just follow the pinout.

as I explained, I am using 2 molex connectors to isolate the the 2 currents that the fans require... each fan has 2 +voltage lines (the outer wires on the connectors).

I sent both +12v lines to one molex, and then both +5v to another molex, but you can arrange things however you want, as long as you power the outer lines, and ground the 2 inner lines.

on a standard molex from your power supply, the yellow wire is +12v, and the red is +5v, and the 2 inner wires are grounds.

as far as a photo of the fans and or front panel connected to my mother board.... that is not really going to help you... all mobos are different..... also I have not connected my fans to my motherboard... they are connected directly to the power supply...

what you you need to do is order some parts that will make the front panel wiring easier for you

go to frontx.com and order:

part # CPX502



part # CPX501



part # CPX075-9 amount 6



part # C212 amount 6



this will give you a firewire bundle with standard header, a usb bundle with standard header, and 6 loose wires that you should label and match up the audio and power switch/led headers on your motherboard.

frontx has color coded pinouts for both their firewire jumpers and usb... just print those out and use them to wire up your front panel by comparing it to the pinout I posted already.

easy as pie.... any one can do it....

Thanks you so much I was looking for the wires everywhere and also does it matter if smoke came out and should it still work? thank you your a jean-yess

amantheboy: As I told you - same happened to me when I tried wiring - smoke came from the fan, and even sparks. But when I connected it properly, fan was just normally working. But, of course, smoke should not come from the fan permanently

Inspired by some of you in this topic (and others, and the beautiful powermac case), i too bought a G5 case second hand and started to modify it. I see that people have difficulties mounting the mobo to the case. Here's what I did:

With some pliers, I removed the original standoffs from the case. This is very easy, just twist a bit and they will come off. I attached these standoffs to the mobo using the original screws as I was unable to use other screws. These Apple screws seem to be non-metric thread or something. Luckily, there were enough screws that I could use. Then I used a metal epoxy to glue the standoffs to the case.

After the epoxy dried, you're left with the standoffs in perfect position:


Enlarged:


I test-glued one of the standoffs to another aluminium strip to test the strength of the bond. It was pretty strong, but not as strong as the original. So I epoxied a metal washer around the standoff to reinforce it:



Enlarged:


To align the mobo properly, I installed a PCI card and screwed it to the slot when the epoxy was drying.



Since I am using a full length ATX mobo, the case was not big enough. I don't really have use for the PCIe 1x slots, so I was content with not having them connect to a slot in the case. I can also not use the leftmost PCI slot, but who cares.


At least I can use the 2 PCIe 16x slots:)

I also was planning to reuse the powersupply, but after searching the web and not finding a usable pinout, I disassembled the original PSU and grafted one from Coolermaster in the original case.

Here it is with the guts removed:


The insides of the Coolermaster PSU:


Like a glove...


Mounted the 12cm fan in the PSU case like this and made plexiglas (I had that lying around so i used that) guides for the air-intake of the fan:


Then it was time to make some holes for the ATX mobo's rear connections. I didn't want to hack the complete rear of the case, so I made some discrete holes. The one up-top is for the fan-controller, since I didn't want to spoil the front of the case:

Before:


After:


The distance from the case to the mobo was around 20mm, so I used 20x20mm aluminium L-profile to span the gap:


And epoxied it into place:


After it dried, I could assemble the rig.

I had the day off, so I experimented on the rear ports. What I decided on, and what has worked great, was to superglue a sheet of ABS plastic behind the rear port area.



I then used ABS cement to fuse the ABS port housing of the panel mount cables to the ABS sheet on the back of the port area. It hasn't cured fully yet, but I can already lift the G5 chassis off the table by the wires.



And there it is from the rear.... still looks clean....

So far I have only done the USB, but it looks like this method definitely strong enough to stand up to daily abuse.

Nice so are you gonna use the fan grill or leave it off

My head was hurting me when I tried to solve backpanel... It is not finished after a year yet, I dont want to cut my case in any way so I solved IO ports by other way Anyway, nice mod. Keep going! Seems like a big G5-Macpro-moders exlosion

So, is your method similar to mine above? It's really strong. There is no flex or wiggle. I can recommend it. My design is based on a front-mounted ATX board with jumpers running to the back plane and pci-brackets. I just found some toslink couplers, so I've covered all the ports. The modem port will be a second network controller, or apple USB modem, if I decide to really stick to the stock arrangement. Also, I am planning on using the original bluetooth and wifi antennas, if I can.

wow nervouschimp,thats looks great.
how do you plan to connect the PCI-E/PCI cards though?

I did reuse the fan grill. I put 2x 80mm Papst fans on it


The back of the case looks nice with it:


I also put a lot of watercooling stuff in the case:




Runs 10.5.2 now. Now, if only I could get rid of that 3.2 GB memory limit

are those waterblocks on the ram?

Yes, there are waterblocks on the RAM. They tend to get very hot when there's not much airflow in the case. Besides, I had them lying around and selling them would not give me a lot of ROI.

how much did the ocst you? i have a thermaltake bigwater 735 but im gonna make a new kit. 120x2 rad. swiftec blocks/pumps for the cpu and gpu. and now im looking onto the ram

Almost finish installed mobo just neeed front panel and fans in

The RAM blocks are from aqua-computer.de and are 35 euro each. You also have to order some heat transfering pads or use double sided DIMMs.

jumpers like these. I ordered 2 12-inch dvi jumpers for the video card. One benefit if my method is that I can install a dual-slot graphics card, but still have 3 slots left open. I may also end up making some custom pci-brackets for the remaining 3 slots.

looks nice. you get any more plugs in? your usb ones look cool. i wish i had gone with a plan like thatany pictures?

Will post once finished

Alright, so I finally got my case in and have successfully modded it, yay. However, I'm having a slight issue with the white front led. It's being a straight pain in the ass. The led will do either of these things.

The led stays on even after the system is powered down.

or...

When I flip the connector on the mobo, it will stay on when its off, then when the machine is on, the led will be off.


It's kind of driving me nuts, I don't know why it's doing this! AHHHH!!

Any help would be appreciated.

-Stell

unfortunatly i threw the stand offs away is there a place i can by new stand offs

any updates? anyone?

YOU GUYS I need your guyses help really bad ok I tried using the front panel diagram as nervous chimp should and it didnt work and I got pissed I screwed up the wire so now I have to buy I new one the thing I connected PWR BTN to Pin 13 and LED to Pin 14 and it still wont turn not even one sound so if you guys could help me that would be wonderful. Here is the Diagram for my motherboard, If you guys need it thank you.P.S I still Have the wire but most of them are cut, so Im gonna buy another one or either If you guys could just help me connect the power button because that thing has 3 wires but dont know which go to which so again thank you.also I will buy a wire from somebody that has already been made to work with the PC motherboards and is the G5 Front Panel with USB and FireWire and Pwr and LED thank you just a thought : D

I think I'd like to close my old thread since this seems to be the best place to ask questions and post pics on g5 mods. I just did a quick mod to the case. Honesty, the inside isn't anything special, not a pro mod like aqua-mac. I just removed the standoffs where they were and placed them back on for the new ATX motherboard. I had to remove the second hdd shelf, but left the original up top. I cut a spot on the back panel with a jigsaw tool for the necessary ports. Rewired the front panel and everything is running tops.

Here is a picture of what I have thus far...




I'll post the inside pics if any interest is noted.



-Stell

post inside pics man. its all about whats under the hood =]

I'll post em once I get it more squared away. I need to get the wiring more situated.

Another for the road...

Dude How Did You Get all that too work I need your HELP!!!! meaning the LED AND PWR USB thank you

I just followed the guide that was posted by nervous chimp. It's to the T.

-Stell

Yea I tried that Im gonna try it again tommorw prob did sumthin wrong

looks good stell.

Ok i got USB and LED to work but something strange when I plug the led by itself it doesnt light up but when I plug in the pwer it lights up by pressing the button but the PC doesnt power up even without the led so basically I have usb working and Led but no power from the button any ideas thanks

see, that's why I'm just going to splice in a lian-li front panel. the plug layout is nearly identical, but wired for atx

but, to each their own

tell me how that goes, my case came without a front panel. maybe ill tackle your idea

just a reminder that the power button grounds through the firewire, and the design requires that a firewire cable be connected... without it, the machine will not power on.

i spent some time studying and testing the apple design, and i stand behind my pinout.

if you buy the frontx kit i posted earlyer, and some shrink wrap, it will be nice and neat.




IMO, that is much harder than just soldering a few wires.

{censored} I dont think my motherboard has a firewire port damn it any other ideasIs there a way I can just use the firewire ground and use it for the power ground

yes.

also, a firewire card with a front panel header will work too, many pci-firewire cards do have an internal header.

what is the board you are using? if it has rear firewire, then chances are it has an internal header.....

nope no rear firewire do you know any cards that have an internal header on them any is supported on a mac thank you. You are very good at this type of stuffok I have just bought a PCI firewire with a 9 pin internal header here is the link http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.as...l+SD-VIA-FW1E1H

Here is a $8.99 solution to your problem... if you are in the US... if not, any card with a via or TI chipset should be fine

it also looks like there are many cards that include a standard plug on the inside, so if you go with one of those cards, you could just wire a standard FW400 6-pin cable to the front port.

EDIT:

hehe.... you beat me to it..... yeah, get that card!

Moving on with my rear ports. I got my firewire and network installed:





I have ordered a firewire 800 jumper, toslink couplers, and I already have analog out and in audio cables, so more coming soon.

The original G5 antennas are cool, but they were never really that practical or effective, so I think I will go with 2 rp-sma bulkhead ports instead since that is the most common connector for home wifi solutions. SMA connectors are larger though, so I might have to drill out the antenna ports to accommodate the SMA jacks.

haha yeah so if i connect that and the usb it should work fine or do i just need the firewire

what are you asking?

I, personally would install the 9 dollar firewire card, because you should wire the front up correctly now as long as you are putting the work in, do it right, and get it all done up front, so you don't ever have to fuss with it again. Also, a G5 hackintosh without firewire? That doesn't seem right....


But, yeah, if you choose not to wire up the front firewire port, then just use the firewire ground for your power switch.

Agreed with the firewire ground to power switch ground. It works the same.

-Stell

is the firewire ground the one that says "true ground"

SWEET I got power to work but when I press the button the led lights up for a second, and the usb is only detected for a second like for example I stick a usb stick in thier lights up for one second then turns back off do I need to connect the s ground and if I do where. Thank you.

Check the wiring for the USB. I suggest buying a multimeter if you don't already have one. Also, for the led, switch the mobo side connector the other way around, see if you get the led on. My problem is either the led is on all the time, even when the machine is off or it's on when the machine is off and off when the machine is on. If that makes any sense... It depends on how I have the wires switched on the mobo end.

-Stell

Ok thanks very much Dont want to screw with my mobo rite now will see.

Wait, would a Mac Pro case work too?

sure thier is another thread for the mac pro case but I think for the G5 it is easier since more people have done it but thier is a thread to make it work, with a diagram of the front panel for that.and nervous chimp your mod is beautiful and may god bless you and the world

I just got my rear audio jacks installed, and it worked out even better than I hoped! Everything still looks stock, which is my goal:



This is my panel mount rig. It gets cemented up to the rear ABS using ABS weld just like the rest of the connectors.



And here it is in place. The ports are actually flush now that it's glued in, but its still curing so maybe I'll post a final picture later.

amantheboy08, and stellarola, both you two are running the front ports without firewire?

stell, try running the FW ground to an empty USB ground on your MOBO and see what happens

amantheboy, check your usb pinout, and yes, wire up every USB wire, including the shielding ground. your device is getting power but cannot initialize because your wiring is wrong.

All the ports I'l need is my USB on back, audio, firewire (Thats PCI) and my graphics (PCI)
So really, I can buy some USB extenders, and a audio cable, and I'm good for IO.

Hmm, in the Mac Pro case for a hackintosh, can the HD bays be used by some custom mod?

Yes It used to work before but suddenly stopped working maybe because I put the s-ground in thw one next to the pwer button. I wish I lived with not in that way though, yours looks so close to a real mac. OMFG. I bought that card.