I’ve just launched a new website for the Lego Computer project. I’ve been thinking about creating a new Lego Computer for quite some time now, but I’ve finally gotten around to the planning stages. To keep track of this (and list the process of the first lego computer) I’ve set up legocomputer.net. Alternatively, the site can be found at jeremyduenas.com/legocomputer.
Update (May 30, 2008): I’ve since lost all of the blog post images for this entire site (up until 2008). So I don’t have any of my pictures for this anymore. I managed to find one website that re-posted this story with one of the pictures. Check it out after you read the story here.
I was bored and I had an oldish Dell Dimension 2400 lying around that was collecting dust as a nice foot rest under my desk. So I decided I stripped it of all its parts and make a Lego computer! Before I began construction with the Legos, I figured I should make sure I could put everything back together properly. After a few minutes of reassembly and trying to remember where exactly that one plug went, I got it to boot to the BIOS. Unfortunately like an idiot I had wiped that harddrive clean earlier in the day. So I had to make a choice: Kubuntu Linux or Windows XP Pro. I figured the last thing this computer would need is something that heavily worked the processor (melting plastic isn’t a good smell). So I went with Kubuntu Linux (I completely pulled the idea that Linux would put less stress on the processor out of my ass. I have no idea if that’s true or not). So I installed Linux onto the computer and made sure everything perfectly worked after my little reconstruction. And amazingly it did! So the first thing I did was mark where every piece of the computer would go using a permanent marker on one of those large Lego pieces (1.5 foot by 1.5 foot ones). But like an idiot I forgot to make sure all of the cables from the power supply could reach the motherboard, and all of the motherboard’s cables could reach the CD player, Harddrive, fan, etc. So after a bit of repositioning, I screwed the mother board into a few 2×4 Lego blocks (to keep the motherboard about 1/3 an inch off the bottom of the Lego board.) and attached it to the board.
After that I just placed the harddrive, power supply, and cd player on the board and built legos up around it. The Lego case isn’t complete yet, but the computer’s parts are installed permanently and its just a matter of building up.
