Unusual SFF socket 478 mobo (no psu used + low profile)

FLECOM said:
im guessing there are no more of these :(

damn and i have a 17" LVDS lcd just sitting here in the bubble wrap :mad:

anyone got an extra one they wanna sell plz plz? ;)
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If you're still looking, I don't really have time for another project like this right now. Would you be interested for $20 shipped via priority mail?
 
As far as where voltages are, very easy to find via a multimeter and a few minutes (just need to attach a small wire to the leads of the VOM). Once you find those, it should be easy to figure out it subcribes to the IDE-50 pinout or another. If it turns out just voltage lines up at least you won't fry anything. If connector is 'backwards', all you have to do is flip each parir of wires, like in the old IOpener mod.

I found another possibility for how the socket is wired. Compact Flash to HDD adapter designed for SBC systems. $40 appearently if you order from Advancetech. It might mate with the motherboard if you use pins to convert from one sex to another.
 
tom61 said:
As far as where voltages are, very easy to find via a multimeter and a few minutes (just need to attach a small wire to the leads of the VOM). Once you find those, it should be easy to figure out it subcribes to the IDE-50 pinout or another. If it turns out just voltage lines up at least you won't fry anything. If connector is 'backwards', all you have to do is flip each parir of wires, like in the old IOpener mod.

I found another possibility for how the socket is wired. Compact Flash to HDD adapter designed for SBC systems. $40 appearently if you order from Advancetech. It might mate with the motherboard if you use pins to convert from one sex to another.
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I plan on tracing out the pinout for the "microIDE" (my name for it) connector this weekend - I have found suppliers for the 2 headers and the circuit boards - to order the headers, I need to order enough for at least 18 adapters.

If we order headers and boards for 18 adapters, they will come to about $20 each which would include re-shipping them via first class mail. Without the headers, we are talking about $14 each.

I need 4 or 5 of these, and would much rather spend $75 than $200 - which is mostly why I am willing to design and source the whole thing.

So, so far it looks like I have people interested in 6 more units - we need 7 more bites for it to be a go - who's biting? - I can only order in lots of 9 adapters.

I did mention that everyone would receive a board and 2 headers and has to solder the headers in, right?

$20? got another LCD? :)
 
As an alternative to the CF slot/ide port adaptor, the BIOS on this thing will support USB device boot from ZIP, HDD, and CDROM.

Plus it has an internal USB header.

This may be a good way to have more than two storage devices on this.

just a thought.
 
i want one ... but i'm not too keen on my soldering ability ... if I pay a little more would you wire it up for me?? ;) :D
 
MATTRESS said:
i want one ... but i'm not too keen on my soldering ability ... if I pay a little more would you wire it up for me?? ;) :D
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I guess that will be do-able. Kinda becomes a profit thing then, I don't wanna get in trouble with the moderators :)
 
strae said:
Monitor type? Any problems?
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My dell trinitron did not like it, but the Viewsonic a-90 had no problmes. All I really have left to do is dig up some thermal epoxy and attach a heatsink to the chipset. As an intresting side note, if you de-solder the power connector, the pins are labled "g"and "p".. Positive and ground. So for those of you planning to solder on new connctors it should be a no-brainer.
 
Could u use a PDA screen on this? I wonder if you could change the res down that small...

Reason why I'm asking is because mine just quit powering on ... and so I dismantled it to see if I could find the problem ... didn't see anything, but the ribbon that connects the screen to the boards look like it has the same connector on the back of this motherboard. that would be interesting!
 
The power supply I ordered from Shop Portables just arrived. Very nice, compact, solid "wart on a string" unit. It's meant for a "Sager/Clevo/Prostar" laptop, item # was A0200-581/120, at $49.90 plus $7 for shipping. Very simple solution to the power issue.

I'm thinking of using a PSU out of my dead iDeq SFF box for the drives, so there won't be any extra load on the on-board regulators. Alternatively, I have a PSU from an old HP Vectra (AT, not ATX, with a genuine power switch). That has mounting slots on the top for a couple of 3.5" drives, too. Hmmm...

Might as well use the iDeq's squirrel-cage fan to exhaust heat from the case, too.

Now, to go order a new CPU (and disassemble one of the dead laptops to scavenge the LCD). :)
 
Amazing!

On Linux Hacker there's a guy that hacked an athlon CPU onto this P4 motherboard!

(AND THEY SAID IT COULDNT BE DONE...) :D
 
strae said:
Amazing!

On Linux Hacker there's a guy that hacked an athlon CPU onto this P4 motherboard!

(AND THEY SAID IT COULDNT BE DONE...) :D
Click to expand...
how on earth......................(?!) reading as we speak



valve1138 said:
As an alternative to the CF slot/ide port adaptor, the BIOS on this thing will support USB device boot from ZIP, HDD, and CDROM.

Plus it has an internal USB header.

This may be a good way to have more than two storage devices on this.

just a thought.
Click to expand...
good point, ide storage enclosures are real inexpensive nowadays, it can even be painted to match...or tucked away
 
Morely said:
The power supply I ordered from Shop Portables just arrived. Very nice, compact, solid "wart on a string" unit. It's meant for a "Sager/Clevo/Prostar" laptop, item # was A0200-581/120, at $49.90 plus $7 for shipping. Very simple solution to the power issue.

I'm thinking of using a PSU out of my dead iDeq SFF box for the drives, so there won't be any extra load on the on-board regulators. Alternatively, I have a PSU from an old HP Vectra (AT, not ATX, with a genuine power switch). That has mounting slots on the top for a couple of 3.5" drives, too. Hmmm...

Might as well use the iDeq's squirrel-cage fan to exhaust heat from the case, too.

Now, to go order a new CPU (and disassemble one of the dead laptops to scavenge the LCD). :)
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You can use an ATX P/S too, all you need to do is connect the green wire to any of the black wires - as long as there is a 5v and 12v load (put one of your fans on it) you are going to be fine. Rig it to some type of on/off switch or connect it permanently if you happen to have a PS with a power rocker on it.

Keep in mind, there is probably no power shortage if you arent running an LCD and inverter, which should be eating at least 25 watts if not more for larger panels.

That said - those of us actually USING a panel might want to investigate "supplimental" power provisions, such as a slaved desktop supply for the drives and fans
 
strae said:
That said - those of us actually USING a panel might want to investigate "supplimental" power provisions, such as a slaved desktop supply for the drives and fans
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Might want to check with ice czar in the psu forums before hooking up your ide drives to a seperate psu. If i'm not mistaken i believe he's mentioned timing issues upon startup or shut down...and his ide drives frying because of it.
 
SJetski71 said:
Might want to check with ice czar in the psu forums before hooking up your ide drives to a seperate psu. If i'm not mistaken i believe he's mentioned timing issues upon startup or shut down...and his ide drives frying because of it.
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my scsi drives in my server are run off a separate power supply than the baord and never a hint of a problem.
 
can anyone get a closeup of the LCD connector?

ty :)
 
MicroIDE pinout follow-up

I have made several attempts to make sense out of the cdrom connector - the following are my findings.

1: There is no 12v in the connector (which isn't really a surprise)

2: There is 5v at pin 6 - probably the main power feed.

3: there is at least 1 other 5v connection - which is probably vcc from the IDE connector.

4: If the IDE follows a mostly standard pinout in a sub-section of the connector - it does NOT seem to end at pin 50.

5: Trying to trace out the IDE pinout based upon the locations of ground on a standard IDE does NOT work. There are a few grounds, but not as many as we would expect if 40 of our pins exactly match an IDE cable.

6: Tracing those little tiny contacts is a pain.

I have a header on order - when it comes, at least I will have something better to tap into than my current system of either trying to go to the surface mounted pins or sticking a piece of wire in the header - for one, the SM tracing makes it nearly impossible to be sure what pin number I am on and as for the wire - I have a board with a piece of wire broken off in one header socket now :mad:

Before I finalize my adapter drawing, I am going to connect a ribbon cable to the header and get a drive to come up.

One warning to others. Usually, you cant do much damage mixing pins on the 40-pin ide - but I think it's potentially still dangerous - there is at least one 5v line in there. I recall years ago that there were quantum HDD's where, if you reversed the IDE cable a chip on the drives controller would release the critical smoke required to maintain functionality. I happen to have one such 20-gig paperweight on my bookshelf right now. I have not been able to reload the smoke.
 
SJetski71 said:
how on earth......................(?!) reading as we speak
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Before it gets out of hand - I THINK he means an athlon socket and heatsink

But wouldnt THAT be the mother of all hacks??? We should try it anyway :)


SJetski71 said:
good point, ide storage enclosures are real inexpensive nowadays, it can even be painted to match...or tucked away
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you are still talking about $25 or more - probably more like $40 and then you need another power supply (included, of course - but still sloppy)

the adapter I am talking about will give us 2 drives on the internal secondary ide channel for under $20 (not including IDE cables and power y-cables) with full UDMA133 support - in the event we want to hook up 4 IDE drives or something.

Besides - I am obsessed with getting that connector working. Give me a little time :cool:
 
hrmm, that is not a regular LVDS connector :(

anyone have any datasheets on this thing? pinouts anything?

also does it have any PCMCIA slots?
 
strae said:
the adapter I am talking about will give us 2 drives on the internal secondary ide channel for under $20 (not including IDE cables and power y-cables) with full UDMA133 support - in the event we want to hook up 4 IDE drives or something.

Besides - I am obsessed with getting that connector working. Give me a little time :cool:
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Strae, i'd go for it but i'm neck deep in other projects (and trouble with the lady) atm. I'm right in the middle of building an LL front projector and buying an almost new Infocus 5700 (buying and reselling at tremendous profit $$$).
 
SJetski71 said:
how on earth......................(?!) reading as we speak



good point, ide storage enclosures are real inexpensive nowadays, it can even be painted to match...or tucked away
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or you can rip the board(s) out and mount them in the case. :)

Plus I've seen those single drive USB to IDE adaptors, on 'geeks actually, for $20. The kinf where its the cable with some connectors on it....
 
The S-Video out on this is pretty good, plus the driver allows for full size adjustment and positioning of the image, plus the usual color and brightness/contrast controls
 
strae said:
Before it gets out of hand - I THINK he means an athlon socket and heatsink
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Ive got a swiftech mx-462 on mine. Thats a socekt A heatsink. I just drilled new mounting holes in it.
 
Frosty_axe said:
Ive got a swiftech mx-462 on mine. Thats a socekt A heatsink. I just drilled new mounting holes in it.
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Looking at it I wouldnt have thought there was room to drill new holes - post pics if you can please?

You could have preserved your warranty with my chopped-down socket-370 adapter ;)

As for drilling - I imagine most p4 heatsinks overlap the holes we have - running screws through the mounting flange should do the trick too - I'm not sure where we could get springs to properly make this work.

Geeks doesnt seem to have anything for less than like $22 right now in usb-ide adapters, and those are for 2.5" drives - if you add shipping it will be more.

My adapters will be less than $20 delivered to each of us (reshipped by me via 1st class)

Here's another note on that micro-ide connector. the pin spacing on standard ribbon cable is 0.05" - exactly the same as our header - I am ordering some solid-core ribbon cable. Once I strip the ends, we should have a perfect pin header. At minimum, I can use this to trace the pinout and test the concept.

I might buy that instant-heat soldering iron I keep seeing on TV just to get that stripper tool they give you for free - -it would be perfect for stripping the pins out of that ribbon cable.
 
strae said:
Looking at it I wouldnt have thought there was room to drill new holes - post pics if you can please?

You could have preserved your warranty with my chopped-down socket-370 adapter ;)

As for drilling - I imagine most p4 heatsinks overlap the holes we have - running screws through the mounting flange should do the trick too - I'm not sure where we could get springs to properly make this work.
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My parents have my good digital camera, i'll see if I can dig something up here on campus in the next few days.

With the mx-462 two of the holes already matched so all I had to do was drill 2 more, and do a little trimming so it would fit. There was more than enough room and it easially keeps the processor cool wiht a low speed 80mm fan.

I know for a fact that suitable springs/bolts/nuts (both steel and poly) can be found in my local hardware store, so modifying most HSF's that are big enough should not be a problem.

As cool as the socket adaptor is, there is something nice about haveing 4 bolts directally hold the hsf on. Its once less point of failure which will be espically important for any of us who want to use these in a mobile application.
 
Frosty_axe said:
As cool as the socket adaptor is, there is something nice about haveing 4 bolts directally hold the hsf on. Its once less point of failure which will be espically important for any of us who want to use these in a mobile application.
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Point taken.

Let's all agree then that it's sort of a GOOD thing that we cant just use a regular P4 clip and HSF? I always thought those proof that some engineer has way too much time on his hands (although he would surely say the same of us)

I plan on putting at least one of these in a vehicle myself. I know the 4 screws feel good, but they felt pretty good on the clip too, and that clipped on HSF feels pretty solid.

I guess we've come a long way from pieces of wire and nylon fast-ties.

BTW, that guy on linux hacker posted that he meant he modified an athlon HSF, not the actual processor :rolleyes:
 
has anyone been able to get more information on the pinouts of the LVDS connector? :confused:
 
valve1138 said:
I just got mine. This thing is freakin wierd to look at! lol

Looks straightforward if you have the proper power supply.

My LCD panel from my old dead Acer Treavelmate 732 doesn't look like it would work. It has two connectors that don't match up to anything on this board.

The keyboard looks good though!

edit: just ordered one of those AC adaptors from Ebay, too....

edit2: got my LC dscreen apart, it's a rathe rnice 15" Hitachi. I have the inverter for it, so I guess I just need two cables, LCD and inverter to the motherbaord. Does anyone know of a good source for these?
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if the laptop is that old chances are the display isnt LVDS... you may want to find the datasheet for that display before you waste your time with cables and such
 
FLECOM said:
if the laptop is that old chances are the display isnt LVDS... you may want to find the datasheet for that display before you waste your time with cables and such
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I'm pretty sure it is LVDS, it's a currently shipping Hitachi panel, 15" Active matrix TFT blah blah blah.

I just cant find the cables for it. Plus the keyboard doesn't work anyway so I probably won't bother.
 
strae said:
My adapters will be less than $20 delivered to each of us (reshipped by me via 1st class)
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Since I don't need wireless (and I have a USB wireless adapter anyhow, if I change my mind), I wondered if a mini-PCI IDE card might exist. Found one almost immediately. How does this look to you all?

Note that it adds not one but two IDE channels. Probably not suitable for the boot drive, but I'm thinking a DVD-ROM on one channel and the DVD-RW on the other.

Note: I just sent an inquiry to Axiomtek to find out where to get the board in single quantities.
 
Morely said:
Since I don't need wireless (and I have a USB wireless adapter anyhow, if I change my mind), I wondered if a mini-PCI IDE card might exist. Found one almost immediately. How does this look to you all?

Note that it adds not one but two IDE channels. Probably not suitable for the boot drive, but I'm thinking a DVD-ROM on one channel and the DVD-RW on the other.

Note: I just sent an inquiry to Axiomtek to find out where to get the board in single quantities.
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Neat - see if they give samples :)


on that note: I managed to get some 50-pin 0.05" pitch headers. they fit nicely. Now the work begins. I will map out what I can of the connector and try to make sense of it.

-me
 
Morely said:
Since I don't need wireless (and I have a USB wireless adapter anyhow, if I change my mind), I wondered if a mini-PCI IDE card might exist. Found one almost immediately. How does this look to you all?

Note that it adds not one but two IDE channels. Probably not suitable for the boot drive, but I'm thinking a DVD-ROM on one channel and the DVD-RW on the other.

Note: I just sent an inquiry to Axiomtek to find out where to get the board in single quantities.
Click to expand...


They also sell a Mini-PCI gigabit module :cool:
 
valve1138 said:
They also sell a Mini-PCI gigabit module :cool:
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Yes. That was tempting, since I'm running a gigabit LAN segment on my video processing systems. However, the ability to have 800 gigs of data on the onboard IDE, with two optical drives on seperate ATA/133 channels, is far more tempting. What's the rough compression for a PVR, something like 1 gig/hour now? Even giving up a 30 gig partition for the OS leaves me with more than a month of continuous video *before* removing the commercials...
:D
 
Morely said:
Yes. That was tempting, since I'm running a gigabit LAN segment on my video processing systems. However, the ability to have 800 gigs of data on the onboard IDE, with two optical drives on seperate ATA/133 channels, is far more tempting. What's the rough compression for a PVR, something like 1 gig/hour now? Even giving up a 30 gig partition for the OS leaves me with more than a month of continuous video *before* removing the commercials...
:D
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You could use the firewire or USB 2.0 ports for storage and still have GigE ;)
 
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