Ps2 Computer

[originalMouse]

yeah, so i'm trying to jam a full blown PC (p4, 1gig ddr, 2 80 gig HDDs, DVD burner, etc) into a PS2 case, and keep all the original functionality(and maybe make it play xbox too ). the controllers are not a problem, but the memory cards are gonna suck. i found the diagram for the PSX MC > PC conversion, and a link to some JP software, but i was wondering if anyone found/wrote a program for the PS2 cards.

when i have the project done, i'll post pics of the innards, and a link to the tutorial/where to buy list.

i have just one problem... NANO-ITX isn't available in the US until june 05. anybody know any decent retailers in europe/asia that will ship nano boards w/ p4 support to the US? or maybe an alternative that will leave space in the bottom half for a power supply.

if not, it's gonna take me till june to finish  <_<

wish me luck, i'm gonna need it.

[Aidan]

I wasn't aware that any Nano-ITX boards were available, either P4 or Via based!

[originalMouse]

they are in korea... a friend of mine is stationed over there, and he sees them all the time. they're kind of expensive though, and international shipping and customs would be a killer.

in the meantime, i've been researching 1/2 sized boards from the nice folks at www.axiomtek.com they have one that uses a P4 M, has access to PCI, and can use both IDE and laptop drives (perfect for using a laptop/slim DVD Burner)

the only downside is they usually sell in bulk. so i have to pay a little more. but not as much as the nano board... i could always just wait till pico BTX, but i think i'll buy the SBC82810 (PDF datasheet)

i had to call them to find that board. the guy who answered was like "Why the hell would you want to do that?!? just buy a regular computer!"

this is gonna be a kick

[phreak97]

i'd like to know how you plan to play xbox games on it...
and no, there doesnt seem to be a diy ps2 card reader around.. you'd do better to buy one and hack it in. also, why dont you go out and buy a 200gb hdd, if youre willing to spend the money on new motherboards and such, having just one hdd in this thing is going to make life alot easyer when cramming the rest in.
btw, if you take the case off a power source, it becomes conciderably smaller, then if you can find some alternative for the large heatsinks in some of them, theyll be smaller still. hmmm.. you might have a bit of work cut out for you if youre wanting to use a decent video card in there as opposed to an integrated one.. unless you want to go the full distance and put a laptop motherboard in there with something nice integrated..

[Guest_originalmouse]

there is a MOBO that fits in there, and uses PCI, but has a P4M socket... kind of weird, but i have to wait for a while. i put the PS2 on the back burner in order to work on a PC mod (read: full rebuild keeping little but the case) for my Octane.

as for the Xbox games:
since the xbox is little more than a computer with a stripped down version of XP and some custom drivers and hardware, any one running 2000/xp can download an emulator (i got mine from limewire) and play games just like the box. It works great on my year and a half old Laptop(1024x768 is my max res on the LDC, but i can play at 1600x1200 on a monitor at about 30FPS). (gonna use a similar EMU for PS2 games)

there wasn't enough challenge in putting a computer into an Xbox (it's already a computer.) also, the controllers on the PS are better.

[atom]

Those emulators last I knew could only play Halo.

[Aidan]

they have one that uses a P4 M, has access to PCI, and can use both IDE and laptop drives

3.5 and 2.5 inch drives both use IDE (as long as they're not SATA or SCSI). Laptop drives just happen to provide four extra pins on the connector for power. You can buy a converter cable cheaply enough, so you can connect a 2.5 inch drive to a standard IDE connector.

i could always just wait till pico BTX, but i think i'll buy the SBC82810 (PDF datasheet)

If you want small and you dong mind soldering, then you might want to look for SoM (System on Module) boards, which are much smaller. They're typically about  50% or less of the area of the board you linked to. Obviously being that much smaller, they're less powerful - typically only Pentium M performance. The Pentium M board I've seen is 114 x 95 mm, and included dual LVDS, Ethernet, Audio and TV out.

[atom]

Aidan: I know the kind of boards your talking about, but they aren't even capable of decent SNES emulation. I wouldnt reccomend it.

Other guy: So your putting this into a full sized PS2 case right? But you want to leave the PS2 still in there? Thats not going to work, the PS2's drive isnt IDE is it? But in order to fit all that stuff in there, you could take some Acrylic sheets (Home Depot) and cut them to act as a spacer in between the two case halfs. This could give you the couple more inches you need to use even  a Mini-ITX mobo. Thats what I would do, but thats just me.

[originalMouse]

So your putting this into a full sized PS2 case right? But you want to leave the PS2 still in there?

actually, i gutted it, and cut the original connectors off of the mobo. i got a PS@ controller to USB adapter, and wired it to the original controller plugs. i figured that i should save as much space as possible, and considdering the size of the PSU, i figured on 1 IDE HDD, and 1 IDE DVD rom (put the rest on USB 2.0 to minimize draw on the 12v rail, since i won't be using too much else on the 5v rail.)

This could give you the couple more inches you need to use even a Mini-ITX mobo.

i thought of that originaly. only problem i ran into is that the mobo would have to be in the top half of the case, and then there'd be no room for the dvd drive.

speaking of the DVD drive, does anyone know if there's an adapter to port slim/laptop optical drives to IDE? or even a pinout comparison?

i still have to think of a cooling solution...

maybe i should skip it, and build one into a NES... but that's been done. :unsure:  

[atom]

Aidan has already answered your question, re read his post. Since your gutting the ps2, you should have plenty of space! People have been putting computers in NES's for years!

http://www.logicsupply.com/default.php/cPath/21
for mini-itx boards in the states. Cooling should be a piece of cake. These boards often only have heatsinks and a single case fan (INTAKE!) by one of the ps2's existing vents should do it.

[Aidan]

speaking of the DVD drive, does anyone know if there's an adapter to port slim/laptop optical drives to IDE?

Yes, there are adaptors. The drives themselves are standard IDE, just with a funky connector.

[Aidan]

Aidan: I know the kind of boards your talking about, but they aren't even capable of decent SNES emulation. I wouldnt reccomend it.

You reckon a 1.8GHz Pentium M based system isn't fast enough for SNES emulation? That makes it as fast as the T30 laptop I'm typing this on!

[atom]

Ahahahaha Pentium M? I thought you meant Pentium MMX! Sorry, I thought you were talking about the DOS stamp boards that are the size of a baseball card.

[Alan]

I want to build one too,  what size of budget do you have for this project?

[Piratero]

how about a pizza box?

[originalMouse]

my buget, is by the seat of my pants. depending almost entirely weather or not i make bonus at work.

and the pizza box has been done too.

i figure a low end system could be had for like 600 (and a lot of soldering), or the best case scenario(sp?) system for like 1200 (figuring you have the money to shell out for a single 400G HDD or a few 100G mini HDDs, a slim DVD Burner, a USB TV Capture, etc, etc)

Since your gutting the ps2, you should have plenty of space! People have been putting computers in NES's for years!

the size of the mini-ITX mother board (standard) is too large for the bottom half, and even with a slim dvd drive, there is no space (vertically) in the top half of the case (considering the placement of the original drive). the height of the components on the board are too tall to fit between the case and the top of the drive... but hey, if i put it upsidedown, under the dvd drive, with a piece of mouse pad or something to insulate (and rig the living hell out of a mounting setup) it might fit... maybe...

i'll repost after i've checked the board setup.

[camuX]

yeah...  good work and all but i still dont understand why you mentioned an xbox emulator...  unless you meant playing halo at 30FPS?  why do that when Halo was released on PC and with full shaders and 16x anisotropic filtering and 8x anti-aliasing i get over 100 FPS...  6800GT, amd64 3500+

[phreak97]

for ps2 ports, why not gut a sharkport or something? or do you need a ps2 for those?..
also, would there be enough space to add the guts of one of the slim ps2s? that way you could still play ps2 games, if you put a flip top case on it.

[phreak97]

i came across this today, theres sure to be a motherboard here that will fit easily in a ps2, depending on the functionality you want. theres a p3 motherboard measuring 17x17cm, you might be able to get it in a ps2 if youre lucky, but it'd be tight.. you could actually fit it in a dreamcast i reckon.

i do not yet know the difference between atx and core, but if the core ones will do, theres a p3 ~1.2ghz which is less than 10cmx10cm

CORE modules are tiny, full-featured computers, providing a "System-On-Module" solution. They are designed for mezzanine attachment to custom applications through miniature high-density connectors.  CORE modules are available with ready-to-run packages for Linux, Windows CE and Windows XP.

sounds like itll work fine, even better maybe, looks like the difference for the most part, is that theres cables which go to everything, like the usb, lan, vga, everything ports, rather than them being mounted on the board. which is even better in this case.

theres a 1ghz mobo here, the CM-iVC3 which even has tv out