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  • #2219150

    Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

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    by boxfiddler ·

    First, here’s a pic: http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd185/juphol1/openbox.jpg

    I scrounged from two Antec boxes to rebuild a desktop. I bumped into what I thought (wrongly) was a non-issue. I thought the boxes were exactly alike internally. Ha. The floppy drive mount is slightly different in each box. The lower panel from one box has a bunch of loose indicator/on-off wires, so I couldn’t use it. The upper panel from the box whose lower panel I could use doesn’t fit this floppy configuration, so I’m stuck with this open front, which I don’t think is a good idea with me having cats and lots of dust from heating with wood.

    Any suggestions how to cover the open areas without looking like a ‘white trash’ solution? :0

    edit
    Thought I should add that I have several of the metal pieces that fit those open spot, but they have holes in them. Also, the left side of that box as you look at it is a ‘door’, so I’d prefer not to tape it…

All Answers

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    Replies
    • #2866404

      Clarifications

      by boxfiddler ·

      In reply to Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

      Clarifications

    • #2866400

      Is the floppy lamp lit?

      by michael jay ·

      In reply to Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

      I have seen that to indicate that the drive is bad or the signal cable is inverted, anyhoo, if you lose the floppy can you use the cover then?

      If you have a need for the floppy perhaps an external might work for you.

      • #2866398

        Yeah, the floppy works.

        by boxfiddler ·

        In reply to Is the floppy lamp lit?

        And I do have a use for it, experimental so to speak.

        Money’s real funny right now, so buying parts is SO out of the question.

        Thanks for taking a moment. 🙂

        • #2866396

          The other option if the

          by michael jay ·

          In reply to Yeah, the floppy works.

          top cover kinda fits, is the dremmel re-fab mode, dang it make it fit. LOL

          I have done that with varying degrees of satisfaction.

        • #2866387

          What would you use

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to The other option if the

          to shave plastic into a new shape?

        • #2866382

          Dremel

          by michael jay ·

          In reply to What would you use

          The tool of choice for any small shaping job, guess you do not have one, and if you do not well they are not exactly cheap.

          Also a good deal of experience is needed to reshape stuff, so if you go that way, find some similar stuff to cut up and get up to speed on just how easy it is to make a bad mistake reshaping stuff.

    • #2866363

      Chopper.

      by seanferd ·

      In reply to Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

      Can you whack each panel in half and then use the appropriate halves? Just make sure you cut them in the right spots.

      I would also recommend a Dremel or similar, even a RotoZip if you know someone (like a drywaller) with one. Just get the right bit.

      If you can cut them with straight cuts, even a hand grinder, or a hacksaw.

      Or you can go all ersatz (if it is your sort of thing) and use an old soldering iron or a hot knife – have some thick steel wool or something to wipe off the plastic.

      Maybe another picture showing how the other bit doesn’t quite fit?

      • #2866359

        I’ll see what I can do about another pic.

        by boxfiddler ·

        In reply to Chopper.

        I’ve got to tear into it to install a sound card tomorrow. The onboard sound isn’t working and I can’t figure out why. The heck with it. I’ve got a Creative card I can install.

        • #2866344

          What M’Board is this Davette?

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to I’ll see what I can do about another pic.

          Many had the ability to turn the On Board sound off in the BIOS make sure that it’s not killed there and if it’s a Realtech Sound Device you need to install the drivers before connecting to the Windows Update Servers.

          If you do not install the sound drivers before connecting tot he Windows Update Servers they will install but not work.

          Now that I’ve ruined your day I’m off to celebrate. I’ve had the week from Hell with a Dell from [b]HELL.[/b] Bloody thing tested OK but after attempting to do a Repair Install which destroyed the existing OS and leaving it running a Memory Test for over 3 hours I found that both RAM Modules where Shot. Apparently you should test every RAM Module for 12 hours just to be certain that there are no problems. This Horrible thing ran for 3 hours without a error and then produced over 3 million RAM Errors in the next 30 minutes just to make my day. 🙁

          Col

        • #2866303

          See my response

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to What M’Board is this Davette?

          to you, below for mobo model.

          I always install drivers before anything but the OS. I will check the BIOS, though. The manual doesn’t show any jumper settings.

        • #2866287

          It’s on in the BIOS.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to What M’Board is this Davette?

          🙁

        • #2866283

          Well Davette

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to It’s on in the BIOS.

          We return to the question of which M’Board is this?

          But if this helps if it has a Header for Front Panel Connectors on the Sound, things like Mic and Headphones some M’Boards need Jumpers on this Header Strip to allow the system to work. Either that or have the Front Panel connectors fitted.

          As I remember those Antec Cases they didn’t have jacks for the Mic and Headphones on the front of the case just a USB and possibly a Firewire Socket, so you may need to fit jumpers to the Header Strip. These should close the Mic and Speakers Pins. Just fit a jumper to the Mic Positive and Negative and the Left Speaker and Ground the same with the right Speaker to ground. 😉

          If the case that you are using has Front Panel Jacks make sure that they are correctly fitted. Some of those Antec Cases had individual Plugs for the Mic X2 and the Headphones X4 and others had 2 single plugs. If it’s one of the Single Plug Type Cases make sure that you have the right Plug on the Header Strip. You can not use the Creative Plug for a Realtech Audio and also if you have HD Audio you need the HD Audio Plug.

          If it has 6 or 8 individual plugs make sure that you fitted them to the right pins. 😉

          Col
          [i]Edited[/i] to confuse :p

        • #2866281

          We return…

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Well Davette

          Posted below, Col. *rolls eyes*

          http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-10879-0.html?forumID=101&threadID=338557&messageID=3388453

          edit
          You know, I don’t recall seeing any jumpers on the F_Audio panel. As either way I have to open ‘er up again, that’s the easiest to deal with. *slaps forehead*

        • #2866279

          Yep I’ve seen and responded to that. EOM

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to We return…

          :p

        • #2866176

          Bwahahahaaa!

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to I’ll see what I can do about another pic.

          I’ve got sound. Added jumpers to the F_Audio panel, and voila. Or is that Viola? Kewlness.

          Added USB ports while I was at it. Woohoo!

        • #2866151

          Well I hate to say it but

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to Bwahahahaaa!

          [b]I told you so.[/b] :^0

          Well actually i don’t hate to say it. :p

          Col

        • #2866149

          Things have been a wreck

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Well I hate to say it but

          around here since May. It’s a wonder I have any brains left, as they’ve been scattered for so long. I’m guessing I’ve missed a piece or two while cleaning up… 😉

        • #2866143

          Between

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to Things have been a wreck

          Having my brains scattered for me, and being responsible for doing it myself, I think I would rather have it done to me.

          That way, I at least get to point a finger away from myself.

          Silver lining.

        • #2866127

          Yep I’m in agreement

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to Between

          It’s much better having someone else mess up about.

          That way you get to blame others and don’t have to accept responsibility for what it is you’ve done. :^0

          Col

        • #2866126

          You and I

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to Between

          We are in agreement.

          She is a younger chick. What do you expect.

    • #2866358

      Also.

      by boxfiddler ·

      In reply to Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

      If I’m using a PCI video card that can also be used in an AGP slot, do I need to load the GART drivers if I’m running it from the PCI slot? (I did Google, but found no answer for that, only that GART should be installed for AGP cards.)

      • #2866355

        I would install it.

        by seanferd ·

        In reply to Also.

        It supports direct memory access for AGP and PCI cards.

        Without having to muck about researching based on multiple criteria would probably be easiest, and if it isn’t necessary, how much memory and storage would it use the driver (assuming it is loaded at all)?

        • #2866350

          It looks like I’m starting from scratch again

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to I would install it.

          in that case. Dunno what is up with this build, but this one is my nightmare build. *sighs*

          Not having installed it might explain my video issues. Nothing that crashes it, just funky little annoyances – black looks green, etc…

        • #2866306

          The color problem probably isn’t related.

          by seanferd ·

          In reply to It looks like I’m starting from scratch again

          The GART minidriver bit is sort of the equivalent of Direct Draw (Direct X) – for direct rendering from RAM.

        • #2866301

          I’m thinking

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to The color problem probably isn’t related.

          it may be the monitor. It’s been around awhile, and I haven’t been thrilled with it since I got it, though it did cheaply serve the need for a second monitor.

      • #2866289

        Could the color problem be due to

        by boxfiddler ·

        In reply to Also.

        using only one of these cards, as they’re SLI enabled and possibly meant to be used in pairs?

        • #2866278

          Davette you should be able to use one of these Video Cards

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to Could the color problem be due to

          Without needing 2 of them in a Crossfire configuration.

          What does the Manual say on this?

          I’m not 100% sure of this model but most can be used singly.

          Col

        • #2866277

          That’s what it says.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Davette you should be able to use one of these Video Cards

          Just wondered… Being but half a geek. :p

        • #2866275

          Well then would you like to explain

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to That’s what it says.

          Why that Dell From Hell drove me crazy last week? :^0

          I’m still at a loss why it did what it did but have settled on the explanation [i]That the nasty little Gremlin that lives inside it didn’t like me. [/i]

          Bloody thing is still trying to haunt me but to add insult to injury 3 systems worked when I first puled them out for the Wifes Daughter and refused to do anything when I fitted another HDD. I’ve got to look at those this week but I have to go out today so it can wait till Hell Freezes over as far as I’m concerned. 😀

          Col

    • #2866345

      Davette I can not let you do this.

      by oh smeg ·

      In reply to Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

      What in God’s name have you got yourself into here?

      Probably more importantly why do you not have the complete Front Cover for at least one of these cases?

      That Bottom cover shown in the picture should have a filter in it to stop air born crap getting sucked into the case. It’s a flat Plastic Filter with a fine mesh on it that goes between the case and the front Panel.

      As for the different Floppy Drive Opening in the case I would be looking at moving the Floppy into a space where it can be used ideally into one of the 5.25 Drive Slots with the aid a 3.5 to 5.25 Adapter.

      Antec made flat Plastic covers that you pulled as required to fit external drives and you just bung those into the unused External Drive Slots/Holes.

      The Metal Plates that Antec used where to allow the case to be a Full Faraday Cage/Shield to prevent RF entering the case and doing any damage so they quite rightly had holes in them as a proper Faraday Cage doesn’t require solid metal to stop any RF. 😉

      Also the Black Optical Drive is incorrectly fitted as it should be as far out as the Cream one. Just in case you didn’t know the Bottom Plastic Plate goes on First and really should have both Plastic Clips working to correctly locate it. You slide the Bottom bit up till it locks in. Then with the Top Plastic bit it swings on after you clip it in the Right Hand Side then just push the Left Hand side into place. I do seem to remember that the Floppy needs to be out quite a bit further than it currently is as well it should be level with the top Plastic Cover and these where a [b]tight fit.[/b] Just don’t forget to push in the Lock on the Top Plastic Cover to lock it into place as you push it on. On some of those Antec Cases you needed to push the Top Plastic Bit on sort of straight to get it over the Floppy Drive and then drop the Right Hand Side into place followed by the left hand side clip. Also it’s a good idea to take the side covers off before removing the Top Plastic Bit the Left Hand Side Cover should have a Lock and a Latch in it which you just pull up and swing out. The Right Hand Cover is located by 3 screws which could be Phillips or Thumb Screws like those used to hold the Floppy Tray in place depending on the model of the case.

      Also some of those cases allowed you to slightly move the Floppy Drive Tray slightly by leaving the 2 Thumb Screws slightly loose to allow the Top Plastic Bit to fit correctly. You had a bit of movement between the Floppy Tray and the main Case which allowed the Floppy Tray to move left and right. 😉

      Also while I wouldn’t recommend this, I have seen several people paint the entire case plastic and all with Lead Free Acrylic Paint from a Spray Can to overcome the different plastic colors that are so common now. Seems that they didn’t like the Black Plastic Front Panels of the Optical Drives in a cream case.

      Also for your Video card I’ve never heard of a PCI/AGP Video Card but you will need to install all of the drivers. The only ones I have ever used where PCI, AGP and then PCI Express all of which have different sockets and they can not be fitted tot he wrong socket.

      There however may be some low end Video Cards made which suit either PCI or AGP which are interchangeable but to date I’ve never heard of these things existing. However that could be because I don’t deal with Wholesalers who deal with that type of thing.

      If you need the Plastic Drive Covers drop me a line I have heaps of the things here and I can post you what you need.

      Col

      • #2866311

        PCI Express. Oops.

        by boxfiddler ·

        In reply to Davette I can not let you do this.

        Board is ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe. Graphics card is ASUS EAX300SE. The black optical is as far out as the other optical. Geeminy, Col, I’m goofy but not that goofy. :p

        The mesh screen is in the lower portion. The lower portion that belongs on this box has a bunch of loose/broken connector wires – the on/off and power to things indicator wires. I can’t even come close to seeing where they connect so as to re-solder them.

        Yup. Looks like I’m starting from scratch. Oh well. Lessons learned.

        • #2866307

          Solder?

          by seanferd ·

          In reply to PCI Express. Oops.

          They don’t have connectors that go to terminals on the mobo? 🙁

        • #2866305

          They’re loose at the case cover.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Solder?

          Which bytes. (haha)
          And is why I have this open front problem…

        • #2866135

          Ugh.

          by seanferd ·

          In reply to They’re loose at the case cover.

          I see your dilemma.

        • #2866280

          Must be the way you took the photo then Davette

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to PCI Express. Oops.

          It looked as if the Black Drive was in further than the Cream one. But maybe that’s just me. 😀

          That ASUS M’Board needs Jumpers on the Audio Header Strip if there are no front Panel jacks so you need to short out the 2 Mic Pins and then the Left Speaker and it’s Ground and the Right Speaker and it’s Ground. Should be 3 Jumpers on the Front Panel Audio Header Strip which should be 9 Pins if I remember correctly .

          As for the broken Wires those are easy just pull the cover off and the LED’s and Switches unclip from the Cover. If the Wires are pulled off the Switches LED’s it’s just a matter of looking at the Plugs which are labeled and running them to the correct locations. The On Off and Reset Switches are not polarized and are interchangeable so you can refit them to their correct places after resoldering the wires. The HDD and Power LED are Polarized Components so you need to correctly wire these or they will not light up. Of course if you solder them on the wrong way all that you need do is pull the HDD Plug off the Header Strip and turn it 180 Degrees so that the contacts go on the other pin. With the Power LED as I remember they have 2 Plugs and it’s just a matter of swapping the wires to the other pin on the Header Strip. As I remember the Green is the Positive and the White is the Negative. The HDD should have Red & Black wires where the Red is Positive and the Black is Negative. on the 2 switches the wires can go onto either side just make sure not to leave long tails on them as they can short out.

          If the wires have been cut it’s just a matter of rejoining them and covering the bare wire with some Heat Shrink.

          Of course you could always unclip the Wires, LED’s and Switches from the other Bottom Panel and fit them to the one on the case. As I’m Lazy that is what I would do if I wasn’t planning on using the other case.

          The USB and Possibly Fire Wire Sockets in the front of that case have a Plug on the circuit Board behind the Sockets which it’s just a matter of unplugging and then replace the Bunched Wires with the one from the other case. There should be 2 Bunched Wires one for the USB Sockets and one for the Firewire Socket.

          If that case has a Mic and Headphone Jack instead of the Firewire Socket it to has a Plug that goes onto a Header Strip on the Circuit Board. if that is of any help.

          Also Davette I’m not sure which case this is but the ones with a USB and Firewire Sockets have a Flip Up Door with the Name Antec on it generally around the Top of the Lower Cover in the Middle though it could also be on the bottom middle, if your case doesn’t have this ignore the above. 😉

          Col

        • #2866276

          I’ll see what I can do

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Must be the way you took the photo then Davette

          to find a magnifying glass. The way you put it, it shouldn’t bee too difficult to fix the wires at the front panel. They’re ok at the end that goes to the mobo.

        • #2866274

          Yep but the end that plugs onto the M’Board

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to I’ll see what I can do

          is labeled on the Plugs so they are easy to follow to where the belong. At the Front Panel End the LED’s and Switches just clip into the plastic and if this has the USB/Firewire Sockets they are held in position with 2 Phillips Screws or 2 Plastic Clips under the Front Panel Circuit Board.

          These Antec Cases are beautiful and really great to work with. 😉

          Col

    • #2866298

      hey boxie is one of these with the swing door ?

      by cg it ·

      In reply to Need a solution for an ‘open box’ problem.

      if yes, I’d use the one with the swing door.

      but if not, you could opt for getting some plexiglass, make a paper template then trim it to the template.

      • #2866296

        Yuppers. Swing doors on both.

        by boxfiddler ·

        In reply to hey boxie is one of these with the swing door ?

        They’re exactly alike except for the floppy drive mounts and placement. Love these boxes! That plexiglass idea looks workable. I’ve got some of that in the basement. Never even occurred to me. Thanks. 😀

        • #2866295

          I’ve got 5 of the 4 – 5 1/4 bay cases with swing doors

          by cg it ·

          In reply to Yuppers. Swing doors on both.

          and they got the HDD removable cages. LOTS of room inside. I love these cases to…because of the room inside.

          I don’t use internal floppys anymore in these things as USB floppys work so well.

          I’d go with who recommended using USB floppys

        • #2866293

          I love the fact that these are Tool less cases

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to Yuppers. Swing doors on both.

          Not to mention the fact that they are not just stampings with sharp edges which cut like there is no tomorrow.

          I started using Antec Cases when the WinFax where no longer available. I’m not so sure that they don’t come from the same maker but with a rename after some form of reorganization. They both where absolutely brilliant cases with the older ones having the Removable/Extra Internal Drive bays. I remember one guy looking at my old original Pentium with the covers removed saying how many drives do you need. OK so it was a Server Board with built on SCSI but I had room for 4 drives above the PS, and 10 down the front. Not to mention all the places for case fans.

          When I bought that case I ordered the extra Drive Bays which apparently was the first time that this had ever happened. Mind you they where not complaining too much as I also ordered the drives to fill them. 😀

          Col

        • #2866125

          I love these cases too.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to I love the fact that these are Tool less cases

          I like that there’s power supply expansion room, too. I’ve heard that to be a problem. I wonder if Antec sells replacement parts. Hmmmm. Googling…

        • #2866048

          What parts do you need Davette

          by oh smeg ·

          In reply to I love these cases too.

          I’ve never had a problem buying any parts for Antec Cases and I’ve been using them since they became available. 😉

          Col

        • #2866044

          I need the front panel covers.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to What parts do you need Davette

          For two different models, which I’ll have to look up. They’re Performance II models is all I know offhand. And I bet I don’t have the sales receipts anymore… One model you see in the pic. The other model follows it, has the front USB/Firewire panel. I did note that I can get all other parts online through Antec. But the covers I haven’t found.

          I’ll post back when I see what the exact model #’s are, if I have the information around.

          I love these boxes! 😀

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