6400 MicroTower - Clear Plexi Case Hack

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Just another Manic Monday morning  .  .  .  :

Concept specification study: tower dimensions listed in desktop orientation illustrated by pics.



10" Deep x 13" Wide x 3.5" High:  height restriction limit: two slot backplane



10" Deep x 12" Wide x 3.5" High:  height restriction limit: PSU



10" Deep x 10" Wide x 8" High:  height restriction limit: PSU above Motherboard.

Could add a pair of full height 5.25" bays and stretch the height of this one into an actual 1,000 cu.in. Cube just for shiggles and gits. But visible components of Towers would be the point of the exercise aside from the obvious cubic reductions..

All dimensional specs are very conservative in terms of height and Depth.

Quadra 630 or 6360 MicroTower Height could be shaved down to a tad more than 2.5"

Concept inspired by the Big Tomato's dilemma: Performa 6205 - YUCK!

It's not the 8.5" Deep x 12" Wide x 2" High 605/475 MicroQuadraMiniTower© Cory inspired, but a 40MHz hack, SSD on IDE, A/V input portion of the TV Tuner setup, 10bT CS Card and a DSP based MPEG Media Card or PC Compatibility Card cover a multitude of volumetric sins.

USB Wombat and Floppy EMU on board assumed, big guy. [] ]'>

MicroQuadra version's SCSI2SD IDE alternate assumed.

edit: may not do any of these, but one of the three spare IIsi Mobos? [}] ]'>

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Forgot to mention the huge, clear, ultra quiet fan.

Drawer mounted to "bottom" facilitated by hinging "top" thus providing easy access from a bit more conventional approach.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Copy/Past error.: MidMiniTower Height is 4" limit imposed by height of PSU

 

[bigmessowires]

If you want to design something that could be laser cut by a service like Ponoko, I'd buy one!

It's not the 8.5" Deep x 12" Wide x 2" High 605/475 MicroQuadraMiniTower© Cory inspired

MicroQuadra version's SCSI2SD IDE alternate assumed.

Link to the 8.5 x 12 x 2 Q605 MicroQuadraMiniTower? That sounds good. I was thinking of doing something like that myself, but no reason to reinvent the wheel.

Pray tell what is SCSI2SD IDE?

 

[Floofies]

Very cool! I am all over this! As you know I am also in the process of designing a custom case for the 630 series, so it is great to see someone else doing something similar.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

If you want to design something that could be laser cut by a service like Ponoko, I'd buy one!

Link to the 8.5 x 12 x 2 Q605 MicroQuadraMiniTower? That sounds good. I was thinking of doing something like that myself, but no reason to reinvent the wheel.

Pray tell what is SCSI2SD IDE?

1 - wasn't thinking in those terms at all, but I could build the parts in Illustrator for conversion to whatever for an alternate, flattened, squared off laser cut version. I'm leaning toward bent/rounded edges with rounded rectangle endcaps. I'm an olde schoole.pattern maker type. Hand tools, 100 year old plexi bending wire/BandSaw in a pinch kinda project percolation in process

2 - link's 404 for the time being. url leads to a 3D model in my noggin. Took a very quick look inside the 605, yardstick in hand.

3 - two terms out of ill defined context:

"MicroQuadra version's SCSI2SD IDE alternate assumed." = MQ lacks IDE for SSD, so alternate SCSI2SD implementation assumed.

@floofs - I very vaguely remembered your project this morning, but couldn't remember where I'd seen it. Linkage?

 

[bigmessowires]

Wait, so for the Q630 and Performa 6205 and other Macs with internal IDE, can I just stick a generic PATA/IDE SSD in there and expect it to work? I am hopelessly confused about IDE, ATA, PATA, SATA, and whatever. Like could I put this in the Performa 6205? https://www.amazon.com/KingSpec-2-5-inch-Solid-SM2236-Controller/dp/B008RWKFYE

 

[Themk]

IDE, ATA, AT Atachement, PATA all mean the same thing. I believe AT Atachement is the 'proper' term?

SATA is a newer technology, *Serial* ATA. Also significantly faster.

With the proper 2.5 to 3.5 adaptor, that SSD should work. I got an 80GiB unit in my Q630.

 

[omidimo]

Like could I put this in the Performa 6205? https://www.amazon.com/KingSpec-2-5-inch-Solid-SM2236-Controller/dp/B008RWKFYE

Yes, the KingSpec SSDs work well (enough) in PATA Macs. I have used them in 6x00, Biege G3, and the last Classic Mac capable MDD. 

The 2.5 to 3.5 adapters can be hit or miss, so i suggest the most basic one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006B8C2/

For drive sled, this model is the best I have used: https://www.amazon.com//dp/B00G57BN1M/

 

[bigmessowires]

I think I'm slowly catching on, thank you. What about the slightly cheaper combination of an IDE to CF adapter, with a CF card? Any reason that wouldn't work? Something like this combo:

https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-Compact-Flash-Adapter-IDE2CF/dp/B0026OYEEQ

https://www.amazon.com/Sandisk-Ultra-Memory-CompactFlash-SDCFHS-008G-A46/dp/B00GECD2DA

Returning to the original point of this thread, I like the idea of designing a small customized acrylic case. Hand-building something with acrylic tools and such could be lots of fun, and then when it's done you can bask in the adoration here. For me personally though, I'd be more interested in designing a case in some vector drawing software like Inkscape, that anybody with a laser cutter or a Ponoko account could replicate it for themselves. I think I may take a shot at this for the LCI/LCII/LCIII/LC475/Q605 computers, because they're so small already and I happen to have all the parts I need on hand. I already order tons of stuff from Ponoko, so this would fit nicely into my purchasing stream... 

 

[omidimo]

The last time I tried one of the CF adapters I ran into some problems installing and gave up on them. I tried some of the mSATA PATA adapters too, and they were problematic. I just had better luck with the native PATA drives. Others can chime in with their experience. 

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

MQMTfx™

 

[bigmessowires]

I like it! But now are you designing a case for the 6400, or for the Quadra 605? Or both?

Today I spent a little time brainstorming for a Q605 acrylic case (or LC I, II, or III), so maybe we can collaborate. My plan is to build something from six pieces of laser-cut acrylic that fit together with tabs and slots. Why seven pieces? Six are for the sides of the box, and the seventh is for an interior shelf above the logic board, where you can mount the hard disk or SCSI2SD. No spot for a floppy drive, but the header will be exposed if you want to connect something external for occasional use. No fan. Not sure about the internal speaker.

I think this can all be built into a case with a desk footprint area equal to the logic board + PSU placed side by side, and with a height equal to the PSU's height. That's pretty small! 

In your photo at the post you linked to, I see you placed the PSU on its end rather than lying down flat. I tried that, but then the PSU cable doesn't reach. But even if it did, I'm not sure it's a good tradeoff - it reduces the case width by about 10% by increases the case height by almost 2x.

This is probably all difficult to follow without some pictures, sorry. Maybe I'll try to mock something up with cardboard first before investing in the laser cutting.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

family tolerant reply

 

[Floofies]

JT, per your request here is a link to an anchor thread I will soon be updating with another case prototype. I decided on building the prototype with wood, then the real thing with aluminum sheets.

https://68kmla.org/forums/index.php?/topic/28901-microquadra-630

The design will pretty much match your description, bigmessowires. Very compact with the PSU being the tallest, and only room for a thin front compartment plus the PSU and LB. Same goes for floppy support, on a DB25 port though. We may some day get to find out how big of a fire we get when I accidentally plug a SCSI device into the Floppy Interface, or vice versa.

 

[johnklos]

Wait, so for the Q630 and Performa 6205 and other Macs with internal IDE, can I just stick a generic PATA/IDE SSD in there and expect it to work? I am hopelessly confused about IDE, ATA, PATA, SATA, and whatever. Like could I put this in the Performa 6205? https://www.amazon.com/KingSpec-2-5-inch-Solid-SM2236-Controller/dp/B008RWKFYE

For the most part, yes. You can use drives up to 2 TB. I've tried > 2TB drives in a Quadra 630, and they do work, but I couldn't find software that allowed me to partition the disk properly.

Most standard SATA drives with SATA-IDE adapters will work. The CompactFlash to IDE adapters depend heavily on the kind of card.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

IDE Quadras and the PowerBook 150 just plain ROCK!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Thanks for posting that link, floofs. Can't wait to see your finalized ATX conversion. Gotta dig up the missing pics of the PCB based ATX adapter concept. Stuffing a tiny ATX PSU into the sheet metal of the magic smoke vented SuperIIsi™ PSU still needs to be done. That custom PCB would be the perfect place for your electronics. I envy your abilities on the electronics end of things.

So the 6400 MicroTower is trying to ease off the backburner of my mind. Found the RoadApple PPC MoBo with w/spare MedusaMess attached. Reworking the IDC connectors on the loom, shortening it for visually inviting presentation is an intriguing prospect. The ATX PSU hack is even more appealing.

My notion for casing dovetails nicely with the MQMTfx project:



It's not the thin format you're looking to do, but a QSlike drop panel articulation on the topleft quarterpanel of the front bezel for a laptop DVD running off the 6400's Tempotrio needs exploration. Just crazy gluing the panel to the tray's not sufficiently challenging, but that's really the way to go. :-/

Simple drop panel on the other side for controls and removable media planned as well.

Dang.