[Lab Bench Online]
EiED Online>> Building A Multimedia Home Control Center, Part 1
William Wong
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ED Online ID #13330 |
August 21, 2006
As you may have guessed by now, the setup and configuration of this system takes a bit of time. The end result is almost a completely wired house with impressive central control. There are some things I have yet to attempt such as voice control but that is for another article. Also, I have not completely switched over the HVAC support that the Elk it capable of handling but this is more a time consideration for me right now since I want to make sure I can still backup to the dedicated system if things don’t work when I patch in the centralized system. The rest is running merrily although the Sharp HDTV has moved onto another reviewer.
For now we move onto building the system. Once this is complete we have our PVR system. In addition, we have a PC that has access to the Internet and remote USB peripherals. Definitely check out the individual product overviews because I mention construction or use specific features I encountered while building the system.
Building the System If you have built a Mini-ITX system before then this part of the project is straightforward. If you have built a PC before then be prepared for some tight fittings. Everything has a distinct place within the Casetronic C137 case (see Figure 3).
The first thing is to open the case and remove everything except the fan and the front panel electronics (see Figure 4). This includes unscrewing the power supply board and the brackets that hold the optical drive. This makes mounting the VIA EPIA EN 15000 motherboard (see Figure 5) easier as well as simplifying the cabling.
Start by putting the VIA supplied backplate in and then insert the EN 15000 motherboard. It is held down using four screws. The motherboard comes with the processor installed so the only thing that needs to be added is the memory and the PCI riser card with extender. These are parts are included with the case when purchased from Logic Supply (see Figure 6). Only a single slot is used on the riser because the 3.5-in Western Digital hard drive sits where the second slot is located. You can fit two PCI cards in the system if you use a 2.5-in hard disk.
The next part to add is the Western Digital Caviar SE16 hard disk. This is first bolted into the drive tray that was removed earlier from the case. The tray is then bolted to the case using a single screw. The tray’s tabs hold down the other side. Attached the SATA cable and the power cable to the hard drive (see Figure 7).
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