My project in pictures

As you know I have been converting an old CD player into a modern PC.





My first task was to remove the CD player electronics. I started by removing the transport and DAC PCB ensuring that the output stage capacitors were discharged. I also removed the transformer which was fairly difficult due to lots of insulation.



I then removed the transport, being a multichanger this was time consuming

The next stage was to cut in half a drive tray from another case, this was achieved using a dremel.



An hour worth of cutting later



Now for the tricky bit, converting a CD player chasis into an ATX one. I found an old Micro ATX motherboard which didn't work and used it as the template.

I then drilled wholes for the stand offs and cut away a space for the ATX I/O blanking plate and a whole for the power lead. This was time consuming and difficult.



The next stage was to screw everything together and pray it fits. The power supply is held together by industrial strength belcro pads.



You can see the the IO cut out at the rear, I have yet to fit the blanking plate.



Finally after major modifications to the chasis everything screws back together perfectly.



I still have to fit the drive bay, although sadly there will be no room for an opitcal drive, however this is not a major issue as the PC will have a WIFI card.

I also plan to fit a PCI graphics card with TV out.

The system currently boots to the BIOS which is all you can expect considering it has no hard drive as yet :

I also need to sort out the front panel, I need to wire up switches and LEDs etc.

 

who not just add these ot the original thread? keep it all together

 

I should have done that, I have posted this on a much busier forum and this is just a copy and paste job of it.

 

A Laptop CD-ROM drive with cable adapter will do the trick for an optical drive....probably be able to pick one up cheap on ebay

 

It still may not fit though because of the height of the memory and CPU heatsink. An optical drive is not essential although it would be nice to have. I already have a laptop drive I could use but it only a CD-ROM

 

The project is virtualy complete now, I still have a couple of cosmetic issues to sort out but this will involve a lot of soldering.

Anyway some more pics.

This is the top view which you can see the drive bay installed complete with drives.



This is the side view showing it from another angle. The yellow thing near the PSU is a resistor which slows down the CPU fan, I have also fitted a new fan with ball bearings. (also shown on earlier pictures).



This view shows the insulation round the drive bay to ensure the motherboard cannot come into contact with it. If it does then it is good bye PC.



I have done extensive testing with a multimeter to ensure nothing is shorting.

Finally you can see the unit working with Windows XP Pro SP2



Note the wireless USB stick and wireless keyboard reciever/transmitter.

Correct specs as follows:-

Intel PIII 733 CPU
IBM Micro ATX motherboard (although made by IBM this is a fully standard board).
10GB IBM Desktar - May replace with an 80GB unit if I have the need.
256MB RAM PC100 RAM (1 x 133, 1 x 100).
24X Laptop CD-ROM with an adaptor to work with the standard IDE port.
802.11b wireless network
Cordless keyboard and mouse.

The final stage will need a bit of money to complete, I need a scan convertor so I can use it with a TV and I need a blue tube to place over the CD-ROM, this will give a lovely blue strip power on indicator.