# Hmm bored so started making a ghetto desktop



## ThaiTaffy (Nov 10, 2021)

So I had an old hp pavilion dv7 laptop of my wife's that was cooking in the heat so got shelved. The case of the laptop saw better days as the heat killed any trace of rubber so it needs a transplant no matter what.

So it's thinking time.




Im thinking a Linux machine in either a modded chassis like the cd player build by @RyzenMaster.sys but I'm not totally sure as yet.


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## RyzenMaster.sys (Nov 10, 2021)

Could make a ghetto all in one


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 10, 2021)

RyzenMaster.sys said:


> Could make a ghetto all in one



I'm contemplating making a fold out all in one for admin on my homelab maybe if I can find an old rack mount amp I can make use of the chassis. Otherwise I could fabricate one


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 10, 2021)

I haven't even powered it up recently I have no idea what the specs are. All I know is the Cpu is upgradable so that might be on the cards.


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## cst1992 (Nov 10, 2021)

At first I thought you were making a wall mounted PC.

Looks pretty cool if done right


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## RyzenMaster.sys (Nov 10, 2021)

CPU and ram have labels at least. Rather old.

By all in one I was thinking taking an old monitor and somehow putting that board in it.


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 10, 2021)

RyzenMaster.sys said:


> CPU and ram have labels at least. Rather old.
> 
> By all in one I was thinking taking an old monitor and somehow putting that board in it.



I still have the screen from the laptop


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 10, 2021)

It posts kinda.


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 10, 2021)

So the old 3.5" HDD I had seems to have died and upon plugging in the laptop screen that doesn't look to good either, the screen might just be swarf in the connector so I haven't given up on that. 

I'm installing lxle as I type this sadly on a drive far to big for its intended use but it's fine to check the temps on my ghetto heatsink and any other issues I might have before coming up with ideas for the case. The laptop was top of the range 13 years ago so the fact it had 2 hard drives and a DVD-ROM is a bonus. I might try the HDD caddy I bought for my server in the hopes it works on this.

It's almost midnight now so next update will be tomorrow once I've slept and had a think about a chassis.


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 11, 2021)

I still haven't figured out as case as of yet but I decided whatever happens I need a motherboard tray.

everything mounted on standoffs and left to cut later when I know what I'm doing with the case


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## ThaiTaffy (Nov 13, 2021)

So I have a plan.... It requires some hunting for a specific part which will inevitably take some time which might put the project on temporary hold. 

So I hope to use the system as just a browser( which is pretty much a perfect use for the hardware) I need to look at a light weight os that will handle touch command but I plan to fit it to a wall in my living room and use it as an interface with my server for the webUI of home assistant to control and look at real time data of the sensors around the house.


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## Count von Schwalbe (Nov 18, 2021)

Drill a full set of ATX mounting holes and a few VESA pattern in the back of the motherboard, and mount the small breakout USB board facing the other way. Shouldn't be too hard to make some reverse headers to attach them to a front panel USB cable, and if you VESA mount it the other direction could come in handy. Good luck!

By the way, does it run without the battery attached? That could make things fun if it doesn't.


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## Maissilapsi (Dec 27, 2021)

Here's my old, i7-5960X that ran on 4,5GHz, or pn 50% OC for 5 yeas. No casing enem. Proud nthis champ


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## Mussels (Dec 27, 2021)

Attach it to one of those spinning things people put above babies cribs, so the air from the fan spins the system around as a never ending entertainment unit!


I'm sure rotary fittings exist for power, HDMI etc. it'll be fiiiiine.




ThaiTaffy said:


> So the old 3.5" HDD I had seems to have died and upon plugging in the laptop screen that doesn't look to good either, the screen might just be swarf in the connector so I haven't given up on that.
> 
> I'm installing lxle as I type this sadly on a drive far to big for its intended use but it's fine to check the temps on my ghetto heatsink and any other issues I might have before coming up with ideas for the case. The laptop was top of the range 13 years ago so the fact it had 2 hard drives and a DVD-ROM is a bonus. I might try the HDD caddy I bought for my server in the hopes it works on this.
> 
> It's almost midnight now so next update will be tomorrow once I've slept and had a think about a chassis.


Oh, those laptop ports wont provide 12V power - they wont run a 3.5" drive, only 2.5" SATA/SSD


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