my sn41g2 custom plate pic; )

[micovwar]

i have an engravement set for my sk41g faceplate but im not sure what to have engraved other than "shuttle xpc",i was actually thinkin of listing the systems specs under the lcd but im not sure ,i just know itle be black but then again with silver engraving i recon it would be nice

[XiXora]

thanks, time to change it to sb61g2 specs
just wish i can change that crumby plastic thing around the side.
also abou that lcd? where did you get it? also... what can it show? wiuld be nice for a 3rd line...

[micovwar]

the display is a matrix orbital mx221 usb,i bought it from coolercases.co.uk and they retail @about £80 although u could do the same job with a cheaper similar crystalfontz display like ive just done with my sk41g which is also usb and they come in a 4x20 line display although the 1 used was a 2x16 line!
the display can basically show anything u want it to from the local news to ure cats name but mainly i use mine for displaying information on the interior components/drive space/temperature monitoring/winamp/news etc,i will soon be taking out my 2x16 from my sk41g to replace it with a 4x20 and finnish it off with a custom faceplate!

[quarryman]

very nice! I love the L.C.D. Have a few questions.

Will this fit into the SB61G2? What I mean is, since the specs show a 5.25" slot type where do you hide the keypad, how do you even use it?

I'd like to get one for my Shuttle but only have the 3.5" bay free - i need a CD-ROM! How is this done without modding the faceplate?

Thanks

[Russ]

thx mic, i have mine all set up right, just need to perfect the hole for my slot dvd, but its a tricky 1 as im hopefully changeing to a laptop slot dvd drive, too add more room for a "project"

[micovwar]

hi again

quarryman these lcd,s will fit into any current day shuttle and even some of the upcoming new 1,s to a degree (it just depends how far u wanna go with the modifying aspect ofit) the lcd,s i use dont have a keypad on them they use software to control onscreen functions etc (although the keypad is useful for adjusting fan speeds etc i realy dont see the point init when uve got software like speedfan which can do this with ease) ile hunt out my old guide i wrote a few months back and post it for u if u want the details of how its done!

russ i have a couple of other designs if u would like them which maybe better siuted for ure lappy dvd rom project,if ude like i could sort them out for u and send in mail again,lemme know bud

thnx guys

[micovwar]

hi again fellas



anyway i done some searching on sudhian where i originally posted the "how to" of the lcd mod so here goes:

a small guide:

its fairly simple actually all u need is a dremmel/sandpaper/stanley blade/patience and *the balls to do it* ,basically its a case of taking off ure shuttle faceplate and marking out the width of the lcd display pcb board on ure metal panel plate (note: the measurements need to be pretty spot on to accomodate for the clearance between the lcd,s pcb board and ure cd rom/dvd,,i have a gap of roughly 4mm between mine)!!

once uve done this its simply a case of cutting the excess of either side of the original floppy cutout and a little underneath *only on the interior metal plate*(note: it also helps if u keep tryin ure lcd as u progress to see how well it fits into the cut,the aim is to get the cut almost the perfect size of the pcb so that the metal plate almost grips ure pcb by itself when u fit it) once this is done ule need to make some little arms from the scraps uve cut out and bolt them to the pcb using those small household nuts n bolts (b&q stocks them) then u bolt the arms to the actual plate (u may have to use nuts as spacers to accomodated for distance between the actual faceplate and lcd)!!

note: Depending on which lcd u use ule also find that ure drive cage will have to be permanently moved back about half an inch becouse of the pins and usb plug etc on the back of the display,u may also have to cut a little bit out of the harddrive cage so the drives can be bought flush with the faceplate again (the drive cage will act as a support behind the lcd)

now when its bolted into place u need to try ure interior plastic backing plate to see wot it looks like etc (u wont be able to put the backing plate or face plate on at this time as the lcd still sticks out quite a bit and fitting is obstructed by the plastic lip on the floppybay) once uve got an idea of it u need to mark the width of the *lcd screen only* onto that plastic lip thats stopping u fitting the backing plate (note: make sure the measurements are central to the width of the floppy on the backing plate),u will find the display is actualy quite abit smaller than the width of the original floppy size but the bottom of the display doesnt fit into the lip,so where uve measured u need to cut some of that plastic lip away (note: i found using the dremmel and cutting wheel very awkward for this cut,,it was actually alot easier and quicker to use a stanley knife and shave strips of the cut away)!!

and basically keep trying it till the fit gets better and eventually (after alot of time and patience cutting and sanding) u should be able to get ure backing plate back onto the front of the shuttle,,dont worry if the cut doesnt look that neat on the backing plate as ule be covering this with ure shuttle faceplate (note: if u have an sn41g2 like me u need not worry as its alluminium and u cant see through it,but if u have a g1 style front which is see through u may want to consider making a custom design picture for behind it covering any imperfections ont the backing plate) then once this is done basically fit ure faceplate and hey presto uve done it!!

now u need to think of a way to cover the lcd (not the whole lcd display,,just around it) i found using something simple like the original floppy bezel or any other old bezel u have lying around works fine,,its simply a case of measuring the width and hieght of the visible display and cut it out of your bezel (note: depending on how particular u are,this is the most painstaking part realy, having to sand and smooth till all the lines of the cut are litterally perfect,,im a bit of a perfectionist so it took a while) then after all that just find a way of sticking it to the display and thats it ure done!

ps: if the display looks slightly wonky or lopsided when its fitted,ule just have to mess about with it till it looks straight,,in total it took me about 6-7 hours to do this but was well worth it at the end ofit all,,and the best bit was the fact that my floppy bay actually serves a real purpose now instead of looking at a blanc floppybay or worse still a prehistoric floppy drive,i have a fully functional lcd information display capable of displaying anything i want *well within reason*

hope u find this useful & good luck

[Russ]

hey mate, yea if you dont mind send em, and i'll have a butchers

[micovwar]

u got mail m8

[quarryman]

Hey,

The mx221 on coolercases seems to have no keypad in the picture but all the links to reviews show it with a keypad. I'd assume coolercases is more accurate?

thanks for the step by step. Is there anywhere with pictures of what you're describing? Are you cutting away the inside of the shuttle? If so does this mean the slot will be unusable again as a floopy drive or hard disk bay? That's a bit of a sacrifice.

lastly i think you descibe shearing off the edges of the LCD border to make it flush with the PCB is this correct? When this is done is the result not fairly close to a 3.5" slot?

thanks
q

[micovwar]

hi gain

there are 2 models in the mx series,those with and those without keypads and im not exactly shure how those with the keypads will fit as ive never done a mod with that 1 (although im pretty certain it wont be much different from the keyless version) ,u could also try http://www.matrixorbital.com/ for info on all available mx models!
i didnt take any pictures when i done these mods,although i will soon be replacing my faceplate on my sk41g and ile take pictures of that 1 when the face is removed to give people an idea of what i mean/what to cut etc (u need to take the plastic backing and original faceplate off,,and only cut the interior metal plate) once the cuttings been done if u so wished u could still use the bay as a floppybay or hardrive bay but why ude want to do this after all that work fitting a nice lcd there is beyond me,and bear in mind that 2 hardives can still be used with the lcd inplace,u just have to move the second 1 back a little to compens8 for the usb plug etc!
you cant in any way modify the lcd or cut its pcb board (if u tried ude be crazy,and ude almost certainly end up throwing 80 squids down the drain) all the modifications that are required have to be done to the shuttles chassy plate and a little 1 on the drive cage aswell depending on how far back u want ure drives,when the mod is done yes i do suppose its pretty similar size etc to a 3.5" bay (just a hellova lot nicer imho) the actual visible lcd itself is only a tad smaller that the width of a normal drive however its the pcb that is bigger,this is why u need to cut away some of the metal chassy plate behind ure faceplates!

[quarryman]

ok got ya. and I hadn't thought of that - puuting in the second hard drive but moving it back a bit.

The reason I'm asking for the extra description is i'm still waiting for my Shuttle so i ahve no idea what it looks like behind the faceplate. I'll search the forums and see if anyone has pictures of doing a faceplate mod.

Thanks for all the help there. I'm looking for something to fill the 3.5" slot (i'm getting a Shuttle SB61G2 20th Ani and won't need the card reader) and probably won't need a floppy drive.

[micovwar]

np quarryman,good luck&have fun

[Lambbuster]

very nice

[micovwar]

hi again
heres a couple of pics of my new sk41g plate:





thnx

[Lord Kordir]

That is superb! Do ya reckon the company that made that could do one for a standard sized case like a CM 210?