RF Generation Message Board

I dug out an old PC from the garage a few weeks ago. I had taken the hard drive out to use in my current PC but now it is back in the old one with Linux on it.

• Pentium 4 2.53GHz
• Gigabyte GA-8SIML Motherboard
• 512MB RAM
• 80GB HDD
• Nvidia Geforce MX440

I've been turning it into a media centre for streaming standard definition movies and music into another room.

Completely on an impulse yesterday I decided to build a wooden case for it. So off I went to the DIY store where they had about the right amount of pine in one sheet. But for £19 I didn't want to risk not quite having enough or making a mess of the build, so I decided to leave it. On the way out I spotted some pine boxes which looked just the right size. I measured it up with a tape measure from the tools section and bought it for £8. It turned out to be just the right size.

[img width=700 height=489]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Box1.jpg[/img]

[img width=700 height=629]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Box2.jpg[/img]



I butchered the old case for the motherboard tray and backplate but the tray was too big to fit the way I wanted it to. I trimmed some off:

[img width=700 height=543]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Box3-2.jpg[/img]


This picture shows the test to see if it would all fit.

[img width=700 height=471]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Everything1.jpg[/img]

This is roughly where the CD drive is. The picture was taken yesterday but I've now fixed it in with a pair of shelf brackets.

[img width=700 height=431]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/Everything2.jpg[/img]


Today I cut holes in the back for the I/O and PSU then screwed everything into place.

Next up are a hole for the CD drive, a hole to cool the hard drive with a fan, and I need to sort out the power button. At the moment it's just the bare switch dangling out of the side. Maybe eventually I'll stain it a darker colour.



I've had it up and running on and off over the evening. The temperature monitors I've installed in Ubuntu seem a bit off. In a 19*C room, it says the CPU is 23*C, system temperature is 16*C, and the hard drive is 30*C (Which actually seems about right)

Since it's a media center, you should upholster the top with a covered cushion of leather or vinyl and use it as an ottoman in the room it's going in. ;)

Shelf brackets holding the CD Drive:


[img width=500 height=750]http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m84/BrokenFlight/TheBox/CDMount.jpg[/img]




Today I was looking into powering my PSOne screen from the PC PSU. I found I needed either a 7808 or an LM317 voltage regulator. So off I merrily went to Maplin where I asked for an LM317, having picked it out in their catalogue.

[RANT]
Then I asked the guy if he could tell me how to connect it to change 12v to 7.5v. A simple yes or a no would have been fine. Instead he said it would say in the catalogue which one I need, then when I asked for basic instructions he said to search on Google for it. But being the kind man he was, he disappeared for a few minutes and came back with a printout of some random looking diagrams and specifications.

Me: "Ok, what am I looking at?"
Him: "If you read it, it will say how to connect it."
Me: "Sorry, I can't understand it..."
Him: "Read it and it says how to use it."

To me it just looked like specifications with a few performance graphs thrown in.

Me: "I don't know how to understand what you've given me"
Him: *HUFF* "It's not for you, then!"

So he took me to a shelf with some kits to build various basic circuits. He showed me a 1amp AC/DC power supply then said I don't need half of it because I'm only using DC/DC. So it was £10 for about four 50p components. Fuck that, fuck him, fuck Maplin!

I dumped what I had in my hands on the floor and just walked out.

[/RANT]


When I was home I remembered a box of electronic bits I was given years and years ago. I found a 7805 in it, but no 7808s. That means 5V instead of 8V. So I took the kind man's advice and looked on Google where I found a diagram of how to change a 7805 to output 8V. Tada! my PSOne screen is now powered by the PC's PSU. :D

I'm thinking of integrating it into the box lid somehow.



So that was the fun of my day... ::)

Awesome case the PC is sitting in.

I hope it doesn't get termites! :)