Bloody_Sorcerer
02-08-2007, 07:32 PM
To dive right in:
A few months ago, I began tinkering with the idea of an HTPC. After all, I had a full computer sitting around unused sans PSU and case. Well, christmas rolled around and I got everybody in my family intrigued by the ability to hook up their laptops to their stereo systems to play christmas tunes. I proposed the idea of a permanent HTPC but was largely ignored, since I didn't want to fork over money for a case, they (parents) didn't want to buy one (or even let me acquire an old CD player for a modding attempt), so it kinda fell to the backburner.
Then, about a week ago, she was discovered.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6494/br8600u001ls4.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u001ls4.jpg)
A teacher of mine had two of these VCR players, and was going to throw them out. I saw them and a lightbulb went off. I asked if i could have one and he offered me both. I took one for myself and informed a friend about the other, who has similar plans to mine.
These monsters, the JVC BR-8600U, had an MSRP whenever the hell they were spawned of 3,440 bucks. Yeowch. We plugged one in (the other one) to see if it worked. As near as we could tell, it did. The LCD (actually, i think they're VFDs or something even more primitive) lit up with numbers and the buttons next to it functioned in some manner (the display changed when they were pressed. No idea WTF they did). Since we lacked both a VHS and a TV to test it any further with, we simply decided they were still functional (or at least mostly so) and called it a day. Side note: Goddamn, they were HEAVY!
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5153/br8600u002kk7.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u002kk7.jpg)http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/4800/br8600u003if5.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u003if5.jpg)
The thing was a beast; I measured it at the time and realized that the dimensions were probably large enough; with some grunt work and brute force, i could fit my full ATX motherboard and slightly-taller-than-a-PCI-slot 6800GT in, as well as a full-sized PSU, a harddrive, and a DVD drive.
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2097/br8600u005hm1.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u005hm1.jpg)http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8486/br8600u006tr7.th.jpg (http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u006tr7.jpg)
The ass was covered in all sorts of connectors, many of which I didn't recognize and still have no idea what they are...
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1824/br8600u007ie4.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u007ie4.jpg)
Teeheehee! A wired remote that draws 12 watts... awesome. (Remote sold separately)
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/9858/br8600u008cm2.th.jpg (http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u008cm2.jpg)
The insides were a shocking mess of PCB, wire, and probably enough now-banned (post-ROHS) substances to kill me several times over. Mmmmmh, lead solder. (pardon the blurries in some of the pictures, i don't believe in flash photography and avoid it whenever possible)
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7671/br8600u010tb6.th.jpg (http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u010tb6.jpg)
One thing can be said about things built back in the... 70s? They sure as hell used a TON of screws. No such thing as toolless yet. Just the way i like it :cool: Unfortunately, there are enough jaggies in this to rip me a new one several times over...
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/1825/br8600u013qj1.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u013qj1.jpg)
Precursor to PCI? Perhaps...
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5368/br8600u015tf2.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u015tf2.jpg)http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5832/br8600u017wk5.th.jpg (http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u017wk5.jpg)
Awesomely, unlike modern technological devices, all 6 side panels had readily-accessible screws and were easily removed, revealing a plethora more of mysterious and funny-smelling components, ready for the semi-forced gutting.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/3967/br8600u018ok7.th.jpg (http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u018ok7.jpg)
There! A fully gutted and reassembled chassis. Once again, 70s engineering rocks: All the various metal structural elements were independantly removable, allowing an almost complete reconfiguration of the internal layout. (The one circuit board in the back houses all the connectors, which appear to have been soldered on after attaching to the case. Since i'm much too lazy to bust out a soldering iron and get that board out, shortening my life expectancy by at least 10 years, it stays. I don't care.)
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2876/br8600u019vq5.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u019vq5.jpg)
Wow... all that fit came from that case? No friggin way.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9056/br8600u020aq3.th.jpg (http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u020aq3.jpg)
Jump waaay forward (Aka i forgot to take pictures of a number of steps, such as beating the :banana::banana::banana::banana: out of certain metal support structures to flatten them to accept a motherboard tray, construction of said motherboard tray, test fits on said motherboard tray, creation of hole in middle of motherboard tray under CPU socket area, fiddling with the motherboard's installation method, and finally, installing the motherboard) but there it is; coolers mounted, VGA PCI slot bracket removed, and all set for... uh... i dunno. chillin for a while; the PSU hasn't shown up yet.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5900/br8600u022jw1.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u022jw1.jpg)
Motherboard standoffs are overrated. Instead, I used 6-32 3/4" screws, 2 nuts under the board, and 1 on top (as shown). My half-assedly measured holes (sharpie through the holes on the motherboard) lined up well enough for use for all but one ATX mount point (overlooking the 1 i omitted because i didnt like it)
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3982/br8600u023ay7.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u023ay7.jpg)http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/759/br8600u024ih0.th.jpg (http://img442.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u024ih0.jpg)
TaDa! A power supply has been shoehorned in, in addition to my very half-assed hard drive/optical drive mounting bracket. It's that 1 big metal bracket coming off of that support beam, then theres some weird chunk of metal i found, onto which the optical drive is held in with 1 screw (one corner does indeed rest on the CPU fan to no noticable detriment to anything, so who cares), the harddrive is held in with 1 screw as well. Since i couldn't find any more washers in the basement, i used some rubbery things. They worked well enough and had the surprise benefit of vibration isolation! woo.
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/5589/br8600u025rs4.th.jpg (http://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u025rs4.jpg)
Wiring. was. a. :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:. And that doesnt even show IDE cables. I had to use two. TWO! In such a cramped space. what a pain in the arse.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7793/br8600u027zr6.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u027zr6.jpg)
Oooh, a remote control. Smexy. It's the VLSystem MINI. Sounds pretty ghetto, actually kicks ass.
At the time of writing, the BR-8600U is currently sitting in the room next to me, running through windows update.
To the curious: all required wires (yup, all like 3 of them) will be run through ??? i'll probably butcher up the old back panel to take them or something. All there's gonna be is ethernet, the Remote's USB and power switch connectors, some audio, and some TV-out goodness. Keyboards are for losers.
To be concluded...
A few months ago, I began tinkering with the idea of an HTPC. After all, I had a full computer sitting around unused sans PSU and case. Well, christmas rolled around and I got everybody in my family intrigued by the ability to hook up their laptops to their stereo systems to play christmas tunes. I proposed the idea of a permanent HTPC but was largely ignored, since I didn't want to fork over money for a case, they (parents) didn't want to buy one (or even let me acquire an old CD player for a modding attempt), so it kinda fell to the backburner.
Then, about a week ago, she was discovered.
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/6494/br8600u001ls4.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u001ls4.jpg)
A teacher of mine had two of these VCR players, and was going to throw them out. I saw them and a lightbulb went off. I asked if i could have one and he offered me both. I took one for myself and informed a friend about the other, who has similar plans to mine.
These monsters, the JVC BR-8600U, had an MSRP whenever the hell they were spawned of 3,440 bucks. Yeowch. We plugged one in (the other one) to see if it worked. As near as we could tell, it did. The LCD (actually, i think they're VFDs or something even more primitive) lit up with numbers and the buttons next to it functioned in some manner (the display changed when they were pressed. No idea WTF they did). Since we lacked both a VHS and a TV to test it any further with, we simply decided they were still functional (or at least mostly so) and called it a day. Side note: Goddamn, they were HEAVY!
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5153/br8600u002kk7.th.jpg (http://img404.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u002kk7.jpg)http://img45.imageshack.us/img45/4800/br8600u003if5.th.jpg (http://img45.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u003if5.jpg)
The thing was a beast; I measured it at the time and realized that the dimensions were probably large enough; with some grunt work and brute force, i could fit my full ATX motherboard and slightly-taller-than-a-PCI-slot 6800GT in, as well as a full-sized PSU, a harddrive, and a DVD drive.
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/2097/br8600u005hm1.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u005hm1.jpg)http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/8486/br8600u006tr7.th.jpg (http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u006tr7.jpg)
The ass was covered in all sorts of connectors, many of which I didn't recognize and still have no idea what they are...
http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/1824/br8600u007ie4.th.jpg (http://img177.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u007ie4.jpg)
Teeheehee! A wired remote that draws 12 watts... awesome. (Remote sold separately)
http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/9858/br8600u008cm2.th.jpg (http://img247.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u008cm2.jpg)
The insides were a shocking mess of PCB, wire, and probably enough now-banned (post-ROHS) substances to kill me several times over. Mmmmmh, lead solder. (pardon the blurries in some of the pictures, i don't believe in flash photography and avoid it whenever possible)
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7671/br8600u010tb6.th.jpg (http://img525.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u010tb6.jpg)
One thing can be said about things built back in the... 70s? They sure as hell used a TON of screws. No such thing as toolless yet. Just the way i like it :cool: Unfortunately, there are enough jaggies in this to rip me a new one several times over...
http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/1825/br8600u013qj1.th.jpg (http://img185.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u013qj1.jpg)
Precursor to PCI? Perhaps...
http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5368/br8600u015tf2.th.jpg (http://img217.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u015tf2.jpg)http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/5832/br8600u017wk5.th.jpg (http://img528.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u017wk5.jpg)
Awesomely, unlike modern technological devices, all 6 side panels had readily-accessible screws and were easily removed, revealing a plethora more of mysterious and funny-smelling components, ready for the semi-forced gutting.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/3967/br8600u018ok7.th.jpg (http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u018ok7.jpg)
There! A fully gutted and reassembled chassis. Once again, 70s engineering rocks: All the various metal structural elements were independantly removable, allowing an almost complete reconfiguration of the internal layout. (The one circuit board in the back houses all the connectors, which appear to have been soldered on after attaching to the case. Since i'm much too lazy to bust out a soldering iron and get that board out, shortening my life expectancy by at least 10 years, it stays. I don't care.)
http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2876/br8600u019vq5.th.jpg (http://img267.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u019vq5.jpg)
Wow... all that fit came from that case? No friggin way.
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/9056/br8600u020aq3.th.jpg (http://img440.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u020aq3.jpg)
Jump waaay forward (Aka i forgot to take pictures of a number of steps, such as beating the :banana::banana::banana::banana: out of certain metal support structures to flatten them to accept a motherboard tray, construction of said motherboard tray, test fits on said motherboard tray, creation of hole in middle of motherboard tray under CPU socket area, fiddling with the motherboard's installation method, and finally, installing the motherboard) but there it is; coolers mounted, VGA PCI slot bracket removed, and all set for... uh... i dunno. chillin for a while; the PSU hasn't shown up yet.
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5900/br8600u022jw1.th.jpg (http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u022jw1.jpg)
Motherboard standoffs are overrated. Instead, I used 6-32 3/4" screws, 2 nuts under the board, and 1 on top (as shown). My half-assedly measured holes (sharpie through the holes on the motherboard) lined up well enough for use for all but one ATX mount point (overlooking the 1 i omitted because i didnt like it)
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3982/br8600u023ay7.th.jpg (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u023ay7.jpg)http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/759/br8600u024ih0.th.jpg (http://img442.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u024ih0.jpg)
TaDa! A power supply has been shoehorned in, in addition to my very half-assed hard drive/optical drive mounting bracket. It's that 1 big metal bracket coming off of that support beam, then theres some weird chunk of metal i found, onto which the optical drive is held in with 1 screw (one corner does indeed rest on the CPU fan to no noticable detriment to anything, so who cares), the harddrive is held in with 1 screw as well. Since i couldn't find any more washers in the basement, i used some rubbery things. They worked well enough and had the surprise benefit of vibration isolation! woo.
http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/5589/br8600u025rs4.th.jpg (http://img50.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u025rs4.jpg)
Wiring. was. a. :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:. And that doesnt even show IDE cables. I had to use two. TWO! In such a cramped space. what a pain in the arse.
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/7793/br8600u027zr6.th.jpg (http://img401.imageshack.us/my.php?image=br8600u027zr6.jpg)
Oooh, a remote control. Smexy. It's the VLSystem MINI. Sounds pretty ghetto, actually kicks ass.
At the time of writing, the BR-8600U is currently sitting in the room next to me, running through windows update.
To the curious: all required wires (yup, all like 3 of them) will be run through ??? i'll probably butcher up the old back panel to take them or something. All there's gonna be is ethernet, the Remote's USB and power switch connectors, some audio, and some TV-out goodness. Keyboards are for losers.
To be concluded...