Hackintosh from old Performa 550 - Update 8/1 - Disassembled

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DuallyX

DuallyX

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2000
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While cleaning out my father-in-laws this past weekend, I was bequeathed with an old (1994) Mac Performa 550.

It still fires up and runs ok on OS 7.6, but while neat, that has limited enjoyment.

So I'm thinking of gutting it, retrofitting it with an LCD and itx mobo and a fair amount of HD space (for use as a home file server).

Here are some challenges I see:

- It's very yellowed. I've been trying to find out if there is any way to restore the original color, but it sounds like there is not. So I'll most likely end up painting.

- LCD options - I'd like to find something with decent resolution, but so far it looks like the best I can get at that screen size is 1024x768, since it's a 4:3 screen.

- Power supply. Does anyone have any good info on splicing power for the screen off of the power supply? I only want to have 1 power cable.

- Hackintosh friendly components. I feel like I have to run OSX to stay true to this project. Does anyone know of any list of Hackintosh friendly ITX boards? I'd also thought of using older Mac Mini innards (or just leaving a Mac Mini intact), but that might increase the overall cost of the project.

- Drives - I think I'd like to use a slot load DVD drive and replace the floppy drive with a card reader.

What do ya'll think?

photo.jpg


Update 8/1: Disassemble? Dead? Disassemble? Dead? Disassemble! Dead! No Disassemble Stephanie!

This was obviously the easy part. With handy PDF in hand, I had everything apart in about 40 minute. One lesson learned - 18 year old plastic is BRITTLE. I broke at least a dozen of the tension tabs. It was unavoidable, but I don't think any of them were too critical. The EMI shielding was tricky in a few places, but at the end, this is what we have:

photo.jpg


Next steps are to continue gathering hardware for the innards, and to get to work cleaning up the yellowing on the case.

There is a fair amount of room in there. I think I might take some measurements and see if an MATX would fit. I have a hair-brained idea of using this as my main rig, with the Hackintosh screen functioning as a secondary monitor.

Help fund my Hackintosh by buying from my FS Thread.
 
Last edited:
T

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
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Sep 15, 2004
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Lifehacker had an article about de-yellowing one's legos, I wonder if the same process would work here.
 
Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
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I've been thinking about picking up this board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128484

Onboard graphics are apparently supported OOTB by Lion (HD3000) so you could get away with using the onboard HDMI (and supposedly it's better than a dedicated 8400GS card!).

As far as the yellowing goes, check out the Retr0brite project:

http://hackaday.com/2009/03/02/restoring-yellowed-computer-plastics/

For the monitor, you might be able to squeeze a slightly larger LCD flatscreen in there. Newegg has a couple of 15" models that might work: (you can disassemble the case and loop a VGA cable back in)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824016136

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824138063

If you have enough room with the Mini-ITX board inside, you might be able to wire in a small surge protector - thus wire the LCD & motherboard's PSU internally and have a single cable coming out. They do make some micro-sized power supplies that you can do inside of the case: (uses a separate external brick like a laptop)

http://www.mini-box.com/PW-200M-DC-DC-power-supply

http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-160-XT

You can probably do a pretty decent setup for around $500 or so - LCD, board, PSU, wiring, RAM, CPU, DVD, card reader. That'd be a fun project! My G4 Cube has been in storage waiting for a project like this...if that Sandy Bridge board works out as well as I hope, that might be the ticket!
 
DuallyX

DuallyX

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Sep 6, 2000
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Retr0Brite looks promising! Worth a try before painting...

I may have an extra Intel itx mobo available. It is a Gigabyte, but I don't recall the model number.

I did think about enlarging the opening for the screen...
 
DuallyX

DuallyX

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Honestly, there will probably be enough room for mATX if I felt some compelled. Removing the tube will free up a lot of room.
 
Kaido

Kaido

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Feb 14, 2004
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DuallyX said:
Honestly, there will probably be enough room for mATX if I felt some compelled. Removing the tube will free up a lot of room.
Click to expand...

Depending on the size, the Mini-ITX might be a better choice - lower power requirements, smaller PSU, etc.

What model Gigabyte do you have? iirc the H55n worked pretty well with Mac.
 
Kaido

Kaido

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DuallyX

DuallyX

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Kaido

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
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DuallyX said:
Yeah, I should probably mention that I haven't built a hackintosh before, so the whole software end will be new to me as well.
Click to expand...

I'll give you a quick primer then: Hackintosh relies on 2 pieces of software to work:

1. Mac BIOS emulator
2. PC drivers for OSX

Macs use a Mac version of EFI, a newer type of BIOS. This is required to allow the system to boot up and talk to the BIOS of the machine itself. Next you need OSX drivers for the PC hardware, for example sound, networking, etc. Some parts have native OSX drivers (CPU, RAM, certain networking chipsets, etc.) but you need to scrounge for the rest. A lot of times it's easier just to pick up a PCI Ethernet card or USB sound card to solve the problem, if a driver doesn't exist and if it's not supported natively by OSX.

So it can get to be a bit of a research project and involve some hair-pulling, depending on how hack-friendly the motherboard in question is. Since you have an H55n, there is quite a bit of support from other people who already us it, so if you follow a guide and buy a compatible video card, you should be pretty good to go. I'd recommend just loading up an 8GB USB stick with the OSX image and then adding drivers to it, booting off that, installing it to the hard drive, and then installing the drivers to the hard drive. It's a bit of a tennis game of going back and forth between installing, booting, and getting the drivers on, but it's not too bad. If you like to tinker, then Hackintosh is a pretty fun hobby!

Sounds like a fun project. Good luck! :)
 
DuallyX

DuallyX

Golden Member
Sep 6, 2000
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Thanks all. If I get time tonight, I'm going to start gutting it so that I can work on the plastics and see what I have to work with on the interior.

If ya'll are interested, I can update the original post with a progress report with pics.
 
mmntech

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
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I'm digging this mod. Hell, you could even fit a Mac Mini in there and you wouldn't even need to Hackintosh. Not as fun though. :)

Just be careful when extracting the CRT. Those things pack lethal voltage for a long time after they've been switched off.
 
E

Emulex

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2001
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no kidding a broken hinge core2duo macbook cost like $200 . throw 3gb and SSD in there and it will haul azz.
 
DuallyX

DuallyX

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Sep 6, 2000
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Would it be cool or not to use an ELO touchscreen monitor screen? Given Apple's affinity to touch.... ;)
 
T

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
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Sep 15, 2004
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Excellent Short Circuit reference!

Keep us updated on your progress OP.
 
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