Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks

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Part I: Basic Hacks, Tools, and Techniques

Project Overview

To create your Macquarium, you’ll first take apart the Mac and remove the

electronics. You’ll then prepare the case, removing parts that would inter-

fere with the fish tank and grinding down parts that would scrape it. You’ll

build the tank, using Plexiglas that you buy at your local hardware store.

Finally, you’ll assemble the tank, place it inside the Mac case, and populate

it with your fish.

Hardware Assembly Instructions

The following steps walk you through the construction of your

Macquarium.

1. Disassemble the Mac

The first thing you need to do is to carefully take apart your Mac.

Remove all switches and screws

Begin by prying off the sliding programmer’s switch with a screwdriver, as

shown in Figure 2-1. (Keep in mind that not all Macs are equipped with

this switch.) Save the programmer’s switch, as it will be put back on later.

Mac SEs have a different switch that pries up from the bottom side. The

Mac Classics switch is part of the case and does not come off, so you will

leave it in place.

Now remove the battery door and the Torx screw behind it, as shown in

Figure 2-2. (Mac SEs and Classics do not have a battery door, so there is

nothing to remove here.) Save the battery door for later reattachment. Torx

screws have six-pointed star-shaped sockets that require a special screw-

driver, ...