iVCR (iBook motherboard + VCR case + other bits)

[originally submitted to the MacMod contest in 2005
click any image that has a green border to view a larger version in a new window]

This mod guide is for the iVCR, but I would be remiss to leave out a brief synopsis of what prompted the project, namely the iMac Classic. The iMac Classic is the predecessor to the iVCR, and it was the beginning of my entertainment center computing experiment.

I had decided I was tired of fighting through the old CD collection everytime I wanted to hear a particular song, and I wanted iTunes to replace the CDs in the living room. I started by setting up a Powermac 6500 with iTunes 2 and a tv-out card, then importing everything. Just as I had finished it, though, I received an iMac with a blown flyback from a friend and decided to shift gears. I wanted to fit the guts from this iMac into a vcr case, but could not find a practical way of making everything fit. I gave up on that, but saved my vcr case for another day.

In the search for a case, I ended up with an old Mac Classic shell. I managed to fit all the pieces into this case, then added a blue led case fan and a temp sensor to it. I didn't document the process very well, but from the pics below this paragraph, you can get an idea. And yes, that is a piece of the bondi side plastic where the tube used to be.
      

I had the iMac Classic connected through an old Apple Presentation System to our tv. This worked fine for simply changing songs in iTunes, but was getting to be a nuisance for other uses due to the 640 by 480 resolution and the missing edges of the screen. As the tv box started to die out, I decided to go with a box that would let me hook up other stuff to a monitor and I put my old Apple 17" screen in place of the tv. This made the iMac Classic more appealing for watching movies on... until I actually tried it. The measly 333MHz upgrade and 256MB of RAM weren't enough to handle some of the codecs I use for archiving. Dropped frames are not cool.

So, I started pondering what type of machine would make a decent successor to the iMac. Obviously, I'd need something with a little more power, but not a lot since I would still only use it for music, movies, and occasional web browsing. I saw a posting for an iBook in need of some help on the Low End Mac Swap List, and decided to rescue it from a life of boredom. :) I also realized that with an iBook, I'd finally be able to use the vcr case I had been wanting to use from the beginning. The iBook is a 500MHz G3 with 128MB of RAM soldered on. I have installed a 256MB chip in it, to bring me up to 384, which should be plenty to handle the movies and the maximum of 3 programs running at once. After I got it, I did some testing to make sure it would handle my movie files okay and all was well. So, I proceeded to dismantle it and begin the transplant into the vcr case. Now that you know the background, I'll dive right in to the step-by-step process for scrapping together this practical little set-top computer.

Dismantle iBook
First things first, the iBook needed to be dismantled. I won't bore you with that. If you really want to see it, just head over to ifixit.com and read through their upgrade manual for the 12" iBook. I followed their guide and used the screw sheet to tape down all the screws in case I ever need any. They make THE BEST take-apart manuals I've seen.

Layout
After I was down to a bare motherboard, I got out my vcr case, a random hard drive, my power supply for the hard drive, and a few other pieces I planned to use and started playing around with different layout options. Truth be told, I did this numerous times throughout the course of the project to see if I could find the perfect way to arrange the components. I probably spent at least 6 hours grand total just repositioning parts inside the case and planning where I would put things. This process was also the most time-consuming in my iMac Classic project. If you plan to do one of these kinds of mods, just accept the reality that if you want it to turn out nice, you will need to invest hours, not minutes, in the planning phase. If you are not a good problem-solver, try asking a friend to play devil's advocate with you and point out flaws in your plan along the way. You can save yourself a lot of wasted time in the long run by spending hours up front considering every possible approach.

Decisions
Once I had decided on a general layout, it was time to make some tough decisions. First, would I take the easy way out and position the board so that the ports were accessible from the outside of the case, or would I use internal extensions to all the ports in order to get them where I wanted them? I decided that it would be cooler to reuse the back port area of the vcr in order to keep a more authentic look. This also meant I'd need extension cables for all the ports. I knew this would add more time to the project, but I decided to suck it up and do it the right way.

My second tough decision was whether or not to include an optical drive. I did not have an internal optical drive in the iMac Classic. When we bought new CDs, I'd just haul in my external usb to ide converter and an optical drive and import everything through usb. This always worked well, so I decided to leave out the optical drive for now. This would save me some room in the case to try and get some airflow across the heatsink and spare me from potentially ruining the authentic look of the vcr case.

The third decision was whether or not to use a firewire board to interface to the hard drive, or to try an adapter. I first mounted the firewire board into the case, but realized that I wanted to be able to hook up my iPod to this project and have not had any luck with the daisy chain port on the firewire board I got from OWC. So, I picked up a 2.5" to 3.5" pin adapter from geeks.com for around $5. It worked fine, so I pulled the firewire board out.

The last tough decision was whether or not to bolt all the pieces in, or allow gravity to do its job for the motherboard and the hard drive. I went back and forth on this a lot. I finally decided that I definitely wanted it to be easy to pull the drive right out of the case if I inherited another machine to replace this one or if I needed to take the drive with me to a party or something (keep in mind that our entire CD collection is on there). I also decided not to bolt the motherboard into the case. I change my mind a lot and there is always a chance that several months down the road I might decide to try another case if I come across something interesting.

Parts
So, that covers all of the reasons and decisions leading up to the point of actually building the thing. Before going over that, I figure you might like to see a list of parts and costs that went into the final rev. 1 build of this kit.

$78 out of pocket isn't bad to end up with a project this cool. You can see pics of the items below this paragraph. There are still a few items I'd like to get, but couldn't find in time for rev. 1 of this mod. One of these is an authentic looking clock that uses blue leds. I would like to put it where the original clock was and set it to blink 12:00 at all times. ;) No, seriously, if you have access to an lcd with blue leds that looks like the kind in a standard set-top player, please email me with an offer. I haven't been able to find one anywhere and red just wouldn't be the same.

Build It and They Will Come (the movie files that is...)
The first order of business was to remove extraneous pieces of plastic from the inside of the case. In a moment of laziness, I discovered that an X-Acto Razor® Saw actually is faster and easier to use on most plastic than a rotary tool. I ended up using the razor saw and a modeling razor to do all my cutting. This worked for internal pieces as well as port holes in the back panel. In the panel, I tried reusing existing holes as much as possible but I had to cut out extra around most of the holes I used in order to make room for my additions. I also cut some extra out in the back where the original power cord ran through so that I could put the power cable connector and power supply switch in that spot.

I then mounted the power connector board to the inside of the case with a screw in a place where there was a double wall, which kept the screw from going through to the outside. I mounted the speaker/power button piece behind the Play button of the VCR controls using a screw. I wanted to put it behind the actual power button, but the Play button is hidden behind the closing panel on the front, which will protect it from curious children. :) I ended up deciding to use Velcro® to attach the power supply into the case. It is very light, so the Velcro® is more than sufficient to hold it in place. I wanted to make it easily swappable because the power supply from the SCSI case is pretty old and I'm not sure how long it will last under constant use. I do have 2 more waiting in the wings just in case. It won't be powering anything other than the hard drive, though, so it might be okay for a while. For the hub, I used screws to hold it onto a flange of plastic on the port piece and it is really sturdy. With the other cables, I am currently relying on friction and tension to hold things in place. I was going to hot glue them in place, but didn't want to have to waste the time removing that from these cables if I end up pulling the board out of here and using it in another project in the future.
          

In keeping with my flexibility for future mind-changing, the motherbaord is simply sitting in place. I used 4 bolts in mounting holes on the motherboard to create "stilts" to keep it up off the bottom of the case. The bottom of the case just so happens to have some lines and pieces that fit well with these "stilts" to keep the motherboard in a fairly stable position. All I did for the hard drive was cut down into some of the molding lines to make a spot for the hard drive to sit in. It stays pretty snug and the drive is a Seagate so I'm not worried about it at all. Some may accuse me of shortcutting here, but this is a VCR, which will sit in the entertainment center and never move. There is no reason to go to great lengths to make sure things are tightened down.
   

At this point, there's not much else to do but connect everything and close up the case. The one other minor detail was using some Velcro® to secure the front tape door closed. Due to the hinge design, the door would look broken if it was allowed to simply hang. I had lost the spring to it a while back, so I figured Velcro® would be a non-commital way of temporarily doing something to make the door look normal again. For rev. 2 of this project, assuming that happens, I may pull the door out and put the IR receiver for the wireless keyboard there instead of external and also possibly rig in an iPod dock in such a way that I shove the iPod in like a tape. Of course, rev. 2 may never happen if I find other projects to keep my creative side occupied.
          

In Action
You can see here some pics of the thing hooked up to a monitor running one of my Wonder Years episodes. It is working well for movie playback and also does okay for occasional web browsing. This whole project has ended up being a much better solution than the previous one and now makes a more practical extra computer for the family. It was worth the roughly 12 hours I put into it grand total. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.
   

Peace,
Todd Russell