I've just swapped out my Mini's CD-RW/DVD optical for a Toshiba HD-DVD (from a consumer laptop). It doesn't exactly fit right now, since the front facia is designed for the outside of a laptop and sticks out somewhat. But, the sides and body and connector fit perfectly.

I plan on removing the facia if I can, and probably removing some of the Mini's front panel so that I can get the cover back on.

Which is why I'm writing.

Without the cover on, the Mini sounds like an airplane (jet) taking off. The fan is *loud*. Previously, with the cover on, it was whisper-quiet.

Does simply removing the cover cause the noise to be so loud? Or, can there be some reason the fan is in run-away mode? Like maybe the HD-DVD draws more power or something?

I'm tempted to simply disable the fan (paper clip?) to make the noise stop, if there's reason to believe that putting the cover back on won't quiet it down.

By the way, the reason I swapped the two opticals was that with WinXP and PowerDVD Ultra, I should be able to play HD-DVD's in Windows on my TV from the Mini. XP sees the DVD just fine, and PowerDVD runs just fine, I simply haven't loaded a HD-DVD yet to see if it works.

Also - I apologize if this is the wrong forum. MacMini + TV + HD DVD = HTPC Mac forum to me, but if the Mod sees fit to move this post, feel free.


Rgds,

Jwehman

Look very carefully...you may have disconnected one of the jumpers (there are two and both are two pin) on the motherboard If the jumper (and I beleve it is the jumper towards the back of the motherboard) is disconnected, the fan will go to maximum and stay at that speed. The jumper is very small! You might try looking for more information here:

http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11365

Without the cover on, the Mini sounds like an airplane (jet) taking off. The fan is *loud*. Previously, with the cover on, it was whisper-quiet.

Does simply removing the cover cause the noise to be so loud? Or, can there be some reason the fan is in run-away mode? It may be that the fan is expecting a certain amount of back pressure to regulate its speed, and taking the cover off eliminates the back pressure. Or you may have just loosened it up a bit, or knocked it off center.

I disagree Wildrock...I've had the mini running with the entire cover off and it is only a wee bit louder (hardly noticeable). I'd say there is a 99% chance it is that disconnected jumper.

I've just swapped out my Mini's CD-RW/DVD optical for a Toshiba HD-DVD (from a consumer laptop).

By the way, the reason I swapped the two opticals was that with WinXP and PowerDVD Ultra, I should be able to play HD-DVD's in Windows on my TV from the Mini. XP sees the DVD just fine, and PowerDVD runs just fine, I simply haven't loaded a HD-DVD yet to see if it works.
Jwehman

Hmm. interesting. I was under the impression that HD-DVD ROM drives are not able to play HD-DVD movies... I thought this needs "approved" components (to keep the data encryption intact)? Did I miss something?

EDIT: OK, looked it up. It's HDCP I was thinking about - the bloody thing that's supposed to make sure nobody's eavesdropping on the HD data stream. I think this needs Vista.

jwehman...I'm curious to know if the drive is recognized in OSX? To my knowledge, there is no software HD-DVD player in OSX, but I wonder if all the files can be read?

This is quite a radical thing you are doing, I haven't seen anyone on the net try this before.
Everyone would agree that a discussion about what you are doing in XP/Vista is not appropriate for this forum. Please start a thread in the main HTPC forum...there well might be interest there.

BTW, it is also possible that one or even two wires got pulled off of the back jumper. If that happened, don't despair, it can be fixed though you will have to solder the wires of a new jumper to replace the old one. This takes just moderate soldering skills. The jumper is a very common part, however, if you haven't got one or can't find one, PM me, I'll mail one to you.

Thanks for the tips. It was the small-ish two-pin connector in the front that I hadn't attached. Don't know if this picture will show up or not (it's simply the DVD player in the mini).

I will try to load OSX on a new drive tomorrow, as I agree that XP probably shouldn't be discussed in this forum.

If the HD-DVD works in XP, I'll open a thread over in the main forum.

Again, thanks for the help here!

Rgds,

jwehman

Wow this is a breaktrough. I hope your HD-DVD setup works :D Will be awaiting your results.

It won't work with OSX (he is using Boot Camp and Windows XP) You can get around the HDCP compliance by installing AnyDVDHD. There is currently no driver for OSX and no Video Player support, thus the need at the moment for Windows. 10.5 Leopard which is due out in a month or so should have drivers and software for at least Blu-Ray but who knows about HD-DVD. Word is that VLC may be able to play the files soon.

Post a pic when you get it complete. I think I would have just gone with an XBox add on sitting on the side or connected by USB cable to somewhere else if you didn't want to clutter the Mini. Just my $0.02 tho.

Either way let us know how it all works out.

I don't see any reason we can't discuss this project here. Its a Mac Mini doing HTPC stuff bottom line!

I don't see any reason we can't discuss this project here. Its a Mac Mini doing HTPC stuff bottom line!

Jim is quite correct that this off-topic for this forum. We all know that HD-DVD can be played on Windows. If he installs Windows on his Mini, he is just running Windows, the hardware is irrelevant. Does it matter if it were a Dell or a Gateway?

I am interested to know when this will work in Mac OS X. Because that this topic of this forum.

jwehman, it might be better to move this to the Windows/MCE on Mac FAQ and support thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=816450, so that it doesn't ruffle any feathers and start the flame-throwers again (hopefully those who are not interested in the above-mentioned FAQ, will also ignore it and refrain from making comments irrelevant to the discussion.)

There is already a discussion going on there on a similar topic:-) Please do report your experience in the FAQ thread, since many are interested.

I hooked my HD DVD drive from my Xbox 360 up to my Mac Pro for kicks over the USB port and the Mac recognized it fine. It can play and read regular DVD's if I recall correctly but HD DVD discs showed up as unformatted or something.

-Jerry C.

jwehman, it might be better to move this to the Windows/MCE on Mac FAQ and support thread http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=816450, so that it doesn't ruffle any feathers and start the flame-throwers again (hopefully those who are not interested in the above-mentioned FAQ, will also ignore it and refrain from making comments irrelevant to the discussion.)

I'd say installing new hardware in an Apple product is fair game in this forum. It's intended use isn't OSX, but getting the drive installed fits the mantra of the forum.

I'd say installing new hardware in an Apple product is fair game in this forum. It's intended use isn't OSX, but getting the drive installed fits the mantra of the forum.

Andrew, the htpc forums here at AVScience are separated by operating system. If they were separated by hardware, there would be no need for separate Windows and Linux forums since they run on the same hardware.

It is very clear to all of us, including you, that this hardware question has no relevance to the Mac OS simply because there is currently no player capable of playing HD-DVD. So, at least at this moment, this hardware question is, at best, philosophical, because even if we successfully installed an HD-DVD player in our Minis, it wouldn't work.

Secondly, as JerryNY pointed out before you posted, you can already connect an HD-DVD player to your Mini, without taking it apart, and, again, it doesn't work because OS X has no HD-DVD (software) player.

However, once we have a HD software player in OS X, then, I would agree with you that this question would be relevant if the OP were running OS X.

There seems to be some effort going on to play HD-DVD's via VLC in OSX. Surely it will happen at some point in time:

http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=31127

There seems to be some effort going on to play HD-DVD's via VLC in OSX. Surely it will happen at some point in time:

http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=31127

Thanks for the link, Jim, however, VLC seems to consider the OS X version somewhat separately (it has features not in the Windows or Linux versions, for example) and the Mac OS VLC discussion forum has no mention of this.

I found it quite interesting that one of the developers, most of whom seem to be European, said, in the thread you posted, that none of them had an HDTV yet so developing would be difficult since there was no way of checking their work.

It is very clear to all of us, including you, that this hardware question has no relevance to the Mac OS simply because there is currently no player capable of playing HD-DVD. So, at least at this moment, this hardware question is, at best, philosophical, because even if we successfully installed an HD-DVD player in our Minis, it wouldn't work.

Right. This question is OS agnostic but it does concern Apple hardware. The question posed is not one of how to get the mini to play HD-DVD's under OSX, but how to install the hardware. It's no different than discussing how to install more RAM in a mini. The individual even went out of his way to state that he was not expecting help with OSX issues and that he would take the discussion to the Windows forum when he successfully installed the hardware..

Right. This question is OS agnostic but it does concern Apple hardware. The question posed is not one of how to get the mini to play HD-DVD's under OSX, but how to install the hardware. It's no different than discussing how to install more RAM in a mini. The individual even went out of his way to state that he was not expecting help with OSX issues and that he would take the discussion to the Windows forum when he successfully installed the hardware..

I really don't think this is worth a long discussion especially since the matter seems now to be closed. However, I don't understand how you can say this is "OS agnostic" when it only works in Windows? And your comparison to RAM would be more accurate if you specified that the RAM only worked in Windows.

But, again, I completely agree with you once OS X has a HD-DVD player.

I really don't think this is worth a long discussion especially since the matter seems now to be closed. However, I don't understand how you can say this is "OS agnostic" when it only works in Windows? And your comparison to RAM would be more accurate if you specified that the RAM only worked in Windows.

The drive doesn't "only work in Windows". The HD-DVD capabilities only work in Windows, the drive still functions as a CD and DVD drive.

The drive doesn't "only work in Windows". The HD-DVD capabilities only work in Windows, the drive still functions as a CD and DVD drive.

Ah, I see your point. Can we stop now? :rolleyes: