[CUBE] External 105 or High Speed Combo Drive Update

[Thubten Kunga]

For those of you who are contemplating the external DVR-105 IDE setup 
for iDVD 3 compatibility or perhaps you want a Samsung SM-348 Combo 
Drive that reads DVDs @ 16x and writes/reads CD-RWs superfast @ 
48x24x48x hidden in a Cendyne box Part # CDICD00198 entitled 
"Multi-Purpose CD-RW/DVD-ROM Drive" for $70 after rebate (yes it's Mac 
& Toast compatible as long as you don't use Apple's burn options), you 
will find that getting the IDE and power cables outside the core and 
putting the core back in the case will take all of ten minutes. It is 
incredibly easy to do.

Here are all the pictures by Rich C 
<http://homepage.mac.com/tracer302/bluecube/PhotoAlbum32.html>

To summarize:

You unscrew everything with a #8 Torx screwdriver. You can find this at 
Home Depot in a 5 Torx set that includes #10 Torx for other Cube screws 
for only $20.

1. Pull the core and place it right side up on a soft folded towel with 
the metal plate side toward you.
2. Unscrew the 8 screws on the top and top sides of the core.
3. Slide the metal plate up and off.
4. Unscrew 2 more screws on each side of the slotload optical drive.
5. Unplug the IDE and power cables from it before you retire it to a 
drawer somewhere.
6. Dangle them out.
7. Place the metal plate back in position.
8. Screw the top back on.
9. Slide the core back in the case with no problem from the external 
cables fitting at all.

Your 5 minutes are up. ; ^ )

But . . .

10. I can confirm that finding the Male to Female IDE Extension cable 
is the hardest part of this mod. I live near the computer capital of 
the world and none of the parts houses I called has ever heard of such 
a thing. So I want to make a point of telling you all WHERE to order 
two 6" flat IDE Extension Cables from

  http://cablesandconnectors.com/

  6-inches 40 Pin Male-Female IDC Type Cable Extension (IDE HD/CD)  
ONLY$8.99   #20278

I recommend that you order two of these extensions to have a total of 
12 inches beyond the short Female coming out of the core.

You can easily remove pin #20 from the Male connector you will be 
attaching to the core's female connector by grasping it with a pair of 
needle noise pliers all the way at the base and bending it a few times. 
It will break easily.

If any of you find another source for these 6 inch Male-Female IDC Type 
Cable Extensions, please post your findings here. Thanks.

Kunga