Possible media server

And/or download box.

So here's the thing. My dad was telling me about some scrap computers they had at work and said he could bring some home if I had any use for them. I figured they would all be dead/too old to be of any use, but it turns out one of the three he brought home was working and didn't have too bad of specs. He got me a Compaq workstation running XP Pro and two more computers that were missing parts. Here's the specs of the Compaq though.

P4 2.4GHz
512MB RAM
40GB Seagate HDD (probably to be replaced by a larger drive)

.. with some other proprietary hardware I haven't identified. As you can see, not a bad box for media storage. With this thing using ~60W average, it's not too bad on power either, making it the ideal way to manage large downloads. Ubuntu Server will be installed. Anyways, on to the pics.

Those of you who looked closely at the last pic might have noticed something in the back of the case. Yes, it has a free PCI slot.

And a nice copper heatsink.

One cool thing too (though not too useful for me) is the CD drive. This lever:

ejects the CD drive.

So, there are the pics. I'm in the idea stage still, but right now I'm kinda leaning towards a steampunk theme or an overly complicated sci-fi computer look (think the side panel from Dave's TIP3000). I'm open to other suggestions too. I'll be heading to a hardware store today to look at some ways to sleeve the wires and some metallic paint and after that I'll hopefully be drawing some ideas. Comments?

The best part is now you have an extra product key :)

*cough*can you get more of thoes?*cough*

Hehe, I have three of those computers sitting in my basement :D. I'm going to be using Ubuntu though (LAMP config). Anyways, I picked up some brass and copper metallic spray paint at the store, found some awesome (and cheap-ish) copper plumbing to add to the look, and some decent "sleeving". The only problem is it's metal, which is conductive. Obviously I don't want to short anything in here, so how should I go about using it? I know it was used in Orac3, but this is an extremely crammed case and the sleeving would definitely have to touch the mobo and some other parts.

Well, after I finish up some ideas and sketches, I'll start up a worklog. Since I'm waiting on parts for Shark I don't have much to do right now besides work, and I want to get this running ASAP.

you could clear coat it with some varnish or somthing like that.

With 3 of thoes babies, you could use them as digital receiver boxes for every tv in the house :)

I can hardly wait for the worklog!

the great thing about that optical drive coming out like that is you can swap it out for a laptop optical so easy.I really dig the case and cant wait to see what you got planned.

I've decided to scrap the steampunk/sci-fi ideas. It's an extremely small case and with everything being small and proprietary, I don't have enough room to work with to do it right.

Right now I'm contemplating doing an Ubuntu mod. Yes, I know, I'm a fanboy. What I'm thinking though is a window made to be the logo, but oversized so that it would "wrap" around the sides of the case too. I'd use clear plexi and color the specific segments with red, orange or yellow LEDs. Tan outside, darker brown inside, "Linux for Human Beings" somewhere on the case and I can Bondo/reshape the front bezel.

logo - http://www.ptysor.com/images/Ubuntu-...rnate-i386.jpg
window idea (Cannibal's Banzai mod) - http://thebestcasescenario.com/forum...ead.php?t=8077

I'll GIMP up some ideas soon.

:dead:

After 5 minutes and my short attention span, I got this.

Kinda gives you an idea of what I'm thinking. Thoughts? (other than you suck at GIMP)

I really like the ubuntu theme. You should definatly stick with that. What colour are you thinking of painting the case?

i would bondo in the HP logo so it isn't visable anymore, and the window wrapping around the side is a great idea, never seen that done before, would be a great move.

I would paint it black, and yea, I would bondo over the top HP logo , but keep the front one, it would be a nice addition.

As for the window wrapping, defyant is wrapping a window around his HP6 mod, you should check it out, might help you with any problems. You should definatly keep the window wrapping anyway, because it looks sweet! XD

Good luck with this.