Putting an Intel D945GCLF Motherboard into a G4 Cube case

[scram69]

Sircastor - great pix! Thanks for posting them. It looks like you ought to be able to "snip" the PS2 port end off of the supplied IO port shield and use that.

 

It looked like you had a power switch connected (green&white wires). Any thought on how/where you will mount that, or the DC plug?

 

If what you're talking about is what I'm thinking of, it's a motherboard mount point, not a fan bracket (no fans in the G4 cube). But that's not really important.

 

True, the cubes did not ship with a case fan; however, the bracket is sized perfectly for an 80mm, 20mm thick case fan. Almost all 3rd party processor upgrades highly recommended you install one, and most shipped with one. It is assumed that the fan bracket was installed by Apple for a dual G4 cube option that never materialized.

http://cubeowner.com/kbase_2/index.php?article=218

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/systems/cube/du...ube_Sonnet.html

 

At any rate, I would really like to use my quiet 80mm case fan instead of the supplied noisy chipset fan. It looks like my chief impediment is going to be that ridiculous parallel port (for that early 90's vintage dot matrix printer I use so much )

[scram69]

Here are a few pix from the assembly:

mobo is in and power supply connected; note case fan at the bottom

 

with rails (heat sink has been cut out)

 

Here's the bottom with I/O plate (not a thing of beauty, but most of the gaps are shielded)

(note the DC power socket from the picoPSU next to the svideo)

 

I'm using an old G4 keyboard that has a "power" button. It doesn't work for power on, but it does work to bring up the sleep/restart/shutdown menu. Since I mostly put the cube to sleep, that means I can tuck the ugly external power switch away...

[sircastor]

Update to my constructions folks.

 

I did finish it and get it working Christmas eve in time to put a bow on it and have it available for my wife to boot up Christmas morning. A couple of more things to take note of as you're doing this, if you're doing this:

 

Make sure that your top plate (the aluminum piece that goes in first when putting the chassis back in the case.) Does not stick out, or up. Everything needs to be tucked into that cube space. The case was not designed to reach beyond that area. I tried to use my 120w Pico PSU and it just plain did not fit. I eventually got an ATX extension cable and moved the Pico down the way a bit. so it wasn't bumping into the top. I'm minorly concerned about potential short-circuiting issues because the pico is not insolated, but it's pretty tightly fit in there and I don't think it's going to move.

 

As I mentioned in my above post, you can do this without cutting off the heat sink. It is a tight fit. So far there have been no cooling problems so far. The heat buildup appears to be not enough to cause a problem. There is some heat coming out of it In retrospect, I'm not sure what my preference is. I like not having to cut down the heatsink because my least favorite part of the project was the cutting and cleaning of the case. I also have minor structural concerns about taking out the heatskink. On the other hand, without that big block of metal there, you have a LOT more room to put wires and more room for cooling. If you choose to keep the heatsink in, note that you cannot run wires over it. The "chimney" meets right up against the heatsink and there's not room there for anything.

 

I haven't taken any more pictures or anything because I don't want to interrupt my wife's use of it. She's very pleased with it, and the only current complaint is that the Desk she has doesn't accommodate showing it off. (very small desk). Given the opportunity, I will pop it open and get some pictures.

[scram69]

I did finish it and get it working Christmas eve in time to put a bow on it and have it available for my wife to boot up Christmas morning. A couple of more things to take note of as you're doing this, if you're doing this:

 

Make sure that your top plate (the aluminum piece that goes in first when putting the chassis back in the case.) Does not stick out, or up. Everything needs to be tucked into that cube space. The case was not designed to reach beyond that area. I tried to use my 120w Pico PSU and it just plain did not fit.

 

Nice touch - I didn't get my daughter's cube up and running until the 27th... fortunately, she was more interested in her new Legos and games and didn't seem to mind.

 

I ended up removing the semi-circular arc of metal that used to surround the power button from the top plate to accommodate the 90W PicoPSU. Without that adjustment, the wires from the PSU caused the ATX connector to bend downward un-naturally.

[sircastor]

Just a quick update:

 

The Cube has been in use for a week with no heating issues. That is to say, the computer doesn't seem to be panicking or shutting down due to over heating. I don't know if this would be the case with the D945gclf2, but I suspect it would be just fine, as there's no significant changes in cooling. (There is a taller heatsink on what I believe is the southbridge, So long as it fits in the case, I don't see it being a problem)

 

My picoPSU 120 was making contact with the parallel port, which was causing some spinning beachball problems, mostly in Firefox. I don't know why that was the case, but it was replicable, so it's the only thing I can conclude. I got a longer Power cable, and moved the PSU to a (slightly) roomier location. It's being held in place by other wires so it won't short/ground anywhere. I plan to replace the 120 with a Pico90 so I can plug it directly in. Plus I need the pico 120 for a different project.

[Wman]

over at cubeowner forunsm I found a cube case designed for cube owners who wabt to use an easuer to mod case. I forget where it comes from but its a cube upgrade specialist site. I think its powerlogix or owc.

[dinner_plate]

Here is the Powerlogix PowerCube Enclosure from OWC. They are a highly reputable business in the Mac community, and many people at CubeOwner are happy with their PowerCubes.

 

To make fitting of the D945GCLF (that really rolls nicely off the tongue) easier, I had intended to desolder the unused serial, printer and keyboard/mouse ports. I wonder is this possible without damaging the board?

[sircastor]

Here is the Powerlogix PowerCube Enclosure from OWC. They are a highly reputable business in the Mac community, and many people at CubeOwner are happy with their PowerCubes.

 

To make fitting of the D945GCLF (that really rolls nicely off the tongue) easier, I had intended to desolder the unused serial, printer and keyboard/mouse ports. I wonder is this possible without damaging the board?

 

I don't see why not. I thought about pulling them off myself, but was too lazy. I also wanted to preserve the potential for selling my cube as a whole when I get the chance to replace it with a genuine mac. I don't know that removing the ports will make the board fit better. I think at best you'd be able to avoid cutting as large a hole in the bottom of the case.

 

Either way, be careful, there are a LOT of contacts down there to de-solder.

[bibendum]

My daughter has been dying to get her hands on the new iLife 09, so the other day I picked up a "Mac Boxed Set" and used it to do a full 10.5.6 retail install on her cube using iSynapse's guide:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=138881

 

Only I didn't build my own DSDT, I picked one up from Dr. Hurt's thread:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=143340

 

Specifically:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1031871

 

I used OcciJano's DSDT...

 

No more video pointer artifacts, 100% running. All apps work. She couldn't be more thrilled.

 

I should mention some difficult specifics to this install for me. I had previously had her running a Kalyway 10.5.4 install on an MBR formated HD. In order to switch this to the GUID HD that the retail Boot 132 process requires, I first did a full install of the OS on an external USB hard drive.

 

I then booted off that USB drive and after watching the opening animation, I migrated the 100GB+ of my daughter's user account (she has a lot of video she likes to edit) to the external USB drive. Then I formatted the internal SATA drive to GUID, then did the full install following iSynapse's guide (linked above). Finally, I rebooted off the newly installed internal drive and migrated all those 100+Gigs back from the external USB drive. It was a process, but the end result was a smashing success.

 

Patrick

[buschi2626]

Hello,

In the German insanely-forum I just finished my "Atom Cube".

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...0889&st=140

I put the Powerswitch to the other side and it works very well.

Its an nice HTPC!!!

Good luck!!

[scram69]

I had previously had her running a Kalyway 10.5.4 install on an MBR formated HD. In order to switch this to the GUID HD that the retail Boot 132 process requires, I first did a full install of the OS on an external USB hard drive.

 

Hi Patrick,

 

Sounds like I am exactly where you were (kaly 10.5.4 on MBR) and am trying to accomplish a retail install using the iSynapse guide.

 

My first problem is the whole boot132 process without an "eject" button. My plan was to use an 8GB usb stick with a 200MB FAT partition for boot132, and the rest MacOS journaled for time machine. I don't happen to have a big external usb drive. I would back up the current install to the stick using time machine (just the system and settings - I've already backed up the data files to my server over the network), and then restore from the time machine partition during the install.

 

However, I can't seem to get the boot132 process using the thumb drive to work. I copy the files from iSynaps' boot132.iso onto my usb stick, tell the D945GCLF2's bios to boot from the stick, but all I see is "Boot error". How did you do it?

 

TIA-

Steve

 

PS - thanks for doing the research on the DSDT - if I can get past the boot132 issue, I plan to make use of it!

[scram69]

Patrick,

 

After re-reading your post a few times, I realized perhaps you didn't need to use the boot132.iso. Did you install chameleon on your USB hard drive after the OSX install but before rebooting in order to be able to boot to it?

[bibendum]

Hi Patrick,

 

However, I can't seem to get the boot132 process using the thumb drive to work. I copy the files from iSynaps' boot132.iso onto my usb stick, tell the D945GCLF2's bios to boot from the stick, but all I see is "Boot error". How did you do it?

 

Ah - I cheated - I used an external Memorex USB DVD drive... I don't know HOW one would do it with the internal drive. And I know that it's possible to boot off a USB stick - I did it once - but I had to "activate" the stick in a windows PC... I'll see if I can find the specifics.

 

Patrick

[scram69]

Ah - I cheated - I used an external Memorex USB DVD drive... I don't know HOW one would do it with the internal drive. And I know that it's possible to boot off a USB stick - I did it once - but I had to "activate" the stick in a windows PC... I'll see if I can find the specifics.

 

Patrick

I've tried an external usb cd/rw - when connected, the cube won't even post - I can't get to the bios until I unplug it. So that's a non-starter.

 

To get my "Boot error", I followed this guide:

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=115064

to set up the stick under Windows using syslinux.exe.

 

Other guides I have come across use the same "syslinux" method.

[bibendum]

Hello,

In the German insanely-forum I just finished my "Atom Cube".

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...0889&st=140

I put the Powerswitch to the other side and it works very well.

Its an nice HTPC!!!

Good luck!!

 

I forgot to post this earlier, but GREAT work on that - power switch working and even a PCI video card inside a cube!

 

Very impressive! Do you have QE/CI with that card? How does the XBENCH or OpenGL extensions benchmark look?

 

And I couldn't quite tell - what kind of power supply did you use?

 

Patrick

[D945GCLF]

Hi all,

 

I recently finished my own OSx86 cube with a D945GCLF2. I am planning to a walkthrough of the build, but I thought I'd share a couple of experiences in case it helps any of you.

 

I was able to keep and use the original touch-sensitive power switch. I took off the metal plate, carefully bent the two wires that lead to the LED to either side, and covered in electrical tape. I got an extension cable, fed it to a 90W pico-PSU, and removed the clip where it attaches to the board. I also was forced to "modify" the guard on one of the SATA ports with a wire cutter, after which everything slid somewhat snugly into place. The layout to the switch's connector is described here:

 

http://web.me.com/professionalpatents/MacM...ube_Switch.html

 

1. +5v Standby

2. N/C

3. "Command Line"

4. +Switch

5. -Switch

 

Connect (1) to the +5 purple standby power line from the pico-PSU. Then connect (4) and (5) to the power switch on the board. Make sure that the cube chasis is assembled and grounded. For some reason, polarity matters on the switch -- if the system immediately powers on and off when you connect (4) and (5) to the switch, reverse them and you should be good to go.

 

EDIT: Make sure that the switch is grounded before you try to use it (e.g. screw it in and assemble the chasis). It will not work if it is not grounded.

 

Another problem I experienced was CPU overheating. Initially I tried to go fanless with a large heatsink, but that proved way too hot to be workable. I ended up installing two fans, one on the Northbridge and one vertical, to try to keep air moving through the case. My temperatures are still rather high, however, and I've tripped the CPU temperature sensor a couple of times since, so I need to work out a better cooling plan.

 

The 90W pico-PSU may also not be enough for my internal DVD-R/W and everything else; I need to do more testing, but when it spins up completely the system automatically reboots with no log of a problem in the BIOS, classic sign of a power problem.

 

I added an internal mini-PCI wireless card and connected it to the original antenna. Signal strength isn't great, but hey, it works. (It also just barely fits after trimming down the PCI to mini-PCI adapter.)

 

EDIT: I am starting to be of the opinion that the removable steel shield in the front of the case (on the DVD-ROM side) is there to block EMI. If you use the original antenna, I recommend leaving it in. I am going to cut mine so everything fits and then put it back in place. Hopefully this will improve my signal strength.

 

I removed the parallel and serial ports with a wire cutter and made a custom blanking plate. Like a couple of other commenters, I thought about desoldering, but ultimately decided careful application of brute force was "safer." Actually, neither is safe; I could have shorted the board, but I got lucky.

 

I made a couple of other modifications such as dremeling out an apple logo in front, putting in an IR receiver, and adding bluetooth. Hopefully I'll get around to writing up something with pictures soon. I'll post a link here when I do.

 

Thanks for the previous posts here; they were very helpful in my project.

 

Sean

[bibendum]

Very Clever! using an extension to move the PicoPSU out of the way...

 

I must admit, I'm a little surprised about your over heating issues. I did put a tiny Kaze fan in the bottom of the cube to keep air moving, but it was mostly because I had one. The cube has never overheated.

 

Patrick

[scram69]

Ah - I cheated - I used an external Memorex USB DVD drive... I don't know HOW one would do it with the internal drive. And I know that it's possible to boot off a USB stick - I did it once - but I had to "activate" the stick in a windows PC... I'll see if I can find the specifics.

I finally got a retail install working - I'll post the technique here in case someone else is in the same situation (D945GCLF2 Cube, Kaly installed on an MBR partition, no external USB DVD drive handy).

 

Basically, I used an old desktop computer with an 80GB HDD and a DVD drive I had lying around as a "donor" machine.

 

Phase 1: I disconnected the PATA cable for the cube optical drive and connected it to a PATA cable that went to the HDD and DVD drive in the "donor". I powered up the donor, and then the cube. In the D945GCLF2 bios, I set the boot order to CDROM first, then the donor HDD, then the cube HDD. Using the Boot132 cd and the donor DVD drive, I did a retail install (10.5.4) onto the donor HDD. After the first reboot, at the screen after setting the keyboard type, I transferred all of the users/settings/apps/files to the donor HDD install. I didn't do any of the kext/bootloader/efi stuff to this retail install, since it was only temporary.

 

Phase 2: In the D945GCLF2 bios, I set the boot order back to the cube HDD first. Again using the boot132 cd method, I booted onto the retail install DVD, formatted the cube HDD GUID, and installed 10.5.4. Again during the install, I transferred the users/settings/apps/files from the temp install on the donor HDD back to the new retail install on the cube HDD. I then ran the 10.5.6 combo updater on that new install (had to force a reboot).

 

Note: at this point, I could not boot back into the install on the cube HDD - got the dreaded "still waiting for root device". Not sure if that was caused by the 10.5.6 update or not. So I booted back onto the donor HDD 10.5.4 retail install, fired up terminal, and did the fdisk -e /dev/rdiskX stuff. "diskutil list" helps identify which HDD is which.

 

Phase 3: using the boot132 cd once more to boot onto the cube HDD, I did the rest of the steps in iSynapse's retail install guide: kexts, bootloader, EFI strings for ethernet. Shut down, disconnected the "donor" and reconnected the cube optical drive PATA. Voila - retail 10.5.6 install.

 

I did not do the DSDT patch as many on the retail thread said it was unnecessary. How did you do it - did you simply drop OcciJano's DSDT into your root directory?

[D945GCLF]

Very Clever! using an extension to move the PicoPSU out of the way...

 

I must admit, I'm a little surprised about your over heating issues. I did put a tiny Kaze fan in the bottom of the cube to keep air moving, but it was mostly because I had one. The cube has never overheated.

 

Patrick

 

The other great part about the extension is that it makes it easy to tap the purple +5v standby cable to power the switch.

 

I have a Kaze fans few laying around as well, so I took your advice and mounted one in the bottom (in addition to the one on the Northbridge); my temperatures are now at acceptable levels. Putting the PSU at the bottom of the case with the extension may be contributing to heat as well. in case anyone is considering it..

 

I'm still having trouble with power draw; I guess a 90w pico-psu just isn't enough for the D945GCLF2, two fans, bluetooth, a wireless card, an infrared receiver, a SSD, USB devices, and a DVD-RW running at full speed; I'm going to switch it out with a 120w version I have from a different project and see how it works.

 

Sean

[bibendum]

-snip-

I did not do the DSDT patch as many on the retail thread said it was unnecessary. How did you do it - did you simply drop OcciJano's DSDT into your root directory?

 

You basically did what I did to get your retail running, only I used a USB interface and you used PATA... takes a few steps, but it works.

 

And yes - I just followed iSynapse's guide, but instead of building my DSDT, I used OcciJano's...

 

Patrick

 

The other great part about the extension is that it makes it easy to tap the purple +5v standby cable to power the switch.

 

I have a Kaze fans few laying around as well, so I took your advice and mounted one in the bottom (in addition to the one on the Northbridge); my temperatures are now at acceptable levels. Putting the PSU at the bottom of the case with the extension may be contributing to heat as well. in case anyone is considering it..

 

I'm still having trouble with power draw; I guess a 90w pico-psu just isn't enough for the D945GCLF2, two fans, bluetooth, a wireless card, an infrared receiver, a SSD, USB devices, and a DVD-RW running at full speed; I'm going to switch it out with a 120w version I have from a different project and see how it works.

 

Sean

I'm considering rebuilding this into a "Hyper" cube... I like Zotac's 9300 mb, but I'm waiting for the 9400 to come out. I figure with an E5200 (and a heatpipe cooler sticking into the central "chimney"), it'd be pretty darn fast. I'll also have to figure out a new power supply, since I know the 90W ain't gonna cut it and I have doubts about the 120W...

 

Hopefully by then, I'll have found the original parts box I threw the touch switch into so I can put it back in...

 

Patrick

[D945GCLF]

I'm considering rebuilding this into a "Hyper" cube... I like Zotac's 9300 mb, but I'm waiting for the 9400 to come out. I figure with an E5200 (and a heatpipe cooler sticking into the central "chimney"), it'd be pretty darn fast. I'll also have to figure out a new power supply, since I know the 90W ain't gonna cut it and I have doubts about the 120W...

 

Hopefully by then, I'll have found the original parts box I threw the touch switch into so I can put it back in...

 

Patrick

 

I originally used a heat pipe cooler (Thermalright HR-05/IFX) in my project. But, I found that it had to be set at an angle in order to fit, because vertically it bumped up against the ram and horizontally against the CPU heatsink. The problem with that was that the heat pipe moved the heat away from the northbridge and toward the CPU (at least on one pipe). On the first run of my "fanless" system the CPU got up to 125ºC (I'm really surprised it still works). Even with a fan in the bottom it was way too hot. I think the D945GCLF(2) relies on the air flow from the Northbridge fan to help cool the CPU as well.

 

 

I couldn't find any smaller heatpipe coolers. although you could try the SLI/IFX version of the Thermalright. I think the original link you posted with the Zalman CNPS6500A-AlCu was a better solution.

 

The 120W pico-PSU worked like a charm for me; I have no more power problems. But I too doubt it would be enough for the Zotac 9300. There is a new 150W pico-PSU; I'm guessing it would be sufficient.

http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-150-XT

 

The Zotac 9300 looks like a great fit for the cube. From the looks of it, you would probably have better luck fitting in the power switch too. Be sure to let us know if you give it a try! I'd be excited to see how it works out.

 

Sean

[matticus]

For the record, the stock DVD-ROM drive in the G4 Cube *does* have an eject button, so all this optical drive juggling is unnecessary.

 

It's located in the upper-right corner.