GUIDES and TUTORIALS

Sorry about the delay but...

After completing my latest mod, I promised a guide.  Due to personal reasons, I have not had a chance to work on this.  As time goes by and it is less fresh in my mind, it becomes somewhat more difficult to compile.  While all the information to do this mod is within this blog, it is not very well organized.  The Monitor to DVI instructions are contained within the 20" Sandy Bridge Guide.  While I talk about the native power source in this tutorial, I use a PICO power supply in this actual mod.  The native PSU is really discussed in a different post.  Likewise, wiring up the new NUC board is in a different post altogether.

I had initially constructed this site to be a "Tech Journal/Diary" where the most recent updates would be chronologically first and older entries could contain outdated or incorrect information.  As I became more involved in the iMac G4 project, this site became more of a guide/tutorial site.  While this isn't a bad thing, its just not exactly how it was designed to be.

As I've been putting together the tutorial for the 20" Ivy Bridge NUC Mod (in the form of audio over pictures), I've realized that this may be the opportunity for a "redesign".  I would like to keep this site as my tech journal site.  Even the failed mods and the process behind them is something I would like to "preserve".  I have secured "imacmods.com" and I am hoping to eventually link between these two sites for a more cohesive and straight forward experience.  Someone wanting to know how to connect the native PSU can click on it and either go to a written tutorial, video guide, or original dremel junkie post.

It is certainly not lost on me how confusing it is to google "iMac G4 Update" and think you've found the answer only to find several posts detailing somewhat related (but not the same mod).  Also, from my end, I have step by step photographed, documented, and wired up two different 17" necks (one on video) and a 20", and am now going to repeat it again for the 20".  This will allow me to have a "modular" approach where 'for instance' STEP B: Conversion to DVI remains the same regardless of which computer you use in the base.

I would greatly appreciate any advice from those more skilled than me at web site creation.  I would like it to be simple and easy to follow, but am a novice at this.  Please let me know if you have any suggestions.

The 20" NUC Tutorial

I want to assure you that this will not interfere with the 20" NUC tutorial.  The biggest hold up has been the fact that I am not 100% happy with the amount of pictures and detail that I captured.  My goal was to complete the mod and I was not as thorough with photographing and documenting the steps along the way.  Although I do not have a problem opening up my mod.  There is no doubt that I will have to do a decent amount of disassembly to get the pictures I would like.  If I am going to disassemble my mod, I would love to upgrade it in the process if possible.  Luckily, it does appear upgrades are not far off courtesy of Intel and Gigabyte:

From Gigabyte - The Brix:

Courtesy of Computerbase.de

Courtesy of Computerbase.de

This NUC based system is smaller, lighter, has more I/O options and will have i5 and i7 options.  While initially Ivy Bridge based, Haswell is likely not far behind.

And Intel:

Rend Lake will be i5 and USB 3.0 capable based of Ivy Bridge Architecture.

In retrospect the use of Thunderbolt was a waste on the initial NUC.  Initially I thought it would be "future proofing", but its been months later and the only intriguing peripheral is Belkin's (finally being released) $300 Thunderbolt dock.  Of course, its the USB 3.0 that makes this dock interesting.

Thus, this NUC should be far more versatile (at least I hope).

I am unsure of the variation in the "Horse Canyon" Core i5, it doesn't appear to use a Haswell Chip, though I can not be sure.

"Skull Canyon" is the Core i7 Variant, and the one for which I am most excited.

Of course, updates are always going to happen, and while these are only incremental upgrades, I have been looking for an opportunity to add USB 3.0 in particular (and get rid of the thunderbolt).  As these seem like they are "around the corner", I am asking for patience in terms of the guide.  Replacing the board is not difficult, but it would make more sense to only disassemble and reassemble this mod once.

So please stay tuned and hopefully the tutorial will be done shortly, with an even more powerful NUC serving as the computer.

EDID and HDCP

Some of you may have noticed an"incompatibility" with certain sources.  Sometimes this is due to playing digital protected content "HDCP" or even using certain motherboards.  For myself, the EPI-QS77 and I am told the Raspberry Pi as well, seem to cause incompatibility issues.  In some cases, changing from DVI to HDMI and back can remedy the problem, other times, artifacts persist in the monitor.  My guess is that some boards may have an incompatibility with the "EDID", the identifier of this LCD.  While there is no direct way around this, there is an "indirect way".

The White Polycarbonite Family

As I have mentioned before, prior to figuring out direct wiring of the existing LCD, I had found a work around.  This "work around" is used in the iMac G4 (pictured above) and although its just serving as a monitor (with a modded iMac G5), I have now been using it daily for over 2 years without any problems whatsoever.  This work around keeps the native inverter and can keep the LCD or use an LCD from an aluminum Apple Cinema Display or iMac G5.  The most important thing is that this uses the controller board from an apple cinema display.  While this does involve opening and rewiring the neck, it does give the LCD a true EDID and HDCP compatibility.  There are certain other advantages as well, but it is more technically challenging and will require some parts from a cinema display.

I mention this only to gauge interest.  Are there people who have experienced this problem? Are people interested in this particular method?

Thank you all again for your patience and thank you for taking the time to read this.

20" iMac G4 NUC/AiO Ivy Bridge Mod: SUCCESS!

20" iMac G4 / NUC Ivy Bridge Mod

Updates:

I'm happy to report that all problems have been solved and the motherboard fit test was successful.  This is currently the method I would recommend for those that want a 20" Ivy Bridge Hackintosh version of this mod.  As I noted in my previous post, while I initially believed I would not go in the direction of the NUC board, its remarkably small size and simplicity made it by far the best candidate for this mod.

Original vs NUC/DVD - Front

In multiple previous posts I have explained the advantages of having the core elements (processor/motherboard) of the mod at the top of the dome where ventilation is best.  In my previous ECX mod, the board only fit with the optical drive because I did not use the native PSU.  Because I wanted to use the native PSU, I did not believe fitting the optical drive was possible, but with this board it looks like it is going to fit. (Although nothing is definite until this is completed).  This board fits into the slot left vacant by the 3.5" HDD (the mSATA is on the mobo itself).  It pretty much fits into the grooves in the drive chassis requiring no alternation.  For comparison, I have taken side by side photos of the original optical drive and HDD in the drive chassis next to the shorter new dvd optical drive and the NUC occupying that area.  The height is pretty much the same and there is amble room for the connectors to fit as well.

Original vs NUC/DVD - Top

Problem Solving:

With this fitting at the top of the dome, I should have even a little but more room for components than I did with my previous mod.  This is because, there are less port extenders needed and no SSD is required at the bottom of the dome.  It will still be tight, but I have some wiggle room to address the problems that I brought up in my previous post.  Taking them one at a time:

1) USB Ports: A 4 port USB Hub leaves me with only 1 spare USB port, but solves the problem.  The addition of another hub or a larger one is likely.  A USB port supplies the 5V to the PSU.

2) The Fan: The directional fan is connected to the heatsink and I did not want to remove it.  I also wanted to keep the case fan.  Apple's connectors and colors are completely backwards from industry standards (Black is 12V, Red is Ground and the fan out is a 3pin Male connector, not Female).  The fan is also somewhat loud and old, so I decided to replace it.  I bought a Antec 92mm fan that had a molex out (there is no case fan output on the board).  There is a sense pin that I won't be using.  Because I won't have software fan control, I got a model with a 3 speed setting.  I put it on medium to reduce noise and may extend the controller to the back ports or simply leave it on this setting.

Wide Input Pico PSU

While 12V are readily obtainable from the PSU, the problem is that the PSU is always on.  So, the fan will spin as soon as the computer is plugged in, no matter if the computer is on or not.  As the computer does not have any 12V out, I will have to use some kind of switch.  Luckily, the PSU comes natively with a "switch".  The PSU relies on the motherboard to downconvert 12V to 5V then feed 5V back to the PSU to turn on the 24V line that powers the monitor's backlight.  Although there are many other ways to do this, I went with an elegant solution using what I had available.  Keep in mind this is not the only peripheral that needs power.  The optical drive requires 12V and 5V in either a molex or SATA power connector.  Luckily, I had a very small 20 pin PICO power supply with a WIDE INPUT range up to 24V. (Not all PICO PSUs can accept 24V, may sure before you connect).  I spliced the PWR input to the Green wire of the PSU (24V) which connects to the Inverter Wires as well.  I connected the ground to a native PSU ground.  As this is a standard 20 pin ATX based PSU, it won't work without a motherboard unless you ground the On Pin.  I have it connected to a switch, but will likely just leave in a wire, allowing the PSU to turn on as soon as it receives 24V DC input from the native PSU.  This produces the necessary 12V and even a 5V and has both a Molex and SATA power cable out.  I connected the Molex to the Fan (you only need the 12V line and ground), and the SATA to the optical drive.  Now we the peripherals will only turn on when the motherboard itself is turned on.

PICO PSU powering the optical drive

The Bypassed Power Switch

3) Power Switch: I did not want to damage the board, so I simply threaded small wires between the onboard switch and its solder points.  I did this to the front right and back left corners.  This was then wired to the case switch at the bottom of the dome.  These can be easily removed in the future if this board is ever repurposed.  In addition this does not effect the functionality of the original switch in any way.

The case switch I use is from my previous mod. Modeling clay was used to secure a momentary switch directly behind the peg that protrudes from the back of the plastic power button on the back of the iMac dome.

4) Audio: I am sticking with the Turtle Bay USB Audio solution from my last mod.  This allows for a standard 3.5mm audio jack out and also supports a 3.5mm Microphone in.  I have it wired to the microphone in the LCD housing.

5) Bluetooth: I have not found anyone who has had success with any half height mini PCI-E that supports Wifi and Bluetooth with Mac OSX.  So, I am simply going to keep my very small USB bluetooth solution.

6) Optical Drive: I am using a DVD Burner that gets power via the PICO PSU discussed in #2.  The connection to the mobo is via a SATA to USB 2.0 adapter cable.

12V to 19V DC-DC Upconverter

7) Power: While the option of splicing the AC to the to the existing AC plug with the NUC's powerbrick is not a bad one, it is somewhat of a waste of the 180 watt PSU that already exists in the machine.  Not to mention that I'm already including a second PSU (which is really being used only as a downconverter here).  The NUC requires 19V at (at least) 3.7A and the PSU is only supplying 12V (can't use the 24V because its only on with 5V from the motherboard).  Luckily, 19V is the typical notebook operating voltage and therefore upconverters are available.  Though there is a much smaller selection than for more common voltages (24V, 12V, 5V etc).  Many different shapes an sizes are available.  I got one in a familiar shape on ebay from a Chinese manufacturer for $20.  Its relatively small ( I may remove part of the heat sink surrounding it) and is a 12V DC to 19V DC upconverter at 4A.  This is exactly what is required and works flawlessly.

The Upconverter connected to PSU and NUC

The Upconverter gets 12V and Ground in from the Native PSU and sends 19V out.  I had a broken Laptop AC power adapter that had a DC input that perfectly matched the power in plug on the NUC.  The positive is the inside peg and the negative is the outer part.  Using a multimeter I ensured which wire was which and connected this to the power supply via the up converter.

The Fit Test:

The Secured NUC Motherboard

On a side note, I used a rubber sleeve to cover the drive cage where the NUC will go.  After some guess and check, I determined the place where the  NUC and USB connectors seemed to fit the best. To test fit, I used twist ties that went through the screw holes in the grooves intended for the HD and then through the motherboard screw holes.  These will be replaced with plastic locking ties to secure the motherboard in place.
One thing to make sure of is that the wifi antennae which goes through the metal faraday cage (Wifi signal will be severely reduced if the antenna is within the cage) is connected to the wifi card before the board is secured.

Build Pics:

A Mess of Wires, But A Working Mod

Video and Audio Test

Motherboard View

About This Mac Screen

Remaining Issues:

Obviously, there is a lot of cable management to do.  This will get much simpler once connections are directly soldered (connectors removed and alligator wires eliminated).  As I technically have more room at the bottom of the dome than the previous mod (also had a DC converter and a PICO PSU to deal with), I do not believe this will be difficult to fit.  The wire management, however, may be more involved.

There will a paucity of ports.  A 3.5mm audio out, a few USBs, and not much else.  If I had to do it over, I probably would not have bothered spending the extra money on the Thunderbolt equipped version.  There are so few available peripherals and there are so overpriced that I can not even test this. Perhaps this is somewhat future proofing, but I would imagine there will be further upgrades to this board before thunderbolt actually takes off (if it ever does).  That said, I would not have bothered with an ethernet extender anyway.  I've learned with this that the more you do, the more that can go wrong.  I am more than happy to keep it simple.  I also have the option of adding a powered USB hub with the 12V lines in the PSU.  Unlike my previous mod which was very close to its power maximum, this should have room to spare.

Concluding Thoughts:

Untili I have it assembled and have worked with it for a while, I'm cautious about speaking too soon, but I am very optimistic about this project.  Although to Core i5 Sandy Bridge to a Core i3 Ivy Bridge may seem like a lateral move, this board is simply a better fit.  Its lower power, quieter, and everything onboard works.  The incorporation of the native PSU while keeping the optical drive makes this virtually indistinguishable from the original 20" iMac G4.

Hopefully will finish soon! Thanks for reading.

SUCCESS - TWO OUT OF THREE (RUNNING OSX 10.8) AINT' BAD

The hardware part of this mod has already been completed, for the most part.  The next step is software and finding a build that will run Mountain Lion without much compromise, is the goal.  Out of the 4 boards I am working with, I have had tremendous success with one, partial success with another, hit a dead end with a 3rd, and the 4th is somewhat of a backburner side project (upgrading my previous sandy bridge mod to core i7 Quad and Mountain Lion).

 

Lets start with Success: THE EPI-QM77

THE BUILD

This is the EPIC board, it is slightly larger than the ECX board, but fits easily within the dome.  As always this is a purchased retail copy of Mountain Lion using the brilliant tonymac's Unibeast/Multibeast install method (Thank you again tonymac).  Changing the SATA from IDE to AHCI was the only change I had to make in the bios, otherwise it installed natively.  Interestingly, I had trouble getting the USB to function from a USB 3.0 port, but when I plugged it into the apple keyboard's USB via the USB 3.0 it worked fine.

An Ivy Bridge "MacBook Pro" in an iMac G4 shell

I am still tweaking the multibeast settings somewhat, but will report them with final recommendations shortly.  As you can see, this build eschews the optical drive for the native PSU.  Although this is cleaner as there is no power brick, I have mixed feelings about loosing the aesthetics of the drive.  Its getting harder to justify what is really a cosmetic feature at this point.  I am still trying to devise a use for this and to somehow incorporate a usb powered motor to open and close the door revealing a hot plug or extra ports.

I will have to see what might be needed from a cooling perspective, but I may need to upgrade to a larger heatsink, but can not be sure until the computer is fully assembled.

This is likely the build I will keep as this board has everything I need, Core i7 Quad Ivy Bridge with HD4000 graphics, Enough USB 3.0 slots and 2 SATA 6.0 ports.  Even a quality 7.1 Realtek Audio Chip is included.

 

The "Looks Promising" Board: THE INTEL DC3217BY

Rear ports

On tonymac's forums I have seen successful hackintosh builds using the sister model which has ethernet and two monitor support.  This is the "higher end" model because of the inclusion of a thunderbolt port.  With the help of mikeboss' tip to set the graphics to 128mb, this board was able to post.  I did not go further as a mSATA is required and I did not have one large enough until now.  I have installed this Crucial 128GB mSATA, as well as a broadcom half height wifi card.  As this board is nearly identical, I suspect I will have similar success.  The question will be the thunderbolt, which I am hopeful will work natively.

With RAM, Wifi, and mSATA installed

I doubt this board will end up in this build permanently, but its an important proof of concept.  I believe that this tiny form factor has potential and Intel is currently pushing it for hobbyists.  Hopefully they will continue to improve and expand this line.  However, this first generation is underpowered with a core i3 vs the other boards.  Also it has few ports.  While the thunderbolt is intriguing and the idea of having all the ports in the back connect to one thunderbolt internally (ethernet, extra display, usb's etc) similar to apple's cinema display, thunderbolt accessories are currently way overpriced.  This board, as its the most compact, is the most versatile and is likely to have many uses in other projects.  That said, nothing is certain, and I will see this through.

 

NOT AT ALL: The Gene HM-76

I had high hopes for this ECX board, but I am currently having issues with the DVI display.  I am unsure if this is a failure of the board or its ability to communicate with my DVI/TMDS mod.  There are a few things I still want to try. 

 

WAITING IN THE WINGS: THE KEEX-6100

As Lion ran so well on it, I doubt Mountain Lion will be a problem, but I will test this as well as the core i7 processor.

OTHER OPTIONS:

A New QM-77 Ivy Bridge Board:

Quanmax will be releasing the Ivy Bridge KEEX-7100 and 7101 which contain embedded Core i5 and Core i7 mobile processors respectively.  ALthough I have a fondness for Quanmax and its KEEX boards have served me well, this board is not yet available and this is somewhat late in the game.  As I frequently change processors and tinker, I try to avoid embedded systems if possible (no other option with Intel NUC, but price is actually reasonable for a processor included system), but it remains a viable alternative.  

The Old Mac Mini:

I have been looking at ebay and the white polycarbonate Core 2 Duo systems are falling in price.  While the new boards are too big, the older style will work, but price to performance has been a limitation.  Although underpowered, there is a huge advantage in a native OS X machine and the final iterations (2.5+ Ghz) are still capable machines.  I will have to see if I can obtain one at a reasonable price.

Thanks for reading, will keep updating as I go.

20" iMac G4 Pro - Touchscreens

After a break, I am back and have several projects which I am starting to organize for.

1.  The 17" TMDS to DVI, including Video Tutorial has been completed.

2.  For the 17", I am thinking about finishing this up in some fashion.  This would not be an all in one, but instead may use wireless DVI and function as a second monitor.

3.  Apple Cube mod.  After searching I have seen some amazing cube mods including newer ones which use the existing heatsink.  This makes me somewhat less enthusiastic, as it has been done already, but it is still something that I would like to do using my core 2 duo ECX board.

4.  The 20" iMac G4 Pro Mod.  As I talked about in an earlier post the features that I would add to this pro mod would include, in order of importance:

A) Touchscreen: Something I have tried to incorporate since my first iMac G4 Mods

- The problems that I've had relate mostly to the fact that 20" 16:10 is no longer a common size.

- Touchscreens often add extra weight and thickness and thus complicate the designs

- Available Touchscreens are often of poor quality and use resistive technology that is not multitouch compatible and often detracts from the image by adding a reflective glare.

B) LED Backlighting: This conserves power and can allow for a much thinner LCD enclosure.

- Similar to the Touchscreen this is complicated by the odd 20" 16:10 aspect ratio.  No commercially available LED LCDs are available in this format.

- This may also allow for brightness control with a PWM control.

C) Upgraded Processor, RAM, and improved cooling: You can't have the first two without the third.

- I tried to make my previous mod as close to the original as possible, with the optical drive, space is somewhat limited and to ensure stability with the existing heatsink I went dual core i5

- To use a quad core, I will have to upgrade the cooling in place of the optical drive.

D) The native PSU: Resourceful readers have incorporated the native PSU.  

- Unfortunately, the native PSU did not fit my previous mod.  Without the optical drive and with improved cooling, I should be able to use the native PSU.

E) An iSight/Mic: Although the mic exists the rotating, tilting LCD makes the G4 ideal for an iSight.

- I do not yet know if a newer iSight will work better than the one from the iMac G5.  I already know how to turn the iSight from the G5 into a USB compatible camera, but I don't know if it will fit.

F) Aesthetic Changes: While rigs with neon lights all over were never my taste, I wouldn't mind some LED lights to differentiate this mod.

To start with, the most important thing I would like to incorporate is a Touchscreen.  Several of my iMac G4 mods have incorporated touchscreens.  I do agree that desktop touchscreens are not ideal, but in certain situations they can be quite useful.  A prerequisite is that the must be able to tilt backwards - newer touchscreen all in ones are doing this and apple's own patent shows that they have considered this approach in a design that is very reminiscent of the iMac G4 (mixed with the current iMac design).

Courtesy of patentlyapple.com

Rear View

Unfortunately, the extra girth and weight of the 20" touchscreens required significant compromise in the design.  I used a shell from an aluminum 20" cinema display and the front bezel of the G4.

At the time I hadn't yet figured out how to use the native inverter, so using the ACD solved both of these problems.  Once I figured out how to use the native inverter, I was able to use the complete original G4 shell and came to prefer the native appearance over my design despite the touchscreen.

Part of this had to do with the 5 wire resistive touchscreen which I found myself having to recalibrate frequently and had an annoying reflective glare.

However, with newer operating systems favoring touch/tablet interfaces over traditional Mouse/Keyboard, having a rotating. bending, tilting, floating touchscreen seems like the best possible type of desktop to try this on.  Lion (and even more so Mountain Lion) is actually touch friendly especially from the Launchpad interface.  Windows 8 Consumer Preview is even more touch friendly in that not using a touchscreen seems wrong.

I have an image of a broken 20" iMac G4 that will serve as the skeleton of this project.  The previous owner tore the front bezel off.  What you will notice is that the LCD comes right to the front of the enclosure.  Sure, you could put a touchscreen in front and secure it with double sided tape and the tape on the front bezel, but there would be a visible space from the side.  Plus, as you'll be moving and touching this, I worry about keeping it secure.  But, you can see that as is, adding anything in front of the LCD is difficult.

I have gone to great lengths to consider various touch options that are available, even inquired about custom touch screens.  The 20" 16:10 continues to be a difficult size to find.  There is a 20" 16:10 Surface acoustic Wave Touchscreen that I used in the past, but it requires a border that goes beyond the dimensions of the enclosure.  So that leaves these four:

Top Left is a broken 21.5" 16:9 optical touch monitor (LCD is broken by the touch aspect works).  This uses optical sensors in the corners and does require a "gap" in front of the LCD.  Can I adjust this to 20" 16:10?

Bottom Left is a 5 wire resistive touchscreen.  This is the same company that manufactured the screen for my old mod, but they have added an anti-reflective coat.  Its fairly light and thin and the correct size and ratio, but I still have reservations regarding resistive technology in general.

Top Right is an IR 19" 16: 10 touch panel.  The IR sensors are corrected in the corners and it may be possible to extend this connection.  Again, this requires a "gap" and I will likely loose touch sensing in the 4 corners.

Bottom Right is a 20" (approx 16:10) capacitive panel that I obtained from 3M.  Its an older cap active technology, but I have been playing with it on Lion and have been impressed by it so far.  While it is heavy and fairly thick, its active area fits the entire screen and as it is capacitive, multitouch drivers are available for windows (therefore should be possible for OS X).  This seems like the best solution and I feel lucky that I even found it, to be honest.

LCD enclosure

To fit it, however, I have to make the LCD enclosure itself smaller.

Show here is the LCDs enclosure.  There is a front and a back.  The LCD panel itself is quite thin and its control board actually extends outside the main enclosure.  Where it can interface with a JAE cable.

Side profile of LCD panel

Oblique Angle

 Most of the space is actually taken up by the backlight mechanism.
To be continued....

iMac G4 Mod Advice

I hope this doesn't come across as preachy, but I just want to give some advice to those of you new to modding the iMac G4.  I have disassembled and reassembled this computer so many times I could probably do it blindfolded.  There are a few aspects of modding this computer that have led to a lot of frustration for me, a few pointers, hopefully, will help some of you.

1) If your goal is to connect your iMac G4's LCD to modern hardware.  Use the Native LCD with the "TMDS to DVI Method".  Changing all the wires to some other method of connection such as LVDS is very time consuming, less stable, and more expensive.  There is no reason not to use the native TMDS wires that go from the native LCD through the neck.  Apple has already done the work for you! Plus, TMDS is a digital signal that is more stable over distance than LVDS and TTL.  Apple has put the controller inside the LCD itself, with other LCDs, you would have to add one.  I have done this both ways, replacing the screen and replacing/soldering the wires takes hours and likely days.  By using the TMDS to DVI Method with the DVI Connector below, you could get a signal within 30 minutes that is superior in every way.  Which brings me to.....

DVI Connector

2) USE THIS DVI CONNECTOR!!!  (MOLEX PN 74320-4004 - though other variations which work just as well exist).  It is very cheap and makes this mod so much easier.  I can not emphasize this enough. I know a male HDMI may be more convenient (or even a male DVI), but for the price of an adapter you will save yourself a lot of frustration.  Sure you could cut off an HDMI cable and solder it to the iMac G4's pins, but this is a much harder task than you may think.  The TMDS channel wires in the Black LCD cable are as thin as a hair and this is no exaggeration.  If you manage to spare the pins at the end of the wires during soldering this can be done.  But, as the pins are soldered to the ends of the wires themselves, they have an annoying habit of falling off when heat from a soldering iron is applied.  Also, if you make a mistake while soldering there is no going back.  As this is a digital signal, one broken connection can mean no signal at all.  What's more is that even if you do things perfectly, you can still have signal problems.  One mod that I made I had to cut and reconnect again (so I lost all the pins).  Despite a perfect connection, the image was plagued by artifact.  Another time, I had red/green pixels "dancing around" when viewing certain colors.  I ended up having to replace the entire Black LCD cable (with the TMDS signaling cable from an Apple Cinema Display which has thicker wires) to solve the problem.  TMDS uses minute differences between the positive and negative wires (and their shield wire) to communicate.  Altered resistance in the form of a little too much solder or too much wire wrapped around can result in these types of artifacts even if you are extremely good with soldering.  This DVI connector makes this almost plug and play.  The pins fit perfectly,  you don't need to solder at all.  I am not exaggerating when I say that this method saved me 10+ hours of intensive work on my recent mod.  Besides having to put a piece or two of electrical tape over some pins to prevent cross-talk, my image has been pristine every time I have used this connector.  Do not repeat the same mistakes that I have made.

iMac G4 Neck with Cinema Display Wires

3) Although no longer necessary with the TMDS to DVI Mod, if you want to add or change some wires, do not be scared to open the neck.  Its not hard, does not require special tools, and is not really dangerous.  I have written on this blog about the exploding neck because I had read about it myself.  I've had an open neck fall off the table, I've left necks open for weeks at a time, and have never had the spring fly off.  I wouldn't throw an open neck as hard of you can against the wall, but you do not have to handle it like its plutonium.  Just keep in mind that  if you do knock the spring off its moorings it takes a lot of work to pry it back up into position.

4) If you need to add wires to the neck, do not put more/thicker wires into the neck than it can hold.  Just because you can get it through the holes does not make it a good idea.  When you overcrowd the neck, you'll start to hear grinding and some wires will wear down as they are pushed into the hinges of the neck.  The iMac G4 has 4 wires that go through the native neck.  When you replace wires, take out what you're not using and aim to have about the same "volume of wires" as the native neck comes with.

5) Get rid of the Torx-6 screws.  These are the most troublesome screws I have ever worked with.  On the bottom of the 17" and 20" iMac G4's monitor housing you will find 3 screws that require a Torx-6  screwdriver to open.  These are the screws that keep the monitor housing closed.  I have never seen screws that strip easier despite using the appropriate tool.  6 points on a tiny screw is very close to a circle and once you start stripping it - its already too late.  Chances are good that you may have to open up the monitor housing again at some point for upgrades, repairs etc.  Act preemptively and replace these with small phillips screws - it will save problems later.

5) Want an All-In-One? Consider an 3.5" ECX or other small form factor board.  Although mini-itx or a mac mini motherboard are the most popular choices neither of these is ideal from a size/heat perspective.  ECX's can fit at the top of the dome in place of the native HDD where heat won't be as big a problem as it would with a mini itx at the bottom of the dome.  They don't require an atx power supply and come with a variety of additional options including PCI-E mini or x4, Compact Flash etc.  Processors range from Atom to AMD Fusion to Sandy Bridge Core i processors.  This allows you to keep the full 5.25" drive if you want and allows room at the bottom of the dome for ports at the back.  Although not nearly as expandable as a mini-itx mobo, with such limited space in the dome, this isn't likely to matter.

6) Do not sacrifice stability for power.  The mods I've posted usually don't include the mods which failed.  Most of these initially worked but failed because I tried to force things.  If you have to use all your strength to push your mod closed to screw it in, it will not last.  If you cram things in between the motherboard and the air holes, your board will overheat.  Keep expectations in check.  If you have a 17" monitor running at 1440x900 you don't need SLI or Crossfire.  Having it turn on and having a critical problem like this is worse than it not working at all.  If it does not turn on, you can start troubleshooting what went wrong.  These problems (like my 20" TMDS to LVDS with too many wires through the neck) usually require a complete redesign and many of the parts have to be repurposed or replaced altogether.

Hope this helps.

20" iMac G4 "Genuine" Mod - INVERTER SOLVED

So That Only Took Me A Year! It was January 8th, 2011 when I documented in this post on my blog my frustration with the 20" inverter and my inability to get it to enable the backlights on the native LCD in any kind of reproducible way.

I believed that the LCD itself would not pose a problem and I posted the TMDS to DVI pinout in this post, though had not been able to confirm it until now.  And yes it does work.

The Apple Logo on the ID Tech 20" Panel

I had devised a work around using the LCD controller from the 20" Aluminum Apple Cinema Display, the mod was shown in this post.  The controller worked perfectly with the iMac's native inverter and LCD (with one addition).  This mod hooked up to an external mini has become one of my most frequently used computers.  It has several advantages in that it is VERY STABLE.  The reason its so stable is that it really is an apple cinema display masquerading as an iMac G4.  While aesthetically perfect, I am reminded of this every time I open the display preferences and Cinema Display is shown in front of me.  As a Computer User - It's the perfect solution.  As a Computer Modder - I felt somewhat defeated, in that I wasn't able to solve the problem.  But there was another problem, this mod was complicated.  The neck had to be rewired and components from an expensive cinema display had to be used.  I knew that this mod could not be easily replicated.

When I finished my 17" STEP by STEP GUIDE.  I knew I was going to get questions regarding to 20" and if such an easy approach could be used.  However, because of my cinema display mod, I now had information about the inverter that I had previously lacked.  I have never owned a working 20" iMac G4 and was therefore making (supposedly) educated guesses, while trying to figure out the inverter.  A damaged inverter later, I realized this approach was not great.  With a working inverter via the cinema display's controller, I finally had voltages to check and use as a guide.

So, using my new technique, once the pins were free (The LCD was wired up in just a few minutes).  I then tried a few different things using my new information.  And for the first time I had a 20" iMac G4's native LCD and inverter display a backlit video signal through the neck (hooked up to a mac mini via DVI) using only wires, connectors and power supplies.  The power scheme is much more complex than the 17", this is due to the higher power requirements of the 20" LCD.  However, this uses the same method for the LCD as the 17" mod and is quite reproducible.

For those who have followed this blog, you know that this has always been a frustrating shortcoming for me.  It has been a long time, but I am so excited to be able to share this with everyone.

Lion's Desktop

Identified Monitor as "iMac"

Needless to say, I will be posting a step by step guide for this.  And this mod will be done to completion.  In addition, I believe that I have now found a home for my KEEX-6100.  This will now form the backbone for a new iMac G4 20" All-In-One.  I intend to document the process, including adding the computer to the base for those that wish to do something similar.

Again, thanks for reading!

The Future Is Here - KEEX 6100

This just arrived.  For those that don't follow my blog, this the Quanmax KEEX-6100.  It is an ECX board, an Intel created standard.  It is the exact size of a 3.5" drive.  While it may not look like much, after much research and personal experience with Quanmax boards, I believe this is the BEST size-to-power ratio motherboard that is commercially available.  This is not an atom board, does not use a ULV chip, or a 600mhz VIA processor.  This is a Socket G2 - Sandy Bridge Core i3/i5/i7 motherboard.  It does use a the mobile version (traditionally used in notebooks), but that is the only compromise you will have to make.  This is the same processor found in the new mac mini the (i5 or i7).


Board features:
Compact Flash Slot (Bootable)
SATA x 2
Mini PCIe
LVDS x2 (with backlight power)
VGA, HDMI, Display Port

But the real advantage is size.  In comparison to a 5.25" optical drive - this is miniscule.  This board will fit easily at the top of the dome in essentially otherwise unusable space.  This helps with heat issues.  In addition, this allows you to have the entire rest of the dome to use in any way you see fit.

I am not sure which design I am personally going to integrate this into, but I will discuss hooking up to an ECX board in my tutorial - which I assure you I have been working on.

ECX vs Mini-itx

For those interested in starting soon and utilizing this board.  By far the easiest way to obtain this board is from a company called Sliger.  They are a Quanmax distributor and were extremely helpful.  They can provide not only the board but DC power recommendations, accessory cables (some of which are required).  Not only do they have this board but all the other Quanmax ECX boards.  Everything from atoms to core 2 duos to amds to the sandy bridge 6100.  One of the owner's emailed me back within an hour after I sent an inquiry and answered all my questions.  I highly recommend Sliger if you are going to go the ECX route.

Website: http://www.sliger.com
Email: sales@sliger.com

Stay tuned - I promise you the 17" tutorial is on the way with the 20" to follow.

Completed Mod - Mac Mini with iMac G4 and G5 dual monitors

Original Dual Monitors with Mac Mini

New Setup with iSight G5, Mac Mini, and iPad

While the core components are completely unchanged from my previous 20" iMac G4 mod, this represents the completion of the overall setup.  I would highly recommend this to anyone in search of a "weekend hobby" who shares my enthusiasm for this generation of apple products.  Most people seem to be interested in the 17" mod, but as someone who has used both, I would recommend putting the resources into the 20" mod, if you truly intend to use this as a main desktop computer.  (Obviously if you already have a 17" dead iMac G4, its a different story).

Personally, it has become difficult for me to use LCDs under 19" as I've become so accustomed to larger displays.  The 20" iMac is a sizable display as is, but several factors actually make the screen bigger than most 20" displays.  For one, the aspect ratio is 16:10 not 16:9, for 20" this makes a substantial difference (1680x1050 vs 1600x900) in the overall size and pixel density.  Plus, the nature of the iMac G4 itself allows you to pull the display much closer to you than an ordinary LCD would sit.  Even still, to be a workstation, I feel multiple monitors are invaluable.  I got fortunate in "spare parts" that I was able to put the iMac G5 (native LCD, Apple Cinema Display's controller, inverter, and power source) together very quickly.  However, there are multiple ways to "resurrect" an iMac G5 as an external monitor depending on available parts.  The effect of having both together is great.  The iMac G5 is also quite ergonomic, in both its sliding and tilting.

While an All-In-One was the ultimate goal, by the time I figured out how to "modernize" the iMac with a Core 2 Duo Processor, Core 2 Duos were obsolete. With the mac mini also growing in length and depth, an all-in-one would need to be a hackintosh.  While the discussion regarding the price point of the mac mini is justified (depending on how you value aesthetics, form factor, and low power consumption), you can not call this generation underpowered.  I have been quite impressed, unless you are a gamer, there is not much you can't do with this machine.  (Im using the 2.7Ghz Dual Core i7 with discrete graphics.) For those waiting for the "X-Mac" this really might be it.

I originally concealed this in the inner part of the desk, but the I bought a great under desk mount with 4 front facing powered USB ports.

As I've mentioned the loss of the optical drive even as an option was unfortunate.  While both the G4 and G5 enclosures lend themselves to addition of an optical drive, its on the G4 where the drive actually contributes to the design.  While initially I was hoping to use bluray - Lion would not recognize the drive.  I ended up using an external DVD drive which I opened up and modified.

This is actually DC powered, so I used a power source from a broken internal drive enclosure.  I use the original iMac G4's AC plug, but split it, with one going to the cinema displays power brick and one going to the drive.  Thus, only one AC plug and no external power brick is required.

Rear Ports (USB Out, Drive Switch, AC Power)

The rear panel contains the original 3 pronged receptacle for AC power, an on/off switch for the drive, a USB out, the outgoing USB cable and HDMI cable.  The USB cable belongs to the cinema displays controller which then supplies 2 ports.  One is taken up by the drive internally, the other is on the back (hooked up to the camera here).  So, by having the drive plugged in, you essentially replace the used USB port.

Drive open

There is a quirk with the DVD drive.  When there is no media in the drive, the keyboard eject shortcuts do not work and you can not access the front button on the drive.  To eject the drive you have to open disk utility, click on the drive and press open.  Now by putting Disk Utility in the dock, opening the drive takes only 3 clicks, however, this is somewhat of a nuisance.  When media is in the drive this does not seem to be a problem.


SOLVED - thanks to fellow modder and iMac enthusiast Jean Luc, I now have an eject icon in the upper right corner, that allows me to easily eject and close the drive in the G4's dome.

This works flawlessly.  It eliminates a flaw of the mini and gives purpose to the base of the iMac G4.

Besides cleaning up a few of the rear ports, this iMac G4 mod is complete and perfect in this setup.  This is largely the same mod as before without the all in one.

Side/Rear iMac G5 (1st Generation) Mod

The iMac G5 chassis leaves plenty of room for further modification.  It is designed for speakers and its own drive.  Because I have an optical drive in the G4 and use the apple pro speakers, these are likely to be superfluous.  As of right now the Cinema Displays cable goes out where the power cable exited.  So the power brick is outside.  I may internalize this.  While I do like the ability to physically move the camera, I may consider obtaining an isight G5 and seeing if I can get an isight camera and convert it to USB.


UPDATED - with advise from Jean Luc and research I have realized that there is a considerable difference between the original iMac G5 (1st Generation)and the iSight iMac G5 (3rd Generation - much thinner, and with iSight camera/mic).  I am going to attempt to transfer the contents from this G5 to an empty chassis from an iSight G5.  I believe this will likely fit this mod better.  As I have stated much of the iMac G5's shell is currently wasted space, having a smaller, sleeker chassis would likely look better and save some desk space.  Although much tighter, the only contents that will need to fit are the Cinema Display's LCD controller and inverter .  In addition, as Jean Luc explains in the comments below, the iSight is simply a USB device.  With addition of either a USB adapter for the microphone, I can connect these to the Apple Cinema Display's USB ports.  As this leaves only 2 Firewire 400 ports, I would likely either hold off on adding the rear ports to see if my "thunderbolt dock" idea becomes feasible, or use a firewire to usb dock to add USB ports to the rear of the iMac G5.  The RAM access panel at the bottom may also let me bring back the Cinema Displays hardware touch power and brightness controls to the bottom of the display.

FURTHER UPDATED - I have indeed used JLs advise and the chassis of the iSight G5 complete with original microphone and iSight Camera.  Please see this post on the iMac G5 iSight for details.

At the very least I'm likely to add the Cinema Display's Firewire 400 and USB ports.  As I mentioned earlier, this monitor is hooked up using a mini display port via the thunderbolt port, I'd love to utilize this fact to make this a "dock".  Exactly as apple has done with its new Thunderbolt displays.  Thus, with one plug I could not only get the image to the G5s LCD but "transfer" the mac minis ports to the easily accessible rear panel of the G5.  This would allow for significant convenience.  I'm hoping such a dock may eventually become available or perhaps it could be taken from a broken thunderbolt display in the next year or so.

In general this is even beyond the setup that I envisioned as a best case scenario when I began this project.

Suggestions are appreciated.  And if there is interest I'd be happy to provide technical details.  Thank you for reading!

Optical Drives, Mac Minis, and Thunderbolt

Courtesy of apple.com

So the final part of my setup is "the actual computer".  I decided to go with the higher end non-server model.  I would have gone with the server for its quad core i7, but discrete graphics is quite important to me.  I have had some so-so experiences with onboard intel graphics in the past.  In terms of upgrades - I very much wanted a SSD, but for $600, it was not going to happen.  I have spoken to people who have changed or added drives to last years mini (same design) and while not simple it is doable.  So I went with the base 5400rpm 500GB drive knowing that eventually I'll likely add another drive or swap this out entirely.  I did decide to invest in the 2.7Ghz dual core i7 processor as this is something I won't be able to replace later and at $100 the cost wasn't ridiculous.

There was one "surprise" for me, I was not expecting the demise of the optical drive.  While this does cause me to alter my design, it really is not a big deal for me.  That said, I am somewhat disappointed in the decision.  The reason I say that is because it decreases the versatility of the machine.  Plenty of people viewed this as an ideal and elegant HTPC, many of those people have DVD collections, instead of an iTunes movie library.  For the Macbook Air - the initial decision to loose the optical drive allowed the chassis to become even thinner.  In the case of the mac mini there is an empty bay.  The design hasn't gotten smaller and unless you have two storage drives there is simply empty space.  Even if a drive wasn't included in the base model, an option for a Build to Order one would have been nice.  Optical media may not be the future but for many people it is the present and as small as it is, the mini is still a desktop computer.  Obviously, Apple can do what they want and as a huge media digital distributor they have a vested interest in seeing optical media disappear as soon as possible.  But, I thought they could have waited another generation as the people I know who waited for this machine as a living room computer have not decided to go digital, but have instead gone in a different direction.

This does open up some design potential for my setup which uses a converted iMac G4 and iMac G5:

While my initial design included a bluray drive in the base, I took it out as I thought it was redundant with the mini on the desk.  An internal drive was less complicated when there was a computer in base.  As this attached simply through an SATA + PWR connector to the motherboard.  While SATA to USB + Power brick adapters are available, I would like to keep the design as simple as possible.  Meaning I would prefer only one AC plug, no external power bricks and as few cables going between the mini and and the iMac G4 chassis as possible.

For there to be only "1 plug" I obviously have to split power off somewhere.  I can do this on the "AC side" before the power brick or on the "DC side" after the power brick.  I have an old 5.25" external drive enclosure that I have no further use for.  This includes a small power supply and onboard SATA to USB.

With some internal rearrangement I should be able to fit both the power supply as well as the drive.  Currently all that is in the base is the Cinema Displays LCD controller and Power Brick.  I am hoping to keep the power supplies at the top of the dome.  The drive in the middle and the controller on the underside of the drive.  Leaving the very bottom for some wire management.

Using the Cinema Display's on-board USB ports will allow me to connect the drive and replace the "used" USB port with one that will be on the back of the iMac G4s base.  In addition I will add either the rocker switch or a push button on/off to the back of the iMac G4 for the drive.  I do have the option of Firewire 400 ports but will probably not hook these up.  Although there is not currently any reliable support for it, I do have a full side 5.25" tray loading bluray drive which has already been modified to fit in the iMac, so I will probably be using this.

Courtesy of CNET

Another option is to use the iMac G5 or both.

PicoPSU by Mini-box.com

Of course, as I have previously noted, I have plenty of room in the iMac G5's chassis.  The way I felt this looked the best was to mimic the original look, whereby one cable comes out the back.  So the Cinema Display's Cable comes out the hole n the back, which I will eventually surround with white rubber to make it look as clean as possible.  As a result, the power brick is external.  To use an internal slim slot loading I need an SATA power source (12V), but the power coming in via the Cinema Display is DC at 24V.  In order to siphon off power I need a DC to DC voltage regulator or power supply.  I chose a picoPSU which can use 24V input.  I chose this because it was cheap, small, gives me lots of options, and I am familiar with it.

Using this and a SATA to USB I can again use the onboard USB slots of the cinema display.  And as I am already connecting the Cinema Displays cable to the computer, I may hook up the firewire 400 ports and connect them to the back of the monitor where they were designed to hook up to the iMac G5.

Back Panel Thunderbolt - Courtesy Apple.com

In my opinion one of the most interesting products Apple just launched was its new Thunderbolt display.  The idea that one cable (externally no different than the display cable) can turn the monitor into a "dock" is brilliant.  What would be ideal for my setup would be if they ever sold a separate "Thunderbolt dock".  A Thunderbolt cabe at one end with a mini display port, USB, firewire, ethernet, thunderbolt out (for daisy chaining) etc at the other end.  This would allow all sorts of devices/accessories to be stored in the iMac G4/G5 housing.  An example may be using Macbook Air with onboard Intel HD3000 graphics hooked up to a modified iMac G4 or G5.  But inside of the iMac enclosure is not just an LCD but a powerful PCI-Express graphics card hooked up via thunderbolt (I know it wouldn't be fully x16 - but it would still be very capable) as well as a 3TB HD array and Bluray drive that all becomes accessible as you hook one cable up to your laptop.  It really may make these mods more than just monitors.