Well putting an optical drive inside of the NES has kind of become a side project all it's own because it is not really "necessary" to run the box but does make for a nice addition. I guess to get started I will list what I used not only the drive but the parts as well.
Once you get the mounting right you can work on hooking the drive up to the rest of the PC. First thing you will need is a connection converter for the slim drive so you can hook your cables up to it. I scored one off of Newegg but you can get them off Amazon or where ever else for under $15. Below is the one I picked a simple one piece solid. You can get them in different styles.
The converter simply plugs into the back of the drive and then allows you to hook up your SATA power and data cables. For the SATA data cable I had one from another PC that had an L bracket on one end. This was nice because it allowed me to bend the cable down away from the drive sooner and easier than if it was a straight cable.
The last part is to get everything connected and jammed back into the case. This is becoming a more difficult task as I add on but so far so good. With some fancy tucking I was able to get everything back together and so far it seems that my temps are still holding steady. This is an important matter because with the blu-ray drive in now there is very little clearance between the CPU heat sink and the drive. I have come across one hiccup though and that is Linux does not play well with blu-ray disc playback. Although from what I have read Windows isn't much better yet. The drive is recognized and runs fine but right now it is easier to rip your disc and play the file than it is to try and play it directly from the disc. Best solution so far is you play a stream created by another program, but the playback I am getting from that is not optimal. It also requires me to be in Linux instead of XBMC. (If anyone has good tips please post in the comments.)
Next step is to incorporate an idea I have seen on the net and build a false front on the blu-ray drive to make it look like an NES cartridge is loaded and not a computer drive. I have chosen this game as the face as I like football and loved the game when it came out. How I plan to do this I have not figured out yet but the next post will hopefully have the results I come up with.
- LG (CT21N) Slim Blu-Ray
- I chose this drive for a couple of reasons. One is that it is slim and that is required because there is just simply not enough room for a full sized drive. Also I found the price at the time of purchase to be OK. I was thinking about going with a burner but at this time they are double the price and that function is not the most important.
- JB Weld
- This stuff is great but be careful when using it is very sticky and has a strong odor.
- Metal H brackets
- Not sure that these are really brackets but they were very handy left over parts from earlier work. I picked these up at my local hardware store with plans to try to use them to mount the hard drive but never used them.
- Dremel Tool
- Thought I was done with this guy but still needed it just a little.
Once you I had the notch cut into the case the next obstacle was to find a way to mount the rear of the drive to the roof. Reasons for this is to keep it from flopping around and to keep it off of the CPU heat sink as much as possible, but to keep it removable for any kind of maintenance, upgrade, ect... To solve this issue looking at my pile of odds and ends gave me an idea. I had these H shaped brackets that looked and after checking almost hugged the drive like a glove. So the idea that I came up with was to use them as guides/holders for the rear of the drive. To attach them to the case I used JB Weld and after letting that dry slide the drive in to a fit that I liked. Right now the drive is attached "screwless" but I would like to come up with some kind of pin or a screw to just make sure the drive goes no where. Right now it can be pulled out the front but doesn't wiggle around or move when in use which of course is a good thing.
Once you get the mounting right you can work on hooking the drive up to the rest of the PC. First thing you will need is a connection converter for the slim drive so you can hook your cables up to it. I scored one off of Newegg but you can get them off Amazon or where ever else for under $15. Below is the one I picked a simple one piece solid. You can get them in different styles.
The converter simply plugs into the back of the drive and then allows you to hook up your SATA power and data cables. For the SATA data cable I had one from another PC that had an L bracket on one end. This was nice because it allowed me to bend the cable down away from the drive sooner and easier than if it was a straight cable.
The last part is to get everything connected and jammed back into the case. This is becoming a more difficult task as I add on but so far so good. With some fancy tucking I was able to get everything back together and so far it seems that my temps are still holding steady. This is an important matter because with the blu-ray drive in now there is very little clearance between the CPU heat sink and the drive. I have come across one hiccup though and that is Linux does not play well with blu-ray disc playback. Although from what I have read Windows isn't much better yet. The drive is recognized and runs fine but right now it is easier to rip your disc and play the file than it is to try and play it directly from the disc. Best solution so far is you play a stream created by another program, but the playback I am getting from that is not optimal. It also requires me to be in Linux instead of XBMC. (If anyone has good tips please post in the comments.)
Next step is to incorporate an idea I have seen on the net and build a false front on the blu-ray drive to make it look like an NES cartridge is loaded and not a computer drive. I have chosen this game as the face as I like football and loved the game when it came out. How I plan to do this I have not figured out yet but the next post will hopefully have the results I come up with.
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