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[bigal]

Gentlemen:
I have begun the modification of some additional pieces for my Sun X-Terminal system. Having acquired a few additional external SCSI drives, I am doing what comes naturally - modding them into useful things like optical drives.
Here is the start of the first of a two-piece set:

[Silverstrand]

Nice idea, yet is it possible to make them flush?

[bigal]

Well, I would have to lengthen the mounting holes that are used to screw the drive to the carrier. This particular unit isn't complete yet, as I just got the front opening cut (rough cut) before slapping the cover on and calling it a day (er...night). I want some type of lighting effect too - maybe with EL wire again to keep the theme going with the other two external cases underneath the 15" monitor. I am putting this drive into the enclosure because it will become my 2nd optical drive, and now I'll have a CD/RW/DVD-ROM drive and a DVD/RW/Dual layer drive. The other external case could become several things, like another external hard drive (which I don't need), a flash media reader (I have one in the side of the X-Terminal chassis, but it's hard to reach conveniently so this makes sense), or some type of system monitor / LCD display (like a Matrix Orbital LCD perhaps?). I have to be careful what I chose to use, as this system uses Windows XP 64-bit (the beta version), and drivers may not be available for some devices I wish to add.

[unholy]

u can buy the proper version of x64 now days.
I say either a LCD or a Advanced Fan/Light Box.

[bigal]

...I'll have to buy the new 64-bit version soon because the beta is only good for a year. I might just go back to the 32-bit version though, as I still can't get a wireless USB solution that has working drivers in the 64-bit OS. It's so frusturating to be stopped by a lack of drivers....
Anyway, the LCD or other type of information display sounds good. Only money.....which I can't spend much of right now because last Sunday I went to the computer show and bought another Geforce 6800 GT (BFG OC this time) for $295 US. Now my printer-to-computer-deja-vu machine has two Geforce 6800 GT's in there, and the ATI 9800 Pro has been moved to that machine I recently upgraded to the Athlon XP 2500+ (it's old CPU is what XhArD received). That machine had the 9600 Pro that I used in the Vcool review.....it's a long and winding road!

[unholy]

...I'll have to buy the new 64-bit version soon because the beta is only good for a year. I might just go back to the 32-bit version though, as I still can't get a wireless USB solution that has working drivers in the 64-bit OS. It's so frusturating to be stopped by a lack of drivers....

If ur really trying to get 64 bit for a media/workstation, get 2 gig and download Longhorn. It supports 64bit/32Bit Drivers in the same interface as WinXP Pro 32bit, and 64 Bit as in the x64 Windows XP. Though the added bonus is .net drivers.
[quoteAnyway, the LCD or other type of information display sounds good. Only money.....which I can't spend much of right now because last Sunday I went to the computer show and bought another Geforce 6800 GT (BFG OC this time) for $295 US. Now my printer-to-computer-deja-vu machine has two Geforce 6800 GT's in there, and the ATI 9800 Pro has been moved to that machine I recently upgraded to the Athlon XP 2500+ (it's old CPU is what XhArD received). That machine had the 9600 Pro that I used in the Vcool review.....it's a long and winding road! [/quote]
I still think u should get a 5" LCD and or a Fan/Light Controller. so u can control the Light with a fader. and wether or not they are powered.
then u could make ur own Fan Controller Connection (just use a DSUB, and connect it through the back (for easy Connection)

[The Modfather]

Longhorn? Dude, come to the second half of 2005, it's Vista now and the Beta isn't even ready, won't be until at least December. Longhorn would be a problem in a lot of ways, the most obvious being, there's ZERO support for it (Drivers and so forth), it's just a shell of an OS, not really very functional. I've seen the pre-beta of Vista, it looks like it's gonna kick butt but I'd love to see an OS that works like this program called 3DNA. http://www.3dna.net/
Check that out, download the demo of it, it's Sweet!

[unholy]

i didn't like 3dna.
Longhorn (i hate the name vista) beta is very sluggish even with 2gb of ram. there are small amount of drivers, if i can remember rightly ATi and nVidia have got beta drivers out for their vcards. and chipsets too.

[bigal]

Forget Microsoft beta releases. If the drivers aren't available, you end up buying hardware that does have some support in the OS. I want a 64-bit OS that works out of the box.
That 3dna link is dead, or at least I couldn't wait longer than a minute for some type of response. What's it all about?
Last but not least, the Sun X-Terminal Mod has a Cooler Master Aerogate I fan controller built into the side of the chassis. It also has a flash media / floppy drive, and the cold cathode controller built into the chassis. That's one reason for not building a fan controller into the external drive chassis. I am considering a 16-in-1 flash media panel however, as it's awkward for me to reach the current flash media drive in the chassis on the wall because I can't see it directly. It takes a few seconds to insert the SD card into the slot.

[The Modfather]

3DNA is sort of a 3D virtual enviornment desktop replacement. You walk around a house (in the free version) and programs are stored in book cases, on a kiosk, wherever. It's interesting, taken to the next logical level it'd be really cool. Vista isn't quite on that level but it does have some pluses going for it. I'll almost definatly switch when it's available. As for using Longhorn, which isn't even an OS, it's the skeleton of an alpha of an OS that's not even fully in beta yet, forget that.