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MurphysLaww
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2007
- Messages
- 182
I know this has probably already been done several times, but here is my shot at converting a Cable TV Set top box into a Windows home server
I'm not going to be able to get an optical Drive in there, so I'll be installing the OS from an optical drive connected remotely and then remove it.
Started with an old Shuttle XpC that I could have used, but it's a little taller than I'd like, so I thunk... Why not the old Set top box I had laying around from an old cable company?
Pulled the STB stuff out and, wow, there really isn't much room in there. it's only about 60mm high. I'm still searching for a 1U server CPU fan for an AMD 462 Socket. Found a couple, but it's still going to be tight. As it is I'm going to have to mount the power supply to the outside rear.
Once I started tearing up the Shuttle, I realized how really nice and well engineered the XPC's are. The major computer manufacturers could learn a lot about engineering from those guys. The solutions they have made for saving space are pretty ingenious. That and even 4 years later, the box is still in awesome shiny aluminum shape.
had to cut the side of the Set top box out for the I/O connections, need to revisit that with the dremel later.
Cut the Hard drive mounting bracket up from the shuttle and figured out positioning of it. Eventually it will have a 40GB OS drive and a 1 TB storage drive, and after that, probably just two 1 TB drives.
The way I initially wanted to situate it wouldn't work, laid down a thin, neoprene-like mat that comes in between the screen and keyboard on gateway laptops. It should protect from shorting along with the plastic standoffs I used.
I'll mount the PS to the back plate, there are screw holes already ready for it. It should be solid, if not especially aesthetically pleasing
So this is where I'm at now. I'll add the front USB/1394/optical SPIDF panel from the Shuttle case, to the right side of the case eventually.
I've just removed most of the components from the breadboard that all the button components from the front panel press to. I'll be mounting the On and reset buttons to two of those, and then depending on what type of LCD that I can find to fit in there, possible a few buttons from the LCD for functionality. I'll mask the tinted translucent plastic and repaint the black plastic to get rid of most of the original button labels. I'll probably only track a few temps and fan speeds on the front LCD, unless there is more advanced reporting available in Win Home server. When it's done it ought to look pretty spiffy.
I'm not going to be able to get an optical Drive in there, so I'll be installing the OS from an optical drive connected remotely and then remove it.
Started with an old Shuttle XpC that I could have used, but it's a little taller than I'd like, so I thunk... Why not the old Set top box I had laying around from an old cable company?
Pulled the STB stuff out and, wow, there really isn't much room in there. it's only about 60mm high. I'm still searching for a 1U server CPU fan for an AMD 462 Socket. Found a couple, but it's still going to be tight. As it is I'm going to have to mount the power supply to the outside rear.
Once I started tearing up the Shuttle, I realized how really nice and well engineered the XPC's are. The major computer manufacturers could learn a lot about engineering from those guys. The solutions they have made for saving space are pretty ingenious. That and even 4 years later, the box is still in awesome shiny aluminum shape.
had to cut the side of the Set top box out for the I/O connections, need to revisit that with the dremel later.
Cut the Hard drive mounting bracket up from the shuttle and figured out positioning of it. Eventually it will have a 40GB OS drive and a 1 TB storage drive, and after that, probably just two 1 TB drives.
The way I initially wanted to situate it wouldn't work, laid down a thin, neoprene-like mat that comes in between the screen and keyboard on gateway laptops. It should protect from shorting along with the plastic standoffs I used.
I'll mount the PS to the back plate, there are screw holes already ready for it. It should be solid, if not especially aesthetically pleasing
So this is where I'm at now. I'll add the front USB/1394/optical SPIDF panel from the Shuttle case, to the right side of the case eventually.
I've just removed most of the components from the breadboard that all the button components from the front panel press to. I'll be mounting the On and reset buttons to two of those, and then depending on what type of LCD that I can find to fit in there, possible a few buttons from the LCD for functionality. I'll mask the tinted translucent plastic and repaint the black plastic to get rid of most of the original button labels. I'll probably only track a few temps and fan speeds on the front LCD, unless there is more advanced reporting available in Win Home server. When it's done it ought to look pretty spiffy.
