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Mac mini in an indigo G3 case


stereobus
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I have a dead indigo G3 in my basement, and i am itching to mod it. I want to strip the CRT components out of it, drop in an LCD (manufacturer unimportant), put a mac mini logic board in it, and make sure all of the I/O ports (USB 2, FireWire, headphone) are bridged to the original I/O ports on the iMac case, as I assume the I/O ports from the mini logic board will be completely contained within the iMac. I would like to use a standard 3.5" IDE or SATA HDD. Here's what I need help with:

 

2.5" drive to 3.5" conversion

*is it reliable?

*are there any concerns

 

mounting the logic board:

*how the f@%k do i do that?

 

Power Supply:

*Is there any chance in hell that I can use the original down power supply from the indigo?

*can I power the LCD from whichever power supply I go with? It would be nice to use only the one power connecter from the iMac. If I have to dremmel it out, so there's two power connectors, I will.

 

DVD drive

*what slot loading DVD-RWs will fit in the case and be OSX compatible? I don't mind using patch burn.

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It would be easier to mount the entire mac mini inside the case. Then run USB & firewire cable extensions to the the port holes. Same with network cable, just use a bit of M-F ethernet cable. You can then just leave the mini's & LCD's psu bricks inside the enclosure. All you then need to do, is line up the optical drive slot on mini with the original aperture.

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I agree. BTW there is a second SATA connector inside the mini if you don't mind opening it up. Check out these cool mods at 123macmini.com

http://www.123macmini.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=5

http://www.123macmini.com/gallery/displayi...um=5&pos=15

This one is the best...mac mini cube...drool!

http://www.123macmini.com/macminicube/

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It's either becoming a new Mac, a new Linux box, or a fish tank... I have always loved the design of these models... and with a pait job, some lighting effects, some wheels (jacked up in the back of course), a core duo and a dream... I think this would make a fun project and a sweet machine.

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Another thing about the display:

 

If you are planning to use an LCD, I don't think it will work. You see, the iMac G3 (as I know) has a curved CRT screen and is not flat panel. You'd be hard pressed to find a curved LCD screen nowadays. Your only solution then is to hook it up to the iMac CRT.

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Another thing about the display:

 

If you are planning to use an LCD, I don't think it will work. You see, the iMac G3 (as I know) has a curved CRT screen and is not flat panel. You'd be hard pressed to find a curved LCD screen nowadays. Your only solution then is to hook it up to the iMac CRT.

 

 

There's no easy way to attach the old CRT to the mini enclosure, anyway, having both running in the same case would likely result in a) you getting electrocuted by 10kV+ at the business end of the tube, B) the mini doing an impression of a Ukrainian nuclear power station due to heat build up. If you use a 14~15" inch LCD with a thin bezel, you should be able fit it to the edge of the case, then manufacture some side "wings" with an exacto knife. I'm sure someone did this already somewhere....

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You can see it in the pictures. He stripped the LCD off its enclosure and mounted it to the chassis (Pics 37 and 39). Dealt with the screen curvature of the original CRT by masking it with some cut-out rubber foam, IMO (e.g. pic 5).

Nice job all around, looks pretty good from the pics.

 

Jerrylander

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