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Not your ordinary G5 rear I/O board... extending the zammykoo legacy!


terrorgen
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Zammykoo's G5 I/O Board had created a lot of buzz until he shifted focus to other projects. And now, since he has released his board design, I would like to continue to work on his legendary board that will enable a G5 mod without going through the hassle of cutting the case.

My initial design will be based on zammy's released design so it will only work with G5 cases of early-2005. I might consider making late-2005 compatible boards if there is enough demand.

What has changed:
1. Board is redrawn in a CAD software
2. Manufacturer obsolete parts are replaced with parts still in production.
3. Excess empty space is trimmed.
4. Final board design will be released as Opensource Hardware (OSHW). Zammykoo I hope this is okay.
5. The board will be done in a fab house.

Since the fab house is involved, we will need enough orders in order to keep costs down. Please let me know if you are interested. I am still working on the pricing so if you have a budget in mind please let me know in your replies so it could be considered.
The board is now currently priced at $40 (One Ethernet Jack) and $50 (Two Ethernet Jacks) plus shipping, which is around $2 - $5 in the United States. For destinations outside the United States, shipping will be around $15 to $20 via USPS Priority Mail with tracking number. You will get the fully assembled board plus all the cables.

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List of Interested Parties:

1. Zammykoo (Since you are the original author, you are first in line and you'll get it for FREE!)
2. Treegjansen
3. Teme
4. Jeffkck
5. PromoMotion (1E)
6. I-Heine-I (1E)
7. Kara5 (1E)
8. Vpr99 (1E)
9. Uknown334 (1E)
10. Geb (1E)
11. Kolki (1E)
12. chocula (1E)
13. chdrsto
14. aeropg1
15. vanderveeken
16. fifty50am

17. rholdorf

18. snnall

19. daveeasa

20. lungshadow

21. mailw

22. khudge

23. frederikwieth

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Update Oct 12, 2012 10:15PM Central Daylight Time:

Here is the first draft:
post-3552-0-28895700-1350098165_thumb.png

Update Oct 12, 2012 4:20AM Central Daylight Time:

Here is the second draft:
post-3552-0-21131200-1350120024_thumb.png

The second draft further shrinks the IO board down and centralizing all connections toward the middle.

Update Oct 20, 2012: iPod Dock Connector 1

Update Oct 26, 2012: iPod Dock Connector 2

Update Oct 31, 2012: Putting together

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Update Jan 3rd, 2013 11:40PM Central Standard Time:

I hereby present you... Version 2.0.4b!!

The "b" in the version number stands for "beta" and it means the board layout is NOT TESTED.
Those who would like to make their own version of the board, you'll assume the risks yourselves. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

This attached ZIP file contains two EAGLE schematics and two EAGLE brd files as well as a list of parts with their Digikey part number. You can get the manufacturer's part number by referencing them on DIgikey's website: www.digikey.com

This version contains two boards: one main board that contain all the connectors and a daughterboard that contains the cables. They mate with each other via two 0.05" pitch 30 pin connectors.

g5board2.0.4b.zip

 

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Update Aug 22nd, 2013 11:54PM Central Daylight Time:

 

I have been MIA for a few months... have been focusing on my other responsibilities and finally picked up the project again. The audio ports for v2.04b are still not extruded far enough to enable the audio cable to be snapped in so I changed the design a bit to correct that.

 

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Update Aug 26th, 2013 10:57PM Central Daylight Time

 

The board is available to order. Lead time will be about a month since I need to stock up and doing this on my spare time. People on the waiting list will get priority. Please PM me so I can send you my PayPal details...

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I may be interested - but I need to know dimensions. I have very little room between the uATX MB and the case. I'll pay ~30 as well, that was the cost for the front panel stuff I got, and that shipped from Spain.

 

Also, I noticed 2 lan ports - I assume one is going where the modem port was? If so, would you be willing to modify the design further? Like adding an RCA connector for S/PDIF or even thunderbolt if that is even possible?

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Right now we are looking at 5.7" L and 0.8" W... I am going to stick to the current layout I inherited for now, since adding more ports mean more parts and more cost...

 

Mind you, making a printed circuit board cost waaay more than cutting cables and soldering them together. I can't promise anything right now before completing my cost analysis.

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Ok. I am done with cost analysis and we are looking at $50 with the fully assembled PCB and cables (2x Audio, 2x USB and 2x Ethernet).

 

Shipping is not included, but it will be around $5 for continental US and maybe $10 - $15 for overseas shipping.

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50$ is way too much, sry dude. also 0,8" (2,035cm) are too wide. it would have to be like 0,75" or less. so i think i'm gonna build one myself. would you mind i'll take your files and change them to fit my needs?

 

i'm also thinking of selling them in europe so shippingcosts would be low here in europe. but i cant tell now cause i have to calculate the costs. could you give the exact dimension of USB, audio and ethernet (w,h,l)

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Those 22 pins at the middle is pretty fugly and bulky... I was thinking about a more elegant solution while laying my eyes on the 30 pin connector for all iGadgets laying on my desk... and blink! Yes, a 30-pin connector is all I need to package the pins better, and we add expandability too.

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Looks good! Wanted to offer an idea. If it were possible to integrate a USB hub IC and a CM108 audio chipset you could get your cable connections down to two connections. One usb and one for ethernet You could get two USB, analog audio in and out, TOSLINK audio In and out, and ethernet. The audio would be awesome in a hackintosh world. Maybe this could be done with a dual layer pcb? Just an idea.

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Looks good! Wanted to offer an idea. If it were possible to integrate a USB hub IC and a CM108 audio chipset you could get your cable connections down to two connections. One usb and one for ethernet You could get two USB, analog audio in and out, TOSLINK audio In and out, and ethernet. The audio would be awesome in a hackintosh world. Maybe this could be done with a dual layer pcb? Just an idea.

 

Good idea! I wonder how good the audio quality is for a USB base sound card though... For myself, I would rather plug my speakers into my motherboard built in soundcard. Also we could consider thunderbolt in the future as well.

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I got one of the specimens today in the mail: an Apple 30-pin Dock connector extender. Basically it has a female 30-pin connector at one end and a male 30-pin connector at the other end. The reason I am getting the extender is if all 30 wires were brought to the other end, I could save some headache trying to solder wires to those tiny 0.5mm pitch pins.

 

Here is the extender in the packaging:

post-3552-0-11630400-1350778910_thumb.jpg

 

I am cutting the cable!

post-3552-0-49156200-1350778920_thumb.jpg

 

Surprisingly... there are only 4 wires in the cable, which is only enough to bring USB signals forward... T_T

post-3552-0-27778700-1350779044_thumb.jpg

 

I opened up the female end and there is a breakout board attached to the connector, if the male end has breakout boards as well, at least I can solder wires onto the board instead of the pins!

post-3552-0-12556800-1350779322_thumb.jpg

 

Sadly, the wires are soldered directly to the pins at the male end, and the unsoldered pins were removed!

post-3552-0-85346700-1350779031_thumb.jpg

 

So, the attempt to use extenders for making the cables is unsuccessful. Maybe if I will have better luck if I try a cable of better quality. However I doubt any extenders will bring all 30 pins forward.

 

I am trying to stay away from the ones like those Sparkfun is selling. Not only they are expensive, they are kinda bulky too!

 

Any suggestions?

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thx for PM ! i will probably create my own design ... if it fits and works i'll improve the design, if it doesnt work i'll take your design :D

 

i calculated costs for one plate: about 25€ without cables....but its not lab manufactored :D

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So I ordered another ipod extension cable from a seller on ebay who claims that all 30 pins are brought out to the other side. The cable arrived today.

 

The cable definitely look and feel thicker than the previous one, indicating that there are more wires in the cable itself.

post-3552-0-02276900-1351309215_thumb.jpg

 

Here is the female side:

post-3552-0-37833300-1351309223_thumb.jpg

 

Here is the male side:

post-3552-0-07087600-1351309271_thumb.jpg

 

Another picture of the male side, yeah a masking tape!

post-3552-0-88523700-1351309200_thumb.jpg

 

HOWEVER, there are only 17 pins been brought out instead of 30, and some of them are GND pins which I cannot use (The pins are grounded on the PCB side!) Guess I should make my own breakout board for the male 30pin connector?

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