20" iMac G4 Intel NUC Ivy Bridge AiO Mod (Videos)

A video demonstration of my updated iMac G4 mod/hack (NUC/Ivy Bridge Mountain Lion Hackintosh)

 

Part 1:

Introduction and General Overview (YouTube Link)

Part 2:

Turning It On and Testing It Out (YouTube Link)

So that pretty much completes this mod.  I have thought about new HD 21.5" LCDs to the top of the arm in a custom LCD case that mimics the iMac G4, but I am not sure that would add very much.  This monitor falls just short of HD and I have not had any issues with it in terms of quality.  Though its something to consider for the future.  I find that larger monitors start to look "awkward" with the base.  Although placing the Cinema Display on the top of the monitor worked.  It wasn't until I went back to the original that I realized it was "off".  It didn't droop or tilt, but it didn't move as smoothly as the original.  The neck was obviously designed very specifically for the native monitor.  This includes not only the weight, but the thickness and shape as weight distribution changes as you tilt and swivel the neck.  Unfortunately, without the R&D budget of apple, its hard to design a new neck, but the old one works beautifully with the native LCD.

I would still like to make this into a touchscreen and perhaps add an iSight.  The awkward size and Mac compatibility issue make this difficult.  While I have a capacitive screen that works, its thick and heavy and would require dramatic hardware changes (LED lighting with custom thin diffuser) or physical changes (altering the LCD case and front bezel).  I am still hopeful that touch films will eventually be readily available, adding touch capability of any size with negligible cha ges in thickness.

Anyway, I'll worry about that later and enjoy this computer for a while.  I have tons of pics from this and previous mods, as well as the ability to fill in gaps with surplus materials.  As such, I'm thinking about putting together a "Moving Picture" Video Guide.  Sort of a compromise between a written and video guide.  I'll be able to explain from start to finish, step by step, how to do this with audio and annotated pics.  Let me know if this sounds at all interesting or useful to anyway.  Thanks for reading/watching.

The "Next Unit of Computing" - A Small Form Factor for Mainstream Users?

Courtesy of PC World

Pictured above is an all in one kit which contains a new Intel sponsored form factor called the NUC or "Next Unit of Computing" which if rumors are to be believed will go on sale this fall.  This little box features an Ivy Bridge Core i3 Processor, including HD 4000 graphics.

At 4" x 4" (102 x 102mm), the motherboard contained within is even slightly smaller than the smaller side of ECX boards (105 x 146mm - yes the 3.5" board is not actually 3.5", but it is the same size as 3.5" drives, which are not 3.5" but have 3.5" platters inside them).  These boards are smaller than the semi-mainstream nano itx boards (120 x 120mm) and even give the ultra-tiny PicoITX (100 x 72mm) a run for its money.

The only information I know comes from these articles:

Engadget's Story on the NUC

PC World's Story on the NUC

The Top of the NUC
(Courtesy of PC World)

But, if this is to believed, this would be a huge boon for hobbyists, modders, and small form factor enthusiasts.  To summarize, Intel undertook a project to determine the smallest possible form factor that would be needed to support a full Ivy Bridge CPU + Expansion and came up with NUC.  I had actually  read about this in an article several months back, but moved on when I read that intel sees this being used in digital signage and kiosks.  I thought that this was just a slightly different form factor for industrial/embedded applications that I've talked about many times on this blog (ECX, EPIC, etc).  I do not know if this was intel's goal from the beginning or if the popularity of other small form factors such as the Raspberry Pi, VIA's pico itx boards or Zotac's Zbox caused a change of heart, but it appears this product is headed for the mainstream.

The Bottom of the NUC
(Courtesy of PC World)

What makes the NUC board so special?

Now functionally, as of right now, there is likely little difference between the end result of using one of the industrial boards I have previously mentioned or VIA's/Zotac's offerings, and this board, but there are some key differences that make this board 'special'?

1) MAINSTREAM

What mainstream means is availability to consumers via retail outlets.  This may not seem like a huge concern, but take from someone who has desperately tried to get the latest small form factor boards from industrial/embedded companies.  The first question they ask me is how many employee's my company has followed by asking if the number of board I'll need is in the 10 - 100 board range or the over 100 range.  Being able to obtain 1 board with retail support is a huge bonus.  While this is overpriced at $400, at least that includes the entire kit including the case.  I would also expect this price tag to fall in future iterations.

2) INTEL INSIDE (and its IVY BRIDGE)

While the Raspberry Pi is great for Arduino Fans and other ARM processors are Android ready, Intel and the x86 architecture remains the most versatile chip available.  Capable of running almost any operating system and it seems to be in intel's best interest to keep its hardware as operating system agnostic as possible.

This board is designed to have the most powerful architecture on it.  Although available in more powerful varieties, most small form factor boards are power-sipping, ATOM or FUSION based.  Not so here.  Yes, it is only i3 to start, but i5/i7 variants are supposedly in the works. 

3) EXPANDABILITY

At first glance the few USB ports and HDMI may seem paltry, but the one word that makes all the difference is THUNDERBOLT.  The next generation interface will allow for devices to be daisy chained as if they were part of the board itself.  Think of this as attaching daughter boards, if you want more usb ports, more display interfaces, more storage, no problem.  But, its even more, the PCI express speeds allow for connection to graphics cards is the need arises.  This allows you to build a board in any orientation and with whatever components you choose around a 4" square core.

4) GOALS OF USE

Despite the fact that it works, ECX/EPIC Boards are not intended for consumer computing and contain features that are somewhat wasted.  From security features to direct LVDS connections to dual gigabit ethernet to the ability to support a SIM card.  These proprietary features are usually left unused and in some cases even have to be disabled to make the boards more compatible.

All in all, I hope this board is a sign of things to come.  This is obviously a niche product, but most OEM computer products are niche at this point, from LED enshrined gaming cases to water cooling components.  The point is I believe that there is a market for people who want to incorporate powerful systems into small products and locations.  The smaller it is, the more extensive the options are.  But, I have to admit, I think the NUC would look fantastic in the base of an iMac G4.

Anniversaries and an iMac G4 "Sandy Bridge Mod" Pro Version?

I hadn't even realized that I failed to acknowledge an important anniversary.  The iMac G4 was introduced on January 7th, 2002 by Steve Jobs at the San Francisco Macworld.  The 20" was released later in November 18, 2003.  Then only 2 and a half years later (August 31, 2004) the iMac G4, with its sunflower inspired horizontal design, was discontinued in favor of the iMac G5's vertically oriented all-in-one.

Many reasons have been suggested to why this was done.  The cost of the neck, the difficulty in supporting increasing LCD sizes, and the cooling needs of the notoriously hot G5 processor.  I have been using one version of this as an external monitor hooked up to a mac mini and now a second version as a modernized all-in-one and it remains one of the most enjoyable desktop user experiences I have know, even 10 years later.

With my sandy bridge "genuine" mod my goal was to be as true to the original as possible, but I have been thinking about doing a version that has some extra features not found in the original.  Some of these may be possible, some of them are not.  To make extra room in the base, the optical drive will be removed.  So, I am contemplating doing a "PRO" version of the iMac G4 mod.  I have enough spare parts and I think this may be a fun alternative.  I will likely use the TMDS to DVI method and not the apple cinema display controller method.  The overall look of the iMac G4 will be changed (something I wanted to avoid in the previous mod).  Things I may add:

3M Touchscreen

• A Touchscreen: One of my favorite mods used a resistive touchscreen and it fits this form factor quite well.  However, I did not like the glare, resolution, or touch accuracy of the resistive touchscreen.  I have however located a capacitive touchscreen that should fit in this mod.  Its flaw is that it is somewhat thick and heavy.  An alternative may be incorporating optical sensors in the bezel.
• LED backlighting: This would be necessary to fit the touchscreen, but something that has been done in similar projects by JL7, and adds improved backlighting and power efficiency.
• Quad Core Processor: I changed from a mobile core i7 quad core to a dual core i5 as a result of both heat production and power consumption in my latest mod.  However, a quad core i7 machine is still something I would love to do.  As well as maxing out the RAM to 8GB.
• Native Power: Increased power needs would require a big power supply and the only one that could fit is the native supply which other modders have used.
• Better Cooling: Use of the native PSU would require shifting of the mobo downwards.  This as well as heat generated by the quad core processor and the PSU itself would require a much more powerful cooling solution.  At the very least a large active heatsink on the CPU and a 92mm case fan.  However, an intake fan at the bottom may be needed as well.  This will use of the space that was previously used by the optical drive.
• iSight Cam: in my G4/G5 setup, I use the iSight cam on the G5, but I have been wishing that there was one on the G4's LCD as it would be much easier to manipulate.  The microphone is already there, modifying the LCD enclosure to support an iSight may be possible.

iMac G4 iSight Mock-up

• Apple Modification: Just to visually delineate this, I was considering altering the apple on the base.  A light up apple or IR sensor are possibilities
• ???Improved Graphics: This one is difficult, although its something I would like to add, most of these small boards do not have PCI-Ex16 slots.  Even conversion of mini pcie is usually only to x1, and this makes it difficult to get much improvement over on chip sandy bridge graphics.  Fitting and powering a full size card would also be difficult.  I will continue to give this thought, but its probably unlikely.  Even if you wedge a mini itx in, you would have difficulty fitting even a low profile card in to the dome.  

Although this mod would involve tradeoffs including louder fans, loss of the optical drive, and loss of the exact iMac G4 appearance, there are clearly advantages as well.  The iSight, LED backlights, and touchscreen in particular are things I would love to add.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

17" iMac G4 LVDS Conversion - Video

Video of 17" iMac Mod

Here is a video of the mod in action.  I have connected it to a small mini itx computer running Windows 7.  As I said before, I do plan on getting a mac mini for this mod eventually.  I wanted to get a general sense with how the leopard user interface would work with a touchscreen, so I skinned the computer to look like leopard (using Rocketdock and Apple Icons).  The user interface works great.  Having the dock makes selecting programs easy.  With this networked computer I am only a few touches away from my entire home movie, picture, and music collection.  In addition, using Webtaps for firefox allows me to rapidly select videos from internet sites such as hulu.

To complete the look I am using the iMac G4's original keyboard (I like using the wired keyboard because I plan on concealing the actual computer, this gives me two easily accessible USB ports).  I have also added the magic mouse and the USB griffin powerwave adapter which allows me to use the iMac's original Orb speakers.

I hope that this blog has and will help with similar projects.  For myself, I have decided to next work on an ATOM/ION G4 Cube mod.  Similar mods to this have been done, but I think having a slot loading bluray home theater pc (capable of HD output) in the shape of an apple cube would look great in the family room.  Also, I hope to get back to a multitouch table that I had been doing some work on.  So one mod done and on to the next......