Hi Barbapapa,
Looks like you're headed down the same road... I appreciate the companionship...
I've bought all the hardware and it arrived today... I haven't built a computer in about 10 years, but it was relatively easy...
1. Take the sides off the case.
2. Attach the power supply inside the case (it was recommended that this be done upside down, such that the fan opening is INSIDE the case) - four screws provided by the power supply company - or just use four of the rounded head screws that came with the case.
3. Install the nine standoff screws to the "floor" of the case (look at the motherboard so you identify which ones... NINE of them, they kinda have a Star pattern of solder in the motherboard holes. The other holes on the motherboard are for other things (processor heatsink).
4. Put the metal panel backing panel into the case (optional)... this is the lightweight little metal thingee that makes the keyboard/mouse/usb/network/etc ports look pretty.
5. Drop the motherboard into the case and attach it with NINE of the rounded head screws.
6. Install the processor by gently pushing down the arm on the socket and unlatching it, then lifting up. There's a little clasp door you open... then align the processor and gently place it in (align the pins - one corner doesn't have a pin - make those match) - there's guiderails too - I don't think you can install it wrong.
7. Close the socket with the arm and latch it - done correctly, a black protective shield on the "clasp door" will pop free. (This takes some force!)
8. Align the heatsink (no processor gunk required - it's got the stuff on the heatsink already).... and push down hard on each corner one at a time until they CLICK. (This takes force!)
9. Put the two memory sticks in - can't really do that wrong.
10. Connect the rear fan and processor fan to the motherboard (FIVE places to connect fans - they're marked on the mainboard itself - or in the book on page 2-17).
11. Connect the front face cables to their respective connectors on the motherboard:
A - Power + LED goes in the top left pin of the JF1 Connector.
B - Power - LED goes in the top right pin of the JF1 Connector.
C - HDD LED takes up the second row of the JF1 Connector.
D - Power SW takes up the very last row of the JF1 Connector (this one makes the power switch work - others are optional).
12. Now connect the power cables - the really big one connects to the motherboard.
13. You'll find a pair of four wire connectors - these go to the motherboard also, right near the processor (between the processor and the rear ports on the motherboard).
14. Run a power cable (only one that will fit) to each of your SATA hard drives (I've started with SIX, but connected TWO for testing)... See BELOW on these drives.
15. Connect a SATA cable from the mainboard/motherboard to your various drives (the port numbers are labeled on the main board - as you look at it, start in the top right corner, use those, going down... once those four are done, you can use the two on the left, starting with the one on top)... Beyond SIX drives and you'll need to add a PCI SATA controller - I suggest getting the unRaid official card.
16. Plug your USB flash into one of the INTERNAL USB ports (nice to hide that sucker!).
17. Connect Monitor, KB, Mouse, Network, etc.
18. Hold the DELete key to get into the BIOS and change it's boot order to boot from the USB drive.
19. Save changes, exit... and let it reboot.
20. I think it should work - but mine isn't... :-P See this thread:
http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=2993.0Few other things to know:
* This motherboard does not have any physical IDE controller ports
* This motherboard does not have a physical parallel port - logic connector is provided, but no physical port.
* The motherboard includes two SATA cables - if you're adding more than TWO drives, you'll need to add additional SATA cables to your order. (Power supply, by the way, is awesome... tons of connectors).
* These 1.5TB drives I purchased are well known for needing FIRMWARE to solve a locking up problem. Following a procedure I learned from traditional RAID, I bought my drives in pairs from three different sources (trying to get different batches - the theory being they won't all fail at the same time): Two from Fry's Electronics and Two from NewEgg arrived with Firmware CC1H, while the two from MWave came with CC1J (I believe to be the newest).... At this time, I've only run the CC1J drives since i can't get unRaid functioning - but then I expect to firmware upgrade these other drives.
* Other threads seem to show that the 1TB Seagates may also have issues that require (as yet unavailable) firmware. I haven't researched the drives you're looking at - but you should. :-) On a GB/$, why wouldn't you do 1.5TBs?
Hope all of that helps!
Russell
Optional: Taking out the four screws from the back of the two additional 4-in-3's, you can get rid of the "Cooler Master" face and hide the entire units behind the main faceplate - like the one unit that comes with this case... I think it looks very sharp this way.
Reviewing the other comments you've received: I think airflow will be good - but I plan to seal over the large holes in the top of the case to increase air flowing over the drives. Having problems, I've looked into the processor power/timing - which this motherboard seems to set automatically by reading the settings directly from the processor.
