Sony CD Player Conversion

[sloppyc]

Okay, I've been planning this one for a little while. Hopefully I get to actually build the thing soon.

What I'm planning to do is to take apart an old Sony 5-disc CD changer and turning it into a HTPC. It's the perfect size, and I think it'll be more fun than getting a typical HTPC case. That and it's a whole lot cheaper. I picked this thing up at a yard sale for $5.

Here's the CD Player:
http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-CD_player.jpg


The odd shape of the base means that I'll probably have to mount the motherboard on the top with the CPU fan blowing down. I may cut a hole for an 80mm fan underneath. Maybe give it a nice blue "ground effect" glow if I use an LED fan.

Here's the thing disassembled:
http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-disassembled.jpg

The CD-tray bezel slid off nicely:
http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-front_panel_and_bezel.jpg

The case, put back together:
http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-empty_case.jpg


...so now it's sitting under my bed waiting for the parts (http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber=8871246)* to arrive:


Hopefully the order can be made soon. I'll also have to pick up a 3" hole saw for the 80mm fans (one in the back for the PSU, one or two to go in the bottom of the case) and some other tools for drilling/cutting the metal. This type of metalworking will be new to me, but I don't think I'm doing anything overly complex. Just a couple screw holes to mount the motherboard, and a rectangular hole for the I/O panel on the motherboard.

These (below) should be enough, coupled with a hacksaw and a file, no?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31NGNKXccfL._SL110_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/Titanium-Steel-Step-Drill-Tool/dp/B000HD5P5A/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1OIR9Y721Y2F&colid=1BAHX6F2ONYAR)




*01/08/2008 EDIT: I've since updated that HTPC parts list, but I think I'll probably just end up using my current PC for this mod. I've got a miniATX MSI board that should fit. It's decent enough for all but HD media (I may upgrade something to enable it to play 720p).

[AMD Killa]

Sorry mate, but I cant see the pictures. I always love conversions. Will keep checking this thread.

[nevermind1534]

I can see them.

[sloppyc]

Sorry mate, but I cant see the pictures. I always love conversions. Will keep checking this thread.

Hmm, that's strange, it should be fine.

[nevermind1534]

I can't see them now, either.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

But I can...

Perhaps it's his site?

[nevermind1534]

I see them again.

[Luke122]

I see them also.

Excellent project! I love this idea, and will be watching for sure. :)

[AMD Killa]

I can see them again too. Not sure what happened there. Looking good.

[sloppyc]

You know, I did change the filenames of the images on the site. Maybe it was a caching issue. If everyone that can't see hits Ctrl+F5 (or whatever the Mac equivalent is), all should be well. I won't do that again.


Thanks AMD & Luke. Hopefully it will turn out okay and be a worthy addition to this site. I'm wondering how difficult it would be to give the buttons on the façade a purpose beyond aesthetics?

[DonT-FeaR]

well... buttons for on and off should be easy...

and additoion to this site is welcome provided it is a mod and the person is nice...


u pass...

good work keep it up

[sloppyc]

Yeah, I'll definitely make use of the power button.

Thanks :)

[sloppyc]

So I still haven't really gotten any work done, but I have got a pretty good plan, I think.

1. I think I'm going to paint it silver.
2. The buttons at the bottom will be removed and replaced with a blue bar of light.
3. The open/close button (top-right) will be removed and replaced with a USB port.
4. I would like to use the buttons left of the open/close button (play, pause, stop, volume, skip) to control my media player(s) if possible.
5. I will be scrapping the original parts listed (see edit in first post) and using the system listed in "My System" instead (minus a couple hard drives).

Only problems:
1. I haven't figured out what I'll do for a display yet.
2. I don't know where I'll put the DVD-RW yet, either.
3. I've never worked with metal like this before, so I'm a little unsure as to how the back panel will turn out, or what tools are necessary (I'm looking at a hole saw for the 80mm fans, including the PSU, and some bits for drilling holes to mount the motherboard, fans, etc.adding screws)

[Jabyaeye]

One of the problems I see, is if you use your current working system as parts for this project, how are you going to give us updates? :D

[Twigsoffury]

Sorry mate, but I cant see the pictures. I always love conversions. Will keep checking this thread.

lol im totally cack blocking your signature.

Says error on it.

[sloppyc]

One of the problems I see, is if you use your current working system as parts for this project, how are you going to give us updates? :D

Haha, I probably won't go full-steam on this one until I build my replacement system. :P
I figure there's a fair bit of work I can do in the meantime anyway.

[sloppyc]

So... I haven't abandoned this, but time and resources are limited.

Here's my progress as of tonight:

Took apart the PSU (it was an old one with a noisy fan):
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4180.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4180.jpg)

Cut off the back to use as a stencil:
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4182.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4182.jpg)

Cut some holes in the rear panel:
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4179.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4179.jpg)

I made a bracket to mount the PSU box:
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4181.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4181.jpg)

Mockup at the back:
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4175.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4175.jpg)

A memory card reader may be more useful (or at least it'll be easier to fit in there) than a CD-/DVD-ROM:
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4177.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4177.jpg)

Not much room inside:
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4178.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4178.jpg)


Break time!
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4176.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4176.jpg)
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4183.jpg (http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/925PekA/4183.jpg)

I've also taken a Microsoft Sidewinder Strategic Commander apart. I'm going to try to use the mappable buttons on it as multimedia keys on the front panel (to try to keep the CD player look). I know I can do this in Windows XP and Vista, Ubuntu Linux should be doable as well (the thing is detected, I just haven't worked out how to map the buttons yet). Any suggestions on that are welcome; I still haven't figured out how I'll route the USB cable or how I'll make the original play, pause, stop, volume, etc. buttons connect to the Strat. Comm's circuit board (it'll be basic: some kind of rod that will move when the button's depressed to hit one of those digital buttons on the PCB).

[billygoat333]

tapatio FTW! love that ****. its the poor man's chulula. haha.


good work on the back for the PSU looks great!

[DonT-FeaR]

yeah man nice start.. the psu slot is great

[madd0ct0r]

I'll be watching this button work closely.

[sloppyc]

Hopefully I don't disappoint - I'm really not sure how I'm going to make it work :think:



tapatio FTW! love that ****. its the poor man's chulula. haha.

Oh that's good stuff too. :up:


good work on the back for the PSU looks great!

yeah man nice start.. the psu slot is great
Thanks! I've done it all freehand with a Black & Decker rotary tool (just learning how to use this thing), so it's not perfect, but I think it's passable, at least. I still have some sanding, painting and polishing to do anyway, ha.

[DonT-FeaR]

teah i know its not done but its a solid start. :) good work

[deadevil13]

WOW i love this mod, ive always thought about doing such a thing. Could you give the dimensions of the actual cd player case, just so i can actually picture in my head the real size of the item. And then i maybe able to help you with inserting/choosing parts

[sloppyc]

WOW i love this mod, ive always thought about doing such a thing. Could you give the dimensions of the actual cd player case, just so i can actually picture in my head the real size of the item. And then i maybe able to help you with inserting/choosing parts

Not including the plastic face, it's about 16.5 x 13.5", so you'll need a micro ATX motherboard, and a smaller server-sized PSU would be a good choice. I'm only using a standard ATX PSU because I'm trying to salvage old parts, use what I have before buying anything new.

[a.cowen]

This is great. I would love to do this sort of thing with one of these:

http://i15.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/36/92/8320_1.JPG

Or the complete opposite:

http://i8.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/47/dc/c26a_1.JPG

[sloppyc]

Haha! Those would be awesome.

I'm gonna take a bit of time to figure out this button situation. Does anyone know if there exists an adapter to plug a regular USB device to the USB header pins on a motherboard?

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

15 mins with a soldering iron? which costs like $20... and lets you do faaaar more than buying a single device would do?
:)

[sloppyc]

Yeah, that's true. I'm just paranoid I'll ruin the thing. I have a soldering iron, I'll just have to learn which wires go where so I don't fry anything. I guess that's no big deal.

[sloppyc]

Parts arrived:
http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-guts.jpg

Those are now currently the guts my main rig, but I do plan to replace it a little at a time as spare cash makes itself available so I can throw it into the CD player case.

Also, anyone know where to get some sort of filler (Bondo?) to fill in the button holes that won't be used as well as smooth over any rough cuts, etc? If it could be used with the metal parts as well as plastic, that'd be a bonus.

[nevermind1534]

You can get Bondo or other body filler at most any hardware store or auto supply store. I got mine at ACO hardware.

[sloppyc]

Hmm. Didn't see it on Home Depot's website, but there is a Pep Boys auto parts store nearby. Maybe I'll check them out.

I still haven't worked out how I'm going to manage these buttons yet. The circuit board is an irregular shape, so the buttons on it don't line up with the spaces on the player's facade.

[msmrx57]

Walmart has Bondo filler in the auto department.

[sloppyc]

Cool thanks. I'll check them out shortly.

[sloppyc]

It's been too hot to work outside lately, but today I had a chance to do something.

I think I've worked out how I'll manage the buttons:

http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-keyboard.jpg
Found an old keyboard at a yard sale. The top row of letter keys (QWERT...) wouldn't capitalize when Shift was held down, so it was pretty useless. The volume and mute buttons work perfect in Windows and Linux though, so I figured I'd take it apart:

http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-keyboard_3.jpg

http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-keyboard_2.jpg

The coloured dots are where I traced the wires in the membranes around to see where the buttons I wanted connected to the PCB.

http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-tracing_membranes.jpg

Once done (it can be a little tedious and your eyes will cross more than once), mark what goes where on the PCB:

http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-lining_up_pcb.jpg
http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-pcb_marked.jpg

I'll probably use the three buttons highlighted below as they have a nice bevel around them:

http://chrispenner.info/imgs/project_photos/project_3-facade.jpg


So I figure all I need to do now is 1) find a way to make the buttons complete the appropriate cicuits when depressed (can't be too hard, right?) and 2) find a way to connect this PS/2 keyboard to a USB header on the motherboard without having a bunch of clunky adapters in the case.

Any suggestions for #2?

[gntlkilr]

Nice work so far. I love the idea of using the backplane of the CD player for everything. Alas I can't do that in my stereo stealth mod. The Back panel was littered with inputs. LOL. Not enough metal to support anything. So I'm ripping a desktop cage out and shoving it in there. heh. Good job so far man!

[sloppyc]

Thanks :)

Oh that's a great idea, especially if you've got the room. I definitely don't, so no add-in cards for me.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

This is looking great! Thank you for incapacitating and repurposing an example of the worst bundled keyboard I've ever used, by the way. Hopefully it shall never again harass an innocent typist.

(I reeeeeally want to see these buttons work, because if you can get it going, I have faith that I can, too, and I have a horrible media 'board somewhere...

[sloppyc]

Haha. It looked like it might be nice; I like the feel of laptop keys... but yeah. It was a dud. Hopefully I know what I'm doing here.

[sloppyc]

So... quick question. How important is the metal box that houses the PSU? Getting rid of it won't allow for electomagnetic interference in the case will it? Just asking as this thing's going to be pretty cramped, and if I can save space here, it'll help considerably.

[Snowman]

I had some friends that did a mod in a vcr and took the psu out but then were left with no ground leaving a potentially fatal situation. One of my friends also happened to brush up against the ground while the psu had a charge but was not powered up and got thrown against the wall 2 feet behind him, so yes you can do this but be careful. Or better yet get a slimline psu.

[sloppyc]

I can ground the PSU to the case, no? That is basically how they're grounded anyway, right?

I haven't abandoned this, but it was dormant for a while. Weather's shaping up to be nice for the next few months though, so hopefully I get it done by the summer.

A few changes:
I'm probably just going to make it into a standard-def Linux HTPC for the kids' room. I've got an old Athlon XP 2000+ on a micro ATX board and a low-profile Geforce MX 4000 with an S-Video-out that should fit. The motherboard/cpu/RAM combo mentioned earlier is going into another setup.

Also, I'm probably going to abandon the button ideas as it's already cramped, and the keyboard I hacked up isn't working out as well as I'd like.

I'll add some photos soon. Apparently my ImageJar account expired so all the old photos are gone, but I can re-add later, as they're hosted on my own site now.

[nevermind1534]

You should be able to ground the psu to the case.

[sloppyc]

Sweet, I figured. That will simplify things. The big metal box is ugly, anyway.

[sloppyc]

I'm the slowest modder ever.

So... plans have changed. My router crapped out and I need a new one. Since I have an old Athlon XP 2000+ system, I figure it'll make an excellent router. So no SD HTPC for the kids (their room has no room anymore anyway).

That also means I'm going to wuss out and not use the buttons on the front for anything. I'll probably just put them back as non-functioning decorations rather than sand everything down and fill it all up again.

Not much to look at, cuts need a little cleaning up, but everything fits like a glove, at least.

http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/1309f9IK/5039.jpg
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/1309f9IK/5040.jpg
http://www.imagejar.com/site/pic/1309f9IK/5041.jpg