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The The Franken-Opener - iOpener Mod
Date Posted: May 1 2000
Author: Joe
Posting Type: Article
Category: Hardware Modding
Page: 2 of 4
Article Rank:No Rank Yet
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Note: This is a legacy article, imported from old code. Due to this some items on the page may not function as expected. Links, Colors, and some images may not be set correctly.
The Franken-Opener - iOpener Mod By: Joe

The Second Part - Configuring the BIOS

To get into the BIOS hook up a normal PS2 keyboard and hold down the Ctrl - Alt - Esc from the point that you hit the power button.  You will be brought into the standard Award Bios screen.

 I would just run a quick IDE HD detect to make sure the HD super cedes the SAN Disk on the board. The San disk is ID'd as a 16mb IDE device that automatically changes to Master or Slave depending if you have a HD on the chain or not.

Once you get that all set, it should boot off the HD like a normal PC! :) Just run Win98 Setup or install your Linux Kernel and you are home free!  Because of the power of the system I was aiming for, and also the GPS work and image work I wanted to do on this I went with Win98SE instead of Linux.  (the reason for the 128mb ram!)

That is the end of the "Sane" hacking,Continue only if you are determined to hack the stuffing outta your box

Extra Credit - Upgrading the CPU, Adding a 2nd Power supply, and a 4 port Powered USB hub

Now of course you didn't turn around there... if you did, then you prolly haven't read much on this site before running away scared :)

Any ways, Lets continue -

The CPU Upgrade

Here's the bad boy, the externally powered Powerleap PL-ProMMX-400 CPU upgrade. Its really a K6-2 380 under the hood, but runs stable @ 400.

 There you can see the size of this monster. The small purple capacitor there is actually high enough to clear the back cover of the iOpener to give you an idea of how far this chip is going to stick trough the back of the iO.  The 3 prong connector there supplies the CPU with its 5v, and 12v power that is required for the CPUs onboard power supply.

I did break the fan connector off the board by accident that's why the power leads for the fan are soldered on.

Yes the 12v is needed for both the fan and the CPU's PSU so it isn't practical to replace it with a 5v PS.

As you can see in this pic many pins are missing, they are almost all the power pins. This CPU does not use any of the motherboards supplied power, it relies on all its own from the 5v and 12v sources. The 5v supply from the iO is far to weak to power this power hungry CPU.

To Install this CPU you simply open the Socket 7 ZIF and insert the Powerleap chip and lock it down.  That's it.  BUT to get 12v and 5v to it, and carve the hole in the RF shield and the back is a bit of work.

Cosmetic Surgery

I needed to cut quite a bit to fit the HSF and the Caps through the back, and almost hit a big problem. The caps extended back under the bracket in back and go right where the top screw for the mounting goes. so that had to be sheared off and the bracket needed to be trimmed to fit right. I made special note NOT to cut the area right above the bar that goes in, if I would have it could have cost the strength of the setup.

All put together it looks OK. I got a bit wild with the tin snips I see, but besides the rough look, it works and fits fine. I am thinking of designing it to duct all the air coming off the heat sink into the case to get some circulation around the HD, and vid chips.  For now this works fine.  Now.. I need to find a 12v and 5v power source for the CPU.

This is the geek equivalent to having a super charger and blower sticking through the hood of your car. It does look pretty cool.

Fun with PSU's and 120v

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Home-built HSF adaptor
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