G4 Cube Plans

[Jonta]

That is awesome idea. I have 3 Cubes sitting on my desk, still fully functional and Im planning to turn one into hackintosh with new Gigabyte itx for some time now.

 

Im all in for the custom parts, especially for new bottom plate & internal skeleton (minimizing lock-system guides)..

[danielmramos]

That is awesome idea. I have 3 Cubes sitting on my desk, still fully functional and Im planning to turn one into hackintosh with new Gigabyte itx for some time now.

 

Im all in for the custom parts, especially for new bottom plate & internal skeleton (minimizing lock-system guides)..

 

 

Jonta, that is really great. Please post your ideas and progress. I only have one cube at my disposal, so everything has to be perfect before I give it a go.

 

Thanks for the interest.

[Jonta]

Ok, I have somehow choose the hardware, still need to take apart one of the cubes and do a little planing where to stuff everything.

 

the parts;

 

Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3

Intel i5-750 w/ Scythe Big Shuriken

G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1600

Zotac GeForce 9500 GT 1GB w/ pci-e risser cable

Intel X25-M 160GB SSD

picoPSU-160-XT (rated 160W, 200W peak)

 

The goal is to keep outside of the Cube, bottom plate most, as stock as possible. Would also like to keep lock-latch but Im affraid I will not get all the parts inside, since rails are massive, but I really need to put one apart and do some measuring. In worst case I would ditch it, but I have no idea how could then fix the skeleton to the case?

 

Also, I have looked all over the net and I have seen none that modified the original powerswitch/sensor to the PC pinouts. Any clue on that?

[danielmramos]

Ok, I have somehow choose the hardware, still need to take apart one of the cubes and do a little planing where to stuff everything.

 

the parts;

 

Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3

Intel i5-750 w/ Scythe Big Shuriken

G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1600

Zotac GeForce 9500 GT 1GB w/ pci-e risser cable

Intel X25-M 160GB SSD

picoPSU-160-XT (rated 160W, 200W peak)

 

The goal is to keep outside of the Cube, bottom plate most, as stock as possible. Would also like to keep lock-latch but Im affraid I will not get all the parts inside, since rails are massive, but I really need to put one apart and do some measuring. In worst case I would ditch it, but I have no idea how could then fix the skeleton to the case?

 

Also, I have looked all over the net and I have seen none that modified the original powerswitch/sensor to the PC pinouts. Any clue on that?

 

Jonta, before you consider using the Gigabyte USB3 motherboard I suggest you take a look at this thread:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=217492

 

The Zotac H55-ITX wifi board is in many ways more capable than the Gigabyte board. In fact you can say that the extra mini pci slot makes it closer to the design of the original cube than any other board on the market. Also consider that Mactition has already done all of the heavy lifting for you with that board and found it to wok flawlessly. In fact he plans to soon release a DSDT file for that board and a dedicated installer. Still, if you still choose to use the Gigabyte board it would be interesting to see you work through ironing out the install of a brand new mini-itx board.

 

Are people interested in the Gigabyte board because of the USB3 thing alone? I really do not see USB3 like being such a big deal as SATA pretty much does the job without the extra cost. Also, I hate the idea of not having built in wireless. That is just my opinion.

 

As far as the locking rail goes, I also think it would be a mistake to dump the locking mechanism. Good luck keeping it together otherwise. Keep in mind that you can use the PCI riser (or extender) that I posted earlier to make things easier to fit. Also, doesn't getting rid of the stock heat sink give you much more room to work with? Hey, that pico power supply does not require a separate mounting point does it? The ones I saw were small enough to just be plugged into the MB without a fuss.

 

As far as the pin out for the touch sensitive power switch, have you taken a look at the service source manual link I posted? Another great source is to search the cubeowner.com forums. I am positive I saw that information somewhere. I will look around and get back with my findings on that one. Another solution might be getting an after market capacitive touch sensitive power switch. I know they make those kinds of products and it might be easier to use than the Apple switch. I will look around for information on after market touch switches as well.

 

Thanks for the effort!

 

Keep us up to date.

[danielmramos]

Jonta, I thought you would also be interested in this excellent build log of another project where a guy mounted a mini-itx motherboard in a cube case. He managed to make a few custom parts for the case that allowed him to not only keep the cube case locking/sliding mechanism functional and in place, but he actually managed to utilize the stock heat sink to keep it passively cooled! This project is truly a work of art and worth looking at. His final product was extremely clean. There are things he did that I would not have done; however, it is quite impressive for a number of other reasons.

 

http://www.gordyhand.co.uk/maccube.htm

 

Take a look.

 

Here is a capacitive switch I found on a robotics site that looks like it would do a very similar job to the original cube power switch. Take a look and let us know if you think it might work.

 

http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=1077

 

Here is another option:

http://www.hvwtech.com/products_view.asp?ProductID=1208

 

This video might come in handy as the guy worked with the cube's proximity power switch. I didn't have time to look, but it seems like it might be useful.

 

 

Also, I have looked all over the net and I have seen none that modified the original powerswitch/sensor to the PC pinouts. Any clue on that?

 

I have some great news! I did quite a bit of searching and finally found this page:

 

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

 

This guy goes into great detail in explaining how the G4 Cube proximity power switch works. He even discusses keeping the functionality of the pulsing LED that is part of the switch.

 

I hope this gets you headed in the direction you wanted. Now that I think about it I wouldn't wan't to lose the original switch. My cube never had switch problems like others did and the LED feedback is kind of nice.

 

 

Keep in mind that the AC power supply for the G4 cube is rated for 205W. If you can use the original power supply by creating an adapter to go from the original Cube external brick to the pico PS, then you wouldn't have to invest any money in a new external AC brick. I am sure the original brick is of superior quality as it was sourced by Apple.

 

Here is a link that shows what the pinouts are for the 205W G4 Cube external power brick:

 

http://cubeowner.com/kbase_2/index.php?article=69

 

Thanks to TomD for the PSU specs:

The outer shell is ground - thru to the 3rd pin of the AC power cord

 

The two pins that are closer together are +28V, Cube flat inner part and the other two pins are the 28V return. (not Ground) Cube, shell notch. The sides also have notches on the Cube receptacle. The 2 28V lines are common circuits as are the 28V returns.

 

/--U--

| * * | <--- 28V return

| ** | <___ 28V

-----/ <--- GND shield

 

The thought that comes to mind is that it might be possible to buy some dead G4 Cube parts to create an adapter for the power brick, or I guess you could just go all the way back to the wires and solder them to the required connector.

 

At least we have the information and the option.

[Polytonic]

Ok, I have somehow choose the hardware, still need to take apart one of the cubes and do a little planing where to stuff everything.

 

the parts;

 

Gigabyte GA-H55N-USB3

Intel i5-750 w/ Scythe Big Shuriken

G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1600

Zotac GeForce 9500 GT 1GB w/ pci-e risser cable

Intel X25-M 160GB SSD

picoPSU-160-XT (rated 160W, 200W peak)

 

The goal is to keep outside of the Cube, bottom plate most, as stock as possible. Would also like to keep lock-latch but Im affraid I will not get all the parts inside, since rails are massive, but I really need to put one apart and do some measuring. In worst case I would ditch it, but I have no idea how could then fix the skeleton to the case?

 

Also, I have looked all over the net and I have seen none that modified the original powerswitch/sensor to the PC pinouts. Any clue on that?

 

Yeah I'm considering doing this too, but with stock HSF on an i7 860.

 

Motherboards: Zotac vs. Gigabyte

CPU: Intel Core i7 860

GPU: EVGA GT240

RAM: Kingston vs. G.Skill

 

I'm a little worried this will draw too much power. It'd certainly work under idle circumstances, but under full load, I'm not too sure. I can't really afford a SSD, so I was looking into power efficient hard drives. Anyone have any suggestions?

[danielmramos]

I have read that the latest pico power supply units are very capable of handling the requirements of a mini-ITX system with a discrete GPU. I do not think you will have any problems as long as you use the higher end pico power supply models. There is also a model that provides 200W consistently and not only for peak loads.

[WooHu]

i don't think that a 200 watt psu will work. try using a psu calc (hint: search for it)

[danielmramos]

i don't think that a 200 watt psu will work. try using a psu calc (hint: search for it)

 

I absolutely do not trust what a psu calculator states. If you want to know what actual power consumption for a particular configuration is you need to directly measure it. So, the question is has anybody actually done a power measurement for such a system?

 

The answer is yes:

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1494745

 

Direct measurement reflects reality while a calculator is based on the assumptions, guesses, and biases of the calculator's creator.

 

I will trust the direct power measurements made in the real world.

[danielmramos]

For those of you not willing to try the option of getting a custom manufactured bottom plate for your G4 cube, but would rather try the method illustrated by gordyhand here is a place you can purchase a G4 cube bottom plate for cheap.

 

http://www.welovemacs.com/cubebackpanel.html

 

This would allow for modification experiments on your cube without the fear of destroying your original cube equipment.

 

$50 is not a high price to pay to preserve your original cube parts. Remember the best method utilized for manually modifying the bottom plate has been by utilizing a nibbler.

[jhumroo]

Hey, to the interested parties posting to this thread that were interested in trying this mod using a Zotac H55-ITX wifi motherboard, I have good news for you!

 

http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/index.php...t&p=1491428

 

The H55-ITX wifi is totally hackintosh friendly. It is possibly the most friendly and powerful mini-ITX hackintosh motherboard ever, so go for it.

 

If found this thread purely by chance by going through the Mods and Overclocking section. I have had a G4 cube for years and it is still working. I would love to put a high powered hackintosh in there. Maybe I can give it a go if I get some help about what to use for the other internal components.

 

Thanks!

 

I've been reading the Zotac H55-ITX thread as well. Waiting for a brave individual to post a how-to guide, with internal specs, to build a hackintosh in a G4 Cube

[danielmramos]

Hmm, I don't think you will find anybody putting up a guide for modding your G4 Cube. You should take a look at the info I gathered from my researched and see if you want to jump in. If you do take the plunge I would suggest the custom parts approach.

 

Good luck!

[Vostro15]

If you are thinking about the Gigabyte motherboard simply for USB3 functionality, then take a look at the newer Zotac H55ITX-C-E. It is based on the other Zotac that the hackintosh community are starting to adore but it adds USB3 to lure anyone who considered buying the Gigabyte.

[neil43]

I am in the middle of inserting a Zotac H55-ITX-AE into my new acquired G4 Cube. I have the cube disassembled and the cut away much of the bottom/rear panel.

 

My main concern at the moment is selecting the best available video card that will fit in the confines of the cube. It appears that this is 6.75 inches from the bulkhead to the rear edge of the card. Maybe there is another 1/16 inch.

 

I have flex-cable-PCIE-riser ordered from China along with a male-female IDE cable (to support running the original IDE optical drive using an IDE to SATA adapter).

 

I can see that this is a several week task of trial fitting, file to fit and waiting for parts then bench testing, etc.

 

The CPU heat sink is also un-defined at the moment. I have an i3-530, an i5-650 and an i7-860 to choose from. I would like flow a high volume of air (quietly) and use the i7-860. I have not found short (less the 4" tall) high performance horizontal flow cooler. I have found 2U Server Grade CPU cooler (Dynatron K650) but the noise level is too high and it does not look as though it would fit the Zotac MB. I may try chopping off the top fins of a conventional cooler and using a 80mm fan.

 

Anyway if anyone knows of a short front to back video card that is hackable, please let me know.

 

neil

[danielmramos]

That is great Neil, I can't wait to see the pictures.

[neil43]

Another G4 Cube Hackintosh.

 

Just to document that it has been done with the Zotac H55ITX-A-E mother board, 4GB memory, an i5-650, 2 SATA 500GB HDDs in RAID 0 and a GeForce 8400 GS.

 

OS X install retail 10.6.3 upgraded to 10.6.4 with all updates using TonyMacX86’s [url=&quot;http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/&quot;]#####[/url] Supported and [url=&quot;http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/279450-why-insanelymac-does-not-support-tonymacx86/&quot;]#####[/url] tool set.

 

Board Stack

 

I did this because I own the mother board and it is a good hack. However it is not the best suited MB for this conversion. As you will see in the photos the 24 pin power connector is not in the best location.

 

I elected to use the PICO 160 Watt PSU with an outboard power brick. The PSU module deflects the memory module when the PSU module is installed directly into the MB power connector. This drove me to use a power extension cable and mount the PSU in the location shown.

 

The MB size is a little wider then the stock bottom panel. Grinding down the central rib on the panel at the point of contact provides a very close contacting fit.

 

The OS X non-support of the Intel HD Graphics dictates selecting a video card that would fit within the space available. I used a GeForce 8400 GS.

 

Using an external graphics card drives using a PCIE extender of some sort (because the PCIE slot location prohibits standard slot mount of the card in the form factor). I located a flat cabled extender (from China) via a Canadian reseller. As you can see I located the card below the MB and the space allocated is for a video card with a taller fan then used in the final form.

 

I cut way a good portion of the bottom panel and did away for the stock side rails, latch handle, and original mounting bracket. The core module is secured to the outer can by two long stand-off parts and thumb screw at the bottom.

 

CPU Selection:

 

Wanting to run a i7-860 drove a search for a CPU Cooler that could do the job in a very confined space and even then I felt it necessary to add a pair of exhaust fans (again see the photos). The CPU cooler is a Zalman CNPS8000A which comes with an adjustable fan speed controller (see black knob on the bottom panel). With the i7-860, the hack idled in the low 40's and under full load would get up into the mid to high 80's C with system fully panel and setting in the upright orientation. Unfortunately, the system was not stable and would go into a thermal shutdown. With the i7-860 the input AC to the power brick was 68 to 70 watts idle and over 200+ watts with the 8 threads running 100% load. It is not clear if the PSU folded back or if the CPU initiated the thermal shutdown.

 

Never the less these conditions dictated moving to a lower power CPU. I used an i5-650 previously purchased for another project. The idle input power is 57 to 60 watts and fully loaded runs about 102 watts. The CPU idle temp is 33 to 35 degrees C, and after an hour run with 4 threads at full 100% load the CPU loaded temp was stable at 80 to 81 degrees C.

 

Drive Stack

 

I wanted to reuse the original optical dirve in the Hack and this drove finding an IDE to SATA adapter. I used a Vantek device and made up a 90 degree connector. OBW this drive will not read dual layer DVDs.

 

Below the optical drive are two 500GB 7200 RPM 2 1/2 drives (running a SW RAID 0 configuration). For convenience I wired in an extra SATA power cable/connector (so that I can patch in a maintenance hard drive or optical drive).

 

Chassis

 

I retained the top and bottom panels, corner rails, drive frame, outer can and the clear housing. I modified each part as needed. The corner rails are about the only part that did not get tweaked. As mentioned above, I added two 40mm exhaust fans mounted to the top panel. I cut down the thickness of the stock top center vent piece and undercut the center ribs to clear the fan. I removed the end rib on each end and added a Power LED, a HDD LED, Audio ports, an USB port and a Power Button. I retained the original colors with exception of the center vent piece and the bottom panel (painted semi-gloss black).

 

I have played with the original proximity switch and my initial effort did not work out. I located another guide that may give better results but requires fine pitch soldering skills (not my best skill). So that is a work in progress which I will document at a later date should I have success.

 

 

Parts List:

 

Case - G4 Cube – source craigslist

Mother Board – Zotac H55ITX-A-E - source NewEgg

Video Card – BFG 8400GS D512M - source Fry’s Electronics

Memory – Patriot DDR3 [2x2GB] 1333MHz, PSD34G1333K - source Fry’s Electronics

PSU – picoPSU-160-XT source Mini-Box.com

PCIE Extender – PCI-E PCI-Express 16x Riser Card Extender, EG0665 - source 9Mart.com

IDE to SATA - Vantek CB-IS100, source Fry’s Electronics

ABS sheets – source Tap Plastics

ABS Glue – source OSH

Black Oxide Screws – source McMaster Carr

Threaded stand-offs – source McMaster Carr

Steel sheet – source McMaster Carr

Black Paint – Semi-Gloss Black Rust-Oleum – source OSH

40mm Fans – SilenX IXtreama Pro 40mm Case Fan IXP-11-14 – source Fry’s Electronics

12” SATA Cables – source Micro Center

CPU – Intel i5-650 – source Micro Center

CPU Cooler – Zalman CNPS8000A – source Central Computers

Hard Disk - Hitachi Travelstar 500GB 7200 RPM HD20500IDK/7K – source Fry’s Electronics

Power switch, Audio ports, USB socket, LEDs, DC cable and connectors – source recycled salvage parts

Case Polish – used to recover clear outer cover – Tap Plastics

Plastic Ties – source Fry’s Electronics

 

I had high hopes that the i7-860 CPU would be usable in this hack. The plus 200 watt input load was apparently just too much for the PSU which is rated at 160 watts with peaks to 200. Also I had intended to use a XFX GT 240 video card which gave me major integration problems and instability in this system. With the current configuration described the system is stable and runs 24/7 without issue.

 

Fan noise: I have the Zalman cooler fan at the low speed position and the two exhaust fans can be heard in a quite room. I am thinking of removing the exhaust fans in the future as they appear to not be needed with the i5-650 (I have blocked the fans for short periods and do not see much increase in the system temps).

 

Photos follow:

That's it for now.

 

Here is a system window shot: Running 4 threads @ 100%.

[pirloui]

Very nice; thanks for the pictures

Good general fitting; and nice touch to have the original optical drive.

[mactition]

.

[Polytonic]

Why were you unable to put in the GT240? Was it a wattage limitation, or was it because the XFX GT240 is a slot and a half wide? I was planning to do almost exactly the same build, except with an i3, the Gigabyte H55N, and the EVGA GT240 (single-slot).

 

Edit: Rather than using Grab, you can also use Shift-Cmd-4.

[neil43]

Why were you unable to put in the GT240? Was it a wattage limitation, or was it because the XFX GT240 is a slot and a half wide? I was planning to do almost exactly the same build, except with an i3, the Gigabyte H55N, and the EVGA GT240 (single-slot).

 

Edit: Rather than using Grab, you can also use Shift-Cmd-4.

 

The XFX GT240 was chosen for it overall length which is less then 6.75 inches and does fit within the space available. The GT240 just would not run (in a stable fashion) on the cable riser card assembly. It would run plugged directly into the MB and it seemed stable and fast. A shorter path might resolve the issues.

 

Anyway, time goes and I have pulled the Zotac MB and swapped in an ECS H55H-I card (which is very similar in layout to the Gigabyte H55N). There are still problems due to layout. The Pico PSU won't fit directly into the power slot.. components hang outside of the space allowed. This caused me to make up a three inch power extender cable to get around that issue. And with the memory on the very back edge of the MB (which becomes the top when in G4 Cube orientation) caused me to re-build my top panel (and left off the exhaust fans). The system runs well on Apple OSX 10.6.5 with the i5-650. With the MB swap I did loose the AirPort WiFi and am running a USB WiFi dongle. The ECS MB was $80 compared to the Zotac at $130.

 

I am not entirely happy with the ECS MB in that I have yet to sort out the internal USB headers, also have a problem where the system is not seen by other OS X machines on the network (no sharing). But then if things were simple I would be bored.

 

neil