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iMac G5 portable notebook conversion

LarsG5

LarsG5

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 10, 2016
49
13
Hello,
since a Powerbook G5 is a well-known inside joke of Powerpc Macs community, I began to think about creating one myself out of an iMac G5 iSight 17" (A1144). The case is the last of my worries, I'm more concerned about how to get everything up and running in a portable form.
So, I've got a few thoughts and as I havent found any useful informations in google, I'd like to share my concerns about this project with you, maybe someone will be able to hand me a solution.

1. Of course the motherboard itself is gigantic, so first thing to do is to get rid of a DVD drive to save up space. Also 3,5" HDD must be replaced by some smaller factor storage device - I'm not sure if going to 2,5" will be enough - maybe a sata-micro sd adapter is the right way to go?
2. Power supply - I have no clue on how to replace the internal psu with a pico psu with a jack for an external power supply... Non-iSight models can be converted to ATX (I've seen one guy on ifixit who did that successfully), but the iSight PSU is somewhat strange and its pinout is a piece of damn proprietary bollocks... Does any of you know how to power this iMac using a pico PSU?
3. Battery - If there's enough space, I'd also like to install a battery inside - does any of you think it's even possible to solder a battery interface to this motherboard?
4. The casing itself. I was thinking about using a dead Powerbook G4 17' case, but i hiiiiiiiighly doubt it's possible - iMacs mobo seems to be simply too big itself, not mentioning HDD and pico psu inside.
5. Heat problem - even if I can manage to overcome all of the problems from above, I'm somewhat worried the mobo could literally melt inside a notebook case - what do you think?

Have a great evening and I hope to start an interesting conversation.
 
I actually love the idea of a briefcase computer. A full, working desktop you just close the lid on and then shove under the bed or sling in a cupboard out of sight. Yes you can kind of do that with a laptop but you have the battery to care for/maintain plus the trailing power brick and you can't sling a laptop anywhere - it has to be carefully placed...well apart from a Panasonic Toughbook.
Actually, that would be equally fun - a Powerbook rehoused in a hardened, weatherproofed case...a PowerPC 'Ardbook :)
 
Ideally, you would want an external power brick to keep the noise levels down. Finding one capable of powering the logic board and an LCD screen might be a bit tricky.
 
Dronecatcher said:
I actually love the idea of a briefcase computer. A full, working desktop you just close the lid on and then shove under the bed or sling in a cupboard out of sight. Yes you can kind of do that with a laptop but you have the battery to care for/maintain plus the trailing power brick and you can't sling a laptop anywhere - it has to be carefully placed...well apart from a Panasonic Toughbook.
Actually, that would be equally fun - a Powerbook rehoused in a hardened, weatherproofed case...a PowerPC 'Ardbook :)
Click to expand...

Or even better could be a PowerBook -> Briefcase adapter.

1. The briefcase top half houses a 19, 21, 23" (or whatever is a snug fit) off the shelf wide-screen flat-panel display with the base removed. Add a covering screen bezel and weatherproof silicon seal around the screen's perimeter.
2. An internal shock-resistant frame is built to support the existing Powerbook or MacBook/MBP when in closed "clamshell" mode. Under the 'book is room to support the Mac and display's power adapter connected to a circuit breaker. A weatherproof female outlet could be core drilled through the side of the case to externally power by just plugging in an extension lead.
3. Add side ventilation with weatherproof meshing allowing crossflow of air and reducing water damage from spills or puddles when closed.
4. Install multiple internal USB powered cooling fans.
5. On a panel covering the closed 'book, install/embed a USB or wireless keyboard with a waterproof silicone cover.
6. Embed a wireless Apple trackpad, silicon seal up the gaps.

You now have the ultimate outdoor, weatherproof, gig-ready, rain-ready (beer-proof?) portable Mac!

Close it up and unplug from the mains and you're ready to go. The Mac goes to sleep when it's ready and the screen doesn't care about being yanked from the power supply.

When you want to take the 'book out, the weatherproof top cover opens up, disconnect power, DVI/VGA/Mini-DP and USB and you've got your laptop again.
 
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Dronecatcher said:
Actually, this would probably be easier with a Mac Mini...surprised no one hasn't done it yet.
EDIT: Er, actually :

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2006/11/21/peter-greens-modded-macs.html

http://stepanoff.org/wordpress/2006/04/20/portable-macmini/

Last time I had a Panasonic Toughbook CF-29 I tried to Hackintosh it but got nowhere - that would've been my ideal laptop....
Click to expand...

At my last day job, I was tasked to design a series of boxed units like these using Intel NUCs (very Mac mini-like machines), combined with UPS and proprietary water-analysis/probing hardware. Our crew traveled out remotely to the top-end/cape of Australia and the surrounding islands in the Torres Strait to install and configure. Think harsh Aussie heat and suffocating red dust, combined with monsoonal tropical weather. The units needed to be both weather-resistant, cool-running and reliable. The boxes linked up with 3G dongles for us to remotely monitor and we could report and dose water/chemical balances from the office.

Those boxes worked well enough, so I can't see it being very difficult to do something like the "BriefBook" as a performance/gigging unit. I like the laptop idea though because of the built-in lightweight UPS (battery), so in the event someone kicks out a power lead while jumping around on stage, the show still goes on. Nearly all of it would be off the shelf hardware, with minimal modification to wiring, etc.

I think the MacBook 13" would be the ideal candidate and form-factor as a rig for running Ableton, Reason and a host of NI plugins. In addition, hooking up a basic USB Audio/MIDI I/O with ports accessible externally by the power outlet would mean everything just clicks together, no messing around and damaging ports/dongles, etc.

I might even attempt a build...
 
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