mmmm toasty

[stlouis1]

So i have a project. I'm sure the picture will speak enough. basically, these parts all came from the recycler, its all used, all stuff that people tossed away as scrap. the mobo was a brick when i got it, it had a dead bios. I also repaired the psu. the hard drive came from a dead laptop. the dvd drive and adapter cable came from an old little dell. I'm keeping an eye out for a slot loading notebook drive, but this one is enough for test fitting

basically the idea came when my friend was here and i hotswapped the bios on the board to get it working. and then I started sizing it up with the psu and what not, and said something like "I'll find something to put it into if i have to hack up a toaster"

and then I thought, a toaster, it would be hilarious putting a cd in where bread used to go

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4089.JPG[/img]

[Avid6eek]

You have too much free time!

[stlouis1]

well, still have some work to do, but so far i've managed to not so carefully jam everything in there. so it can fit

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4091.JPG[/img]

[jdrom17]

Take off the PSU cover? Usually a fair bit of wasted space in there.

[stlouis1]

lol, yeah, the psu is going to be gutted from its chassy, since the power connector and switch are going to be relocated to the outside of the toaster chassis

i also have a crap load of rewiring to do on it as well, trim down to the bare necessities for the system since all i need is the main ATX, a floppy power connector, and a sata connector. should also free up some room for airflow. i may end up using hair clips on the atx power wire to keep it somewhat flat and lower profile to wrap around the mobo.

i'm looking for a backward riser card too, might make the wireless card easier as well, not sure. like i said, i have 5-6 weeks to get it done, i'll be taking my time. i've got lots of soldering work to do, maybe i'll get a chance to test out the air filter i got for soldering

oh, the mobo is a jetway mini-itx, i forget the model, but i had a hell of a time finding the bios bin for the hotswap flash to bring it back to life. i has a 1.5ghz via C7 on it, nothing special, but low power, uses ddr2, i'm looking for a half height stick of kingston value ram to replace the one i have, that will also make it easy for the ide adapter for the notebook drive.

the idea is for this thing to be a green PC, not only in the sense of being low power, but that its all reused/recycled parts as well

the psu is apparently is made by FSP Group. which to me is pretty no name, but to my surprise, for a pretty well no name psu, its got some weight to it, and plenty of components inside, definitely not generic quality. its rated 270w

I also only plan on only using one speaker. i may solder the wires to the mobo.....i'm also pondering the idea of removing the ps/2 connectors from the mobo, since they're kind of awkward

[stlouis1]

Let's see some benchies!

seriously, its a via C7, i don't think it supports benchmarking, LOL

its going to run linux though.......go figure?

[jdrom17]

Why not use a USB WiFi adapter? Would save a ton of space.

Could also save massive amounts of space by using the Pico PSU, but then that's a bit costly I guess.

You were into XBOX modding though right? Can you modify a PSU out of one of those, cause they're pretty small aren't they?

[stlouis1]

i thought of a usb wifi adapter, but i don't have one, and i don't think there's any in the guys recycle pile. there was just the pci MS card, and the msi, the msi being lower profile, which will probably be the one i use. the other thing too, i really don't like to use usb devices for permanent solutions, the cpu overhead and all.....its a via C7

the psu i have measures 6cm x 12cm x 12cm. its quite small already, its exactly the size of a pair of 120mm fans stuck together back to back. but now the xbox power supply is not a bad idea, i have a spare downstairs, but i think its the 1.0-1.1 power supply, before they started using an atx connector....its longer, but i may have to try a test fit with it, i might actually fit better

[AKHandyman]

I like butter and honey on my English muffins ...

[stlouis1]

small update, the control board from the speaker is mostly stripped. i left the volume knob on for now, for testing reasons, but it will be coming off eventually to be relocated in the position where the temp control used to be in the toaster.at least now it takes very little space, it will be wired to the 5v on the psu, and once i find a spot for the speaker, that can be reconnected to it as well.

i'm wondering if replacing that blue cap with a higher grade may help sound quality, considering sound quality may already be limited, anything that can help that might be good

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4092.JPG[/img]

[stlouis1]

ok, a few more progress shots. first up. the mobo beside the toaster with the inside fram. as you can see, the mobo has very little clearance, its going to be tight, but it can work.

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4094.JPG[/img]

now here we can see a little more of the inside of the toaster, just to show. not much else happening

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4095.JPG[/img]

this is a donor case, used to be an HP, it had a dead mobo, we could have replaced it, but the sidepanel was missing, can't sell a used system like that, therefore this case is scrap.

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4096.JPG[/img]

here is the new bottom tray, see the standoffs, they're 8mm tall. i need a proper spacer though, something a little thicker. and in the first pic, you could see the inside part of the toaster was mounted above the plastic, this new plate will mount from the bottom

the other piece was scavenged from the original part, i need it for the push down button. it will likely have some trimming done

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4097.JPG[/img]

here's an idea of how the new bottom will mount. the other piece is just sitting there for now, to give an idea of where the usable space is

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4098.JPG[/img]

somewhat of a test fitting. the mobo is just proped there for now, it will be pushed back a little more toward the center, as you can see i don't have much choice if i want to put that wireless card in.

[img]****************sergeinc.no-ip.org/host/Toaster/DSCF4099.JPG[/img]

now unfortunately my crafting skills aren't great, and it would be nice to have more tools to work with. i hope the overall project doesn't suffer too much. but on the other hand, it wouldn't hurt to show something thats all reused parts put together with tools the average person may already have at their disposal.

[AKHandyman]

You sure you're not related to MacGyver?

[AKHandyman]

That thing will be a success IF it can load Win 7 AND toast a pair of Pop-Tarts in under 30 secs ...

[stlouis1]

i have no plan of running windows on it at all. first of all, i don't have enough ram, only 512mb, and second, the board only supports 1gb, third, its a via chip, common?

however, anyone willing to donate a pci nvidia card, is more than welcome too, maybe a 4 slice toaster for another project, or perhaps something different?

[stlouis1]

is that a 6000? i have a 5500 here

[stlouis1]

yes i have a 5500, its in my storage room. its an awesome card for sure. two of my friends each have one too, but their asian, so that says it all

at the recycler last week, we had a blue recycle box FULL or voodoo 3's, and i mean full, they went to scrap though

[stlouis1]

WTF?

well i couldn't save them all

[stlouis1]

Them all? Just one?

i have 2-3 already, how many should i really keep?i have 2 agp voodoo 3's, a pci voodoo 3, a pair of voodoo 2's, and the voodoo 5

[Evil 8 Ball]

You seen this, stlouis1?

**********************.tomshardware.co.uk/MSI-To...ews-32888.html

[stlouis1]

looks more like an oversized wallet to me, rather than a toaster