The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Very interesting project can I ask you what you are going to do with it when you are finished with this project can you go into some detail about it if you can

As established a couple pages back, this contraption is a very overkilled motherboard testing/diagnostic & burn-in station. It'll end up in my big ratdude rack with other diagnostics machines; some already developed & deployed (logged in this thread) and some stuff still under wraps.... I won't be as heavily used as it would have been say 10 years ago....but I still see quite a few motherboards for repair....and tested them laying loose on a bench. Now they get to be tested in this magic machine.

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

As established a couple pages back, this contraption is a very overkilled motherboard testing/diagnostic & burn-in station. It'll end up in my big ratdude rack with other diagnostics machines; some already developed & deployed (logged in this thread) and some stuff still under wraps.... I won't be as heavily used as it would have been say 10 years ago....but I still see quite a few motherboards for repair....and tested them laying loose on a bench. Now they get to be tested in this magic machine.

This is very interesting setup and what you are going to use it for

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Good time for this thread to have turned to a new page! Pic heavy today as wiring has been completed. It was every bit as daunting as I expected....it's probably why it sat so long from then till now....I knew what I had gotten myself into....but here we go!!

Hole poked in the back of the lower section for the test bed bay fans, grommet, and wire.







Attached.



Tidied up.



Wired to the rheostat.



Wiring completed and tied up in rough and relays installed. I'll do a final cleanup when it's 100% finished....but today was a huge step in that direction!







Extra plugs....just incase I add something later.



Moment of truth!



First live test was performed with no motherboard. This test was to verify voltages on the TPU output; as a lot of modifications were made to its harness....needed to make sure no mistakes were made that would result in magic smoke. All voltages present & accounted for. That cheater plug will trip the power_on for the PSU when plugged in. I also developed an override for ATX soft-on, mainly for testing AT style boards.....



2 lights, good sign and no snapped breakers!!



All switches off, red lamp indicates IPU has standby power. Switch 1 (top-most) turns the IPU on.



Switch 1 on, IPU powered up as expected. Since the 'cheater plug' was not connected, I turned switch 2 on; which is the ATX override, which turns the TPU on with nothing connected (or an AT board that has no soft-on). The red lamp indicates it's in override. The override control is powered by the IPU, this will function even if the TPU is off; which leads us to switch 3, which powers the TPU.

The 2 lamps next to the switch indicate the presence of -5v and -12v. The two lamps below that are TPU status. The illuminated red indicates standby, the green indicates PSU is ok. It will go out and the red below it will go out if the PSU reports an error, and start screaming. The red button next to the red lamp silences the alarm.

There was only one known glitch, the TPU standby is supposed to go out upon powerup....it does not. I have to check my wiring.....but all things consdered, this is very minor. You can see it in the pic....the red standby lamp next to switch 3 should be off with the TPU on.



Now to test with a motherboard....a junky old socket-a.....lab rat.



Alive! Meters are in rows, 1-4 are the top; left to right. Bottom row is 5-8.

Meter 1 = +12v ATX rail
Meter 2 = draw on the 4/8 pin +12v EPS
Meter 3 = +5v ATX Rail
Meter 4 = 3.3v rail
Meter 5 = draw on the 20/24 pin +12v
Meter 6 = draw on the PCIe +12v
Meter 7 = draw on the 20/24 pin +5v
Meter 8 = draw on the 20/24 pin +3.3v

...and here it is!! It's pulling 10A off the +5v rail, as expected for something of this era. Pulling nothing off the 12v rail. A few amps off the 3.3v.



The clock is running!!





Lets step it up a little.... Athlon FX4100 board.





Here's the answer as to why I only had IDE interfaces....

Adapter!!



The shroud interfered with the housing, so I simply removed it from the shroud.





Now for something with some stones....



Booted.



Now we have a little more amperage action. Nothing really drew much from the 20/24 pin +12v. This pulled from the EPS connector naturally, as well as the PCIe powering the GPU. I haven't done indepth testing of the board as of yet to really make the ammeters dance....but the basic testing was a bit entertaining so far!



PCIe connector in the floor of the case.



This was also the first test for one of the two VGA transfer switches.





I still have some stuff to do, but IT'S ALIVE!!

[TechGeek]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Now let's see it pushing a full load! And maybe some video of it doing so?

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Very Nice Job Very Neatly Done Very Impressed with what you came up with now I need to do the same type of thing for a BMS testing battery station for all battery sizes

The only issue that I have with doing this is what type of switching power supply do I use that can control the voltage and current from 2 to 48 volts dc and a current range from 50 milliamperes to about 4 amp or so

I like your idea about the voltage and current meter yes I got the inspiration from your project about putting meters to show me what is going on in real time

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Now let's see it pushing a full load! And maybe some video of it doing so?

It's coming. Right now, I'm testing function of the machine; testing the tester!! Just making sure there's no real kinks anywhere; functionality issues, safety issues, etc...but some harder abuse is in the plans for sure

The only glitch is the TPU STBY lamp not going out when the TPU powers up. To correct that I would have to add another relay to the mix to deactivate it when TPU power is sensed and trips it from an outside power source. The IPU would do this... but honestly, not really worth the effort, I'd have to add a relay and a few wires. Maybe someday, but its not a problem....just a glitch.

I tested a plethora of various boards so far. Only quirk so far with function was some Foxconn 3rd gen I-series board that for some reason did not like the SATA to IDE adapter....at all! I also have some small SATA DOM's with boot utilities on them as backups for things like this....but no other board has had any issues.

I've also found it's just easier to leave all the ATX & EPS extension cables plugged in. Some boards need the extensions, some don't.....but the constant plugging & unplugging is probably just going to cause wear & failure. The extenders are cheap & plentiful....if I wear one of those out, no biggie. The main harnesses that go through the floor of the case would be a nightmare to have to repair/replace!

The case bottom is actually buttoned up on this. All the transfer switches are connected and working as they should. I'll have more pics later.....but for the first time since this started, the case for the Dolby unit is closed up!!

There are a few revision / finishing touches I want to make before actually installing this in the rack. For example the rear of the test bay, I want to make a blockoff plate where the KB/MS & VGA cables enter. That opening is where an ATX PSU once was. Good location for the cabling, but that needs to be cleaned up.

Very Nice Job Very Neatly Done Very Impressed with what you came up with now I need to do the same type of thing for a BMS testing battery station for all battery sizes

The only issue that I have with doing this is what type of switching power supply do I use that can control the voltage and current from 2 to 48 volts dc and a current range from 50 milliamperes to about 4 amp or so

I like your idea about the voltage and current meter yes I got the inspiration from your project about putting meters to show me what is going on in real time

Glad I could be some inspiration! It's why I share projects like this....if helps one person along the way, it served its purpose.

Be careful experimenting with lithium ion & lithium polymer batteries, they can be a fire hazard!

[sam_sam_sam]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Glad I could be some inspiration! It's why I share projects like this....if helps one person along the way, it served its purpose.

Be careful experimenting with lithium ion & lithium polymer batteries, they can be a fire hazard!

Yes I do follow some safety protocols and I am aware of the dangers associated with lithium batteries and I do not take this lightly

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Time to button up the high voltage section....which means all the transfer switch connections for VGA need to be completed..... There was no real pretty way to do this, but thankfully they're out of sight. Enjoy the view, because unless something majorly fails, this should never need to be opened again!







The Sub-D connector in this shot is for the external display. It will have to be used with a gender changer and additional cable. No biggie.



Now for the first time in a couple years, the Dolby cabinet is reunited with its cover. When the Dolby unit was original, this would have been the top lid. It's now the bottom.





Turned upright and internal display installed. I probably could have gotten away with flushmounting the display, but the pedistal makes it far more viewable.



The test bed, power for all standard form-factor boards. I do have a ATX to AT adapter dongle, it's just not shown.



Rear shot. The opening where the VGA cables enter the test bed will be remedied in time, it's quite clumsy & unsightly....but poses no functionality issues....so it's not urgent.



Now for the mess!! I was on janitor duty during some of the testing steps....









This pail was nearly empty when I started the entire wiring process!



The pinouts. I am not erasing this yet. I still have to put this all down on paper. I will also make a 'legend', so knowing blindly what meters & lights do what aren't an issue. In time I will make proper lettering & decals for meters, switches, buttons, and lights.



Much better!! If you are wondering what that unused power cord is coming out the back, that was for when this unit was to have a rear mounted display. I left the cord there just incase things change later, I can add one easily.



Now for some on-the-fly mod fun. I tested nearly a dozen different boards with no real issues.... I was comfortable putting something a bit more valuable in there this time....big eATX Supermicro X9DAi eATX board.....first board I encountered that doesn't follow the standard standoff pattern. Pulling standoffs and moving them every time for non-standard boards is silly....so here was a better solution.

Cut some thin wooden strips that are ~3/16" thicker than the height of the standoffs. and marked them for standoff locations. I then drilled them out, using the standoffs so everything stays put. These risers simply lift up and store away when not needed....but nice to have them when I do!



Now she sits in there....snug but fits.





Big daddy board fired right up.



memtesting. I have nearly 1TB of these 16gb PC3-12800R modules to test. This will get some hours packed on this machine, it takes about ~12hrs for it to run a fully loaded board (holds 16) @ 256gb per run....and then if there's a failure, the time to weed out the bad one.



Memtest is also entertaining on the ammeters. Different tests creat different loads.



...and there it is... A couple years work is now usable!



It is not finished, still odds & ends....but at this point it is now usable and will be commissioned in the shop for use. I will leave it on the island table for now, I am not going to add it to the rack for a while....I want to make sure it won't need to ever come back out again. This thing fully assembled is VERY heavy and cumbersome. I don't really want to have to move it around once in installed in the rack....but it'll function just fine on the table. Another big question mark is KVM - ala keyboard/mouse. There will be quite a few things in this rack when its all done....I really don't want a bunch of keyboards/mice in there....but KVM's can be fickle sometimes.... I wonder if there's a PS2 to USB adapter....I've never gone that way with one before...

There's a few members here that directly and indirectly had a hand in the development, I wanted to say thanks!! Particularly Ratdude, Momaka, KC8ADU, and Hondaman! You fellas are the best!

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Today marked Pat's first 'paying customer'!!

A customer's Abit VH6T that needed recapping. I am seeing more and more vintage hardware that is being rescued & restored for retro gamers and the like. The GPU is a tester of mine though.

Fresh caps!



Bios screen.



That's what the 'T' is for in the model number; Support for Tualatin CPU's.



Another 5v heavy board, but no issues!



Back to my stuff....256gb of RAM testing....



I made one little revision today. The rear fans were blowing inward; as earlier in the design, it was not intended to be enclosed. With the lid closed the flow isn't that great inspite of those high speed fans. Solution was to simply turn them around. Much better draw and resulting in cooler hardware.

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Testing phase of this is pretty much complete. Now for it to perform a task that's been building for a while....wiping some old IDE & SCSI drives. The 'diskwashers' do not contain IDE or SCSI interfaces; only SATA and SAS....as I rarely encounter IDE or SCSI much these days. I chose this board (370DL3 from cheap scores thread) as it needed to be tested after recapping (tested out ok). It also contains both interfaces; SCSI and IDE. A couple of IDE's got it first.



50-pin and 68-pin SCSI.



Trusty DBAN... Not the fastest IDE interface I had here to use....but it'll give the machine some good hours in valid runtime. It currently has ~45 hours on it testing random things.



I made cheater tags for the ammeters....as when testing, I was always glancing over at the whiteboard for what meter is what....

Running DBAN doesn't create a lot of draw apparently considering the load averages....when I was testing the CPU & MEMTEST, the 5V rail was bouncing between 10~15A draw. 3.3v stayed pretty consistent around 3A



I also added a little something inside the test bay that wasn't there before....it was originally part of the Dolby machine.....e-cookie to whoever spots it...

[ratdude747]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

I also added a little something inside the test bay that wasn't there before....it was originally part of the Dolby machine.....e-cookie to whoever spots it...

Internal USB socket? As shown in this pic, upper left corner:

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Internal USB socket? As shown in this pic, upper left corner:

Observant!

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

The VGA gender changer came, so I tested and made sure it worked. No problemo.







Part of me is wanting to correct the TPU STBY LED that doesn't turn off when the TPU is powered up....but I haven't decided....but this thing is winding down and time coming to stick it in the rack. The machine already has 112 hours on it. Been wiping IDE & SCSI HDD's.

When this is installed in the rack, it will free up my 'engineering island' table; clearing the path for the next big thing (unrelated to this thread)....and if you thought this one was kooky, you aint seen nothin' yet!!

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

I can now officially call 'Pat' complete. I knew my OCD would not allow me to leave the TPU STBY bug uncorrected, maybe that's why Momaka has been boycotting the thread (disgust for me not fixing a bug ) since all this progress and no posts!! ....but I did correct it...it was going to bother me to no end....no idea why, something so trivial that didn't affect function in any way...but it's working correctly now....as the intent with that left side lamp panel; when everything is on and working correctly, there would be no red lights.

...and here we go...bottom cover removed.



What it took to correct this in the simplest way....



In standby....tested using the override.



TPU on....and STBY lamp OFF!!!





Didn't even have to tie up wiring, I fed the additional wiring through the existing looms & ties.



Live test with a motherboard..... Wax on!



Wax off!



Yes, this project is now complete & functional. Zero bugs & glitches! I did not make the rear blockoff plate, as I want to do all the cable routing in the rack first. It's an easy thing to make and even easier to install once it's in the rack. Installing in the rack is the next step.....but I'm tickled to say that this silly thing is DONE!!! The rack installation will be a bit of a grunt job.... Heavy devices...the 'diskwashers' have to be moved....and also plans for the master controller SBC, locale for it's display, and the main power distribution cabinet (still in dev)....but every added machine in the rack will be functioning (Pat and the 2 'diskwashers' so far)....the master controls will just tie things together and add a few more functions as time goes by.

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Now for the real fun part....installation into the rack!

First I have to clear a spot.....so out come the two 'diskwashers'....





These slides were not made for either of these cases....not sure what they were originally intended for.....but it wasn't this. The overall unit with these slides was actually a bit too wide for a standard 19" rackmount. I first removed the adjustable mount plates.



...and it still didn't clear!! I had to actually remove one of the slides from the machine!





That allowed it to barely get past the posts and into position, resting on the rails the diskwashers once sat on.



Slide reinstalled and fastened to the posts. This is where another issue reared its head. This is as far out as I can extend it; as the slides hit the posts on the the outward travel. The only way to cure this is to carve about 8mm off the rack posts in the path of the slide extenders. I opted not to do this as of right now. It comes out ~16" or so, working inside the machine isn't a problem. If I chose to later, it wouldn't be all that difficult other than the disassembly....I just didn't want to modify the posts until I'm 100% sure nothing will be moved or otherwise change....this mod would obviously be irreversible....



It closes nice & flush.



Now to reinstall the diskwaskers....





Time to start buttoning it up.



...and test it.... The KVM ties all 3 machines together to the same keyboard/mouse, but worry not....the wooden shelf it's sitting on is temporary. I still have other projects for the rack cabinet. The problem still exists if I am testing a motherboard with no PS/2 ports and KVM use. A USB can still be utilizes without issues, it would just create some degree of clutter when having to use one.....but it's manageable for now.

Yay, it powered back up!





Transfer switches working as they should.



Making sure all the wiring clears....no problems. Nothing pinches, snags, or otherwise causes any problems!



...and done for now...



The overall rack tower project is still a work in progress, but this marks the completion of yet another phase of it; and probably the most complicated phase. The 'dolby' machine is now complete!! I'm sure a little fine tune & tweak will come up, but it is complete & working! Even though the 'dolby' machine is complete, I will keep all additional updates & mods for this rack project in this thread; that way everything is all in one place.

This post will conclude this thread for a while, I have to get back to some other things....and everything is functioning & usable! For those that doubted it would be completed or doubted it would work;

[TechGeek]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

What about a full load run?

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

What about a full load run?

Already been done in beta. Definitely made the TPU sweat a little and had some dancing ammeters. I just didn't take any pics/video. Worry not, the 'formal' high load test is coming.

[momaka]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

maybe that's why Momaka has been boycotting the thread (disgust for me not fixing a bug ) since all this progress and no posts!!

Oh that sure was it, yup.

Been meaning to reply for over 2 weeks. Was just a little busy moving boxes, though (and mind you, not my own or family's stuff)... but let me not say anything more on that for the sake of the post's character limit (and in a week or two, things might get even more crazy as I start to pack + reno + clean some parts of the house... and likely will be like that until April... but I'll make sure to leave me some time to come here - the likes of this thread helps me keep my sanity in a little better shape.)

Besides, you know me better than that here - I can't just simply drop a one-liner "nice work" or something like that. When I sit down to read lengthy threads like this, I need to do it in peace and on a proper PC. And likewise, the reply needs to come from a proper KB. (Probably why my posts are so f^&** lengthy.)

I knew my OCD would not allow me to leave the TPU STBY bug uncorrected .... but I did correct it...it was going to bother me to no end....no idea why, something so trivial that didn't affect function in any way...but it's working correctly now....as the intent with that left side lamp panel; when everything is on and working correctly, there would be no red lights.

I'm the same way when my OCD kicks in about something.
I finished an iMac G4 conversion to a monitor last week for someone on CL, and it bothered me that when the screen was Off, the t-con would still draw about 3 Watts (no sleep circuit, or at least no one had figured how to do that on the internet, and I too couldn't figure it out, other than what seems like power would be cut off from the LCD when the mobo went Off/sleep.) So I spent... maybe a good 5-6 hours to breadboard, test, and make on a small PCB, a simple 3-transistor circuit to cut off power when the backlight went off... so that the standby power of the converted screen would drop to under 1 Watts instead of 3.x Watts. Silly? -Yes. But just like you with the TPU bug - it had to be done.

BTW, I'll post that iMac G4 conversion here when I get a chance to pull and organize all of the pictures and info. It's all still loose on multiple PCs and picture files not sorted or named properly (another OCD of mine!) All I will say is that it was one of the coolest projects I've done for a Craigslist gigs "customer". (And probably the last before I have to box up my bench for the move.)

....and if you thought this one was kooky, you aint seen nothin' yet!!

o.0
That reminds me... I have a few "tinker scraps" I have no plan for to use anywhere. Thinking about posting some of that stuff in the "For Sale" section, as perhaps some may be useful to someone for a project. My move is coming soon, and some of that stuff needs to go, if possible.

Now for the first time in a couple years, the Dolby cabinet is reunited with its cover.

Has it really been multiple years??? ... dang! Where does time go!

Now for some on-the-fly mod fun. I tested nearly a dozen different boards with no real issues.... I was comfortable putting something a bit more valuable in there this time....big eATX Supermicro X9DAi eATX board.....first board I encountered that doesn't follow the standard standoff pattern. Pulling standoffs and moving them every time for non-standard boards is silly....so here was a better solution.

Cut some thin wooden strips that are ~3/16" thicker than the height of the standoffs. and marked them for standoff locations. I then drilled them out, using the standoffs so everything stays put. These risers simply lift up and store away when not needed....but nice to have them when I do!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1676251795

Simple, yet effective. Nice!

Memtest is also entertaining on the ammeters. Different tests creat different loads.

Would be interesting when you get to testing a machine with a high-power GPU and running it through a game rather than benching software. I've noticed, through my own tests with my Kill-A-Watt (yeah, I know, my test setup is sooo noobish compared to this ) that different parts of a game can really really change the power draw on the GPU (and for more modern games, also the CPU too.)

but KVM's can be fickle sometimes.... I wonder if there's a PS2 to USB adapter....I've never gone that way with one before...

As in, convert a USB keyboard and mouse to PS/2??
If that's the goal, some old Dell and HP peripherals from the mid-2000's were made to be cross-compatible with both USB and PS/2 protocol. Just need a passive USB to PS/2 adapter to work. IIRC, the mouse that came with my family's Dell Dimesion 3000 is like this. I can look up the model # if you're interested.

The reverse (USB to PS/2 MS/KB) exists, of course. I have several cheap adapters that convert a single USB port to PS/2 KB and MS. The cheap adapters I work well, but with one caveat: cannot press & hold more than 2 keys on the KB (Ctrl+Alt+Del and similar still work, of course) and any key held down for more than 3-4 seconds gets released and you have to re-press it to activate again. The mouse portion works fine, though.

There's a few members here that directly and indirectly had a hand in the development, I wanted to say thanks!! Particularly Ratdude, Momaka, KC8ADU, and Hondaman! You fellas are the best!

I'm not sure how I helped with any of this (aside from cheerleading on the side, I suppose).... but you're welcome!

Switch 1 on, IPU powered up as expected. Since the 'cheater plug' was not connected, I turned switch 2 on; which is the ATX override, which turns the TPU on with nothing connected (or an AT board that has no soft-on). The red lamp indicates it's in override. The override control is powered by the IPU, this will function even if the TPU is off; which leads us to switch 3, which powers the TPU.

The 2 lamps next to the switch indicate the presence of -5v and -12v. The two lamps below that are TPU status. The illuminated red indicates standby, the green indicates PSU is ok. It will go out and the red below it will go out if the PSU reports an error, and start screaming. The red button next to the red lamp silences the alarm.

Nice! Just nice!
I love all of the functions you put in this... yet it doesn't seem like too over the top or obscure to use. Basically, every feature you have is practical.

Now to test with a motherboard....a junky old socket-a.....lab rat.
...
Alive! Meters are in rows, 1-4 are the top; left to right. Bottom row is 5-8.

Meter 1 = +12v ATX rail
Meter 2 = draw on the 4/8 pin +12v EPS
Meter 3 = +5v ATX Rail
Meter 4 = 3.3v rail
Meter 5 = draw on the 20/24 pin +12v
Meter 6 = draw on the PCIe +12v
Meter 7 = draw on the 20/24 pin +5v
Meter 8 = draw on the 20/24 pin +3.3v

...and here it is!! It's pulling 10A off the +5v rail, as expected for something of this era. Pulling nothing off the 12v rail. A few amps off the 3.3v.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1676175957

Sounds about right too, for what the board is doing. The few amps on the 3.3V rail are for the RAM and sometimes chipset(s) too - typically ~5-10 Watts for the RAM, and 5-15 for the chipset.

You know what you can use this machine for - matching an old PC motherboard to the "right" PSU for most balanced voltage operation.
E.g. socket A boards tend to use the 5V rail... so seeing how much one draws and then matching that with a 12V-heavier GPU, you can use even a crappy PSU with terrible voltage regulation, and still get very nicely balanced voltage out of that.

I still have some stuff to do, but IT'S ALIVE!!

As established a couple pages back, this contraption is a very overkilled motherboard testing/diagnostic & burn-in station. It'll end up in my big ratdude rack with other diagnostics machines; some already developed & deployed (logged in this thread) and some stuff still under wraps.... I won't be as heavily used as it would have been say 10 years ago....but I still see quite a few motherboards for repair....and tested them laying loose on a bench. Now they get to be tested in this magic machine.

Hehe, imagine if you had built this 20 years ago when BCN was started and you had all of those motherboards in for repair.
Even if not going to be heavily used today (at least not the mobo testing part), it's still nice to have. The diskwashers is pretty much a necessity given the volume of HDDs you get. Nice time-saver, for sure.

....and done!!!

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675742324

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675742324

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675742324

Beautiful!

When I test a board, I always poke at the ATX power_on pins with a screwdriver....the totally wrong way to do it....so I'll add the appropriate ATX buttons....

No, never.
OK, not never, I've done it a few times myself. But I dislike this method quite a bit. I have a loose power switch that I always connect to my boards to be tested. Need to find/make me a 2nd one some day for Reset, though.

Mains rerouted for the disconnect.
...
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675654754

I like that braided mains wire. That's something my OCD would tell me to do too (if I'm not in a hurry.)

Volt meter positives and ammeters. The ammeters cables are 2-conductor with shields, from the nissan harness. Gray jackets with a colored stripe, just enough for all 5 ammeters.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675654754

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675654754

Sweet!
I love good cabling like this. And the best part - you got it for FREE!

Pinout list is growing....

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675654754

Not the pretties handwriting you have there. But hey, it's readable. Can't say the same about mine when I'm in a hurry (or even when I'm not, anymore.)

splitting post here... wow, I ran over even the 15k char. limit! HOW?!

[momaka]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

continuing from above...

Now for the real fun part....installation into the rack!

Oh boy, I can tell this is about to be a grunt job - lost of moving of heavy gear, isn't it?

Slide reinstalled and fastened to the posts. This is where another issue reared its head. This is as far out as I can extend it; as the slides hit the posts on the the outward travel. The only way to cure this is to carve about 8mm off the rack posts in the path of the slide extenders. I opted not to do this as of right now. It comes out ~16" or so, working inside the machine isn't a problem. If I chose to later, it wouldn't be all that difficult other than the disassembly....I just didn't want to modify the posts until I'm 100% sure nothing will be moved or otherwise change....this mod would obviously be irreversible....

Yup, try it and see how it goes... and if it proves to be a nuisance, then modify.
Sometimes, no matter how much you plan stuff, at the end you just have to start using what you built to see if anything else is needed or not needed. Sounds like it'll be alright in your case, though.

Now to reinstall the diskwaskers....

What's a "diskwasker"??

The problem still exists if I am testing a motherboard with no PS/2 ports and KVM use. A USB can still be utilizes without issues, it would just create some degree of clutter when having to use one.....but it's manageable for now.

Ah, I think I see now - your KVM is PS/2 an so a motherboard without PS/2 makes the KVM not possible to use with that mobo?
If that's the case, you'll need an active circuit that converts PS/2 signals to USB. Not sure if I've seen one, but it has to have been done and posted out on the internet somewhere.

This post will conclude this thread for a while, I have to get back to some other things....and everything is functioning & usable! For those that doubted it would be completed or doubted it would work;

Wish I could finish projects with such resolve. Got some non-important back-behind-the-back-burner-furthest-at-the-back projects that have been sitting for years in various states of unfinished/disrepair. Only got to semi-finish a few of them now so I can pack them for shipping. Still got a few more though and not much time left. Ugh.

I guess all those years of case modding have paid off. I'd defnitely need an electronics refresher course (I'm very rusty with theory) and some more advanced schooling...and I don't know how well I'd fare in an academic environment at my age....the thought has crossed my mind....but for what reason/? A wall hanger?

Yeah, the degree would pretty much be a wall hanger for you at this point (for me, I use it to cover one of my audio amplifiers from getting dust inside it when I'm not using it .) You might learn some interesting theory behind the stuff you've already been doing... but that's about it. IMO, it's hardly worth going to a university to learn this stuff. Plenty of material online. The only thing the university does is it kind of organizes it all into a "schedule" / program... and you know you have to do it, because you're paying for it too. But if you're disciplined enough, you can achieve just as much without going to university. Plus, you pretty much already have all of the "lab" equipment that a university would.

In terms of how you'd fare in that kind of environment - that depends a lot on the place. Where I went for the first university (and quit because it was driving me absolutely insane), it was basically high-school 2.0 and the teachers often treated us as little kids. On top of that, it was just a terrible place. The 2nd uni I went to (and finally managed to get my undergrad) was much better in that regard. It had a lot of older folks from the military, and classroom sizes were much smaller, so the professors were a lot more... how to say it - professional. So if you happen to go to a place like my 1st uni, you'd feel really out-of-place.

I definitely appreciate the vote of confidence....but I did catch a couple of wiring goofs; which is why I check multiple times....but goofs none the less.

Considering the number of wiring that had to be done in this... project..., I think it's inevitable to not have any goofs. As long as you do multiple checks, though, that really reduces the chances of something more silly happening / magic smoke escaping.

Of all the cockamamie things I've made over the years, I think this one takes the prize. Been a lot of fun and perhaps a bit of functional tech art at the end of the day.

And I'm glad you've shared it with us too. IDK why, but personally, I really enjoy when someone shares the process of how they make something (doesn't necessarily have to be electronics related) and what personal touches they added to it. It's like a good story, IMO.

I settled on the wire to use; a cabin harness from a wrecked old 300zx. Nissan used stellar quality wire in these cars, nothing else I had here or could go buy today would even come close to this....I just had to harvest it.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675397187

...

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675397187

Yeah, this is why I also prefer to use scrapped components from name-brand CRT/plasma/LCD TVs vs. buying new cheap crap online whenever possible. Some older stuff just have really good quality parts that are begging to be reused. This 300zx harness is an example of that.

Pile of scrap....

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675397187

Be very glad I don't live nearby. I'd be like an urban raccoon, going through [your] trash cans every night.

I just tied the negatives directly to a ground tab on the chassis. Save clutter. The entire body of this is ground and nothing is coated.

Nice! Adding a separate ground only makes sense if you bought / have twisted pairs of cables (like those for the front panels in PC cases). Otherwise, it's just extra work and wiring mess to go around. So good idea there!

The schematics are on paper and in my brain.....but I will never memorize a pinout this large....enter the whiteboard that my wife graffiti'd. I've been working around it....but as the pinouts grow, it might meet the eraser.

https://www.badcaps.net/forum/attach...1&d=1675397187

Awww, that's really cool of her... and you to keep it, despite needing the space on the board.

I'm more of a pen/pencil & paper guy. Only problem is, I always grab the first / most trash paper I find in front of me to write stuff on... and then it becomes a mess quickly, lol - a mess that only I can understand.

I have done several live tests along the way to verify things are working as they should. Still batting a thousand! No magic smoke, shocks, or snapped breakers!!

That's how it's done - work a little, test a little.
I remember one of the classes in the 2nd uni I went to. It was a pretty straight-forward class IMO. So long as you did your labs and followed each lesson/class, the final project was just more or less piecing all of the labs together. It was a circuit with an LCD display for a digital measuring tape. The professor had a wheel with an optical encoder that would then interface with the circuit each of us build and test if the measuring tape was working and counting properly. Mine worked just the way it should - no jitter or silly bugs. I did run into almost a show-stopper goof while building one part of it just the day before it was due... but managed to figure it out in time. Professor even said the wiring on mine looked too neat and would likely run into issues with noise due to many parallel cables. But it didn't. Only parallel lines were the power lines. Signal lines were very short and I made the entire back of the PCB a ground plane - something that no one else did. So noise/jitter was pretty much non-existent with my design.
Now that was a really cool class IMO, despite me not really liking digital electronics. Half of the class did not pass, though, due to many not being able to finish or get a working final project. Anyways, sorry for the tangent here. Just mentioned it, as it reminded me of the feeling I got when I was done wiring up everything and it all "magically" worked without any magic smoke escaping. Many other classmates were not so lucky.

[Topcat]

Re: The (now the death of) Dolby DP600 Build (BEYOND COOL BUT PIC HEAVY)

Oh that sure was it, yup.

I was speaking in jest of course.

Been meaning to reply for over 2 weeks. Was just a little busy moving boxes, though (and mind you, not my own or family's stuff)... but let me not say anything more on that for the sake of the post's character limit (and in a week or two, things might get even more crazy as I start to pack + reno + clean some parts of the house... and likely will be like that until April... but I'll make sure to leave me some time to come here - the likes of this thread helps me keep my sanity in a little better shape.)

I still hate seeing you leave the US...especially for Europe with a potential world war festering there....but I'll stay upbeat here.

Besides, you know me better than that here - I can't just simply drop a one-liner "nice work" or something like that. When I sit down to read lengthy threads like this, I need to do it in peace and on a proper PC.

I was actually looking forward to it; along with critiquing.

Has it really been multiple years??? ... dang! Where does time go!

Yea, it has been that long!! I couldn't believe it either....I think it's one of the reasons I really wanted to button this one up. I walked in this morning and saw my development table empty, it was a good feeling....then to look over and see this in working state in the rack, even better!!

Would be interesting when you get to testing a machine with a high-power GPU and running it through a game rather than benching software.

I thought of that too....but I don't really know of any games that I play that would tax it.... Unreal Tourney and Q3A wouldn't bother this PSU a bit!

As in, convert a USB keyboard and mouse to PS/2??
If that's the goal, some old Dell and HP peripherals from the mid-2000's were made to be cross-compatible with both USB and PS/2 protocol. Just need a passive USB to PS/2 adapter to work. IIRC, the mouse that came with my family's Dell Dimesion 3000 is like this. I can look up the model # if you're interested.

Yes if you don't mind.

I'm not sure how I helped with any of this (aside from cheerleading on the side, I suppose).... but you're welcome!

It's always good to know someone is watching.....but you contributed the SBC; which will be utilized to run the master controller. It was shown earlier in the thread.

Nice! Just nice!
I love all of the functions you put in this... yet it doesn't seem like too over the top or obscure to use. Basically, every feature you have is practical.

I did have some other silly things in it early on....very early on....and when this shifted from some weird novelty into a viable piece of equipment, the silly things were removed.

You know what you can use this machine for - matching an old PC motherboard to the "right" PSU for most balanced voltage operation.
E.g. socket A boards tend to use the 5V rail... so seeing how much one draws and then matching that with a 12V-heavier GPU, you can use even a crappy PSU with terrible voltage regulation, and still get very nicely balanced voltage out of that.

Absolutely brilliant! I didn't even think of that.... Perfect duty to add to the list, especially for all the retro stuff!

Hehe, imagine if you had built this 20 years ago when BCN was started and you had all of those motherboards in for repair.
Even if not going to be heavily used today (at least not the mobo testing part), it's still nice to have. The diskwashers is pretty much a necessity given the volume of HDDs you get. Nice time-saver, for sure.

20 years ago, this thing could keep up, I'd have needed atleast 4 of them. Back in those days, it wasn't uncommon to have 5+ boards strung out across the bench, testing & burning in. Doing them one at a time would have been agonizing slow. Nowadays, one is fine. I see 3 or so boards a week for repair anymore...sometimes more than that and sometimes none.....so one testing station does perfect; whether it's a board just sitting on the bench with a PSU or the board in 'Pats oven'.

No, never.
OK, not never, I've done it a few times myself. But I dislike this method quite a bit. I have a loose power switch that I always connect to my boards to be tested.

I spent my whole career poking them with screwdrivers.....yea, I know....horrible habit to fall into....and I cringed at myself all hte time for doing it....but I still did it. Now I can do it the right way!

I like that braided mains wire. That's something my OCD would tell me to do too (if I'm not in a hurry.)

Yes, I braided the mains...and added ferrite beads. I was worried that intermixing the mains (AC) in close proximity to the VGA cabling that it may cause some interference issues with the VGA transfer switches. This has not been an issue; but I can not confirm if these precautions were the reasons why not.

Sweet!
I love good cabling like this. And the best part - you got it for FREE!

There wasn't a lot left of that harness when I was done either!!

Not the pretties handwriting you have there. But hey, it's readable. Can't say the same about mine when I'm in a hurry (or even when I'm not, anymore.)

My grandfather was a doctor....everyone tells me based on my sloppy writing that I should have followed in his footsteps!!

splitting post here... wow, I ran over even the 15k char. limit! HOW?!

Worry not, I still have to address your second post!!

POST 2 Response:
___________________________________________________________

Oh boy, I can tell this is about to be a grunt job - lost of moving of heavy gear, isn't it?

I didn't weigh this thing, but it's 60lbs easy....and awkward to handle....so yea, not a fun job.

Yup, try it and see how it goes... and if it proves to be a nuisance, then modify.
Sometimes, no matter how much you plan stuff, at the end you just have to start using what you built to see if anything else is needed or not needed. Sounds like it'll be alright in your case, though.

I think it'll be ok....atleast for now. It would be nice if it had the full range of the slides, which would have it coming out a good 3 feet; which is why the diskwashers went under instead of above....want to keep it bottom-heavy.

What's a "diskwasker"??

Ah, I think I see now - your KVM is PS/2 an so a motherboard without PS/2 makes the KVM not possible to use with that mobo?
If that's the case, you'll need an active circuit that converts PS/2 signals to USB. Not sure if I've seen one, but it has to have been done and posted out on the internet somewhere.

I don't think it would. PS2 KB is what triggers the port....like I said before, KVM is still an open issue in some instances with this....fortunately, most board still do have PS2 ports....but some don't.

Yeah, the degree would pretty much be a wall hanger for you at this point (for me, I use it to cover one of my audio amplifiers from getting dust inside it when I'm not using it .) You might learn some interesting theory behind the stuff you've already been doing... but that's about it. IMO, it's hardly worth going to a university to learn this stuff. Plenty of material online. The only thing the university does is it kind of organizes it all into a "schedule" / program... and you know you have to do it, because you're paying for it too. But if you're disciplined enough, you can achieve just as much without going to university. Plus, you pretty much already have all of the "lab" equipment that a university would.

In terms of how you'd fare in that kind of environment - that depends a lot on the place. Where I went for the first university (and quit because it was driving me absolutely insane), it was basically high-school 2.0 and the teachers often treated us as little kids. On top of that, it was just a terrible place. The 2nd uni I went to (and finally managed to get my undergrad) was much better in that regard. It had a lot of older folks from the military, and classroom sizes were much smaller, so the professors were a lot more... how to say it - professional. So if you happen to go to a place like my 1st uni, you'd feel really out-of-place.

That is what I am afraid of; 'high school v2.0'. I wouldn't do well in that environment at all. I like to clown around as much as everyone else....but in that kind of environment, my 'get-er done' mentality would be hindered and I'd get aggravated quickly...when my mind is focused on something just to have it 'taken out of character' by others acting like...well....highschool kids.....I tend to be short-tempered. Probably not a good combo for a classroom.....

And I'm glad you've shared it with us too. IDK why, but personally, I really enjoy when someone shares the process of how they make something (doesn't necessarily have to be electronics related) and what personal touches they added to it. It's like a good story, IMO.

It serves a few purposes....sometimes I'll look back on my own builds for reference material for another one I'm pondering...sometimes it's bragging rights (not many of those really, in modern terms I tend to buy 'trailing edge' tech)....but whatever the reason, if someone gets something useful from one of these threads; mission accomplished!

Yeah, this is why I also prefer to use scrapped components from name-brand CRT/plasma/LCD TVs vs. buying new cheap crap online whenever possible. Some older stuff just have really good quality parts that are begging to be reused. This 300zx harness is an example of that.

The ferrite collars/beads came from the sustain board harnesses from an old Plasma TV....those give off so much EMI, I knew there would be a bunch in there... I tend to fix Plasma's, I like them.....but this one had a cracked screen.

Nice! Adding a separate ground only makes sense if you bought / have twisted pairs of cables (like those for the front panels in PC cases). Otherwise, it's just extra work and wiring mess to go around. So good idea there!

Like the old saying goes; keep your pecker hard, your powder dry, and your grounds short...the world will turn!

Awww, that's really cool of her... and you to keep it, despite needing the space on the board.

I didn't have the heart to erase it....

I'm more of a pen/pencil & paper guy. Only problem is, I always grab the first / most trash paper I find in front of me to write stuff on... and then it becomes a mess quickly, lol - a mess that only I can understand.

As a rule, I am too....but on one like this; where it's taking a long time to build, I find myself grabbing my notes & drawings and writing other data on it....and before I know it I've got the notes for 7 different projects on the same pad.....creates confusion......so the whiteboard won.