G5 parts in my SE - noise

[CJ_Miller]

Even if it is just a cooling fan.

My 030 SE runs just way, way too loud. The 1GB hard drive (salvaged from a "parts" 7500) sounds like a VTOL aircraft! The only noisier box I have is a PIII Compaq server with RAID chassis. Problem is that I made the SE to use for music, so the noise is unacceptable - even with my big headphones on I can hear it.

So, it is going to get a new fan, probably from a junked G5 I inherited, since those are the quietest I have. Other thing is that I have decided to switch to a solid-state drive. Who knows why SSD SCSI are so rare, it is weird. So I need to try a SCSI-IDE bridge. But I can't afford a 50-pin SCSI bridge now, so I dug out a rare item I forgot I had - 2.5" SCSI-IDE bridge. I think I bought some when I was hoping to fix a friends Duo280. So this weekend I ordered on the cheap a couple of 3.5"->2.5" SCSI adaptors. So the internal SCSI is going to go to the 2.5" adaptor, and then the bridge, and a 2.5" IDE SSD. Looks like 4GB is the smallest I am finding. Hopefully it will all work with Ledo, and if not, they are good parts to have on hand anyway.

If this all works, I should soon have a nearly silent SE!

 

[Gorgonops]

So, it is going to get a new fan, probably from a junked G5 I inherited, since those are the quietest I have.

So, I could be completely wrong about this, but... I seem to recall from the time I spent futzing around with a G5 Xserve that the fans in the G5 require a PWM signal for speed control, and that they'll either not run at all or run full-blast (at an ear-splitting volume) if you just apply DC voltage to them. (Of course, this could just apply to the Xserve, not the desktops.)

 

[protocol7]

The 1GB hard drive (salvaged from a "parts" 7500) sounds like a VTOL aircraft!

Ain't that the truth. Granted mine has been running with the casing open since I got it as it's awaiting a permanent cdrom replacement. I hope it's at least a little bit quieter once I put it back together.

 

[CJ_Miller]

edit

I seem to recall from the time I spent futzing around with a G5 Xserve that the fans in the G5 require a PWM signal for speed control, and that they'll either not run at all or run full-blast (at an ear-splitting volume) if you just apply DC voltage to them.

Yes, most fans do use speed control these days, and PWM is the obvious choice. That's some upshot of my electronic music experience, setting up a 555 timing chip as an oscillator with pulse-width control is something I have done before. A trimpot for speed control is probably sufficient.

 

[CJ_Miller]

edit

Granted mine has been running with the casing open since I got it as it's awaiting a permanent cdrom replacement. I hope it's at least a little bit quieter once I put it back together.

They say there are a million stories in The Naked Mac...

Indeed, since I got an extra SE logic board with my accelerator, I have pondered re-casing it for just an external video connection. Maybe a smaller linear supply (which I have a few of) and video out in a little box, not unlike an LC. Since I've got a young boy I need to keep exposed electronics in the basement workshop area until I get them sorted out.

 

[CJ_Miller]

I have decided to switch to a solid-state drive. Who knows why SSD SCSI are so rare, it is weird. So I need to try a SCSI-IDE bridge. But I can't afford a 50-pin SCSI bridge now, so I dug out a rare item I forgot I had - 2.5" SCSI-IDE bridge. I think I bought some when I was hoping to fix a friends Duo280. So this weekend I ordered on the cheap a couple of 3.5"->2.5" SCSI adaptors. So the internal SCSI is going to go to the 2.5" adaptor, and then the bridge, and a 2.5" IDE SSD.

It took a while for the SSD to arrive, shipped from China. I just tried the setup. The mini SCSI-IDE bridge works, but not with the SSD. I tried a 2GB PowerBook drive and it worked fine. So it's good to know that the bridges work, since they are harder to find than drives. Why the SSD doesn't work? Of course I need to test it in a different configuration to verify that it works at all - I am going to guess some kind of "sensing" on the bridge board. Draws too little current, doesn't use the 12V rail... circuit may not see that it is there. Indeed there is an indicator LED on the bridge which blinks while it connects to the IDE drive, and then goes out. With the SSD it remains steadily lit instead. Not all bridges will do this, the ones here look fairly elaborate, Guess I will try to hold out for an Acard or similar.

So now I wonder if I should use the 2.5" 2GB drive in my SE instead of the 4GB SSD... The little IDE drive is a lot quieter than what is in my SE now, and newer. Looks like the SSD is going in the Xybernaut I am fixing for work.