[AvvY]

So it was hard rubbish collection time again in my area, and last night I went out for a few hours casing the place for computer parts. The great thing about everyone upgrading is they toss their old rigs, monitors and printers. This time I was only after a case or two and some internal parts. So this is what I scored:

3 mobos (s370)
2 3.5inch hdds
1 2.5inch hdd
3 128mb 184sticks of ram
1 1000mhz P3 s370
1 400mhz Celeron s370
1 500mhz Celeron s370
1 case
1 dvd-rom
1 cd-rw
2 PSU's
2 NICs

So not bad really? Anyhow, I thought since I scored a decent CPU (the 1000mhz P3) and a dvd-rom why not have a crack at a media centre PC? This will take a bit of time now that I work and have to balance my time, but I booted up a test setup and it *works*. I need a new heatsink fan otherwise it will melt, but first signs look good. Once I get the fan I can boot knoppix and have a look at what I really have.

So here are the ideas I had. The case is an old desktop case (not a tower), which is cool as it will fit nicely under the TV, but it's white - eww. So I'll have to spray paint it. Any tips for doing this with DVD drives and floppys? Also the I/O buttons on the front? I'll search for other stuff later on when I get home from work.

I'll only be able to stick 2 256mb sticks of ram in it, but that should be fine me thinks. I'll also look into getting a 2x/4x AGP card and a tv capture card so I can get D-TV happening and patch it through to the TV. It has an onboard NIC, so I'll wire it up to the network which will be sweet.

Anyhow, off to work!

[MNG0304]

Tutorial on painting drive bezels

[AvvY]

Cheers, this is exactly what I needed. I'll get onto that on the weekend.

I went into a computer store today looking for a fan for the s370 proc, but they didn't have one. I figured it would just be a standard fan but they just told me to upgrade. I'll have to hunt around for something else then.

EDIT::

So I tried to boot it up using a fan from my AMD Duron rig - bluetacked to the HSF - works nicely. So, it has Windows 2000 Professional on it. But I now know why this rig was tossed. It comes up with a boot error. So I pulled out the Win 2000 disc I had to get into the recovery console, but it required the admin password! Ack! So I tried this special bootdisc to remove the admin password but it didn't work. So I've not bothered any further and am currently installing Ubuntu 6.06 over the top. Current specs:

MS-6351 mobo
Intel P3 1000mhz cpu
2x128mb ram
10gb Maxtor hdd
Pioneer DVD-Rom
Floppy
generic psu/case.

Current plans for "upgrades" will be to stick in two sticks of 256mb ram from the Duron machine, and add in a second 10GB hdd. Oh and test out this CD-RW I found, and stick it in. I would like to add a case fan in somewhere just to add some extra cooling.

I'll start having a think about painting and design, and look on eBay for prices of adding some new equipment to it.

[AvvY]

Ubuntu has landed! I installed Ubuntu 6.06LTS on it last night. I installed the CD-RW which I'm yet to full test. Stuck in the 512mb of ram and woohoo. All is good. I've held back on adding in the extra hdd just for now.

I'm having a few issues with Ubuntu, but they could also be hardware related. As everything was collected off the street as is, I have NO guarantee any of it works. I'll just push through to see how we go.

[gotrootdude]

Have you taken a look at Geexbox?

[AvvY]

Nice, Geexbox looks pretty nifty, although I'd still like a fully functional OS underneath, so I'll have to see. I'm still trying to figure out if my problems are hardware related. So far I've ruled out RAM, NIC and onboard video. Next to test CPU, mobo and HDD.

I have a day off tomorrow so I'll hopefully get some time to do all this!

[LitomoSilver]

Ooh. I have never been able to find places where I can get stuff like you. u.u I need a used good case...but then again, who doesn't nowadays?

[MNG0304]

Try one of these common sites:

• Freecycle
• Craigslist (SF Edition, refine from right side links)

Also look on your local garbage company's website for information on when the "computer" waste collection dates are and refer to the legality of "dumspter diving" in your area (wiki entry)