Overview
For a long time, I’ve been trolling auction/free sites (Craigslist, eBay… etc.) for a Twentieth Anniversary Mac. It has been one of my favorite models for a long time, despite it’s less-than-desirable processing power, and functionality. I just thought that the engineers really went all out with the design. Sub? Awesome. LCD and upright A-I-O design? Yeah baby. Sweet sound system and TV Tuner? Great. Lets just throw in a remote for good measure. You couldn’t tell me that the newest Macs don’t incorporate at least one feature presented in the TAM into their designs.
Anyway, I was on eBay one early spring morning. When I saw it, almost mint Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh case with SCSI board. Currently selling for 75$. Ends in 2 days. I bid up to 300$ on it. (It’s out of impulse buy range, but it certainly was something I’ve wanted for forever.) 2 days later, I won it for 257$. Awesome. I just got a TAM case. But now what to do with it. Checking Low End Mac, it turns out that the TAM has a 12.1 inch screen. (Insert beard scratch thinking pose here.) The PowerBook/iBook screens are all 12.1 aren’t they? Yes. They are. And the idea hit me. That’s how the Twenty First Century Mac was born.
I started working on my mod when I had finally assembled all of the parts necessary to begin. Around August 2nd, I had assembled that very large parts list above. I had to order the front panel boards separately because they were not included in the original auction for the case. That’s why the price of the TAM case is actually 300$ and not ~250$.
I had the intent on making this machine my media machine, with the ability to do advanced tasks if necessary. Living somewhere where machine space is rare, the A-I-O design of the TAM was very desirable.
The mod itself took place in my lab, office, laundry room and at one of my jobs. If you notice the change in scenery for a lot of the pictures, that’s why. Each one for a different reason (laundry room is ideal for nasty fumes, office is ideal for montage picture taking. Lab is ideal for tool usage. And I was severely running low on time, and had to finish everything at work.)
The mod itself took upwards of 30 hours to complete. The total cost came in at around 900$. More than a late model iMac with much higher specifications. It was extremely worth it. The main cost problem, is that the case was so expensive.
Mod Specs
PARTS & PRICES (estimates in USD):
* Note: My HVR-950 Came With EyeTV Lite 2.0.
** (As far as solder goes, thinner in this specific application is better.)
*** (I'd like to thank Addonics for the extremely quick shipping. I had to rush order this part, and it came literally the next day.)
TOOLS
Before
This is the TAM case montage before any modification took place.
 |
 |
Process
Part 1 - Motherboard Mounting
Originally, the system was designed to use a 867Mhz PowerBook G4 motherboard. However, the design of the 867Mhz had the motherboard mounted on the bottom case. My friend aquired a 1.5Ghz PowerBook G4 with a dead DC-Board that I subbed in. The 1.5Ghz Internal “skeleton” is perfect for mounting the motherboard without the bottom case.
The original design of motherboard mounts, had two main struts that ran across the rear of the case. I recreated these struts by cutting the aluminum sheet metal in strips. Then I drilled holes into the strips where the threads for the original screws were. Then simply found screws that fit properly.
The skeleton of the 1.5Ghz was secured to the motherboard using the heatsink screws, nuts and bolts. The skeleton of the 1.5Ghz was secured to the TAM case using threaded screws at three mounting points (Lower Left, Lower Right and Upper Right.) Since there was no applicable point on the left side due to the gap left, I created a bracket out of aluminum to extend over and secure the motherboard. The motherboard does not actually sit on the two aluminum struts that I added, it’s supported completely by the skeleton and the additional bracket. Also, to avoid unintentionally short circuiting the motherboard, I taped the side of the struts that faces the motherboard off.
Part 2 - Battery and Battery Backup
Since the computer was previously a laptop, it had the wonderful feature of having a battery power management unit built into it already. All I had to do, was extend the wires on the battery connector to be relocated. It’s original location on the motherboard was inconvenient for my design.
The original PMU.
I de-soldered the Battery Connector from the PMU, using a de-soldering braid and my 20/40 Iron.
And then added roughly a foot of wire in-between the battery connector and the PMU.
 |
 |
And… (drumroll) it works!
The Battery itself is mounted into the case using aluminum brackets and JB Weld. Specifically, in the upper right hand corner of the TAM case there are two unused screw standoffs. I cut brackets to intercept the standoffs, screwed them in, bent them around the battery, and JB welded them to the battery. This made for a pretty solid setup. The battery connector was hot-glued in place, for removal if necessary. Also, make a note that I removed the aluminum shield from the battery itself, prior to taking the pictures.
Here’s a picture a bit further along in the process, but it shows how the battery is mounted.
(Battery, Card Reader, Hub and RJ45 Mounted.JPG)
Part 3 - Sights & Sounds
Two very important pieces to a computer, the speakers and the screen. Specifically, in the TAM it had a specially designed Bose system in it, with a subwoofer. For the sake of this machine saving more space than it did before, I decided I would remove the subwoofer from the equation. I chose the JBL Duet Pro system for great sound quality, not to mention satellite speakers that perfectly fit within the TAM’s original speaker points. The less I have to cut this case, the better. The screen itself, is verbatim the model that was within the 1.5Ghz PowerBook originally. It has improved resolution off of the TAM’s original 800x600 with 1024x768. Not to mention brighter backlighting.
| The Speakers Prior To Modding… Sorta ... | ... And The Speakers With All Of The Junk Removed. |
 |
 |
The first step in the amplifier modification process, was to unsolder the connections to everything and remove the DC jack. That’s exactly what I did. The next step, was to grind down the heatsink of the voltage regulator until it was small enough to fit in the allotted space in the case. This sacrifice meant I was going to need to attach a fan to the heat sink to compensate for the lack of material.
 |
|
Speaker amplifier with no wires attached,
getting ready to be ground down.
|
After test fitting the satellite speakers into the front panel, I decided that they needed aluminum brackets to make sure they did not come loose. I started by removing the rubber sound insolating material in the TAM case. Then I screwed large pieces of aluminum to the speakers, and cut them down until it fit snugly. I tacked the brackets down with hot glue, though it was not necessary.
 |
 |
| And rear shots. | |
 |
 |
The Original Screen Mount standoffs were used. I screwed aluminum brackets onto these existing holes, and they snugly held the screen in place. The hardest part of this portion was the alignment of the screen.
 |
 |
Part 4 - USB Enabling
My design incorporates a lot of internally used USB. Important things to pay attention to: Speed of devices, bus power requirements and short circuiting.
Part 4 - Step 1 - The USB 2.0 Hub
So, as it turns out, I had more USB 2.0 Devices than I had ports. Solution? Buy a USB 2.0 Hub. I had received a USB 2.0 free for some tech subscription… or something. It was perfect, it was a micro-style design which meant space saver. There was no true modification to this hub, other than that it’s case was removed.
 |
 |
| I epoxied it on the inner curve of the rear IO panel, on the left side. It can be seen there, here. |
Here's the USB 2.0 Hub with it's case removed. |
Part 4 - Step 2 - The USB 1.1 Hub
I wanted to have external USB. Since the computer (is completely capable of Bluetooth keyboards) it wasn’t mandatory, but for debugging… it is. I had a microUSB hub from RadioShack (at least 4+ years old), that I decided to masscre for the sake of rear USB ports, where the SCSI used to be. The rear SCSI/Power Button/Earphone/Microphone board proved to be extremely useful.
 |
 |
| This is the hub pre-modification. I did a simple wire extention, and sealed it with some heatshrink tube. |
Here’s the USB Hub after removing the ports that I didn’t need, and the connecting cable. |
 |
 |
|
And Here’s the USB Hub Finished. |
I ended up having to cut the two port locations off of the main PCB, because the Hub would not fit into the SCSI port area without this. |
Part 5 - Card Reader
Since I have no use for floppies on a 1.5Ghz G4 system, the TAM’s floppy drive area was going to go to waste. To fix that, I added a USB card reader. It’s a 12-in-1 that I picked up at Circuit City for dirt cheap. I stripped it out of it’s case, and JB Welded it so that the SD/Memory Stick reader side faces out the floppy drive mouth.
If you look on the lower right, you can see where the card reader ended up.
Part 6 - SuperDrive
Since the original cable for the SuperDrive in this machine, was all of 1 inch long. It’s impossible to use the internal bus to house the SuperDrive. I purchased an adapter (Serial number in the Parts list) that would convert my ATAPI SuperDrive into USB. The caveat to it, is that it requires a floppy drive PSU cable. I’ll explain this problem later on.
Addionics, (the company that I purchased the USB converter from) supplies you with a USB header cable. I modified the cable to have a Male A cable head, so I could plug it into my internal USB 2.0 Hub.
| Here’s the Addonics Adapter I received. | |
 |
 |
| And here’s what I had to do to modify the Addonics USB header cable. Very straightforward color matching. | |
 |
The SuperDrive mount was possibly the most frustrating part of this mod. The SuperDrive was epoxied to the top of the previous existing drive cage. I cut the case around the SuperDrive and used aluminum to mount it to the remainder of the case.
Here was my concept for mounting the SuperDrive. In my opinion, having the drive door slightly open, just enough for a CD to fit was the best looking option. The only other one I would’ve considered was having the CD Drive where the floppy drive was on the original computer.
| And Here is the SuperDrive test mounted, getting ready for epoxy. | |
 |
 |
|
Here’s the victory picture below SuperDrive mounted and accepting an OS X 10.0.3 Disc. |
|
 |
|
I chose a remote that also had a POV Mouse with click buttons on it. It allows complete control of the system, from 40 feet away. (in clear line of sight. Curse you IR.) It also has media controls, for change track, volume, play/pause, etc. It is USB 1.1 or above, but to avoid having to unnecessarily modify my USB 1.1 hub any more than it was already, I chose to plug it straight into the USB 2.0 hub.Looking closely at the left side of the front panel, you can see the IR module. The IR LED itself is actually hot glued into the IR window of the TAM.
Clickon the picture for an enlarged version, making it easier to play Where’s Waldo with the IR Sensor. It’s on the left side of the front panel, close to the bottom. The Speaker Amplifier is on the right, and is blue.
Part 8 - TV Tuner
The TV Tuner is another integral feature of the TAM. It’s ability switch into a TV at the click of a button (The TV Button to be exact. Who would’ve thought.) I used a Happauge HVR-950 for my TV Tuner. It provided good performance, Coxial AND Composite inputs. And it was compatible with my 1.5Ghz PowerBook G4. [The HVR-950 is actually the reason I dropped the 867Mhz G4. The 867 wasn’t fast enough to use it.]
The TV Tuner was mounted using Zip-Ties and hot glue. There was a modification made to the case in order for the TV tuner to sit flush with the composite cables connected. I have no in depth pictures of this sadly, but you can get a good look at the picture up there, for the IR Sensor.
In order to mount the coxial input (For a external antenna or Cable.) I purchased a Coaxial coupler, and used one of the TAM’s rear ports. (I believe it was the original Coaxial port.) I created an aluminum bracket for it, to avoid it being loose.
I did the same thing for the Composite ports. I secured them with epoxy. Sadly the Red cable went slightly bug-eyed on me during this process. I noticed it when it was too late.
|
|
 |
Part 9 - RJ-45 Jack
As it turns out, the TFCM gets terrible Airport reception. I believe there is an issue with either the material in which the TAM case is manufactured from or bad antennae. Either way, I didn’t want to have a computer without the ability to be tied to Ethernet.
I purchased an RJ45 Coupler and foot long RJ45 cable from RadioShack. Amazingly, one of the TAM’s rear port holes (The one next to the coaxial one, to be exact.) is the perfect size for a recessed RJ45 port.
I simply epoxied the RJ45 coupler into this spot (paying close attention to it’s alignment).
Part 10 - Power Supply
I had three power requirements. 12V 2A for the JBL Duet Speakers. 12V/5V 1.5A for the SuperDrive. And the PowerBooks DC cable. I didn’t want to draw the 12V for both of those systems off of the PB PSU, because I knew it would’ve blown quite quickly. I always prefer to have ample power rather than too little. I decided that I would use a large project box to house the power supplies. Consolidation is always the neatest option. The DC Jacks for both the Speakers and the SD PSU are where the Microphone and Speaker ports used to be on the TAM’s IO Panel. I also used the PowerBook’s original DC Jack, mounted on the hidden IO Panel. This allows my PSU to be modular, making it very easy to move around.
I dremeled off everything from the SCSI Board except for the Power Switch itself.
|
|
 |
| Here are the final products with the Rear IO Panel DC Jacks. |
DC Jack Tied To Amplifier |
For the SuperDrive’s PSU (Which is actually the PSU pulled from the RocketFish Drive Enclosure.) I removed it’s DC Jack and replaced it with a smaller one, so it could fit within the IO port hole.
 |
 |
I also picked up the 12V and 5V outputted by this supply, to power the case fans.
This was generally the concept and parts behind the power supply.
This was the AC Plug mounted.
And this was the patching process to use an original PowerBook G4 DC Plug. The Orange/Red/Green indicator helps a lot when plugging it in. Despite it’s low lifespan. And it looks a lot cooler when it’s lit up.
 |
 |
Part 11 - Bluetooth
This is really, a dead straightforward procedure. I attached the BT module onto the TAM case to the left of the battery. And tied it into the antenna. It was attached using Instant Adhesive, from Radioshack.
Part 12 - Case Fans
Like I mentioned earlier, the fans are dead silent. I chose fans that have a 10dBa rating, from my stockpile. With the case closed, it’s only possible to make out their sound if your ear is pressed to the case.
I stripped this little one from a decommissioned PowerBook Wallstreet. It still has plenty of life left. This fan was mounted on the heatsink of the amplifier. (See, I told you I would come back to it. And you doubted me.) The fan is tied to the 5V on the external enclosure power supply. (SD PSU)
 |
 |
The case had come with an original case fan. Unfortunately, the case fan was burnt out. I was lucky enough that the original fan size, was identical to a Pentium III heatsink fan size. This fan is powered off of the 12V from the SD PSU.
 |
 |
| Case without fan. | With New Fan. |
 |
|
| Load Testing With The New Case Fans Installed. | |
Part 13 - Front Panel Buttons & Keyboard
Remember how I said that the SuperDrive mounting was possibly the most frustrating part of this mod? I was wrong. The front panel buttons are by far, the most frustrating part of this mod. During this stage (2 stages from being finished.) I went through 2 PowerBook keyboards. Even after practicing my trace pulling methods on an iBook.
The front panel buttons on the TAM, are tied to system functions. Volume, Contrast, Channel, TV, Play/Pause, Stop, Rewind and Forward. Can’t forget eject. The only place where these functions were available, was the original built in keyboard in the PowerBook. But how could I map the front panel buttons to keyboard buttons? Well, the keyboard is a large grouping of IO gates. On and Off. Just like a button.
First thing is first, I needed to completely remove every single key from the keyboard, as well as it’s corresponding plastic hardware.
 |
| Gross. Previous Owner of This Laptop Obviously NEVER Cleaned the keyboard. |
Then separate the keyboard trace structure, white plastic sheet with rubber nubs on it and metal support structure.
Bingo. You’re left with just the trace structure. Be careful not to bend this sharply, as it will cause the keyboard to cease to function. Additionally, do not overuse the connector for the same reason.
Here’s where it gets really hairy. Without cutting any of the traces, you need to use your exacto-knife to split the key traces you want to use. You need to peel the plastic back a bit, and expose the two pads for each key. Then, using the lowest possible wattage soldering iron, solder a wire to each one of the key’s pads. I ran each set of wires to a breakout PCB so that I wouldn’t risk tearing them out.
Here’s the 60% finished product of the front panel/keyboard hack.
Once the key has been tested, (using another machine. I had my PowerBook 12 1.33Ghz standing by keyboard-less for almost a week.) it is possible to hot-glue the solder joints to further prevent tearing. I ended up destroying the traces on my arrow keys (for Forward and Reverse) on BOTH keyboards. I had to map those functions to F9 and F10.
I then proceeded to add pickup wires to each button on the front panel boards.
To finish I tied each button, to it’s corresponding function on the breakout PCB.
| Mapping | |
| Keyboard | Front Panel Button |
| F1 | Brightness Up |
| F2 | Brightness Down |
| F3 | Mute |
| F4 | Volume Down |
| F5 | Volume Up |
| Up | Channel Up |
| Down | Channel Down |
| F12 | TV Button |
| Eject | Eject / Stop |
| Spacebar | Play/Pause |
| Left | Reverse |
| Right | Forward |
I had some shorting issues, due to my misunderstanding of the keyboard’s common ground system. But eventually, I worked most of the kinks out.
The keyboard was an original iMac 2001 Keyboard. It was purple, and It very deeply clashed with my gold TAM. So I decided via inspiration from the original keyboard that my keyboard would be black. I took it apart and painted it. Pretty straightforward process.
After first coat.
Finsihed! :D
Part 14 - Upgrades
Newegg delivers the goods. 160GB 7200 RPM Hitachi PATA HD and 1GB of DDR266. (Since I ordered the HD and Memory before finding out [to my dismay] that my TV tuner was not compatible with my 867, I was stuck with the slower memory.) I ended up removing the 1GB of memory from my PowerBook 12 1.33Ghz.
Someone suggested to me that I upgrade the machine to Leopard and have the first TAM to run Leopard.
Here’s why I didn’t:
Leopard steals away system resources. The G4 and it’s graphics chip are already being pushed for the TV Tuner (And Live Recording/Tivo Functions) and it would’ve killed the performance. Leopard will also perform mildly worse than Tiger on the PowerBook. Tiger is great, it’s perfectly capable to run every piece of software for my machine, and run it quickly. The only possible reason to upgrade to Leopard would be Front Row 2, which is not enough.
Part 15 - Microphone
No Mac is complete without it’s built in Microphone. Originally I planned to use the TAM Microphone that was in the case. However, I decided instead on the PowerBook Microphone. I used the original rubber, and secured the PB microphone with hot-glue.
 |
| PowerBook Mic is on the left. TAM Original on the right. |
Part 16 - Sound revisited
I did not take pictures at this portion of the project. However, the sound systems were tied together in a specific compatible manner. First off, I had to calibrate the system sound level and the sound level of the amplifier since I knew I wasn’t going to have access to it later on. Also, I needed to solder the satellite speakers back onto the amplifier. Finally, I plugged a 3.5mm plug into the PowerBook’s Line-Out jack. I split the wires from that to go to the front mounted 3.5mm jack, and the amplifier input. However, the internal sound will not shut off when earphones are plugged in. In future revisions of the mod, I want to implement that functionality.
Part 17 - Power Switch
The original power switch is tied to the PowerBook power switch. And the PowerBook’s Sleep light is tied to the Power LED on the TAM’s Front Panel Board. Both were straight wire ups, although I had to use my meter to determine the polarity of the pins for the Sleep LED.
Part 18 - HeatSinks
I found the original heat sink to be quite ample for cooling the system. Since if anything, the space between components is much larger in this system. However, for the sake of having them available, I added VGA Copper Heatsinks above the GPU and CPU. As well as the hottest points on the Charge Board. This dropped GPU temperature by 1 degree Celcius during my tests.
Final Images
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
