xBook Worklog (Now Powered via PicoPSU!!)

[hackmodford]

You're right. Anyone have any idea why the fan is stuck on full blast?

[Harlequin]

The rear case fan of the xbox is down volted by default. If you have grounded it to anywhere other than the original grounding point it runs full blast. Alternatively your xbox's BIOS could have been flashed with run fan at 100%... I'd keep it that way for the short term until you have taken temp tests for a bit...

[hackmodford]

I know I shorted something with the DVD drive. (Like I was poking around while the thing was on and touched something and "voooom") The fan starts going full blast whenever there's any kind of power at all.

[Harlequin]

sounds to me like the fan connection header has been grounded and is forcing the fan to 100%. I would go into your bios settings and see if lowering fan speed actually works or if she just runs full tilt all the time now. If it does then you have a few choices.

1 ignore it
2 trace and find out where the ground is
3 get a quieter fan, you're modding it anyways
4 do both 2 and 3

I'd be a little worried that the accidental grounding on your fan could lead somewhere else.. I'd hate to be in your boots right now trying to trace everything and multimeter everything to find ground...

[hackmodford]

It's full tilt. Even when the xbox is off. I really don't want to go tracing stuff on the board. But hey! Maybe a 100% fan isn't that bad? I mean I am modding it. The only thing that annoys me is that it's on when the xbox is off Can I just ground the fan somewhere else?

[hackmodford]

Some news that makes me happy. I was just checking out Brian's CNCSnesP and noticed he had a company called pololu cut out his parts. I think this company can work with me. They accept SVG files. They can cut 1/4" acrylic for sure (which is great for sidewalls) And all the other plastic I need. So I'm going to go through them Or atleast try to.

Also does anyone know if I can rewire my fan or something?

[hackmodford]

Okay... so I pulled the case out of my closet.. cough cough... and ascertain what needs to be cut... While I have it setting on the table I noticed there's one sidewall piece missing for the bulge coming out of the lid to contain the LCD guts. My dad looks at it and says why don't you use this extra piece (I have no idea why there's an extra piece) I say... "I don't know, good idea!"

So I basically cut it two times and walla! I have the missing pieces.

So I just need another half inch layer of sidewalls for the lcd casing.

(Looks like a good Zelda Dungeon )

I just emailed Pololu about getting a quote to cut only those sidewall pieces. I'm going to have the plates done locally... I think...

[hackmodford]

Yesterday I got a quote from Pololu. They want $69 to cut the sidewalls (that when stacked will add to half an inch)

So I removed the screw holes from my drawing and told them they could move the parts around to utilize the plastic better...
We'll see if I can get a better price out of them

[Harlequin]

I hate how so many of these places charge an arm and a leg for 15 minutes of their time and $10 worth of supplies... I understand they have a business to run and all, but I got some clear acrylic to replace a PC window once, $20 for the sheet. If I wanted it cut to size and screw holes drilled, $40.

Really? Really? 8 screw holes and trimming/rounding out 4 corners is justification for $20 worth of work? oh and the single sheet that I know they ordered from Tiawan or China at a net cost of about $2.00 is now worth $20?

If I was asking them to C and C something that would be different...

[hackmodford]

I'm not sure if it's 15 minutes because they are using a laser to cut acrylic which takes many passes...

[bassmasta]

The problem is China takes all the big jobs so the shops have to charge more for smaller jobs to make money...

[hackmodford]

They said that removing the holes wouldn't make that much of a difference. But removing the holes and having them rearrange it to save on plastic saved me about $5 LOL

But they said to save money would be to use a line sharing method.
So basically I put the pieces back to back so that the machine would only have to cut that side once for 2 pieces (kinda like killing two birds with one stone) They said I might get a little nick where the curve is but that's fine. That's why God invented Bondo right?

We'll see if that makes a difference...

[humakabula1]

tis' a epic project!

i wanted to buy it when you were selling it but my mum said i should build one...
never got around to it.

what paint were you using before?

[hackmodford]

Good for your Mum! and Shame on you

I was just using a spray can of flat black. Nothing special... (though there's tons of bondo underneath)

Okay so I got a reply. $49 dollars now... (getting better...)

So now I asked them if I could lower the price by using a different material that's 1/4" thick. you never know worth a try right?

Edit: just for reference here's the parts that cost $49

http://www.pololu.com/sfile/0J203756/37 ... review.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Edit 2: That was quick they already replied and said no. But were asking me what price I thought... so I gave them all the other plastic pieces I need cut, told them what were rough drafts and what pieces were final, and then asked if it would be cheaper to just have this all cut at once.

Maybe they'll reply right away

[hackmodford]

I've just organized my photobucket account so some images may be broken links. If there's anything you would like to see I can relink it for you

Better idea... just go here
http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn76 ... eck/xBook/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;