Panel Mod For Mac

Jul 17, 2016 - Welcome to this little guide showing you how to modify your Mac Pro to feature a transparent side panel. The inner layout of the Mac Pro is.

• Panel Mod For Mac 1.12
• Panel Mod For Aeon Nox Redux
• Panel Mod For Mac Download

I guess the best way to start off this thread is by saying (I'M A NOOB) that this build isn't exactly new, but it's taken me a while to post anything related to it. And also in a lot of ways, it's still not done. I don't think a build is ever really done (a bit like project cars), but I digress. After lurking round here, looking at build threads, and day dreaming of one day owning that illusive and freakishly huge computer known as the chess-grater Mac Pro, I one day decided to jump in feet first to building my first computer. But not any computer, OH NO. It had to be a Mac Pro case mod. I wanted something unique in the end, and I'd say this certainly was.

Whether that's good or not, well. To be fair, in the end the build was a lot easier than I initially anticipated. So if any would-be modders see this, um, go for it! Now, I set myself with a VERY tight budget (ie. My job didn't pay much, and I need money for school). I wanted the most bang for my buck and something that would be pretty nice (at least on the outside) when I was finished. So to start off with, I began perusing through several old computers I had lying around.

My initial plan was to use some old firewire and USB front ports I had sitting around gathering dust on some old PC's and repurposing those to use on the Hack Pro. Alas, this isn't what happened in the end (which to be fair was probably for the best). Though I did borrow something in the end. A Dynex PSU, rated at 400W or 450W or something. I pulled this from an old work computer from a local Vet. Plus I wanted to use it since it still worked just fine and all the cables were nice and braided.

Plus plus, the best kind of PSU is free. (don't crucify me) Alas, it also set a power limit, but more on that later. The case itself I got from ebay not much later for a pretty decent price ($40 for the case, $30 shipping). However, bang it and dang it, one of the feet get bent in transit.

But using my kludge skills (some clamps, pieces of 2x4s, and patience) I was able to bend it back into place somewhat. The case itself still had the front panel board, disc drive, main power cable harness, mSATA drive cable, and the PSU fan. However, I basically threw all this stuff away, since it's bits worth more or less nothing, and I didn't wanna go through the hassle of trying to repurpose any of it. Step one, figure out how to take apart all this rubbish.

More or less, it was actually pretty easy to figure out on my own. Except for that upper tray. It didn't make sense how to take it apart then, and it still doesn't really make sense now. From what I get, the left contact is the Postive Terminal for the LED, middle is Negative AND Ground for the LED and Switch, and right is the Positive for the Switch. I'd say I did pretty good for this miniature soldering.

I also wrapped some heatshrink insulation around the ends to prevent them from contacting and doing anything funky. The front panel itself was some cheap thing from China, but it looked pretty cool and works perfectly. However, my placement might've been a bit off. I cut out my square but sitting the metal panel guide thingy (or whatever it's supposed to be called) on the original standoffs.

In hindsight, I should've used the motherboard standoffs as supports since they're slightly shorter and it would've looked more OEM up front. Oops, and oh well. After ripping them out, I used to original standoffs to mount my motherboard.I figured the height difference was negligible at best (it's only a 1mm or 2mm difference) and secured them in place with some JB weld.

At this point, I was getting pretty darn excited! The build was almost there! For wifi and bluetooth I used a BROADCOM 9433m1 or whatever it's called from a 2013 MacBook Pro, and a PCIe adapter I picked up from eBay for about 15 dollars.

Panel Mod For Mac 1.12

Worked perfectly with OS X out of the box. Works with no problems with Windows as well! (searching through Bootcamp downloads for the drivers is a bit of a pain though) After putting all the bits together, picking some SATA cables from my parts PC's, buttoning up the hatches, and cable management be damned, this poorly computer was taking shape! I did this all for about five hundred-ish dollars in total, which may not be the cheapest or the fastest, but it certainly was fun. I probably went though about 7 million Dremel cutting discs though.

So there's that. Now, the million dollar question. What about OS X??? (I still call it OS X, sue me) I've had mixed success with this to be honest. Funny, the computer trouble accomplishing the very tasked it was designed for! From what I've perused through on this site, the motherboard should be supported pretty darn well minus some audio funkiness.

OS X Sierra was fairly easy to get running on this machine, was perfectly stable and all, but audio took me forever to figure out. It never really got fixed until I at last got a proper dedicated GPU for the machine (a GTX 1050 ti) and the relevant Nvidia Web Drivers. Recently, I've been trying and trying and trying to get High Sierra to work. Heck, I can't even get the bloody Installer to boot up. I've tried unplugging the GPU, various boot flags (safe mode and the like), ACPI = off, updating Clover, BIOS settings, and have probably several days of troubleshooting at this point, but nothing seems to work. I keep getting stopped at the same error message (which at this point seems to be something to do with ACPI doing something dumb). My Sierra install is broken now because of updating Clover, which oh well, oh boy, that's my fault.

OS X on this machine isn't and has never been my main machine, it's really only a test bed. I use Windows on it more, since OS X on it has been best described as 'challenged'.

Windows itself works pretty flawlessly. Fast, pretty great for gaming, and just a fun machine to use overall. Plus I have my other Macs that I use as my Main Main machines.

Windows I just use for games. Hopefully, one day I can have this truly be what I wanted it to be. A Mac Pro on a diet.

And a budget. Even though this solid block of lead is still stupidly heavy. For now though it'll keep on running as my gaming machine under Windows (btw I have windows running on a separate drive)and I'll keep working on trying to boot up that install, and then use this as my main machine for running Final Cut and Adobe CC. I salute you ultimate Kludge.

Bit rough around the edges. But still bloody cool. HARDWARE -Mac Pro 1,1 2 Ghz Model donor computer - Gigabyte H110M-A mATX board - Intel Core i5 6550 Quad Core 2.8 Ghz - 16 GB DDR4 RAM - 1 TB WD HDD (running Windows 10) / 80 GB HDD (was running 10.12.5 Sierra, now only some random version of Clover) - Dual Layer DVD Drive - Oem 2013 Macbook Pro Wifi and Bluetooth Module (Broadcom BCM9433CSAX I believe) with PCIe adapter - Front panel USB 3.0 with audio - Apple Full Size USB Keyboard w/ Apple Wired Mighty Mouse. UPDATE - I managed to get Sierra running with no problems using High Sierra Multibeast. Everything works, except for the fact that Clover keeps creating new boot entries every time I shut down the computer. This is problem with the BIOS perhaps? I'll maybe try updating it at some point in the future, but for now I don't wanna really work on it until I have some more patience.

That's all for now. I'll try updating to High Sierra with the new version of Unibeast when I have the time. Thanks for reading! Click to expand.Thanks so much mate! The upper shelf is one of life's great mysteries I think. If I recall, getting it out require undoing every single screw you can see on the shelf.

There's a million of them on the bottom of the shelf. And on top if the shelf there's two or three screws that connect it to the metal fan shroud thing that would rest between the disc drive and the PSU fan. There's also two screws on the front of the shelf by the disc drive openings if I recall. To get it out, I did end up taking out the locking arm.

Theres a small C clip that connects it to the lever on the back of the case (don't lose it!), and once you pop it out you should be able to remove the lever on the back which is like step 37 or something. Then there's two or three weird looking flat screw type things on the bottom length of the arm that connects it to the chassis. Once those are out then you have to pop out the actual locking clips (the flat grey things that move with the arm and keep the side of the case from falling out). They're held in place with little metal springs that are fairly easy to remove with a small screwdriver. I hope that all made sense. I'm not the best at explaining these things.

Panel Mod For Aeon Nox Redux

I really appreciate you giving me some insight.this top shelf is so frustrating! Thank you for even responding, this was very helpful. I still haven't been able to complete this, to remove the screws under the CD rom thing I have to remove the cd rom bracket which.another moment where I quietly regret not buying an actual case. It's getting to the point where I am contemplating ripping this stuff out as violently as possible.

Panel Mod For Mac Download

I've had this case for 3 years. It was a factory direct replacement case from Apple, clean and untouched. So it breaks my heart that that so much cutting and modding is needed at all unless you stick with a mini atx board. I honestly do not believe I could get the locking arm thing back in it's socket with that tiny 'c' clip that I can't figure out how to remove without completely destroying it.but what you said is giving me some hope. Thanks for the tips, pro move. Hindsight is 20/20 and if i could do it again I'd just get a G5 case which are so much easier its almost unfair.

Thanks so much mate! The upper shelf is one of life's great mysteries I think. If I recall, getting it out require undoing every single screw you can see on the shelf. There's a million of them on the bottom of the shelf. And on top if the shelf there's two or three screws that connect it to the metal fan shroud thing that would rest between the disc drive and the PSU fan.

There's also two screws on the front of the shelf by the disc drive openings if I recall. To get it out, I did end up taking out the locking arm. Theres a small C clip that connects it to the lever on the back of the case (don't lose it!), and once you pop it out you should be able to remove the lever on the back which is like step 37 or something.

Then there's two or three weird looking flat screw type things on the bottom length of the arm that connects it to the chassis. Once those are out then you have to pop out the actual locking clips (the flat grey things that move with the arm and keep the side of the case from falling out).

They're held in place with little metal springs that are fairly easy to remove with a small screwdriver. I hope that all made sense. I'm not the best at explaining these things.

I really appreciate you giving me some insight.this top shelf is so frustrating! Thank you for even responding, this was very helpful. I still haven't been able to complete this, to remove the screws under the CD rom thing I have to remove the cd rom bracket which.another moment where I quietly regret not buying an actual case. It's getting to the point where I am contemplating ripping this stuff out as violently as possible. I've had this case for 3 years. It was a factory direct replacement case from Apple, clean and untouched. So it breaks my heart that that so much cutting and modding is needed at all unless you stick with a mini atx board.

I honestly do not believe I could get the locking arm thing back in it's socket with that tiny 'c' clip that I can't figure out how to remove without completely destroying it.but what you said is giving me some hope. Thanks for the tips, pro move. Hindsight is 20/20 and if i could do it again I'd just get a G5 case which are so much easier its almost unfair. Click to expand.Sorry to hear about all those troubles. Man, and trying this with a like new case? That's pretty darn brave. I honestly give quite a few props to you for trying.

And yes, in hindsight I suppose that using a G5 case might've been easier, though I already had an idea of how I wanted this case to turn out and I just couldn't think of a way to do it on the G5 case and keep it looking clean (the twin fan outlets and odd layout of ports which have to be cut out anyways). Plus you have the front panel cables and other things fairly readily available for a G5 front panel and the interior stuff, which I admit are good plus's. Then again, I'm a glutton for doing things the way I want to, and the Mac Pro case appeals to me more somehow.

Just keep at it man! You only really fail if you stop trying.