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[Build Log] Mac Classic Forever

26K views 255 replies 29 participants last post by  heb1001 
#1 ·
WARNING AND DISCLAIMER

This is a build log, NOT a set of instructions for you to follow. Many of the activities described below are potentially dangerous and could result in damage to property, injury or death. The author will not be held liable for any consequences of attempting to reenact anything described in this build log.

BUILD LOG

I was given a Mac Classic for free on my recent vacation. It had been used as decoration in a cafe which was being refurbished. It turned out to have a faulty logic board.

With the four external Torx 15 screws removed, I held the back and shook it a little CRT down over a bed to get it to open.

I removed 8 more Torx 15 screws and unhooked two plastic clips to release the entire contents which I discarded because my luggage allowance was only 23kg and I was concerned about putting the CRT in the hold or getting it past security.

I picked up a keyboard and mouse at a computer recycling centre. They are working but use the Apple Desktop Bus protocol.



Back at home, my old iPad has broken glass where the corner is bent but the retina panel is still working.

 
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#3 ·
Disassembled keyboard and mouse:





Scrubbed plastic, rubber feet, cables and mouse ball with toothbrush and toothpaste and reassembled once thoroughly dry:



I've come to the conclusion that there's not much point doing this mod if I change the external appearance of the machine too much. I think the angular mouse, the bar at the back of the keyboard where the reset switch is and the coiled keyboard cable and perhaps the mouse cable joining to the keyboard are a key part of the style. So I want to retain these features.

The keyboard doesn't have the full complement of normal keys for a PC though and the mouse has just one button. There is also the ADB protocol issue.

I've considered replacing the mouse electronics with those of a modern mouse and cutting the one button in half with a hole for a scroll wheel which might work quite well. I've also thought about cutting up the keyboard shell and wrapping a modern keyboard with it which is going to be more difficult to get to look right owing to the different keyboard layout.

There are also ADB to USB converters on the market but they are expensive and I don't know if they solve the problem of missing function keys.

So, for the time being, my plan is to use a microcontroller to translate the ADB signals to PS/2 and keep the mouse and keyboard unmodified. If necessary, I can use the microcontroller to translate key combinations to get the missing keys. This is going to require a fair amount of effort though so it's only going to be worth doing if the rest of the mod turns out well.

The next big problem for aesthetics is the screen. Again, I considered modifying the face of the machine to fit the LCD panel better, either by milling the aperture or by cutting the case in half vertically and horizontally and stretching the whole case to fit but the curvature of the face will interfere in both cases.

It turns out that if I can configure the display to show 1920x1440 centred on the 2048x1536 panel with black borders then the display area will almost exactly fit the aperture. I need to wait until I have the displayport adapter for the panel to test this.
 
#4 ·
Hacksaw cuts through the plastic case easily.

Scored the top two tabs with a knife then snapped them off carefully.

Tidied up the edges with a little drum sander on the rotary tool and filed the corners. It's necessary to keep the rotary tool moving quickly over the edges. If you hold it in one place the plastic melts and it digs in.
 
#5 ·
Used some plastic from the picture frame of an award I was given at work to create the window for the front panel. Scored it with a knife and snapped it to shape over the edge of a table with a hammer then sanded the edges and coloured them black with a permanent marker. Drilled holes for mounting. The top two are used to trap the panel when the case is closed. Thge bottom three fit the existing mounting points in the front panel.



Used a dremel reinforced cutting disc on my press drill to cut the CRT mounting posts down flush with the corners of the aperture. Trimmed off unwanted clips from inside the front face by scoring and snapping. The window fits against the corners of the aperture.



The LCD panel lies flat on the window and will be mounted by screwing to the plastic window after I test it when I get the adapter.



There are a few faint scratches on the window from its past life as a picture frame. I had a go at polishing them out with toothpaste. Still needs a bit more work.
 
#6 ·
Mounted a 430 RMB Coolermaster AIO cooler (maybe a Seidon? Literal translation is Sea Magic) as far forwards as possible without interfering with the LCD panel. I aimed for about 3mm clearance because I think the Corsair H100i v2 is about 5mm wider and I wanted to leave that option open.



Currently mounted with screws/washers from a corsair cooler as the plastic is 4mm thick and the supplied screws are a bit short. Need to make a hole for air obviously. Screws looking ugly. Sort that out later maybe.

 
#8 ·
I drilled out the rivets from a lian-li v351 motherboard tray and used it as a template to drill holes for mounting the motherboard. One of the pcie bracket slots is cut badly because I didn't clear the swarf away quickly enough and lost sight of what I was doing. The aluminium motherboard tray was soft so I couldn't tell I was cutting into it off track. Can probably fix it later with a little epoxy filler.

Mounting sockets are just screwed straight into the plastic without tapping it first. Seem to be OK.

Bolts may be temporary. Steve Jobs is spinning no doubt.



Test fitting some plausible components. This is a Zotac Z77 ITX (with air cooler still fitted) and a GTX 760.



Front fits on easily with the short GPU.



This PSU is a 260 RMB SFX Black Widow 400W. There are two options for locating the PSU. The position under the GPU as shown would fit a SFX-L PSU and let it get fresh air from the bottom and would keep the middle of the case clear for the cooler pipes but doesn't allow much clearance for air to get to the rear fan of the GPU. So maybe better for a blower GPU.



The other option for PSU placement would be in the middle of the rear panel (picture still shows the first PSU placement since I haven't made a rear panel yet). I think this may be better for the components shown and would certainly work for SFX PSUs and the thin pipes of the Seidon but maybe wouldn't work for SFX-L PSUs and the fat pipes of a Corsair cooler.

IO panel and PCIe support bracket is recycled from the lian-li motherboard tray after cutting it down to two slots.

Short GPU is pointing at the floppy slot
wink.gif


 
#9 ·
I had previously been planning to install the HDDs in the rear corner vertically flat against the rear panel with a gap for airflow up between them from a fan on the bottom. There is a generous amount of space for that solution.

On playing around with the components, it turns out that if the HDDs are placed vertically flat against the side with only a small gap for air then there will be enough space to install a 120 exit fan and, behind it, enough space for a 50mm thick 120 radiator with a second fan for push pull. This orientation also leaves much more clearance along the length of the top of the GPU.

Something like this:


This seems like a good configuration because it will allow for a watercooled or oversized GPU.

In order to leave 2.5mm clearance between the 240 radiator and the HDD mounting it's going to be necessary to use a very narrow mounting mechanism for that side of the HDDs. I'm going to cut the heads off some shoulder bolts to make pins for the sides of the drives and craft a plate with holes for the pins to sit in. The rear panel will hold the other side and there will need to be brackets to maintain the separation of the rear panel and the drive mounting plate to keep the drives pressed up against the plate and the pins in the holes.

SSDs and the adapter for the LCD are the only remaining essentials to fit but I think it may also be possible to get in a slimline ODD horizontally between the display and the floppy slot.
 
#10 ·
I did some work to model the 120mm exit fan and radiator to see if it would really fit and the answer turns out to be that it would interfere with the mini-itx keep out zone for the cpu cooler area. I think there's still enough space for the Seidon water block but motherboards which are using that area for tall components are going to interfere with a 120 radiator in that position.

For example, I'm pretty sure it would be necessary to bend the VRM riser board on a maximus viii impact away from the motherboard in order to move it out of the way of the radiator.

The 120 exit fan on its own should be universally OK though because the keep out zone over the IO area is lower. Also motherboards without risers would have a good chance of being compatible.

 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by heb1001 View Post

So, for the time being, my plan is to use a microcontroller to translate the ADB signals to PS/2 and keep the mouse and keyboard unmodified. If necessary, I can use the microcontroller to translate key combinations to get the missing keys. This is going to require a fair amount of effort though so it's only going to be worth doing if the rest of the mod turns out well.
The TMK Keyboard firmware suite already contains code for an ADB-to-USB converter. I think there is support for modifying the keymap, adding Fn-layers, locking Caps Lock, etc.
It is made for 8-bit AVR with built-in USB. You could get a Arduino Pro Micro clone on eBay for less than $5 each.
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Findecanor View Post

The TMK Keyboard firmware suite already contains code for an ADB-to-USB converter. I think there is support for modifying the keymap, adding Fn-layers, locking Caps Lock, etc.
It is made for 8-bit AVR with built-in USB. You could get a Arduino Pro Micro clone on eBay for less than $5 each.
Great. I'll look into that when the time comes. Thanks.
 
#14 ·
Display adapter is plug and play. Currently running from a separate 12V supply. Signal is from my laptop which was a known good source.


Here's a shot of the corner at full scan resolution:


In Linux at least resizing the display turns out to be as simple as moving the underscan slider in the NVidia control panel:


Here's a shot of the corner at 1920x1440 which should be close to 9":


The underscan slider has a fine resolution so it should be possible to fine tune the exact size to best fit the aperture.

Screen quality is like iPad - photos don't do it justice.
 
#15 ·
Spent a couple of evenings polishing the scratches out of the plastic window. The slightest flaw results in a moire effect with the LCD pixel grid which is quite visible.

The final solution was to sand the entire window with 600, 800, 1200, 1500, 2000 grit (sold by the sheet approx 1.5 RMB each) followed by polishing with metal polish (60 RMB) with a polishing bonnet (60 RMB including backing pad and drill adapter) on the power drill and finishing off with toothpaste with my fingertips.



I'm pleased with the final result:

 
#16 ·
Went shopping for a displayport cable today (50 RMB) and found a vendor with a Maximus VIII Impact in stock. Measured the height of the VRM riser at about 46mm (+/- 2mm) from the bottom of the motherboard.

The model indicates there would be about 49mm of space with a 120 radiator installed so it looks like the Impact would fit without bending it after all.



The same vendor had a Seidon 120V V3 Plus 120 AIO but it was a display model and had been running. We haggled to 300 RMB but I decided that was more than I wanted to pay because the radiator of the 120V is only a slimline and a bit too tall so would require cutting a slot in the top of the case. I asked to take a look at a Seidon 120 XL which has a thicker radiator that is also shorter at 150mm and asked for the price but the vendor said he couldn't sell it because it was the only one and the pump had failed. I offered 200 RMB saying I didn't really need the pump and he accepted.

 
#17 ·
Test fitting with the 120 radiator. Only a couple of mm clearance between the radiator and the GPU. The 120V radiator wouldn't have fit without slotting the top of the case.

Waterblock still fits OK so it looks like this config is good to go.



The pump sold to me as broken appears to be working but the loop doesn't seem to be quite full. I also noticed a couple of drops of liquid. I guess it must be leaking.
 
#20 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rav3n07 View Post

Thanks for sharing! This is a awesome idea!!
There are a few other mini-itx mac classics on the web, also people with mac minis in mac classic cases and people using mac classic cases as ipad holders. So it's not a new idea.

Up until recently though the small screen size has made it a bit of a waste of time but now the small screen is no longer a limitation. More of an advantage in fact
wink.gif
 
#21 ·
Matte anti-glare screen protector (29 RMB for 2 sheets):



I applied it in the bathroom after wetting down the room in an attempt to create a dust free environment.

I didn't realize it was matte until the last step when I unpeeled the protective cover. The result is like a matte laptop screen. It dulls the screen a bit and adds a tiny bit of noise. The silicone backing does fill the very fine scratches left from polishing though to make the screen finish perfectly uniform and flawless so I'll look out for a glass glossy one which should work really well.

Started work on the HDD bay. Sacrificing a scratched up, 7 year old lian-li v351 which had pretty bad airflow and was a pain to work in. This is a side panel:



Making a test bend to see how bending affects the dimensions. Temporarily forgot the whole centre punch concept. Will remember next time.



Marked up the remainder according to the measured bend. Some lines drawn in error. May not get this right first time.

 
#22 ·
Centre punch. 2 for 3 RMB. Very pointy, very hard and unfortunately very brittle. Snapped off the tip in the workpiece on the third hole. This HDD bay looking very much like a practice exercise now.



Also went to a local metal shop asking if they could make me a back panel but they only did stainless steel pipework. Got a pointer for another place but didn't have time to investigate.
 
#23 ·
I had a go at designing a back panel:



I have placed the PSU in the centre of the bottom. This has a few benefits: firstly the hole for the PSU air intake won't interfere with the legs of the case; secondly the airflow past the rear of the GPU should be improved; thirdly it allows the rear panel to have tags to attach to the case in all four corners for structural support and finally it moves the cables from non-modular PSUs out from under the GPU and into the space that runs down the middle of the case. The latter makes it possible to fit a 3rd 120 radiator under the GPU
biggrin.gif
Not sure if it would also fit with a modular PSU; there is a bit of space for the cables to exit but not much.

There are no holes in the bottom right of the panel because there is going to be an 80 side fan under the HDDs which will pull cool air in from that side. I want that cool air to go up between the HDDs and also out the back panel between the HDDs and the hot air from the rear of the GPU. Hopefully this will prevent the GPU from cooking the HDDs.

I have left space for the HDD bracket which is supposed to wrap around three sides of the HDDs and attach to the back panel and the side of the case above and below them.

I'm going to do a cardboard version of this panel and test fit.
 
#24 ·
Here's a shot of the potential 3rd radiator position:


Not much space for airflow with the dual slot GPU but a single slot full cover GPU water block would leave more of a gap there.

Modular SFX PSUs have their connectors above the level of the fan so the new PSU location should at least allow for the 120 fan in that location for all SFX PSUs. SFX-L won't fit though.

With a 3rd radiator it would be possible to have a loop from the 240 inlet through the CPU then to the 120 inlet then to the GPU then to the 120 exit then back to the 240 inlet. I think this would work quite well.

May need to do something about flow rate.
 
#26 ·
I went to investigate the lead on the sheet metal shop and it seems to have paid off. After some slightly confused discussion mainly via google translate I think they are going to laser cut me a panel not from aluminium but possibly from steel or stainless steel.

Cost is relatively high (500 RMB) because I did the design under Linux using Dia so could only give them PDF and they are going to have to redraft it using a CAD program.

I had to update the design with dimensions. I made some tweaks at the same time to try to get the tabs at the top to fit first time without requiring manual adjustment which is going to be difficult if it does turn out to be in stainless steel.

I did a little technical drawing at uni but it was a long time ago and I can't remember any of it. Dia was also perhaps not the best choice but when I started I was planning to just paste the printout to some sheet metal and then use a hacksaw/Dremel for which Dia would have been fine.

As it is, I have a 4 day turnaround to wait before the moment of truth when I'll find out if the panel can be made to fit or if I'll have to do another revision.

BackPanel4.pdf 32k .pdf file
 

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