It is a snow day here, so I have some time to kill. I thought I'd take another look at the G5 switch, USB, and Firewire ports. So I did a little research. Here is what I found for the Mac Pro. I am still looking for the G5, but I don't think things will have changed much. The G5 has only one firewire, and one USB port.


This diagram I find confusing as it listed as USB but shows a Sata Cable. ???

Thanks for the tip. I looked into that. I have a Linksys Business class switch--model SR2016. I've used this for about 2 years not without a hiccup. However, it does not support link aggregation. And I'd still need another machine with dual ethernet to make the connection work.

Also, I don't want to give up a PCIe slot for a 10GB network as none of my other machines support this without add on cards.

It is a good idea for some people. I have a few other ideas for speeding things up on my workstation--SSD drives when the price drops. I can get by with GB Ethernet for the next five or more years. It works OK for me. I will only need to move smaller files across the network--that goes fast. Bigger tasks like copying full TB drives takes 4-5 hours using eSata connections. That is slow, but I can live with it.

I discovered the screws securing the drive cages are too long and prevent installing drives on each side. I can use the middle slide drawers until I find shorter fine threaded screws.

I test fit an old 250 GB Sata drive to see how things worked and it is not being recognized. I tried it in another enclosure--same problem. It is an older drive in FAT32--it needs to be formated for a Mac and I've found I often need to install these in the main drive bay to format them--it is a hassle. I'll save that for tomorrow.

Also the fans in the drive cages are too loud. My 90mm fan in the back is nice and quiet though. In any event, I might slide in a variable resistor in series with the fan supply to cut the fan noise down, and/or else I can try some other brands. I am now thinking about remote switch for the fans or perhaps variable resistors for . A row of switches would fit nice along the top of the cage behind the front door. Also, I think a bit of sheet metal to control the airflow would be a good idea.

This is how the two machines look together. Pretty eh? I love the soft lighting. I can get more accurate colors using a flash, but I like the tint of natural light...

I decided to pull PISCES II apart to neaten it up some. There were a couple of things I did not like. For starters, there was too much wire. I decided I wanted to slide the drive cage back slightly to the position I chose originally. The amount of wire caused me to move it forward, and I could have lived with it, but it just bugged the crap out of me that there was such a mess on the inside. To make space I also wanted to run the wire straight up instead of out the front where it got real cramped.

So I pulled out the power supply, and cut a hole in the top. I moved the plastic edging that protected against chafe from the front to the top. There was still some exposed edges, and even after filing the sharp and rough edges down, I added a bit of tape to extra protection. I cut off several bundles of extra cabling I did not I need. I left one 12V bundle for fans and lighting--I'm not sure how or if I will use this, but it tucked away behind the drive cage for now.


Next I pulled the wire through.


And started shortening up some of the wires.



I found one connector that plugged right into the G5 case wiring. I kept that and shortened but will have to verify the correct voltage wires connect properly--I suspect they do not. If not I can always use the connector and I have plenty of like wire that was unused I can splice in any way I like. I'll worry about that later. I tucked it behind the drive cages also.

To move the drive cages back I had to cut off a bit more sheet metal off the drive cage assembly.


Next I found some shorter screws that don't interfer with the outside drive tray. I was lucky to find some of these short screws. They fit perfect and saved me a trip out. I suppose I could have used washers for spacers, but that is a sloppy look I wanted to avoid. Here is a view of the drive cage showing the screws, and a cut out I made with the dremel tool to make them fit a little better. There was a flange there that got in the way [bottom of photo], so I cut it off some months back.


More clean up work. I put some cover plates on the backplane. I want to find better screws, or if possible the thumbscrew setup my Mac Pro has. It is not terribly important to use the thumbscrews as I don't anticipate changing this much. Putting the cover plates on is important to keep the air flowing from front to back.


Here is a cool shot of the interior of the drive cage. The LED's are mounted on the printed circuit board in the back and the light is channeled forward using plexiglass tubes--smart idea-save on wiring! You can see the two types of power connectors. This worked out fine for me. I had a bundle of three of the old style power connector--one bundle for each drive cage--both shortened to get rid of the excess wire. And I had two bundles with the Sata power connector--each with three connectors. I nipped off the last Sata power connector on each of these two bundles and shortened them as well.


Here is the fan assembly from the drive cage--these are the noisy ones. Notice there are three wires. Is there a thermostat in there somewhere? I'm not exactly sure of the purpose of the third wire. I do know it is too loud. I left the top cage power disconnected for now. These drive cage fans are 80mm size. I'm glad I checked because I was about to order a couple of 75mm fans. I variable resistor in series out to give me the control I want. My next phase will be to add a few temperature sensors and build a fan control panel--this will serve double duty as a fan shroud, to ensure fresh air is pulled through the drive cages. I'm also going to pick up some metal HVAC tape to seal off any small holes later on.

I installed a new On/Off switch. I was worried someone might bump into the black switch I installed. I will use the later for something else, like a booster fan or lighting. Here is the new switch. Note the area above the drive cages. This is where the fan controls will go.


Before and after shots of the wiring clean up. Well worth the effort I think. I

Before Shot of Messy Wiring:


After Shot of Wiring--with bundles removed or shortened: [Note I forgot to install the other drive cage--Oops!]
Note I move the fan at the back to the lower position. This fan is quiet. I thought I'l buy one more for the top, and moving this will make the install of the extra easier when it comes in.
[img]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a170/Night_Sailor/MAC%20PRO/PiscesII020.jpg[/img]

Finally, here is a shot of my present drive configuration in the Finder Window.
I noticed that one of the two TB drives in my OWC Mercury Elite box is not visible in the Finder Window. It was working yesterday. I suspect a cable problem. I'm going to pull these drives out and install them in the bottom drive cage, which will fill it up.
[img]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a170/Night_Sailor/MAC%20PRO/Finder.png[/img]

Next up is to order some fans and a floppy power connector from NewEgg. And I need to find some pots to control the various fan's.

So what did you want a G5 Case for? Are you the fellow who built a gaming system in one?

I thought I'd take another look at the front panel power switch, Firewire and USB connectors.

One issue I found was the door would not shut with the shield on unless I moved the drive cage over 1/4". I may do that as it is a simple change. Here is what the back side of the door looks like with the assembly in place.

With Shield


I tried removing the shield and reinstalling. This fits fine. I could probably fab my own shield with metal tape and plastic sheeting for insulation. But before I go to all that effort I need to find the circuit diagram for the connector.

Without Shield



Here is a look at the connector. It would be easy to cut off the other end and wire it into whatever i want--first I need to know what all these pins are for. I'll need to research that. So far I'm not finding any luck. I was hoping it would match the Mac Pro connector, but the are differences unfortunately. If anyone has the pin-outs for this connector, please let me know. Mostly I'm interested in the power connector. I might use the USB connector.
Connector



While the shielding is grounded, the components within seem to be isolated from ground.

Another option is to discard the whole assembly and use the three wire from the on/off switch. It would be easy enough to determine the function of the three wires and hook this up to a relay or electronic control switch. That eliminated the issue of finding the pin-out for the whole assembly.

I ordered a USB 2.0 hub without a PCI connector to add a few more USB ports. I didn't think I'd need more USB ports, but I find that I want some more in the back out of the way. I'm thinking about doing a mod to this part I bought at NewEgg for $8, and making a cutout in the back of the case--where the USB ports are normally anyway. One long slot joining the existing cutout, and a couple of screws might work. I have a port multiplier bracket already fabricated that I want to put in a card slot, which means I need to keep that area open. I still need to decide where to put the fourth port multiplier connector--if I ever get that many drives.




So you see this board works perfect for me. I don't want a PCI connector. I want an external cable feeding it. I also want to eliminate power cords, and this just needs a floppy connector. I can cut one off an old power supply, or even an existing PC which doesn't have a floppy drive, and add it to my 750W power supply. Nice and neat. I add only one USB cable between the machines--and both will be in back out of the way. While I lose one port on Pisces, I gain four--a net gain of three.

I want to de-soldering one of the USB connectors and wire it to the port on the front. It would be simple to connect it to the existing cable or solder it straight to the front connector. I can try to ohm out the front panel cable and see what wires do what. I don't really need another USB port on the front, but making it work would be a nice touch, and an interesting challenge.

It would go to the middle connector here.


What prompted me to want more USB ports? A USB scanner.

This is the one I'm thinking about buying. This Canon scanner is USB bus powered, and it will fit on top of the two machines and combined with Pisces I and II, it make the top line of the Pi symbol--how appropriate!

Scanner Dimensions: (WxDxH): 9.9 x 14.4 x 1.6 in; Weight: 3.6 lbs.

It is a little short to bridge the top of both Pisces I and II, I can live with that. I'm glad it fits in between the gaps of the handles--12". It won't be in the way up there, it is light if I ever have to move it, and with and only one wire going to it, it will be neater.



What else?

I'm still trying to find a G5 optical drive mount. Does anyone have one? I can't seem to get any information about parts from Apple. They are such a PITA about small parts. I think I may go into business reselling small parts for people like me, who like to tinker.

And I'm still looking for a really thin piano hinge for the door. I found one but it is too thick for my door. I did find a nice magnetic latch which operates by pushing in to release--so no need for a handle on the front. I can cut off the two tie wraps I'm using for a handle. The magnet is weak and far enough away from the drives not to be a problem. I can hot glue the steel plate to the door. All this happens when I get my fan control and temperature panel completed--coming up!