into a rack that doesn't already have a main power switch. If for colocation, soft power is BAD - if your colocation provider has a remote power cycle system, you can power down your system, but it'd just sit there, off, until someone came in and powered it back up.

My PowerMac 9600, which is colocated in NYC, is in that position. I have resigned myself to the fact that it simply isn't allowed to crash.

John Klos

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I'm putting together one righ

I'm putting together one right now, though it has a video problem.

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My reason..

I'm a dj and looking for some other option to taking my laptop along, or at least using my laptop as my main music source. If I could squeeze my iMac into a 1u case, use my 12" LCD, and mount that all in a well protected road rack, my life would be a dream. I used to use the iMac before buying my G4 800 iBook. Soft Power?

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it's loud.

it's loud.

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iMac in a 1U case - almost done...

Here are some pictures of an original iMac motherboard in a tiny (8.5 inch deep) 1U rackmount case:

http://www.ziaspace.com/~john/1u_imac/

While it's not the same kind of motherboard which the author of this thread has mentioned, it's related.

I now have a slot loading iMac with a flaky display (when it goes to sleep, the display doesn't come back, so it stays on all the time), so I'll probably be building that into a new case soon. I'll be happy to post here when I do.

John Klos

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Re: iMac in a 1U case - almost done...

Here are some pictures of an original iMac motherboard in a tiny (8.5 inch deep) 1U rackmount case:

http://www.ziaspace.com/~john/1u_imac/

While it's not the same kind of motherboard which the author of this thread has mentioned, it's related.

I now have a slot loading iMac with a flaky display (when it goes to sleep, the display doesn't come back, so it stays on all the time), so I'll probably be building that into a new case soon. I'll be happy to post here when I do.

John Klos


Sweet!

How does that replacement heat-sync compare to the stock one?

TOM

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Sheesh, I would be very worri

Sheesh, I would be very worried about using that heatsink. Yes, the original heatsink was skimpy, but that one is even smaller!

The iMac heatsink also had a large fan above it which cooled the CRT.

I would use a better heatink + fan if I were you.

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Heat sink

Ha ha ha! No, that's not the heat sink I'm going to use - I just needed something on the CPU which would keep it cool long enough to make sure it was starting up. Just for testing.

I have a small 40 mm heat sink / fan combo from a video card that's on there for now. Some Arctic Silver Adhesive is on its way so that I can attach it properly. It's been running for two days, compiling everything I can think of (the whole NetBSD 2.0 source tree, plus two dozen different packages), and not a problem.

More pictures will come soon.

John

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iMac DV conversion question (not the same old one)

I literally have a room full of defective iMac DV's of varying specs. Most of them, of course, just have the usualy bad PAV problem, and the VGA output works fine. I am trying to find a way to eliminate the CRT completely, and transfer the components to a different case. I can figure out the case problems just fine, but my question involves the elimination of the CRT itself. How can I get the unit to POST without the CRT being connected? I would assume the conversion would be easier in this situation, as the PAV and DC boards are being preserved, but no dice. I can't get the thing to POST unless I connect the CRT cables, which defeats the purpose. I've been an active Mac-certified tech for more years than I care to recall, so I've gutted my share of these. I'm also familiar with board-level modifications, so I'm open to anything. Any suggestions?

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