If you follwed the iMac evolution, the SL iMac arrived on the scene with various hardware levels, including the DV and DV+ which had FireWire on board. Apple put out the low-end 350MHz BlueBerry iMac based on the same design, but ommitted the FW to cut costs and make a $999 iMac. I just got and revived (see my adding a fan thread) a 350 SL and when I looked at the mobo I saw the empty solder pads where the FW stuff goes. Incedentaly I looked under ASP and saw that the system thinks it has FW hardware. Hmm, does this mean that I can FW-enable this iMac if I solder on a few components? Am I fiendish, foolhardy, or just stupid for wanting to try this? I assume I could just install a faster mobo and get the ports on that, but this is a $10 iMac, so low-cost DIY soldering sounds like a fun project.
Any naysayers? Hello Dr. Bob - Is this EE stuff or can a gimp with large hands and poor eyesight solder under 2 dozen SM components and not futz it up?
Incedentally, I still wanna install a fan, now I'm considering a temp. controlled fan, but I don't have a budget for much that isn't in the junk pile...