SSD in a G4 cube? Here's a bracket!

[didius]

I want to upgrade my G4 cube and put a SSD drive in it.

Fitting the drive and it's SATA-IDE adapter isn't that easy because of the Cube's compactness. Which led me to design a bracket, download it on thingiverse . It fit's the cube nicely, both bottom and topbracket.

PS: I also made an Radeon 7500 bracket for the cube.

 

[circatee]

...rather impressive that. And, it fits nicely and connects properly, too?

 

[Gamer9430]

I may have to do that! Get a cheap SSD (since the cubes don't support HDD sizes over 120GB), 3D print your adapter, and then I'll have a speedy and truly silent cube! What is the name of that SATA-IDE Adapter? It seems to fit so perfectly.

 

[didius]

@afctee: yes, it connects properly, I adjusted the design over and over until I get a perfect fit

@Gamer9430 : I've added a link on thingiverse, some adapter like ebay.

 

[CooperBox]

Now this really interests me in order to rejuvenate my 1.2Ghz Cube.
Must confess I don't know the first thing about 3D printers, but noticed a new store opened in town, specializing in this field. Had a brief chat to the guy, who confirmed they make one-off pieces for clients. Said that if I showed him the file he'd check it out and give me a quote. A somewhat similar item in terms of size was on display in the store, which he said took about 3hrs to make, and he charges approx 10euros (US$11) per hour.
A few quick questions:
i) Am I right in thinking that approx 30euros ($34) sounds excessive for such a 3D printed adapter bracket?
ii) Has anyone had this exact model made by a high-street 3D printing store? If so, approx price?
iii) Is there anyone here in Europe (or elsewhere) interested in making several in order to reduce costs?

 

[didius]

Now this really interests me in order to rejuvenate my 1.2Ghz Cube.
Must confess I don't know the first thing about 3D printers, but noticed a new store opened in town, specializing in this field. Had a brief chat to the guy, who confirmed they make one-off pieces for clients. Said that if I showed him the file he'd check it out and give me a quote. A somewhat similar item in terms of size was on display in the store, which he said took about 3hrs to make, and he charges approx 10euros (US$11) per hour.
A few quick questions:
i) Am I right in thinking that approx 30euros ($34) sounds excessive for such a 3D printed adapter bracket?
ii) Has anyone had this exact model made by a high-street 3D printing store? If so, approx price?
iii) Is there anyone here in Europe (or elsewhere) interested in making several in order to reduce costs?

Hi CooperBox,
There's a big chance I'll update the model a bit to make it fit easier. The connection with the IDE-connector of the Cube itsself is very tight. Using the 'smaller' adapters I should be able to make it an easier fit.
www.benl.ebay.be/itm/201401876931

As far as to printing services, I think "3D-printing stores" are really for professionals (architects, ingeneers, etc..) Hobbiyst can use www.3dhubs.com
There you can get consumer 3D printer owners to print your stuff, that should be cheaper.

As far to answer your questions:
i) I think that's fairly steep, probably they also charge a start-up cost. Depends on the material as well, PLA or ABS? (or other?)
ii) I think the price for a professional print would be pretty steep, it would consist of perfect edges, no printer markings on the print itself. In short: a high quality item (which looks stunning). A non-professional print would not have this 'perfect' finish, and be rougher at the edges, but who cares. The bracket is not visible anyway.
iii) Hehe, I live in Belgium If I would print it, i think the bracket would cost less than €5 in materials and electricity (mostly electricity). Could try to calculate it, but this is a gut-feeling-cost.

Remember the Parism brackets for another optical drive installment, it would be fairly easy to design this and make an open-source 3D-modal for this. Even the spirica heatsinks (for VRM, or graphic cards) could be transformed into a open-source 3D-modal (but those would have to be cnc'ed out of metal). To bad these open source technologies got a bit to late into the party. Cube modding would have been completly different if the 3D-printing technology was as develop as it is today.

 

[Dannyshing27]

very nice, I have a K8200 and a kossel mini printer so I may give it a shot!

 

[cube]

A proper bracket for 2.5" has existed for years, but it is not widely available.

 

[CooperBox]

Hi CooperBox,
There's a big chance I'll update the model a bit to make it fit easier. The connection with the IDE-connector of the Cube itsself is very tight. Using the 'smaller' adapters I should be able to make it an easier fit.
www.benl.ebay.be/itm/201401876931

As far as to printing services, I think "3D-printing stores" are really for professionals (architects, ingeneers, etc..) Hobbiyst can use www.3dhubs.com
There you can get consumer 3D printer owners to print your stuff, that should be cheaper.

As far to answer your questions:
i) I think that's fairly steep, probably they also charge a start-up cost. Depends on the material as well, PLA or ABS? (or other?)
ii) I think the price for a professional print would be pretty steep, it would consist of perfect edges, no printer markings on the print itself. In short: a high quality item (which looks stunning). A non-professional print would not have this 'perfect' finish, and be rougher at the edges, but who cares. The bracket is not visible anyway.
iii) Hehe, I live in Belgium If I would print it, i think the bracket would cost less than €5 in materials and electricity (mostly electricity). Could try to calculate it, but this is a gut-feeling-cost.

Remember the Parism brackets for another optical drive installment, it would be fairly easy to design this and make an open-source 3D-modal for this. Even the spirica heatsinks (for VRM, or graphic cards) could be transformed into a open-source 3D-modal (but those would have to be cnc'ed out of metal). To bad these open source technologies got a bit to late into the party. Cube modding would have been completly different if the 3D-printing technology was as develop as it is today.

Many thanks for your comments. Please keep me advised if you should update your model to facilitate installation. As to the most suitable, durable 3D material for such a bracket - PLA or ABS?
Regarding you last paragraph, it was only after 'googing' that I understood your reference to the Parism brackets. I note from the CubeOwners site that the particular bracket was offered some 10 years or so ago, and not surprisingly now marked sold/discontinued.
I'd also like to get my hands on a superdrive optical drive adapter for the Cube. CubeOwners don't appear to have much updated info on this since 2013, so would anyone have any idea on current sourcing for such a bracket.?
[doublepost=1470924093][/doublepost]

A proper bracket for 2.5" has existed for years, but it is not widely available.

Interesting. Any further info on current sourcing?

 

[cube]

I saw the adapter many years ago. I think it was a Taiwanese company, maybe more industrial-oriented.

 

[CooperBox]

Hi CooperBox,
There's a big chance I'll update the model a bit to make it fit easier. The connection with the IDE-connector of the Cube itsself is very tight. Using the 'smaller' adapters I should be able to make it an easier fit.
www.benl.ebay.be/itm/201401876931

Hi , I'd be interested to know if you ever updated your G4 Cube SSD installation bracket, and if it was a definite improvement. If so I'd be interested in purchasing one.
(I've been trying to give my Cube a little t.l.c of late, and an SSD installation is definitely planned).

 

[claesjanwolff]

I want to upgrade my G4 cube and put a SSD drive in it.

Fitting the drive and it's SATA-IDE adapter isn't that easy because of the Cube's compactness. Which led me to design a bracket, download it on thingiverse . It fit's the cube nicely, both bottom and topbracket.

PS: I also made an Radeon 7500 bracket for the cube.

What 2.5 ssd (sata, msata) is it you bought?
I saw several 120 gb ssd for sale with different specs...

 

[Arthur_Swart]

Just wondering what the current status on the bracket is. I live about two steps from then NL/BE border, would love to get one and revamp my 1.7GHz Cube. Will travel for a EUR 5,00 bracket offer...

 

[CooperBox]

I never got around to installing an SSD in mine for the same reason, i.e. finding a suitable bracket. The specific OWC bracket & adapter would have been phased out years ago.
Reading between the lines of this person's fix he probably attached the adapter/SSD assy with something like velcro. Your 1.7GHz Cube - like my 1.2GHz, will certainly have an added cooling fan, so it's not adviseable to leave anything hanging loose in the breeze.
If you eventually find a reasonable solution, please post it here.

 

[Arthur_Swart]

Got my hands on an IDE:CF card adapter that will take two CF cards. And I found a dual msd card adapter that slots into an CF adapter. So now I can use four msd cards that will attach to the same IDE connector. Given the 120Gb issue with the Cube, I am going to try and get it working with a single 64Gb msd card. If that works, adding three more will be easy. The speed will probably not be fantastic, IDE has its limits. But it will improve the overall temperature of the device and 256Gb solid state memory is kinda cool for a Cube. I think four 64Gb msd cards will do the job just fine, I might even go for the 512Gb video card I decided not to get a few years back.

 

[amagichnich]

Got my hands on an IDE:CF card adapter that will take two CF cards. And I found a dual msd card adapter that slots into an CF adapter. So now I can use four msd cards that will attach to the same IDE connector. Given the 120Gb issue with the Cube, I am going to try and get it working with a single 64Gb msd card. If that works, adding three more will be easy. The speed will probably not be fantastic, IDE has its limits. But it will improve the overall temperature of the device and 256Gb solid state memory is kinda cool for a Cube. I think four 64Gb msd cards will do the job just fine, I might even go for the 512Gb video card I decided not to get a few years back.

Are they also recognized as different drives or is it a more like a RAID?

 

[jbarley]

I might even go for the 512Gb video card I decided not to get a few years back.

Any chance of a link or a name for this 512GB card?
I'm curious and would like to learn more about it.

 

[Arthur_Swart]

Any chance of a link or a name for this 512GB card?
I'm curious and would like to learn more about it.

The 512 seems to have disappeared from eBay. Found this one: Ebay item nr 262696509186 which is a very nice 256Mb for only € 70,00. I'm fairly sure it's the seller that also offered the 512Mb card, I'll give him a ring.

 

[Arthur_Swart]

Are they also recognized as different drives or is it a more like a RAID?

Probably 4*64. You could make a softraid if you want.

 

[claesjanwolff]

I want to upgrade my G4 cube and put a SSD drive in it.

Fitting the drive and it's SATA-IDE adapter isn't that easy because of the Cube's compactness. Which led me to design a bracket, download it on thingiverse . It fit's the cube nicely, both bottom and topbracket.

PS: I also made an Radeon 7500 bracket for the cube.

Printed, fitted with the SATA IDE converter,...but the disk is not recognized (I tried from target disk mode), the jumper was default connected like picture above, I removed the jumper and tried again, but still not recognized. What did I do wrong?
[doublepost=1517402905][/doublepost]

Got my hands on an IDE:CF card adapter that will take two CF cards. And I found a dual msd card adapter that slots into an CF adapter. So now I can use four msd cards that will attach to the same IDE connector. Given the 120Gb issue with the Cube, I am going to try and get it working with a single 64Gb msd card. If that works, adding three more will be easy. The speed will probably not be fantastic, IDE has its limits. But it will improve the overall temperature of the device and 256Gb solid state memory is kinda cool for a Cube. I think four 64Gb msd cards will do the job just fine, I might even go for the 512Gb video card I decided not to get a few years back.

Did you get it to work?

 

[CooperBox]

I note that didius has not been around since Aug 2016. Pity as I would have liked to have seen any possible improvements to that bracket and a number of them 3d printed. Believe there would be a market for them, as the G4 Cube seems to be attracting a fairly regular stream of newbies.

 

[claesjanwolff]

New issues (alas)
After several months of trying, I gave up on the replacing the 3,5" 40 Gb HD with a 120 Gb SSD. I formatted the SSD from another mac with a SATA/IDE converter in USB to Mac OS Extended (journaled) and put the disk in my Cube, booted in target disk mode from a Mac OS 10.5.6 DVD iso, but the SSD is not recognized at all (both DVD and diskutility).
I have taken the disk out and using the same SATA/IDE converter plugged in the USB port in the other Mac (powerbook G4 running 10.5.8) and same thing happened - SSD not recognized at all.

Is there someone that have succeeded in this?

 

[amagichnich]

Which adaptor do you use? Some may not be compatible. Also the jumper settings might be interesting to know

 

[claesjanwolff]

I used two different adapters, one is listed in this thread and fits the bracket quite well, the other one is from OWC. Both were set to "Master"

 

[mode11]

Not a direct solution to your current issue, but I can confirm that the Kingspec IDE 2.5" SSDs work in a Cube, when used with a simple passive adapter to go from a 3.5" to 2.5" IDE connector. I got mine inside a G4 Pismo I bought; the laptop wouldn't wake from sleep with it in, but the Cube's fine with it. Worth considering if you can get one cheap, though an IDE to mSATA adapter and mSATA SSD may be a better performing option if starting from scratch.

I just got a £2 folded-metal 2.5" to 3.5" adapter, and used a sticky pad to attach the 2.5" SSD (they weigh nothing). And that was only really needed so I could retain the stock HDD cooling fin plate, for aesthetic reasons.