goodl Posted October 30, 2007 Share Posted October 30, 2007 I have found a good tutorial for wiring and mobo mounting etc (and for my mobo) Â http://zapro.dk/blog/?p=11 Â does anyone know of any more - Mac pro case (2 optical bays) specific? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 2, 2007 Author Share Posted November 2, 2007 It arrived and is in great condition apart from a little nick out of the front top handle but not noticable unless you know its there. Sadly it has no drive sleds,front panel daughterboard or optical mounting frame, just the connector to the daughterboard for the power button (3 wire). starting the mod tonight hopefully. Asked Phil at scrumpymacs for a quote for some parts, got a feeling this is going to be an expensive mod...  Anyone who would like to pitch in with some tips would be gratefully recieved, I only have the link above for a guide and its a little light on detail  Will provide worklogs for interested parties Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZ*DarkLight Posted November 2, 2007 Share Posted November 2, 2007 It is gonna be expensive mod. I spent $500 on my G5 Hackintosh, just on parts, cables, metal sheets, connectors and other stuff. No real PC hardware. But I love my G5 now ) I am looking forwarwd to see your MacPro mod. Thumbs up from me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 12, 2007 Author Share Posted November 12, 2007 It's almost done, just the PSU to install properly (ie not dangling off the side , my hands are almost locked like claws from the manual labour and hacksawing, but a labour of love it has been. Getting my 800 GTX delivered today and I can pull the 7300 GT. Photos to follow! Front panel causing some head scratching.. anyone care to chip in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 13, 2007 Share Posted November 13, 2007 Hi Goodl, I am at almost the same stage as you. I switched on and booted my mac pro hackintosh last night, it lives! I have not looked at the power button/front panel yet though. That is my next job. My 8800 GTX is in position/fully working with Leo. My board is a ICH9 Gigabyte G33M-DS2R (or something like that). Things still to do, the cd drive is dangling as I did not get the cage with my case. Any ideas where to get this? There is another post here that explains the pinout but I have not had time to look yet. Try here & here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 I got it from Scrumpymacs in the end, they did me 2 sleds an optical cage and a front panel for £90, expensive but i wouldnt have been able to finish it without them so I'm not complaining. I'm typing it on this now! Havent got my front panel working yet apart from the on off button. My power LED is fried so I'm going to have to replace it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 15, 2007 Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi Goodl, Â Just saw your post, I also got my case from Phil at Scrumpymacs. It came with the drive sleds and front panel but no optical drive carrier, just ordered one from we love macs, never thought to ask Phil. Did he have one in stock? Powersupply is installed and all is working but there is still a lot to do. I havent looked at the power button yet, think I will wait till the weekend for that. I am still slightly in doubt about the power button connection. Presumably this is positive polarity and also so is the power button (on pins 6 & 8)? Also will the firewire work if we just plug into the internal FW800 port on a FW 800 Pci card. I have one in a machine at work, I may well bring it home over the weekend. Otherwise the only place to get 3.3v is from the firewire header I guess. I will take some pics this weekend to show you progress, but there is still much to do including working out the rear panel. I want it to look as authentic as possible. I have modded a G5 case before, don't know whether you saw that. Â Regards, Â aquamac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 15, 2007 Author Share Posted November 15, 2007 Hi Aqua,  Zapro suggested taking 3.3v from a split SATA cable,I like your idea better. Ive only got my power button working still.I cant face the sata splitting and soldering to get a working USB cable.My soldering skills are weak  Can you make me one if I paypal you some cash lol?  My power LED is dead,(thanks for the suggestions Zapro but its dead as flared trousers) shame that, Ill have to drill a hole and put a new LED behind it  Phil Scrumpy didnt have a optical bay in stock, I asked them to order it for me. 45 quid for a piece of tinfoil with some holes in it that should have been part of the case anyway.  how was the condition of your case and how much was it? Mine had a G5 side panel so I cant lock it shut  You lucky thing getting the front panel and sleds, they charged me 45 quid for those alone!  If you do finish it could you let me know if you have any more good ideas.  did you split the drive holders Zapro style to get your mobo in or save the other side as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Hi goodl,  Well I think I paid for the front panel and drive sleds already as my case was £175. I noticed some of the others were £125 but had no drive sleds. The optical holder is costing me $80 so as you said not the cheapest way to get a case, but hey it is the business! My case has a small scratch on the front of the front handle. It annoyed me at first as the ebay advert said there were no detectable marks on this one, well I detected it within about 10 seconds, however I seem to have stopped noticing it now. I used a Gigabyte G33M-DS2R ICH9 board mini ATX board (Click Here), so have been able to save the whole upper partition and space for 4 drives. I have some big plans for up front with twin 120mm fans. Not sure whether to go watercooling yet, that can wait a while anyway. I will borrow the FW 800 PCI card from work and let you know if just plugging in the internal lead works. Will bring my camera home tonight too, and put up a pic of progress so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 16, 2007 Author Share Posted November 16, 2007 Thanks Aqua, I've given up making mine look stock since Ive had to butcher the drive holder portion.I'll take some pics of mine tonight and forward them on to you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 16, 2007 Share Posted November 16, 2007 Hi goodl, Â Look forward to that (your pics) - forgot my camera from work (in spite of putting it in a place I would remember it) but will go back in tomorrow to get it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 18, 2007 Share Posted November 18, 2007 Here are a few shots of my case so far. I sorted out the power button, led & audio so far, still have to tackle USB & firewire. Do you have any info? By the way your led might not have broken, it is very intermittant without the 3.3v connection, but is 100 % reliable when that connection is made. Â Â Â 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 19, 2007 Author Share Posted November 19, 2007 where did you pull 3.3v from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 19, 2007 Share Posted November 19, 2007 I took it from the top R/H orange wire on the main motherboard connector. In fact both of the top wires are 3.3v if the board is inverted as it is on my Mac Pro case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingab Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Hi aqua-mac, I also bougth a Mac Pro case, and I want ask you which kind of power supply you use on your cabinet. Then for the rear connectoins do you cut the case or not? Â Thanks for replay and best regards. Â Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 20, 2007 Author Share Posted November 20, 2007 I bought a female IEC connector from Maplins and a right angle Male IEC and soldered a small power cable betweent them to get them to line up. Then used three long motherboard standoffs in a row per screw hole on the psu to give the correct distance. I the back I just strung it with zip ties to the remanants of the fan divider. bear in mind I had no base to support it like Aquas as I use a full ATX board and had to lose my 2 right hand drive bays to get the mobo to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Hi Ingab & goodl, Â Like goodl, I plugged this lead into the back of the actual supply: Â Â Then I soldered it to a socket that I fixed into the mac pro socket hole, so it looks like an original socket. I used a 1000 Watt Jeantech PS with plug in cables on the back. This PS is longer than a std PS and just fits in with the 2 cd drives. Like goodl, I also had to remove the fan on the top shelf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 22, 2007 Author Share Posted November 22, 2007 hows your mod coming along ingab? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ingab Posted November 23, 2007 Share Posted November 23, 2007 Hi all, thanks for the informations. Â For now I spent my time thinking how to make the rear panel for the connections. I didn't want cut the case , so I thounght about desolding the connector on the MoBo, and to fix the only necessary connectors on the case. Â Also i thought to buy a 500W power supply. Do you think that this can enough?. Â Bye. Â Andrea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 23, 2007 Author Share Posted November 23, 2007 To be honest, I just pulled out the plastic insert round the old ports and found i could thread a network cable through the hole, I broke out the usb / firewire ports from the motherboard headers to the card slots and called it done. I didnt want to hack up the back for the sake of easily moved ports. As to your PSU, as long as its a good brand not a cheap one and your not running an 8800GTX it should be fine. Im useing a 550w one in mine but I have used a 300w and it worked just as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 24, 2007 Share Posted November 24, 2007 Hey goodl, how bout some pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 New PSU in tonight, old one went a bit pear shaped but a Seasonic 600w should fit the bill nicely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 well here she is, and my led is working too. took 3.3v from a sata connector and bam its bright as a button. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua-mac Posted November 27, 2007 Share Posted November 27, 2007 Lookin good! Did you get your front panel going? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodl Posted November 27, 2007 Author Share Posted November 27, 2007 Going to try tonight fingers crossed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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