tinfoil, whiskey, and computers

I bought some plexiglass and started making all the mounts.  It’s slow moving but is coming along well I think.  I think I’ve decided on the layout of everything.  The USB stick is small which helps a lot.  I am going to re-use part of the USB hub plastic case.  The part that gives it a nice face.  I’m going to paint it white to hopefully sorta match the Mac Mini chassis.  I have to cut through the back of the chassic but that’s it.  Everything else will be stock.  I am pretty sure I can re-use the Ethernet port hole if I get a coupler from Radio Shack.

Hopefully by the end of next weekend I will have it done or mostly done.  I will try to get some pics for an update.

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The last part arrived today, the 1GB USB stick.  It’s actually quite small and nice looking.  Hooked it up to my Mac Mini and it looks good to go.  Tomorrow or this weekend I will get some lexan and start mounting stuff.  Shouldn’t take too long I don’t think.  I might need to find that fancy stuff used to bond lexan pieces together.  I don’t think I’ll have it all together this weekend since I will be busy.  End of next weekend is realistic though.

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I went to the mailbox today and to my surprise I had almost all the guts for my Mac n’ Cheese NAS project. I got the NSLU2 and the USB hub. Now all I need is the USB stick. There is some computer guts pr0n after the jump. I gutted everything and did a test fit. There is plenty of room but I might need some fancy cabling to optimize it.

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Just ordered a 1GB USB stick for $36 shipped.  That’s pretty much all the parts.  Chassis, NSLU2, USB hub, USB stick.  The rest is making it all fit together, look pretty, and serve all the files like a pimp.

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I was looking for a good place to guy a USB drive today.  I thought of a cool idea, use an iPod Shuffle as the memory stick in the NAS.  It’s cool because, hey, more Apple.  It’s not that economical really though.   There are no good deals on eBay for Shuffles.  They are an awesome price for an mp3 player, but not so great for just flash.

I can’t bring myself to pay $50 for 512MB when I can get 1GB for about $35.  The more I type the more I am convincing myself to go with a normal flash drive.  It’s going to be inside the chassis anyway (I would have the Shuffle stick out if I were using it).

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Last night I did some searching for a USB hub. eBay really didn’t offer many options for a 7-port (the most common # of ports if more than 4) USB 2.0. I specificlally wanted vertical ports with the uplink port on the opposite side. After a lot of general Googling I finally found the Targus PAUH212U. (Why do products have such stupid names?)

This was really about perfect. It’s a brand name, so that’s comforting. It’s got 7 vertical ports. The uplink is on the opposite side to the ports as is the power. This is actually an OEM piece of equipment that I have found rebranded under a couple names. I picked it up for $30 shipped new in box from a seller on eBay. It’s the best price I am likely to find.

Right now the grand total sits at $150 and I still need a USB stick and some miscellaneous hardware for the guts (like lexan or something).

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Finally got paid and ordered up the NSLU2 tonight.  I got it on eBay for a pretty decent price..better than I found anywhere else anyway.  It’s new and sealed and the seller had like 3700 feedback with only 5 negative.

Once I get it I can start tweaking the firmware.  I also need to snag a 256MB USB stick, or preferably a 512MB.  They can be found pretty cheap though.  I am on the lookout for a decent 7 port USB 2.0 hub.  I want the ports to be vertical.  I’m off to scour eBay.

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Yesterday I received the first part, the chassis.  It looks to be in good shape and contains both the power button and LED.  I will have to find a way to hook them up so they become functional.  They have some kind of connector but I don’t know what kind.  I bet Radio Shack will have the proper sized receptacle though.

Next paycheck I will get the NSLU2 so I can start working on getting the software tweaked to do what I want it to do.  Though I imagine it will only take maybe an hour as I won’t be doing anything outrageous with it.  If I find a cheap 7 port USB hub I will pick that up too.

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