G5 Mod Help

[themaniac84]

I was able to purchase a Mac Pro G5 case and I'm looking forward to trying to place my hack in it. Judging by the shipping info I should get next Tuesday which would give 4 - 5 days to begin my MOD. I must admit that I'm a newbie when comes to tinkering w/ Apple cases but I decided to invest the time and money after seeing the other MODS on this forum. Before I get started I wanted to get some advice and how to's from the experts here at Aquamac.

• Is there a way to cut the hole for the momb's I/O connectors and still save the 2 back fans? I have a Gigabyte GA 33M DS2R mobo.
  
• What is the best way to secure the mobo in the case. Drill in screw holes or use an adhesive like Araldite?
  
• On the front panel diagram by Aquamac. It says I need to attach wires to my mobo's power connector. Do I solder them to the connector?
  
• Also it instructs that attach the wires from the FW 400 and 800 to a FW 800 PCle card. How is this accomplished? Does it matter if I use an A or B card?
  
• Last question. The USB diagram says to attach the wires to the USB connection on the mobo and the audio out connector the audio out connector on the mobo. Do I need to use a cable or just wires?
  

Thanks for all the help. I'll post pics of the MOD process when it begins.

Thanks again. You guys inspire me.
theManiac84

[aquamac]

Hi themaniac84,

What you have there is a Powermac G5 case, not a Mac Pro case. G5's have a single cd drive cover at the front, whereas Mac Pros have 2 slots. If you have not already had a look, head off to Insanely Mac here as it has a wealth of ideas - 34 pages on the G5. I am sure it is possible to cut a narrow strip out of the back next to the fans to allow access to the IO connectors on the motherboard as I did on a Mac Pro case with DS2R board.

If you have the wiring loom that came with the case, then you should have the connector that comes with front panel. You need to cut the end off this and solder the motherboard "PC" leads to this. make sure you insulate them properly.

For standoffs for mounting your motherboard, you can snap off the existing mounting pillars, (a few - the longer ones will need grinding down) and Areldite them into the new position suitable for your Gigabyte board.

On a G5 case, you only need to wire up to a Firewire 400 motherboard header. This also connects to the front loom.

Good Luck.

[themaniac84]

Wow!

Thanks Aquamac on letting me know which case I had coming to me. I looked over at the postings of G5 Mods and they are AWESOME! The things guys can do are incredible. Me being just a novice I want to keep it as simple as I can keep it.

How did you cut your back on the 1st Mod and still keep the casing? Most of the ones that I saw the Mods lost a of the look and feel of the G5.

Do I haft to disassemble the top tray to get the fan working for the hard drives and can I connect it to one of the connectors to the PS?

Thanx
theManiac84

[aquamac]

Hi,

No you don't have to disassemble the top tray fans, I think think the two outside wires go to 5v one of the centre wires is the -ve wire and one is the sensor. You can quickly try both centre wires to see which you need.

I used a jigsaw on the first G5 case that I modded, covering the case around with a lot of masking tape to prevent scratches, but the best tool for the job is a dremmel, if you can borrow one or buy one if you plan on more modding projects in the future!

[themaniac84]

Got the case today and from my early inspection the case is in very good condition. It has two nice size scratches on the left, facing the front of the cast, side panel but where the case is going to sit it will not be noticeable. I have already started looking around the net for potential parts that I may need. I must admit its looking more and more like the 2 fans are going to haft to go as no one has ever kept them. With that being said, Aquamac how did you keep the slots for the graphics card intact or did you fabricate a complete a new one?

Also does the Power mac come with the plastic clear cover for the inside?

How do I attach the 400 FW to the PCl or PCLe card.

Thanks for the help
theManiac84

[aquamac]

Hi themaniac84,

Yes the G5 case should come with the plastic cover as std. I worked out the Firewire (trial & error) by splicing a firewire header (Firewire 400) with the front panel connector and soldering them together. Sorry it is a long time since I did this and I never kept a note of the connections, but I googled firewire header connections and found some nice illustrations which along with the plug drawings over at Insanely mac you should be able to work out what to solder to what!

Good Luck.

[themaniac84]

Thanks Aquamac for all your help.

I know I'm way behind on the G5 Hack scene but I didn't even realize you could run Mac OSX on a PC until this year when I happened to stumble across a website, lifehacker.com/, that showed how. What I'm trying to do is use the 1394 FW internal connectors on the GA-G33M-DS2R board to connect to the FW 400 front panel.

I realized the DS2R came with a fire wire port add on for the motherboard. If I splice the front panel wiring to the wiring of the cable that came with the DS2R, would I then be able to connect to the 1394 header on the board. Will this work?

[B B]

Nov 29, 2008 6:54:56 GMT B B said:

Do I haft to disassemble the top tray to get the fan working for the hard drives and can I connect it to one of the connectors to the PS?

You can find a lot of diagrams here

Nov 27, 2008 11:00:38 GMT themaniac84 said:

I realized the DS2R came with a fire wire port add on for the motherboard. If I splice the front panel wiring to the wiring of the cable that came with the DS2R, would I then be able to connect to the 1394 header on the board. Will this work?

Yes it will, and you have diagrams for the G5 Front Panel, Mobo USB Header, Firewire Heather and Audio Heather in the previous link.

Baudouin aka BB