Great link, now I can get another pair of trays! Thank heaven Apple finally gave up on that ridiculous plastic crap.
I realize this started out as a pretty much "Standard ATX case," but there are several things at odds with it being a production machine as pictured in the bezel removal diagram on its @$$end.
I checked out the exploded diagrams of the 8600/9600 cases in the Service Source while I was at work. Have they got a fan mounted to the left hand side of the case blowing air into it? It looks that way in the diagram to me and this case has that particular oddity. The fan is mounted on a very heavy gauge custom metal stamping that's mounted to the holes meant for the case's very nice domed grill for the front mounted fan, which the stamping entirely blocks as well. The stamping is a gauge and finish entirely different form the baseline case, which is lightweight and very nicely done sheet metal work.The hole on the case cover matching up with the fan is professionally done, but by no means a standard feature.
This has all the hallmarks of a short production run of an oddly modified stock case.
Timeline research:
1994 - IBM PC Division relocates to RTP (from info online, I'll back check that with my sweetie tomorrow)
1995 - First Macintosh Clone ships, CHRP is Published by Apple & IBM and ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) spec developed at Intel
1996 - IBM and Motorola demo their CHRP prototypes
1997 - 9600/8600 Released & Apple halts all CHRP licensing.
Ten years later I found this oddity in a thrift shop just outside RTP.
BTW, that Apple drive mounting plate seems to be made to fit this case, it puts the Optical drive bay and the tape/zip bay just about where they wound up in the 9600/8600. Spacing is wrong for the floppy up top, which just fits above the Optical, but they were going to raise the forehead for the drawbridge case anyway. The 5.25" Drive Bay assembly sure looks like the exploded drawing in the Service Source and it's obvious that Apple cribbed some of the x600's case design features from the PC World. [
] ]'>
Not saying it's an Apple prototype, not even saying it's an IBM CHRP prototype, just saying that when I look at it now, it looks like A prototype box . . .
. . . and that's alot of coinkidinks. :approve:
Can somebody get back to me on the existence of, and airflow direction of, the side-mounted fan in the 9600/8600 exploded diagrams.
More piccies in the AM, tonight I'll probably just tweak and compress the ones already up.
Any requests for pics of particular case details?
I realize this started out as a pretty much "Standard ATX case," but there are several things at odds with it being a production machine as pictured in the bezel removal diagram on its @$$end.
I checked out the exploded diagrams of the 8600/9600 cases in the Service Source while I was at work. Have they got a fan mounted to the left hand side of the case blowing air into it? It looks that way in the diagram to me and this case has that particular oddity. The fan is mounted on a very heavy gauge custom metal stamping that's mounted to the holes meant for the case's very nice domed grill for the front mounted fan, which the stamping entirely blocks as well. The stamping is a gauge and finish entirely different form the baseline case, which is lightweight and very nicely done sheet metal work.The hole on the case cover matching up with the fan is professionally done, but by no means a standard feature.
This has all the hallmarks of a short production run of an oddly modified stock case.
Timeline research:
1994 - IBM PC Division relocates to RTP (from info online, I'll back check that with my sweetie tomorrow)
1995 - First Macintosh Clone ships, CHRP is Published by Apple & IBM and ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) spec developed at Intel
1996 - IBM and Motorola demo their CHRP prototypes
1997 - 9600/8600 Released & Apple halts all CHRP licensing.
Ten years later I found this oddity in a thrift shop just outside RTP.
BTW, that Apple drive mounting plate seems to be made to fit this case, it puts the Optical drive bay and the tape/zip bay just about where they wound up in the 9600/8600. Spacing is wrong for the floppy up top, which just fits above the Optical, but they were going to raise the forehead for the drawbridge case anyway. The 5.25" Drive Bay assembly sure looks like the exploded drawing in the Service Source and it's obvious that Apple cribbed some of the x600's case design features from the PC World. [
] ]'>Not saying it's an Apple prototype, not even saying it's an IBM CHRP prototype, just saying that when I look at it now, it looks like A prototype box . . .
. . . and that's alot of coinkidinks. :approve:
Can somebody get back to me on the existence of, and airflow direction of, the side-mounted fan in the 9600/8600 exploded diagrams.
More piccies in the AM, tonight I'll probably just tweak and compress the ones already up.
Any requests for pics of particular case details?