Psst! Want to Hack Your Hardware? Here's How!
Posted 06/04/08 at 10:15:45 AM by Norman Chan
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Novice: Make your Case Moveable
Sliding your case out from under a desk shouldn’t be a chore—nor should it permanently damage your hardwood floors. The solution is to apply strategically placed felt pads to the bottom of your case. For cases with four plastic feet, you can attach circular felt pads to each foot for guaranteed protection. We found an eight-pack of heavy-duty self-adhering pads for $4 at a local hardware store. You can also buy sheets of felt to cut to your own specification—for use with a case that has rails instead of feet, for example, such as Cooler Master’s Cosmos. On carpeted floors, we like to place our system on a sheet of plastic counter lining ($5 at Home Depot) for an easier slide-out.
Expert: Connect your X-Fi to a Front-Panel Connector
Integrated audio has come a long way since its dodgy beginnings, but we still can’t resist the aural lure of Creative Labs’s X-Fi soundcards. The problem is that these cards don’t have the appropriate plugs to accommodate the front-panel sound ports on most new cases. X-tap.com sells adapters for $30, but it’s also possible to make your own X-Fi harness to maximize acoustic accessibility.
We found all the necessary parts for less than $10 at Digikey.com (image A): a white 10-position, 2mm connector (part no. 455-1151-ND) that snaps into the top of the X-Fi soundcard, small terminal connectors (part no. 455-1127-1-ND) that fit into the white connector, a black connector housing (part no. WM2522-ND) that’ll connect to the case’s front-panel audio connectors, and at least five long terminal connectors (part no. WM2515-ND) that go into this black housing block. The wires themselves can be harvested from an old Ethernet cable. You’ll also need a pair of needle-nose pliers and a set of wire cutters.
Cut a five-inch section of network cable and separate out five individual wires. Strip 2mm of insulation from each end of the wires and carefully crimp one of each connector type (long and short) on either end of each wire (image B).
Now, with the white 10-position connector oriented as shown (image C), insert the wires via the small-connector end. If done properly, the small metal tab on the connector should lock into place when pushed deep enough. You’ll want to insert wires into positions 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8, leaving the other slots empty. Position 1 is ground, 2 is headphone left, 4 is headphone right, 6 is mic input, and 8 is the voltage for the microphone. Now follow the diagram to insert the long-connector end of the wires into the black housing (image C). Wrap some tape around your wires to create a finished cable (image D).
If your case uses a front-panel audio connector that’s individually wired and labeled, matching the five connectors should be easy. Make sure that each wire is insulated from the others with some electrical tape to prevent shorting out your X-Fi. If your case’s front-panel audio connector is a black housing block corresponding to AC’97 or HD audio specs, refer to http://tinyurl.com/47olau for details on how to correctly arrange the prongs in your black housing block to match the front-panel one.
Next: Replace Blue LEDs, Upgrade your Linksys Router
Tracking
Submitted by PhoneyVirus on Fri, 09/04/2009 - 6:49pm
You got to love Hardware Hacks
Audigy2
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Mon, 07/21/2008 - 2:13pm
Does the Audigy2 share the same pin arrangement as the Xfi?
Pocket PC display
Submitted by beef_wellington on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 7:40pm
Very nice my Dell Axim has been collecting dust for quite some time now and I was about to buy one of those programable LCD displays to show my temps during gaming sessions. Finding a new use for an old tool is one of the most satisfying feelings. Thanks Norm
charging station
Submitted by Shalbatana on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 7:27am
Just as another option, at the auto store you can buy one of those no-slip mats, that are made to go on your dashboard. They have a relatively "tacky" no slip feature that if used on your charging station box would prevent things from falling or bumping around should the box get knocked.
I'm still brainstorming how to make custom cradles for everything.
_______________________________
"There's no time like the future."
Submitted by simonlarano on Fri, 07/04/2008 - 3:58pm
I recently took my first steps in soundproofing my already quiet XPS 420 case. I purchased Dynamat Extreme (top of the line name, top of the line results) and it was a snap to install. The noise from vibration of my HDD is greatly reduced, and the relatively cheap modification was definitely worth it.
Submitted by boottoob on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 3:28pm
The x-fi hack was in the July 2006 issue. It bears repeating but it is unfortunate that creative doesn't make, list or provide a link for a cable to convert their outputs for front panel use. They'd sell for sure.
js
founding reader
Alternative?
Submitted by chaos.13037 on Sat, 06/07/2008 - 7:49am
"A roll of linerless rubber splicer tape will do the job and is available at Home Depot for $3 a pop."
Is that just electrical tape without adhesive?
Cause I have electrical tape but not "linerless rubber splicer tape".
Submitted by nduanetesh on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 9:13pm
This is pretty much a great article. I was just thinking the other day about how MaxPC has gotten away from it's old school roots of hardware hacks. Great to see you guys bringing something like this back.
In the "Create a Charging Station" section, you seem to imply sloths are...messy? "Just because you’re a gadget junkie doesn’t mean you have to be a sloth." Urm. What? Sloths are known for being very slow. Did you mean to say "slob"?
Teh splatted kitteh.
Submitted by Lodis4 on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 2:08pm
The splatted kitteh was the best, my apologies to TheMurph.
All media readers are not created equal...
Submitted by Marcus_Soperus on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 1:33pm
Some media readers use a removable USB Type A/Type B cable that is designed to plug into a USB port on the rear of the system (or an internal port on a USB add-on card). However, if you buy one of these and you have a spare USB header on the motherboard, follow Gordon's advice to convert a spare USB port rear bracket into an internal adapter and you're all set: http://www.maximumpc.com/article/how_to_make_an_internal_usb_adapter
When you shop for a media reader, make sure it also works with the media types you want to use. One potential concern right now is the popular SDHC format used for 4GB and larger SD-type cards. You must make sure your reader (and your digital camera or other device) can read them.
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It's amazing how illogical a business built on binary logic can be.
Submitted by Shalbatana on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 9:26am
Now you've gone and done it.
Just go ahead and give me MORE projects to immerse myself in that will take me away from the things I SHOULD be doing!
You've sparked my imagination!
Thanks tremendously for this.There's no time like the future.
Submitted by Keith E. Whisman on Wed, 06/04/2008 - 11:14am
Um I loved this article when I read it in the magazine last night on the toilet. Why is this article in the News section though? Shouldn't this be in the From The Mag section? Oh well I'm sure the missing Podcast has something to do with this.
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