*Case Mod* CD Player HTPC

[Nitestick]

boredom does strange things to me. so i found a semi-dead old Sony CD player and put it out of it's misery. so far i've stripped it and modified an ATX psu to fit inside and mounted the power socket. i'm throwing in a P3 800 and an Asus CUSI-FX mATX motherboard. unfortunately i can't post any pictures yet as my cheap piece of crap bluetooth dongle failed so i can't get the photos off of my phone . will post some as soon as i can.

edit: oh i forgot to mention one of the perks , being that the cd player has a remote control with the sensor of course already mounted in the case. in the past i've made my own pc remote sensors from receivers like this.........

 

[CrazeD]

It'd be cool if you could hook up the CD player to play CD's through your computer.

 

[TheOtis]

It'd be cool if you could hook up the CD player to play CD's through your computer.

Because that's not possible with a CD-ROM drive right?

HAHA. Sorry, I know.....lame. Just couldn't resist hahaha.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

if the slot is bigger than the cd drive(like a one disk, not a 3 or 5 disk) then u could just glue the cover to the drive door, and wire up an eject button behind the origional button.(i did it with an xbox...to bad the mobo died{standby of no return}) i got a few things laying around that crap can fit into. o dude, u could just go down to an electornics storee and get a cheap 40$(us) webcam

 

[Nitestick]

if the slot is bigger than the cd drive(like a one disk, not a 3 or 5 disk) then u could just glue the cover to the drive door, and wire up an eject button behind the origional button.

way ahead of you

i've managed to modify the power switch now the hard part is tapping some mounts for the motherboard.

 

[bmxfreakrider]

i guess all case modders think alike...just some think about the idea first. so ur just gonna attach some mounts to the case? make sure their all lined-up and square to the mobo, or the mobo might not mount flush. another thing you might want to look into, does the cd player have a screen on the front? maybe somehow you can make it work with the pc, and have it display the time or something, so ittl still have the cd player look to it, and not just be a warm box that looks like a cd player thats off.

 

[CrazeD]

i guess all case modders think alike...just some think about the idea first. so ur just gonna attach some mounts to the case? make sure their all lined-up and square to the mobo, or the mobo might not mount flush. another thing you might want to look into, does the cd player have a screen on the front? maybe somehow you can make it work with the pc, and have it display the time or something, so ittl still have the cd player look to it, and not just be a warm box that looks like a cd player thats off.

Maybe get a 3.5" Digital fan controller and take it apart, and replace the CD player screen with the fan controller screen.

That'd look pretty badass.

 

[Nitestick]

wow guess case modders do think alike because you guys have basically said what i've been thinking. i'm going to try and wire the buttons up to work via a serial connection, i think it's possible but it will be mighty tricky. as for the remote it's just a matter of when i can be bothered wiring the sensor because i need to add a few components. i have the PSU, motherboard and HDD mounted now , i'll do the CD drive in the morning. now i really need a bluetooth dongle or at least some mobile credit to get the photos off my phone.

ALL HAIL THE DREMEL!!!!

edit: tomorrow i'm going to a friends house, he has a 5MP camera

edit 2:i do have a bunch of photos to upload now however my friend is being a stooge . he won't get the photos off the camera and send them to me

mod is virtually finished but i need to shift the brackets i made for the CD drive backwards to get the cd drawer flush with the face plate, wire the eject button and make my own HDD activity circuit. i've mounted LEDs on the front for power and HDD activity but something unknown has happened to the motherboards HDD activity pins and they no longer work. oh well it's a simple mod from my xbox modding days, line 39 of a 40 conductor IDE cable is status. provide a 5V source with a 100ohm resistance to the LED and ground it to that line and it should light for HDD activity.

 

[jordo_99]

**** that sounds sweet man. that makes me want to do something cool with my old computer. It would really even be worth build cuz i'd never use it as it's a 233mhz Intel w/ 256 ram and 6GB. lol. it's a total piece but i can't put myself to throwing it out for some reason.

any ideas for what i should do nitestick.

please post pics soon

 

[Nitestick]

don't have any good ideas but i'll think about it
you could try an old VCR case if you are trying to do something similar. you can get VCRs much larger than the CD player i used in fact there are some you could fit a full ATX PSU in!!! then dettach the cassette flap and attach it to the CD drawer somehow. you may even be able to fit a full ATX FF motherboard in one. otherwise just attack the case it's in now with any tools you can find . paint it, add fans and anything you can imagine

what you have to keep in mind is space constraints. i used a micro ATX motherboard and as it is it barely fits in with me doing stuff like hacking up the power supply. my friend still hasn't come through on the pictures and for the life of me i can't understand why he is so lazy.




AND I HAVE PICTURES!!!! another friend came through for me instead