if you have several to house then i wonder if this might be usful.

http://www.eclipsecomputers.com/product ... CAH-MCE-SI
£39.95
£46.94 inc.VAT
"The smallest mATX case in production. This slimline desktop media case is as small as a stand alone DVD player. This case would make the perfect solution for a media center PC system. AMD have approved this case, showing the high quality that this case delivers.


The only SFF validated by AMD

Media case features:
Slim line optical drive to desktop IDE adaptor
1 x FireWire
4 x Front USB connectors
2 x 20pin rounded IDE cables

Media case Specification:
Dimension (266 x 430 x 53)mm, only 53mm high!
Net weight approximately 2.5kg

Proprietary 200W PSU:
200W true power PSU
2 x Molex cables
1 x SATA cable
1 x FDD cable connector

PSU Specification:
Maximum output 200W
+3.3V & + 5V = 61W max
+3.3V & + 5V & + 12V = 180W max

Note: Due to the slim height of this case a low profile CPU cooler should be used. Also if any extra card are to be used then a riser card should be used."

Did you already buy one for your EFIKA ?
Does the board fit perfectly inside ?

Atm I don't know which case to buy. All the case I've seen are expensive and quite big...

http://www.hipergroup.com/English/produ ... 1x53x.html

There's the main product page.

Unfortunately, this case would have to go through significant modification to house Efika boards. We have a totally non-standard form factor :)

A larger but I think more intriguing idea for installing multiple Efika boards would be to grab a standard PC case, get some ATX-power Y cables, and fit your Efikas into the drive bays. In a server tower that's 7 Efikas.

It would probably be cheaper than the 35 UKP for the media center case (or any case) to measure up, buy the metal pre-cut, a few throwaway discount tools from your local DIY store, and make a custom chassis for housing that many.

_________________
Matt Sealey

and that's a serious problem

The EFIKA fits nicely in external 5.25 inch drive bays which are available at very attractive prices compared to NanoITX or good MiniITX cases. It is true that a few modifications will be required if you want your EFIKA to fit perfectly inside your case, however.

The most interesting thing about the 5.25 inch drive bays is that you can stack several cases on top of each other depending on your exact requirements for USB driven devices. This is a very flexible approach and enables an almost unlimited amount of expandability options.

Example picture: http://www.raidsonic.de/de/data/product ... cDet02.jpg

taken from the Efika manual :

??? ;-)

i dont think 'non-standard form factor' is the problem.

its the fact that noone seems to be gearing up (or even thought about this obvious need)a production run of some simple conversion kits that can take these Efika and place them into any off the shelf frame, be it standard external harddrive units, cases as neko and i point out or any combination of above.

for instance i followed the main product page to find this ohh so sweet :lol: living room case
http://www.hipergroup.com/English/produ ... 53a_1.html


now that would be a really nice thing if it was scaled to the efika size or perhaps housing two even, but it doesnt exist.....

would they be willing to manufacture some i wonder? and at what cost per run/unit

following that through, you find this
http://www.hipergroup.com/English/produ ... 53a_2.html
and especially this
http://www.hipergroup.com/English/produ ... 53a_3.html
so you can buy and convert much of what you want and have it working , now thats thinking the thing through and making it simple to choose them as your supplyer.

is there NO Power member or associate that can run up some conversion units at a profit and scale it up to a far greater product if the need arises here ?.

it doesnt need to be anything great, just some plasic injection molded units that can clip together and make an Efika or 3 (plus gfx card raiser)fit a class of standard box (i vote the black box above LOL), lego style if you like......

ASiegel
highlight your full jpg url and click the img button to place tags around it to have it display as mine..
they look very nice BTW, but again, does a mini standard power unit also fit into these type boxs?.

http://www.hipergroup.com/English/reviews.html
im sure there are masses of old unused/unsold low power units that are perfectly suited to powering the Efika that manufacturers such as above have in storage somewere, so it may be that if they are asked about supplying these and moded to our needs then it seems logical that they might be willing to give a really good price....

we are/were trying to make a new standard in a professional marketplace iv always assumed?, not rely on the one off modding elite to take the Efika products and give it somewere nice to live?.

as for the 'ATX-power Y cables' i once again went looking for these and they are not exactly easy to source from your local computer shop, and maplins dont even seem to have any, or the parts to make your own one off DIY right now....

i also went looking for the 'DC-DC to ATX' converters as a standard part and it appears that some are made for the automotive industry but not as a simple thing to source should you want to develop an Efika (or any ATX motherboard for that matter) for your mobile needs...

as for the price, anyones guess
http://www2.multithread.co.uk/files/DCX3.pdf

i still think its a shame that Efika didnt have the needed parts onboard to take a simple standard single external DC power plug, it would make the end result so much better and easyer to market to the home users looking to put something in their cars, sure an inverter with bulky ATX supply will work for a quick fix but it takes a lot more juice inverting that way.

and nothing reasonable seems available at a good end cost.

perhaps a car radio type box (and matching mount bracket) with the needed DC-DC to ATX circuit can be found as a standard part?, if so i cant find one, anyone got any info as regards that option?.

perhaps theres a perfect new product right there for some power members and associates.

take my old removable IDe drive bay type idea, make a new injection molded case/converter with the required DC-DC to ATX circuit at the back, mold the nice black (so i like black LOL)case sides to a beveled concave inverted V type slider shape and the matching bay takes that nice and tight.

supply one case and 2 bays per pack and you have and instant plug it in on the desk and pull it out to take with you re-insert into the second unit in your car and off you go again.

each bay can have cheap standard ZIF/spring loaded copper connectors, power, video (composite/vga/whatever) and sound connections.

so it becomes ever so easy to plug and play or better AutoConfig LOL, and you have a far better easy hit with the punters, as its an all in one option that can go anywere.....

(wireless chip as standard would have been good too)

just one example of how this should have been done already, and im suprised i had to restate this obvious thing.....

Yup, I guess some conversion kit is possible. It's something I can look at when I receive my board.

Neko : is it possible to have the form factor scheme of the board plz ? (with dimensions and distances of the holes)

@Mind of illusion:
See this thread :
http://www.powerdeveloper.org/forums/vi ... php?t=1033

and this website : http://www.efika.info for more information.

Hi All
I'm already in contact with a professional case builder in the uk. Once I get my project board :D I've arranged to take it to them for them to measure up and give me a price for cases.
Of course, it would help if I knew how many people would be interested in buying one....
might get the price down too.
:D
I'll keep you posted/

I'd be interested. Once you get those prices, please pm or post them here.

good , thats the way to progress.

by 'professional case builder' are we talking one off, batch of 10 , or 1000/10,000 lots, and do they do pressed steel fabrication only, or are they geared up/partnered with another company for electronics/circuit board manufactureing for something like the DC-DC to ATX type board and intigrated power etc?.

could be interesting for everyone if people start doing the old Phinixi company networking as it is meant to be here.

anyone in contact with any plastics injection molding firms that can do small run test samples, perhaps that might be interesting for several options?.

I posted in this thread on Morphzone: http://www.morphzone.org/modules/newbb_ ... 58&forum=2

For the people who don't want to look at that post:

I bought a Travla C150 Mini-ITX case for my Efika (knowing there will most likely be issues.)

At first I was thinking of canabilizing of my external SUN SCSI boxes, but then I figured that with the price that the small power supplies and power packs, the case, power button, LED's, extra cabling would come up to about 50$CDN.

The following details my initial attempt of getting the Efika to fit inside the case without buying anything else:
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/td741_ ... /my_photos

The next phase (once I have time) is to:

- finish trimming the back with the dremel, possibly allowing the Serial port's pin to fit back in.
- build brackets to better support the AGP riser, video card and to keep the motherboard in position.
- try and create a proper backplate.

Of course, the alternative route would be to mount the board further back, use an existing backplate and run short extention cables between the motherboard and the ports... Yah... Umm... I prefer going at it with a dremel. :P

What you guys need to mount your EFIKAs is this:



I'll try get a bunch tomorrow.

Hmm... That could help with the actual case.

Granted, the C150 has a protective plastic "sheet" layer that is a bit wobbly. I'd need to cut it up a bit.

Hmm, depending on size it might raise the board a little bit too high for my case now that I think of it...