Mods: Classic Mini Jukebox

admin · Site Admin Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 2066 Location: U.S.A

Mods: Classic Mini Jukebox
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Posted by: Brian

James Colby has sent in some information about his Classic Mini Jukebox mod. We have seen a couple of similar mods with Mac minis mounted inside classic Mac cases, but James has taken things a step further with some more serious modifications. This includes the use of an ATX power supply. He also did a really nice job with cable management inside the case.

Here are more details about the project:

James writes, "I had a spare pair of power amps, a pre-amp and speakers in the dining room. Rather than use an Airport express or Slimp3, I thought it would be cool to have a standalone music server. It needed to be remotely controllable with a decent user interface - and should synch with my main music store. I thought about using an Apple TV in a Classic but the display driver capabilities...

Read more...

http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/782.html

Redwing80 · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 9:40 pm Post subject:

Does everything run off the PSU? I've been thinking about transplanting a Mac mini into a Shuttle PC box.

Ben Tex · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 10:13 pm Post subject:

That is one cleaning looking mod. He should put a window on the side and add some case lighting. Smile

jamescolby · New Member Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 5 Location: New York

The Mini can function on a supply as low as 12v. I used one of the standard ATX rails. Anything lower than 15v however, means you can't use the firewire port. I chose to run everything off the one supply.

Redwing80 · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:06 pm Post subject:

I can live without firewire. I'm embarrassed to ask but how is the Mac mini actually tapped into the PSU?

jamescolby · New Member Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 5 Location: New York

Check out these links for some ideas:

http://www.blisstonia.com/eolson/notes/kensingtonmacmini.php
http://pinouts.ru/Power/atx_v2_pinout.shtml

All you have to do is put a 12v feed into pins 2 and 4 on the 5 pin connector that goes into the Mini. I put a 4k7 resistor between pin3 and ground and it works fine.

Redwing80 · Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:37 pm Post subject:

Thanks for posting the links. It sounds little tricky, but doable. I really need to open my Mac mini back up and look around. It has been a while.

blazer · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:48 am Post subject:

Yeah, that is pretty sweet. Nice work James.
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Bandit Bill · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:09 am Post subject:

It looks good to me, but it is difficult for me to comprehend what is what... and what is going where.

Some red arrows with labels would be helpful for non modders such as myself.

Yvan256 · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:31 pm Post subject:

Very clean mod indeed, congratulations!

Which LCD display was used (brand/model)?

jamescolby · New Member Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 5 Location: New York

I got an 8.4" display which nicely behind the glass bevel of the old CRT.

http://www.lcdtft.com/

Pleiades · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:24 pm Post subject:

That's a great looking mod. One of the best ones I've seen.

I love the choice in cases. Nothing like those classic all-in-one Macs.
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devo · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject:

Very cool! Cool

I like how you stood the motherboard off the LCD with posts. How is your AE reception James? The antenna seems to have found a nice resting place.

jamescolby · New Member Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Posts: 5 Location: New York

The internal antenna is the bluetooth - swapped the bluetooth and wifi over. The wifi reception is down by about 9dB but I haven't played with it yet. Could be the different shape of the antenna(??), impedance (didn't check if the bt and wifi were the same) or the orientation. The wifi is now mounted vertically at the case rear in stead of horizontally in the Mini. Still works anyway...

devo · Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 7:13 pm Post subject:


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