Rebuilding an iMac as a stand-alone

[Temporary Joe]

Hello! My name's "Temporary Joe" (it originated from an error on Mac Garden, long story), and if you were on Mac Garden, you may remember me (and this post). Anyway...the weather's cooling down and traditionally, this is the time to play old Mac games (for me), from a tradition years old. But I can't really, and while I can fire up SheepShaver and/or Basilisk II for a glimpse of what things were like on my MacBook, it causes the processor to scream, and it's not the same (there's always something broken somehow). So what I want to do is put the iMac back together.

I wouldn't have considered it, but I originally reported that in this thread, that my iMac G3 (2000, slot-loading, graphite) would shut off spontaneously, giving a "whuff-whuff-whuff" noise as the fan wore down. This was determined to be the power supply going bad, so I decided that like Max, I would replace the iMac as a new stand-alone machine and dump the dying CRT while I was at it.

But not much progress has been made.

To that end, I made a video showing what I've done, which includes some parts I've dismantled. There are other parts upstairs with some other components, but I have no idea what's useful and what's not.

It is tilted, as it was originally shot on an iPhone and I had to re-encode to get from about 400MB to 14, plus it really did not record my voice well (it sounds like I'm mumbling).

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8243916/TemporaryJoeImac.MOV

My end product will be something designed like a game console. Imagine a G3-powered Pippin that goes straight to the desktop. Given how much I put on the hard drive, I think having the Launcher open with all my stuff would be most awesome.

The people at Mac Garden did give me some links, but I honestly think that the PSU is damaged beyond repair, as I reminded them that the symptoms were an abrupt shutoff of the monitor, the power button to flicker down to death, and a distinctive "whuff-whuff-whuff" sound from the fans.

I was a bit hopeful about this whole "ATX board" thing but my heart sank when a linked YouTube video mentioned "a bunch of random parts coming in from Hong Kong", as I was under the assumption it was something simple I can pick up on Amazon. If I managed to get a replacement board for the iMac G3 (which I'm not even 100% sure if that little board is the problem, the capacitors aren't obviously bulging or whatever), I'm afraid that if I try to rewire it for standard VGA connection, the power that would supply the monitor has nowhere to go, and the whole thing might blow. Admittedly, I'm not too strong on power issues, either.

Here's the original thread mentioned.

 

[Temporary Joe]

Perhaps I wasn't too clear--I do need help with this, it's not a completed project. Any advice would be appreciated. Will upload new videos if needed.

 

[techknight]

No offense intended here, but all I read is riff-raff with no real "question". So in order for us to help you, we need an actual problem/question thats specific.

Now I didnt read any other threads elsewhere but thats because I dont like to bounce around all over the place trying to follow something. But eh...

 

[Temporary Joe]

OK, the point is, I want to rebuild the Mac as a stand-alone. My two questions are

#1: Did I get all the necessary parts to rebuild the machine properly? I got the motherboard, hard drive, power supply, speakers (and the wires with them), optical drive, and the RAM. There are some other parts that I did not get yet, those are upstairs with the rest of the machine. If it's too hard to get out, I guess I could order something.

#2: I determined that the power supply was at fault for the crashes. From there, where do I go? If I wanted to redesign the machine without the CRT (note: CRT was also exhibiting weird effects), would a similar power supply work, or do I have to jerryrig something else?

 

[techknight]

Ok, That definitely clears it up Now I understand it a bit better.

The Analog board sends power to the logic board power supply. Now, I cant remember if it was pre-rectified or if its straight AC. I havent owned a CRT Imac for awhile.

This is the information you need:

http://www.radiomods.co.nz/imactoatxconversion

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Ooh, a PC in an iMac case? Always wanted to do this! I've wanted to make a gaming PC... Perfect union of function AND form. <3

 

[techknight]

For an iMac DV, You need this info:

http://etech.dyndns.org/index.php?page=vcr.php

 

[RickNel]

Ooh, a PC in an iMac case? Always wanted to do this! I've wanted to make a gaming PC... Perfect union of function AND form. <3

This is the reverse of what this thread is about - however, I have put a P4 in a iMac case - had to use a 17" LCD screen though. And built a mezzanine over the mini-ATX motherboard to locate the ATX PSU directly under the air vent. All interface ports (USB, Firewire) replicated. Daughter used it for a while - then wanted something better

Rick

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Going either way with a dead iMac sounds good to me. If you can find a 17" Studio Display with a bad flyback and a quality 17" VGA CRT, you might keep it iMac-like. Consider doing a MAXiMac hack with your iMac's giblets and a Medium sized display, lots of room in there to play around with, especially so if you switch to an LCD. Put your slotloader, Zip and FDD access in the right or left white side panel.

I've considered the notion of a wide aspect LCD in the top of the display area of my Blueberry StudioDisplay hull with a custom Drive Bay Panel to fill the resulting opening underneath. Doing it in a custom. back painted clear plexi setback so the flat screen and drive bays "float" just behind the bezel opening would cover a multitude of size variations and allow the wide aspect flat screen to be dropped about a half an inch and reduce the drive bay area by the same amount from the bottom.

Dunno, such musings keep it interesting to have that Big@$$ B&W bubble kicking around the joint.

Welcome aboard, BTW! [] ]'>

 

[Temporary Joe]

- It's not going back in the case, and I'm not investing in another monitor. The LCD hacks I've seen often have it in a particularly odd angle: the CRT's natural curviness accounts for this fact, but a flat-screen does not.

- I did not use an anti-static wrist strap, as my house is uncarpeted, I don't wear socks, the humidity is unfavorable for static shocks, I had discharged on a metal frame, and I didn't touch any of the components of the board anyway (I don't think I messed with it on the video very much).

- The front PCB is the one with the headphone inputs, yes? I don't think I have that...back to the box upstairs, I suppose.

- I'll take another video later on, specifically showing the wires I think I should cut.

This project I thought wasn't going to require splicing wires around. Oh well... xx(