The Mac mini Maxi - how I attached extra storage to make a mini server.
This article involves doing things to your Mac mini which may well destroy it. You should not try this unless you are prepared to lose your entire Mac mini investment, and you should definitely not try it if you do not have an appreciation for the dangers of power tools, electricity and the jagged edges found inside PC cases!
When I woke up in Australia the morning after the MWSF keynote speech had come and gone, the Apple store timed out for 30 minutes or so before I was able to get my order in. It was a long wait until the 28th when the mini finally shipped, then the 31st before it was delivered. I wasted no time in getting the cover off and upgrading the memory, and was immediately impressed by this little machine.
However 2.5" notebook hard drives are a serious limitation. For one they are limited to 100GB - I have more than that just in FLAC-encoded CDs, and I have half that much just in RAW-format images. The mini would make a great little server - quiet, cheap to buy new, low power too - if only big drives could be attached. Knowing that the mini uses 2.5" IDE drives I decided it was just a matter of making the physical connector right, and started this project about a week before I actually got the mini, luckily I guessed right. The speed increase that comes with using 7200 rpm drives is not to be sneezed at either (the largest 2.5" 7200 rpm drive I know of is just 60GB).
There have been more than enough photo essays about unpacking the mini and disassembling it in various levels of detail. I'm going to jump right in and show you the part that mattered to me, the daughter board that connects the optical and hard drives to the mainboard. You won't see this view of it unless you disconnect both drives.
On the top is the optical drive connector. This is a standard connector but it's surface mount and difficult to buy - not something you can easily solder up at home. Below that is a 2mm-pitch 44-way connector, mating with a standard 2.5" drive - aha! Since I had adapters that let me use these drives in a desktop PC, I figured the reverse would be possible. And also I guessed that the optical and hard drives are simply master and slave devices on the IDE bus. A simple adapter would let me connect two normal IDE drives, be they optical or whatever. But while the adapter to connect 2.5" drives to a desktop machine is easily available, an adapter to connect 3.5" drives to a machine expecting 2.5" drives is not. Obviously 3.5" drives won't physically fit in laptops and there are different power requirements too so I could believe that such a thing wasn't available.
Taking the easily available adapter and just reversing the sexes of the connectors might seem like an easy way to do this but then the positions of the pins are swapped - pin 1 would become pin 2, etc. - a sure way to damage the machine or the drive or both. Each pin must be mapped correctly to the same-numbered pin on the other side of the adapter.
Where to put this server? Clearly 3.5" drives weren't going to fit in the mini's case. I settled on the Aopen H420B micro ATX case. If you're a switcher then Aopen might be a familiar name in cases. This is a fairly typical example of a PC case - steel sides, plastic front, clunky, covered in styling details that don't really help its looks. However it is roomy, comes with a power supply and as PC cases go is fairly compact. Another view shows that it is ready to house two 5.25" devices and a maximum of four 3.5" devices, although if you ask me stacking drives together in such a confined space is asking for heat-related trouble.
That this case is not as stylish as the mini isn't a big deal - its intended use is as a server, and it will be out of sight. I intend using it to store MP3s, images and video, and will stream music to various places around the house. It will share drives and be a convenient first backup location for work
In the article, somewhere in the yellow box you get this little side not: " transform MIDI files into cell phone rings (see Resources). I haven't used these programs yet, because I don't have a cell phone -- but I'm tempted to get one just to try them out."
This guy works for IBM and he doesn't have a cell phone? Strange fellow.
How can they be out numbering old cycles? I can't believe that. Maybe in a certain area but it isn't possible for old bikes to be outnumbered in such fast speed. Would this be because China's economy is booming and the standard of living is increasing?
Just out of curiousity, what's the OS on the desktop? http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040104image1.h tml looks like it's shown from a desktop...is it Linux?
NetZero also offers a plan with 10 free hours of Internet access per month if you run its advertising software, which constantly displays ads.
That's wrong. NetZero's Free Internet Access offers 10 hours a month but they stopped offer their free Internet service on May 30th. Suprisingly, what I have found is that NetZero is actually FASTER than AOL's paid service.
Slashdot Mirror
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:FiCMnb9IkuUJ: www.linuxjournal.com/article/7403+linux+cat+feeder &hl=en&lr=&strip=1
Here's the correct link: http://www.blackboxvoting.org/
Mac mini Maxi
By: aeberbach
Feb 8 2005
The Mac mini Maxi - how I attached extra storage to make a mini server.
This article involves doing things to your Mac mini which may well destroy it. You should not try this unless you are prepared to lose your entire Mac mini investment, and you should definitely not try it if you do not have an appreciation for the dangers of power tools, electricity and the jagged edges found inside PC cases!
When I woke up in Australia the morning after the MWSF keynote speech had come and gone, the Apple store timed out for 30 minutes or so before I was able to get my order in. It was a long wait until the 28th when the mini finally shipped, then the 31st before it was delivered. I wasted no time in getting the cover off and upgrading the memory, and was immediately impressed by this little machine.
However 2.5" notebook hard drives are a serious limitation. For one they are limited to 100GB - I have more than that just in FLAC-encoded CDs, and I have half that much just in RAW-format images. The mini would make a great little server - quiet, cheap to buy new, low power too - if only big drives could be attached. Knowing that the mini uses 2.5" IDE drives I decided it was just a matter of making the physical connector right, and started this project about a week before I actually got the mini, luckily I guessed right. The speed increase that comes with using 7200 rpm drives is not to be sneezed at either (the largest 2.5" 7200 rpm drive I know of is just 60GB).
There have been more than enough photo essays about unpacking the mini and disassembling it in various levels of detail. I'm going to jump right in and show you the part that mattered to me, the daughter board that connects the optical and hard drives to the mainboard. You won't see this view of it unless you disconnect both drives.
On the top is the optical drive connector. This is a standard connector but it's surface mount and difficult to buy - not something you can easily solder up at home. Below that is a 2mm-pitch 44-way connector, mating with a standard 2.5" drive - aha! Since I had adapters that let me use these drives in a desktop PC, I figured the reverse would be possible. And also I guessed that the optical and hard drives are simply master and slave devices on the IDE bus. A simple adapter would let me connect two normal IDE drives, be they optical or whatever. But while the adapter to connect 2.5" drives to a desktop machine is easily available, an adapter to connect 3.5" drives to a machine expecting 2.5" drives is not. Obviously 3.5" drives won't physically fit in laptops and there are different power requirements too so I could believe that such a thing wasn't available.
Taking the easily available adapter and just reversing the sexes of the connectors might seem like an easy way to do this but then the positions of the pins are swapped - pin 1 would become pin 2, etc. - a sure way to damage the machine or the drive or both. Each pin must be mapped correctly to the same-numbered pin on the other side of the adapter.
Where to put this server? Clearly 3.5" drives weren't going to fit in the mini's case. I settled on the Aopen H420B micro ATX case. If you're a switcher then Aopen might be a familiar name in cases. This is a fairly typical example of a PC case - steel sides, plastic front, clunky, covered in styling details that don't really help its looks. However it is roomy, comes with a power supply and as PC cases go is fairly compact. Another view shows that it is ready to house two 5.25" devices and a maximum of four 3.5" devices, although if you ask me stacking drives together in such a confined space is asking for heat-related trouble.
That this case is not as stylish as the mini isn't a big deal - its intended use is as a server, and it will be out of sight. I intend using it to store MP3s, images and video, and will stream music to various places around the house. It will share drives and be a convenient first backup location for work
In the article, somewhere in the yellow box you get this little side not: " transform MIDI files into cell phone rings (see Resources). I haven't used these programs yet, because I don't have a cell phone -- but I'm tempted to get one just to try them out." This guy works for IBM and he doesn't have a cell phone? Strange fellow.
How can they be out numbering old cycles? I can't believe that. Maybe in a certain area but it isn't possible for old bikes to be outnumbered in such fast speed. Would this be because China's economy is booming and the standard of living is increasing?
Disable Pop-Up Blocker in your Mozilla or Opera or whatever...
You mean In Soviet Russia, streams rip you! Oh and in Soviet Russia, Girls like you!
Don't some internet radio stations have to pay fees of some sort ?
I am as shocked as you are. I wonder what THIS will get modded to.
I don't know why, but that wasn't really supposed to be funny. Is it just me or is it the moderators?
Is this just a temporary solution or will this
.
last forever? Perhaps I should RTFA...
--
hoax, but qmail isn't
I thought it was called gmail..
Why is the parent marked as Offtopic? That was legit question that relates to the topic at hand. Doesn't it?
Just out of curiousity, what's the OS on the desktop? http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/040104image1.h tml looks like it's shown from a desktop...is it Linux?
Get your spelling straight. It's Muslims. Not Moslems.
Can someone please repeat that in plain english? kthx.
FUCK YOU ALL! CUNTS!
Could the next must-have computer input device be a morse key ?
No.
Me: "Hmm...okay, I will cut you a deal. YOu give me a job, and I will buy your...product...deal?"
FP!
Oh, I thought it was Eat shit more
NetZero also offers a plan with 10 free hours of Internet access per month if you run its advertising software, which constantly displays ads.
That's wrong. NetZero's Free Internet Access offers 10 hours a month but they stopped offer their free Internet service on May 30th. Suprisingly, what I have found is that NetZero is actually FASTER than AOL's paid service.
...does it run Linux?