Setting up Mini-ITX
Forum: Hardware Talk
Topic: Setting up Mini-ITX
started by: Domhnull
Posted by Domhnull on Dec. 04 2005,15:20
I want to put together a Mini-ITX system. I'm planning to order the EPIA-5000 motherboard and a MOREX 3677 Mini-ITX Case and use a CF card with the IDE adapter. To do a frugal install can I simply partition the CF card and copy over the files from the .iso?
Any other tips? Suggestions? Thanks.
Posted by Domhnull on Dec. 05 2005,14:25
Well the parts have been ordered (case/motherboard/adapter from the DSL store). I've been reading as much as I can to prep for everything arriving. I had a question about the EPIA-5000 motherboard from those who have experience with the board, if I set up a USB Pen drive with DSL does it support booting from the USB? Seems like that would be the easiest method to get the machine booted up and then I could install from there to the CF/IDE card.
Posted by Domhnull on Dec. 05 2005,14:31
Nevermind, I found < John's compatibility list > and answered the question myself.Still open to any tips or suggestions of things I should do or keep in mind. This is my first Mini-ITX project so I'm learning as I go. Hopefully the monitor/mouse/keyboard I'm planning to use will work fine.
Posted by green on Dec. 05 2005,15:41
wish i could could provide tips, etc, but i do not have a mini-itx. however, it would be nice to live vicariously thru someone else if you could provide your experiences as you move thru this project. i'm sure others would like to hear about it as well.
Posted by Domhnull on Dec. 05 2005,16:05
Sure. I'll post more once the parts arrive.
Posted by doobit on Dec. 05 2005,17:23
I've got a mini-ITX motherboard and a flex-miniATX powersupply that will power it. I'm trying to find some creative way to house the little monster. I don't just want to put it in a box. I'd like to do sumtin kewl wid it ya know?
Posted by green on Dec. 06 2005,03:08
put it in a coffe can.
Posted by doobit on Dec. 06 2005,16:22
Maybe I will do that...as soon as I finish all the coffee 
Posted by green on Dec. 07 2005,02:20
put it in the coffee maker ?
Posted by faroutscience on Dec. 07 2005,21:18
A grinder may be good, as well. That way you would be ready to grind out new code.Jeff
Posted by green on Dec. 08 2005,22:56
...or grind up old winbloze CD's.
Posted by doobit on Dec. 08 2005,23:27
Naw, I want this to be a silent PC.My desktop already sounds like a grinder.
Posted by howard__ on Dec. 09 2005,14:46
When usinga completely custom case, what are you using for a power button?
Posted by doobit on Dec. 09 2005,17:48
A power button. I reclaimed a few accessories from an old, broken PC, including the power button, and the hard drive and power LEDs, and the reset switch.
Posted by matrulesok on Dec. 10 2005,11:41
I put mine in an old cd player case. i wired the play button on the front to the start button. Main problem with it I think is lack of ram and possible overheating. I cant tell if it is overheating or not due to no thermometer (epia-800). Lack of ram is easily fixed and will be in the near future.
Whatever ya put it in, just make sure ya can get the hot air out!
Posted by doobit on Dec. 10 2005,23:01
My board is the 6000CL with the two LAN connectors. I can't decide if I want to set it up to run DSL, or make a SmoothWall firewall out of it. The mini-ATX poweer supply has a fan, so I'll make sure to have some vents on the case near the heat sinks.
Posted by Domhnull on Dec. 15 2005,04:44
I'm online now with my DSL-powered Mini-ITX system. The case, EPIA 5000 and CF adapter came this afternoon. I put it together after work. It's interesting sitting at the computer and it is completely silent. At the moment I'm running off a USB Pen drive. I still need to set up the CF card on the IDE adapter. Thanks to everyone involved with DSL this project has gone smoothly.
Posted by Domhnull on Dec. 22 2005,03:57
Latest update. Today I got my new power supply, a PW60A designed for the EPIA 5000 boards and replaced the power supply that came with the Morex case. The new power supply has the necessary floppy drive connector for the CF-IDE adapter as well as a nice small form factor. I'd already formatted the CF card using my USB reader so that was set. I booted up with my DSL pen drive install and ran the GRUB frugal install script. It worked fine and now I'm up and running from the internal CF card.
Posted by doobit on Dec. 22 2005,14:11
Sounds great! I have a micro-ATX 150W supply.I put all of my stuff together on the floor (no case yet) and tried to boot it with the pen drive. I discovered the I have incompatible RAM. I didn't realize the VIA boards don't support buffered ECC RAM.
I'll have to order a new RAM stick.
Posted by doobit on Jan. 17 2006,21:40
I got my RAM, and bought a blue metal lunch box at Walmart. I put the whole thing together last night. It's very small, very cool and it works!. I have a couple of problems I need to solve, but they should be easy. The board recognizes the 1GB RAM stick as only 512MB, and the video has a lot of interference. I hope they can both eb solved by some settings changes.
Posted by matrulesok on Jan. 17 2006,22:50
| Quote (doobit @ Jan. 17 2006,16:40) |
| the video has a lot of interference. I hope they can both eb solved by some settings changes. |
Hmm - I have "interference" with my EPIA 800. I have used debian and DSL, but both are "flickery" even after trying various video settings (in debian - not much that can be changed in DSL). I am using a samsung LCD monitor.
Please keep us posted if ya sort it out - thanks!
Posted by doobit on Jan. 17 2006,22:59
I'm using an LCD monitor as well with the frame buffer settings of DSL. I know it's an X issue because the mini VGA driver in the BIOS works OK with no flickering.
Posted by doobit on Jan. 20 2006,18:10
The monitor flickering and the RAM problem seem to be related. I tried other RAM in it and it works with no problems.OK, I have more-or-less finished my first Mini-ITX project and here is the link to the photos:
< http://www.louddata.com/mini-itxbox.html >
Posted by brianez21 on Jan. 22 2006,15:21
Nice project doobit!
Posted by matrulesok on Jan. 24 2006,23:41
| Quote (doobit @ Jan. 20 2006,13:10) |
| The monitor flickering and the RAM problem seem to be related. I tried other RAM in it and it works with no problems. |
Hmm - tried lots of different combinations of ram (3 sticks) - flickering for all. My flickering seems to be cpu related - no cpu useage = flickering, full cpu useage = no flickering.....
I dont mean to hijack this thread, but id be grateful for anymore help/guidance - thanks!
Posted by doobit on Feb. 23 2006,20:51
The LCD monitors seem to be the worst. However, it was definately a -mostly- RAM issue with mine. It helped for me to fine tune the BIOS as well. DO NOT choose LCD monitor for monitor type, but leave it at LCD+CRT. Turn off every onboard thing that you won't be using. Make sure your cables are not too long and ground the chassis of the box, if possible. Don't use the full compliment of shared RAM, since you probably won't be gaming on this machine anyway. You can get full 65000+ color reproduction 1280x1024 at 24 bit depth with only 16MB of RAM dedicated to video. I got a Hami 8" LCD panel last week for this. It only really displays 640x480, but it's a really nice looking 640x480 at 32 bit color depth. I've also decided to put it in a silver lunchbox and add a little design detail to it, so we'll see if I'm the artist I claim to be!
Posted by matrulesok on Feb. 23 2006,22:42
Thaks for the report doobit. Unfortunatly, i think it is the ram, but another aspect of it - the epia800 only allows 8mb of shared graphics (unless I am really stupid!). Looks like its a mobo limitation.Nothing I cant live with, its just a little annoying!
Posted by doobit on Mar. 03 2006,22:46
my silver lunchbox mini-itx photos are up:< http://www.louddata.com/minihog.html >