----------- July 3, 2001 Done: Acrylic purchased, four panels attached: bottom, two sides and rear Motherboard standoffs installed on bottom panel Rear panel cutouts completed To do: Form mounting brackets for drives and power supply Integrate SNES and PSX controller ports Integrate Parallel port DB25 A/B switch Attach top and front panels. Add fan vent holes to rear panel near power supply Integrate Optical output from CD-ROM digital out Find Power/Reset switches and appropriate connectors for motherboard headers Problems: Top Panel is 3/8" too long Front panel layout unsure If front panel is permanently attached, motherboard will be difficult to (un)install ------------ July 4, 2001 Misc Thoughts: Delay PSX controller support? Add expansion bay in front panel for future upgrades, ie more controllers, optical out, other crap Done: Mounting brackets for drives and power supply shaped and attached to top panel Drilled fan vent holes in back panel To Do: Design front panel layout Design attachment mechanisms for front and top panels Wire up controller ports and switchbox Stuff to Buy: 1 - DB25 Switch box - any combination of male/female, whatever's cheap 1 - Male DB25 connector with *ribbon* cable, about 10+ inches long 4 - Playstation Controller ports ------------- July 5, 2001 Work's going slowly.. Still having trouble with front layout. Did test fit with all existing cables in place. Looks like it all fits in there pretty well. Prepared DPST switch for use with the power supply, since it didn't come with one. To Do: Solder AC connector thingy to that other thingy that plugs into PS Find some liquid electrical tape or equivalent to protect myself from electrocution on DPST switch Figure out the damn front layout. Figure out how to attach the front and top panels. i think that's it Update - 10:54pm Drew up the majority of the front panel layout. Integrated controller ports will be installed in a peripheral bay system. There will be two bays. One will be already occupied with the SNES ports, the other will be free for expansion, most likely with PSX pad ports. Need to leave room for the rotary switch from the switch box Still need to pick up a couple of momentary switches, small leds (with holders) from rat shack. Should I install a PC speaker? guess beep codes would be nice in case something goes wrong. ------------- July 6, 2001 I guess i'll start a new date entry since it's 1:06am. Used some RTV silicone sealant for the powersupply switch. That should work just as well as Liquid Electrical tape. It wasn't entirely neccesary since the terminals for the primary power socket are still exposed.. but ah well. Every little bit helps. I cut out a hole in the rear panel for the powersupply main switch. This solves the high pitched tone that emits from the PS even when powered off I resoldered the capacitor that sat in between the AC terminals, as well as the power switch. Now I can't remove the power connector or the switch from the rear panel without desoldering. So i hope i didn't forget anything On a whim I assembled everything I had and brought it all upstairs and hooked it up to the TV and booted her up. Had a little bit of a scare when it didn't detect the harddrive, but i reseated the cable (it was loose) and all was well. Got into windows and played with it for a little bit (moved the mouse around, went into display settings) and decided everything was functional Felt the rear exhaust fan but it seemed a bit weak. As it is right now it's sitting right up against the rear panel. I think I'll add a spacer I needed to add a sheet of dielectric material (a piece of paper) between the back of the video card and the HD since they're just about touching. In case you missed it, I posted the latest version of my AutoCAD drawing for anyone who gives a damn. It will be regularly updated. My friend said he might have his digital camera for me to use tomorrow (today i guess.. 1am) so if that happens, I'll update the main page. Things still to do: Get started on front panel. Build SNES controller port plate. Will be first "peripheral" for the EmuBox. figure out how i'm gonna attach the front and top panel to main body I think that's all.. oh and buy the power buttons and stuff for the front. I had to power up using a nail clipper and more rubber feet for the bottom and more acrylic screws for panel attachment, trying to come up with a securing method that uses less screws, i hate screws 5:15pm Bought momentary switches for softpower and reset. Also picked up some LED holders. Went back to TAP to get rubber feet, screws, and a big sheet of scrap acrylic for the controller slots. Updated the front panel design with the attachment holes and power/reset/LEDs 7:29pm Cut out all the openings in the front face panel, except for the mounting holes.. I gotta attach mounting brackets to the side panels before mounting holes go in ----------- July 7, 2001 12:41am well i got got all the pieces mounted up.. just need to get the SNES ports up.. but i need to find me a male dsub25 ribbon cable plug thing... I have some male db25 connectors but they're solder style. I guess i could wire it up with some ribbon cable by hand.. but that'd look pretty ghetto 4:15pm Cut out peripheral panels. Fitted one with SNES ports and left the other blank for future upgrades. The SNES ports have been epoxied in place. Will see if this holds up. Epoxy is still drying. Need to do the ghetto db25 ribbon cable next 4:45pm doh. keep forgetting about the cdrom drive tray piece. that will fit the opening in the front panel. It will be attached (semi-permanently) using clear silicone-based adhesive. ----------- July 8, 2001 3:45am SNES ports work like a charm. They'll have to be upgraded when i get psxports installed.. the wiring is quite messy right now but it works. Epoxy seems to work just fine to hold the SNES sockets in the acrylic panel. I need to label the ports to signify which is 1,2,3 and 4. Maybe I'll use Nintendo's method of dots. 1 dot for port 1, 2 dots for 2, and so on Glue is drying on the CD tray cover. The Power LED doesn't seem to lightup.. i think i may have swapped positive/negative leads. Don't wanna disturb her now since glue is drying Peeled off all the protective plastic from the acrylic. And i must say it looks pimpin' I think that's the end of this work log.. shit.. that silicone glue emits acetic acid while curing.. and i got some on my hands.. and i didn't wash em. and i rubbed my eye just now the PAIN!!!! ow. tears.. ow. *drip* ah well. at least it's not blood. thanks for reading this (if anywone did) ow.. -FIN- ok not fin.. just wanted to use this space to list some future plans for the EmuBox -Callus (Capcom arcade machine emulator) -MAME (emulates a buttload of arcade games) -Sega Genesis emu (don't know which one yet) -NES emu (don't know which one) -Gameboy/color/advance -REAL arcade controllers (sticks and buttons) Cousins' bringing some in from china (cheap there) Kickass! neogeo with real controls! w00t! oh and i took a stick of ram (128MB) from my main machine and donated it to the emu box.. that 32megs of ram was a joke really.