# Anyone mod a optical drive to have a flip top?



## unsmart (Jan 23, 2007)

What I'm looking to do is add a flip top window to a dvd drive and run it vertically in 3 bays. I've seen the window mod and was thinking of disabling the trays slide mechanism and hinging the windowed top. The part that I believe will prevent this from working is disabling the tray. I planed on just removing the drive gear and gluing the tray in place. I have never messed with a drive before an I'm not really sure how all the gearing works. If you have any knowledge on this  I could use your help. If a flip top isn't doable I will just window mod it and eject it through the top of my case.


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## WarEagleAU (Jan 23, 2007)

I dont think a flip top is moddable. It will be hard to get the drive to pull the laser and spindle down for you to load a DVD/CD. Maybe someone else on here has had luck, but I dont see it as a viable option. Now, the window, is a cool idea.


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## Carcenomy (Jan 24, 2007)

Window top, and reroute the tray drive to a geared mechanism that opens/shuts the top - that way the drive MUST spin itself down BEFORE it flips open. Bear in mind you'd need a centralizing hub in the top to keep the disc centred, and to keep the disc tight on the drive gear.

Alternately if you didn't want a hub in the window, you could do it PlayStation style and use a drive hub with little ball bearing latches that hold the disc, although this could turn unstable at high speeds, so isn't particularly practical.

Just make sure you have a system to stop the disc when the top is opened - you don't wanna open it and be greeted by a disc spinning at 10,000rpm in the face.


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## unsmart (Jan 29, 2007)

Well I've Had some time to rip a 56x cd rom apart an it looks like it will work 





 The main parts are labeled. The switch and the eject button play the main roll of telling the optics when to spin or stop. When the switch is in the tray closed state the optics try to read. When you push the eject and the spindle stops,the tray drive gear turns until the switch is set to tray open it then stops. When the switch is set to tray closed the optics start again. 
 My idea would be simple I think at least the gearing. If gluing the tray in you would have to remove the knob, cut the teeth off the tray drive gear or tray and prevent the optic sled from moving beyond the the sleds drive gear.  




 The black lines show about where the stopper and switch catch would have to go. This would still allow the optics to lower some but prevents the need for the knob channel to push the sleds teeth to the gear. I have removed the teeth from the sled so I could test the switch with the optic in the up position so this mod is out on this drive. This is just a test drive the real mod will be on a sata dvd. When I get some more time I will do more work and post out come. Putting the hinge on the stabilizer my be a pain. If anyone wants test this it would be very helpful, I'm not sure if it's the same on all drives. My wife would be pissed if I gutted the DVD burner.


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## Carcenomy (Jan 29, 2007)

Y'know, another (albeit more expensive) option for a flip-top donor would be a notebook drive - they have the splined hub to begin with, and no eject mechanism per se...


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## unsmart (Feb 2, 2007)

*SUCCESS!!! kinda*

Well this is [that I've seen] the first flip top optic mod. 




 It's not to pretty but it works. I know it's been awhile but I only got a few hours in to it[ my kids want all my tools and really like pushing buttons] and it is just a test run. I got a chance to use my dads ban saw and have my mom watch the kids while I worked. 
 This is a pic of the wires that I soldered to the switch. black=com, red=open and yellow=closed. After I push eject[ with black in the red] and the spindle stops I move the wire to yellow and replace the cd. I then place the black in the red to start the read process. Moving to the yellow is not totally necessary but it stops the tray drive gears. You can just go back to red after the cd is changed and it will read. I will add a contact to the underside of flip top when I get time and eliminated the wires out side .   




 The next pic is of the flip top. I didn't have any hinges around so duct tape it is. If i had a hinge and a sturdy[ cardboard right now] stop plate on the under side of the top the bent paper clip would not be needed across the front to hold it level. I should have cut the metal off the front of the stabilizer to. The weight of the metal in front forces the top to tilt down. I'll  have to make a trip to the hardware store and see if they have any spring load hinges that will fit, that would clean the top up a lot. 




 when the liteon sata drives come back in stock at newegg I'll start the mod on it and maybe write a how to thats more in depth and with some sort of mechanized eject . I just hope it similar to this benq CD rom.


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## EviLZeD (Feb 2, 2007)

wow thats pretty cool


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## Carcenomy (Feb 3, 2007)

Ahhh beautiful, an idea put into motion. It looks pretty cool 

For your top pivoting mount deal, I'd go for a spring-loaded hinge as you say that pivots it up, and put a little clasp on the front to hold it down. Otherwise, like I mentioned earlier, there's a potential it could hop open with a disc at full RPMs. And the last thing you want is a disc flying out and causing mayhem.


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## unsmart (Feb 3, 2007)

For your top pivoting mount deal, I'd go for a spring-loaded hinge as you say that pivots it up, and put a little clasp on the front to hold it down.

 That was actually my plan 
 I planned on using a spring loaded slide switch that extends over the flip top when closed. That why when I push the switch over the top flips open and hold the switch while the CD is changed and when I pushed the top closed the switch slides back to cover it, locking it in to place.


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## Carcenomy (Feb 4, 2007)

I like it, I like it. Keep us updated, this project is very intriguing.


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## unsmart (Feb 6, 2007)

Well this is the last bit for this drive, I've already sunk to much time in to it. Making it look good is kinda a wast of time since it will probably end up in the trash. As a test it has served it's purpose and now can rest in peace. Heres a pic of it being held in my case where the dvd rom will be. I had to hold the drive and take the pic at the same time so it's not the best view.




 The hinge is junk  I guess buying a small spring loaded hinge with a stop at 180 deg is to much to ask in the U.S. of A. Sure I could get a gun and some whiskey in about a second but a hinge is to dangerous to sell over the counter apparently. 
 Now I can flip it open and closed without messing with it to much and it does run vertically also. The hinge is very weak and sometimes pulls to the side but nothing a little tap can't fix. For the real mod I may cut the stabilizer[ forgot to mention before it's a magnet that holds the CD to spindle]out and mount it on some acrylic and have it open to the side like a door. 
 You can't really see it in the pic but I cut 140mm fan holes in the front of my case and the side. I also had cut the 3.5 bays to 5.25 so the modded drive would fit with my fan controller . It should look cool if the dvd mod goes good, I'll post some pic when it's done.  
 I'm thinking of making a HTPC case out of acrylic and wood using this mod and a VFD display. Thats if the dvd mod goes as planed.


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## Carcenomy (Feb 7, 2007)

That's kickass man... with a little finishing it'd look just like one of those really expensive gimmicky stereo setups that rich people buy


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 7, 2007)

Thats really neat.  Post a step by step instruction guide.


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## unsmart (Feb 7, 2007)

PVTCaboose1337 said:


> Thats really neat.  Post a step by step instruction guide.



 Thanks, I will write a guide when I finish with the mod on the liteon sata DVD drive.This was to see if it was possible and to form a plan. It was done on the fly and very sloppily, not something that I could real put in to a guild form.   
 I tried to provided enough info here that someone could get the basic workings of a optic drive and start there own mod. I'm not sure how standard they are in terms of wiring and gearing. This drive is a 4 year old 56x CD drive and seems to be geared a little different then the newer DVD drives I've seen. What I mean by seen is looking in to the drive when it's open, I'll have to disassemble one to really know. The main features[ the switch is the main thing] appear the same, just moved around. If anyone could verify my findings on another type drive it would help. the drive doesn't have to be trashed to test it. Only the casing and tray need to be removed and can be put back in place afterwards. Heres a link on opening up a optic drive safely.  
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/179/1 
 The final mod will include moving the eject button,LED and hopefully some kind of automatic door opener. I plan on leaving the tray in and painting it, With the led placed under the tray so when it reads the light shots out from under the CD. Next time I will also use a guild while cutting to so it won't look like sh*t.  It maybe awhile till the drive comes back in stock at newegg though but I will start on it as soon as it comes in.


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## BigD6997 (Feb 8, 2007)

wow this is a great idea... i might have to incorperate it into my windowd drive


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## Carcenomy (Feb 10, 2007)

You've already got the hard work done! 

Just do the switch reworking, hinge the top... yeeeahhhh, it'd look badass


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## BigD6997 (Feb 10, 2007)

i might have to, just i dont have the extra money to replace it in case i screw up... so maybe next pay-check lol


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## unsmart (Feb 10, 2007)

*dam you BigD6997!!!*

Well your window mod sucked me back in, so I had to break out the dremle. I just had to see if the stabilizer could be mounted on acrylic. Heres the results and yes that is a cd case .




 The pic was taken while the cd was reading, guess my cam is fast. I used some cardboard wedges to hold it level because I removed the casing on the front. If the acrylic was laying on the casing it should come out level, in theory anyway. 
 I wouldn't worry to much about F*** up the drive BigD6997. I've beat the sh*t out of this drive and can still read from it. You can always open it, check it out and put it back together if your not sure. I open this drive a few times before I started cutting. This was a $20 drive I got like three years ago so I don't blame you for not wanting to mess with a new modded drive. 
 I ordered the sata dvd drive last night [ off ebay for $10 more  ] and will be getting it next week some time I hope. I also got the 140mm fans for my case mod and some of the parts for the custom HTPC I'm building. I'll try to record my progress better this time and write a really how to.


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## Carcenomy (Feb 16, 2007)

The only suggestion I can make that would make that even cooler, is using some form of acrylic that's less brittle, and mount the hub directly into the perspex rather than sticking the metal component in too... it'll make it look EVEN tidier - if that's possible 

It looks great, might have to do one myself at some point.


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## unsmart (Feb 16, 2007)

Carcenomy said:


> The only suggestion I can make that would make that even cooler, is using some form of acrylic that's less brittle, and mount the hub directly into the perspex rather than sticking the metal component in too... it'll make it look EVEN tidier - if that's possible
> 
> It looks great, might have to do one myself at some point.



 It should be possible to inset the hub into acrylic but not easy. You would have to do some really precise work to get it right.  From what I can tell the hub consist of a magnet set on top of a disk that has a lip around the edges to keep it from tilting.       
 I would think you could cut the disk out of the hub then cut a hole in some 1/4" acrylic and glue 1/16" acryic over the back and make a ring to glue on the inside. The more precise you  place the hub the thinner the acrylic can be.  Getting the hub centered and leveled would take some tweaking.  You can hear when the hub is not centered, thats how I set the cardboard wedges. It would look better for sure .
 The dvd rom arrived on Tuesday and I already opened it up. It is a little different but in a good way. I'll start work on it today and should have a how to in a week or so. heres some pics.




 still not sure how to automate the door cx


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## Wile E (Feb 16, 2007)

unsmart said:


> still not sure how to automate the door cx


Have an old cassette player laying around? Use the tooth and gear combo out of one of those ones with the slow opening trays.


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## BigD6997 (Feb 16, 2007)

unsmart said:


> Well your window mod sucked me back in, so I had to break out the dremle. I just had to see if the stabilizer could be mounted on acrylic. Heres the results and yes that is a cd case .
> 
> 
> 
> ...


welll i just found a old box with some cd drives in it (old ones) so im going to mod one of them to have a acrylic flip top with the stabilizer embeded into it... then im going to mount it on the top of a small case that im modding to fit a full water cooling set up into so there will be nothing on the front of the case and you will be able to get the cd from the top of it

will be doing that this weekend


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## Carcenomy (Feb 17, 2007)

I agree with Wile E on this one - spring loaded with the old tooth/gear would be fine. For setting the hub up just right, maybe you need to find someone who's a ninja machinist to give you a hand


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## Wile E (Feb 17, 2007)

Carcenomy said:


> maybe you need to find someone who's a ninja machinist to give you a hand


If you can find him. lol


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## Carcenomy (Feb 17, 2007)

I'm not ninja but I am a machinist... wouldn't be a job that's TOO hard, acrylic is generally quite easy to machine. At least with milling it etc you can get it pretty damn precise.


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## Completely Bonkers (Feb 17, 2007)

Look at the phillips jackrabbit. http://shop.cd-writer.com/acatalog/ALL_PRODUCTS_PHILIPS_JACKRABBIT_JR32RWDVK_452.html

Its a flip top that you can use WITHOUT a PC to watch DVD's also.


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## unsmart (Feb 17, 2007)

Hey bigD6997, could you take some pics as you go. I would really like to see how your drive works and what you come up with for the switching and hinges.
 I got a lot done yesterday on the drive and my case's. I decided to keep it as simple as I can so it doesn't seem overwhelming to people. I still can't think of a easy way to automate the door though. The tape deck idea could work but I don't have one or even seen one in years. I was thinking a lever attached to the eject button my work to push the door open but may also fling the CD across the room if it doesn't have time to stop spinning.
  I did have an idea of mounting the optic carriage in a 120mm fan hole[ the same size of a CD] so the spindle sticks out and have the hub mounted on a arm that tilts up with the eject motor, it's a lot like a record player I guess. You could see the CD spin out side of the case which would look cool. Just fixing an offset arm to the tray motor should be enough to tilt the  hub arm.  This would fit in nice with the HTPC I'm working on 
 Good luck BIGD, Hope to see the mod soon


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## BigD6997 (Feb 17, 2007)

unsmart said:


> Hey bigD6997, could you take some pics as you go. I would really like to see how your drive works and what you come up with for the switching and hinges.
> I got a lot done yesterday on the drive and my case's. I decided to keep it as simple as I can so it doesn't seem overwhelming to people. I still can't think of a easy way to automate the door though. The tape deck idea could work but I don't have one or even seen one in years. I was thinking a lever attached to the eject button my work to push the door open but may also fling the CD across the room if it doesn't have time to stop spinning.
> I did have an idea of mounting the optic carriage in a 120mm fan hole[ the same size of a CD] so the spindle sticks out and have the hub mounted on a arm that tilts up with the eject motor, it's a lot like a record player I guess. You could see the CD spin out side of the case which would look cool. Just fixing an offset arm to the tray motor should be enough to tilt the  hub arm.  This would fit in nice with the HTPC I'm working on
> Good luck BIGD, Hope to see the mod soon



yup ill take pictures, my mechanizm for lifting a cd rom compleltly out of the case might come in handy 







it worked alright, just didnt have the force to bring the cd drive all the way up... i kinda had to pull it... so it got scratched:shadedshu 

im going to take the magnetic latch off of it and mount it to the front of the cd drive... then im going to attach a small piece of metal to the front of a piece of acrylic so it can come up   hopefully it will work


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## Wile E (Feb 18, 2007)

unsmart said:


> Hey bigD6997, could you take some pics as you go. I would really like to see how your drive works and what you come up with for the switching and hinges.
> I got a lot done yesterday on the drive and my case's. I decided to keep it as simple as I can so it doesn't seem overwhelming to people. I still can't think of a easy way to automate the door though. The tape deck idea could work but I don't have one or even seen one in years. I was thinking a lever attached to the eject button my work to push the door open but may also fling the CD across the room if it doesn't have time to stop spinning.
> I did have an idea of mounting the optic carriage in a 120mm fan hole[ the same size of a CD] so the spindle sticks out and have the hub mounted on a arm that tilts up with the eject motor, it's a lot like a record player I guess. You could see the CD spin out side of the case which would look cool. Just fixing an offset arm to the tray motor should be enough to tilt the  hub arm.  This would fit in nice with the HTPC I'm working on
> Good luck BIGD, Hope to see the mod soon


I think you should go back to the idea of using a locking hub. (Like a laptop drive)


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## unsmart (Feb 18, 2007)

How does a locking hub work, do you have a pic or link you could post?  I've never seen a laptop drives insides but it sounds interesting.


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## Wile E (Feb 18, 2007)

unsmart said:


> How does a locking hub work, do you have a pic or link you could post?  I've never seen a laptop drives insides but it sounds interesting.


Kinda like a portable cd player, where the disk snaps into place on the drive hub, and there is no top hub.


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## xvi (Feb 18, 2007)

unsmart said:


> How does a locking hub work, do you have a pic or link you could post?  I've never seen a laptop drives insides but it sounds interesting.



I have a few old Dells that use that type of cd-rom drive. I'll see if I can get a picture up. Yeah. They'd be deathly easy to mod. All they really need is a window.


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## unsmart (Feb 18, 2007)

I think I get what your talking about  On the top of the spindle there like three latches that lock over the CD when it's pressed down and to remove it you press the spindle down an pull up the CD?  It's like a CD case. 
 I have some rubber Orings, wonder if they would do the job of locking the CD into place. I could glue one on the spindle and force the CD over it so the CD would rest between the Oring and spindle. I'm not sure if that makes since it's the best I can explain it.
 If you can get a pic that would be cool. I'm always looking for new ideas no matter how off the wall. 
 I have a feeling one of you guys is going to come up with something far better then what I'm working on


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## Wile E (Feb 19, 2007)

unsmart said:


> I think I get what your talking about  On the top of the spindle there like three latches that lock over the CD when it's pressed down and to remove it you press the spindle down an pull up the CD?  It's like a CD case.
> I have some rubber Orings, wonder if they would do the job of locking the CD into place. I could glue one on the spindle and force the CD over it so the CD would rest between the Oring and spindle. I'm not sure if that makes since it's the best I can explain it.
> If you can get a pic that would be cool. I'm always looking for new ideas no matter how off the wall.
> I have a feeling one of you guys is going to come up with something far better then what I'm working on


That's exactly the type of hub I meant. I don't think the o-rings would work tho. I was thinking of trying to swap hubs, or if they don't detach from the shaft, maybe swapping the whole motor assembly out.


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## Carcenomy (Feb 19, 2007)

Good lord unsmart, have you never seen a Discman, or a PlayStation? Same concept. Just to be a little more helpful, here's some pictures for ya.






Drive in an empty state.






Drive with a disc inserted.






And the machine of course, my old iBook SE G3 366, transparentized with 'custom' faded Graphite colouring 

I'd almost consider goin for a notebook drive for such a mod to be honest - if you used a tape deck style slow-release that's springloaded, you could use the eject release setup from the notebook (notebook drives are just latched, hitting eject simply unlatches it rather than driving it out like a tray-load desktop drive) to open it AND stop the disc simultaneously.

But like Wile E says, discs aren't gonna be anywhere near so likely to fly out if you use a latched hub.


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## unsmart (Feb 19, 2007)

yeah, I've seen them   before just couldn't pull the image out of my brain  I would blame the drugs I took but I've always been like this, a slight case of retardation I guess . The laptop drive look pretty easy and may work great in a HTPC and  If I can find a cheap used lap top dvd burner I might give it a try.
 I may have solved the door opening thing though. Just have to make some levers out of acrylic and do some test but should work.
 Whats really hard with this mod is there so much that works. Starting this I figured it would only work one why and I would just have to work it out. Now everything I try works and the problem is finding out how I want to do it. Never imagined it would be this moddable.


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## Carcenomy (Feb 20, 2007)

Hahaha, yeah optical drives are far more moddable than likes of say a 3.5" floppy or a ZIP drive etc, where about the limit of what you can do to it is changing the faceplate.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 20, 2007)

Ok, now, mod a cd drive to look like a 5 1/4 floppy drive


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## Carcenomy (Feb 20, 2007)

You're reading my mind man... an upcoming mod I'll be doing involves an original IBM-PC shell, a BabyAT Slot1 board, a Pentium III 600E Coppermine and a slot-load DVDROM drive modified...


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Feb 20, 2007)

Carcenomy said:


> You're reading my mind man... an upcoming mod I'll be doing involves an original IBM-PC shell, a BabyAT Slot1 board, a Pentium III 600E Coppermine and a slot-load DVDROM drive modified...



I can send you my 5 1/4 drive


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## unsmart (Feb 20, 2007)

Carcenomy said:


> You're reading my mind man... an upcoming mod I'll be doing involves an original IBM-PC shell, a BabyAT Slot1 board, a Pentium III 600E Coppermine and a slot-load DVDROM drive modified...


 
 How about this 





Like my wife it was born it 1982 and is real slow  
 I found it on the side of the road two years ago and it still starts up. I've been wanting to mod it ever since. It's just nothing is standard on it so the mod would be hard as hell, Even the keyboard would need to be modded. The 5.25 drives are built in and the monitor is some odd shape too. I got a slot loaded CD rom for the mod but never even open the case, I'm just to scared to
 My dream is to put a touch screen[ if I could find one to fit] in it with a ITX board and use it to surf the web and control my HTPC.


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## Carcenomy (Feb 20, 2007)

Ooooh, a TRS-80... now that's a pretty classy little rig, I'd leave it alone to be honest. It is up there with my Sinclair ZX81, my Sega SC3000H and my Amstrad CPC6128. I'll only be modding the IBM-PC because all of its original hardware is missing - it's just a massive cave of a case at the moment, and luckily I found an old Imagineering MotherAT desktop case that I can steal an old-style power supply from to suit the IBM.

But to really answer your question, YES! Yes you could mod up the TRS-80... and it would be a damn slick little unit. In fact, I can't remember the manufacturer but there's an outfit in Europe who do adapters to use old C64s and C128s as keyboards, perhaps they could build an adapter for the TRS-80's keyboard?

We'll save that topic for another thread though


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## Wile E (Feb 20, 2007)

WOW! I haven't seen a TRS-80 in around 15 or so years.


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## unsmart (Feb 23, 2007)

I thought I would post and update, did a lot of work yesterday . My idea for the automating the door failed  I'm going with a plan I had on the first drive but didn't like, should work though. My brother in law seen the mod and had the same idea for opening the door so must be a good one, just won't look good probably. There is also a pic of my unfinished HTPC case 





 I haven't rigged up the switches or door automation yet.




 thats where the table saw kicked back on me , wood blades suck for cutting acrylic.


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