Installing NAS4Free
April 09, 2013
With so many of our memories and purchases existing only in the digital realm, having a reliable method of storing them is essential. We've written a guide to help you to install NAS4Free - free software which provides several methods of protecting your data by mirroring it across multiple disks. NAS4Free is very scalable product supporting both UFS and ZFS, meaning it is a great choice for Mini-ITX systems - which can vary from low power consumption Atoms up to powerful Core i7 and Xeon based systems. Installing NAS4Free
Building an XBMC 12 Home Theatre PC with a Mini-ITX motherboard
February 28, 2013
We are long time fans of XBMC here at Mini-ITX.com. OpenELEC is a distribution of XBMC (currently at version 12) with a streamlined installation and update process, making it even easier to utilise the graphics acceleration of ION and Fusion based Mini-ITX systems to make a very slick Home Theatre PC. Here's how to do it. Building an XBMC 12 Home Theatre PC with a Mini-ITX motherboard
XBMC Guide updated to version 10.0
January 25, 2011
We have updated our guide to building an ION-powered HTPC using XBMC to version 10.0. As an added bonus we have included a new module with instructions to enable 24fps playback for you lucky people with 1080p/24fps tellies. Building an ION powered HTPC with XBMC
Building a Green PC
August 06, 2010
Christopher Barnatt sent us this excellent video demonstrating how to build a silent and fanless PC that consumes under 20W. Click to see just how easy it is. Then check out his website ExplainingComputers.com for more great guides.
Building an ION powered HTPC with XBMC
February 15, 2010
We are long time fans of XBMC here at Mini-ITX.com. Version 9.11 makes it extremely easy to utilise the graphics acceleration of ION based Mini-ITX systems to make a very slick Home Theatre PC. Here's how to do it. Building an ION powered HTPC with XBMC
The "Cambridge Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 2008"
October 10, 2008
The clever chaps at Cambridge University built an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle to compete in the Student Autonomous Underwater Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E). It was one of the smallest robots at the competition weighing in at just under 7kg, in part due to the tiny Pico-ITX motherboard used to power the autonomy software which guides it... The SAUC-E competition is a Europe wide competition aimed at University level students. The teams design and build their own AUVs that must attempt an underwater assault course that may vary from year to year but can consist of gates, drop targets and surface zones that may have to be detected by visual or acoustic means. The "CAUV 2008"
"Florian", the DVD burning robot
September 12, 2008
Aaron Shephards built himself a DVD burning robot to automate his backups. "Florian" picks up a DVD from a stack and places them in the DVD burner to be written. It then flips them over to be labelled, and even discards any bad disks into a naughty pile. All using self-built circuit boards, a few servos and servo controllers, plenty of LEDs, his own software written in Perl and components from local surplus shops. There's an EPIA M10000 motherboard in there too. Somewhere.
Aaron Shephards' "Florian"
The "i-EPIA"
September 05, 2008
Tim Schellekens has built an inexpensive Monitor PC from Mini-ITX components and a 15in LCD Monitor found on eBay, loosely inspired by his brother in law's iMac. This one's currently running Ubuntu. Tim Schellekens' "i-EPIA"
The "GTA-PC"
May 22, 2008
Mark Harris bought the GTA IV special edition, then decided to play with the packaging instead. The safety deposit box was the perfect size to repurpose an old EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard and case and even came with a convenient carrying handle. This one's currently running Slax booting from a 1GB Compact Flash card and runs near silently with just a couple of fans to keep things running cool. Mark Harris's "GTA-PC"
The "Digg" Case
April 14, 2007
Alex 'Qtip42' Wiley's latest creation isn't a Mini-ITX based project, but it does deserve an honourable mention and a link here. Why? Because Alex is a member of an elite group of people - he contributed not one but two projects to the site all the way back in 2003 - the ironically Mini-ITX (and not AMD) powered "AMD Case" and the rather marvellous "Spider Case". Alex now runs a case modding company based in Oregon, USA called Computer Choppers. Nice one Alex.
"Digg" Case Project Log and Gallery at Computer Choppers The "AMD Case"
The "Spider Case"
The "ITX-Laptop"
January 19, 2007
Torquil Harkness disappeared into his shed armed with a bundle of components, an angle grinder and mig welder and emerged several days later with his very own fully upgradable 2.0GHz Mini-ITX powered aluminium laptop. When he told the store what he was going to do we didn't quite believe him. We do now Torquil. The next version will have SATA RAID. Torquil Harkness' "ITX-Laptop"
The "Tortoise Beetle"
December 07, 2006
Mini-ITX Tortoise Beetle, Epiamorpha randiyer DESCRIPTION Adult - These oblong-oval beetles are basically blue in color with various black and/or red markings depending upon species. Slightly flattened and squared at the shoulders, Mini-ITX Tortoise Beetles' bodies are somewhat perspex-like in appearance. Body margins extend in a roof-like manner over much of the head and legs. Most species are 3 to 4 feet long. BIOLOGY Distribution - Mini-ITX Tortoise Beetles occur primarily in suburban Eastern Asia. Life History - Mini-ITX Tortoise Beetles spend much of their life as adults connected to a system of internet tubes, or in other dry, protected places. In winter, beetles emerge and feed. The female adults deposit eggs. Larvae emerge and transform into pupae. Over the course of about 8 days, a new generation of beetles emerges. Ran Diyer's "Tortoise Beetle" A quick tour of the "Tortoise Beetle"
The "DOS Head Unit"
October 02, 2006
Hayden Smith wanted to play lossless audio files in his car on a budget. His solution was an EPIA 5000 Mini-ITX board connected to an inexpensive LCD panel, an ingenious head unit controller made from the innards of a keyboard, and a DOS program called MPXPLAY. Hayden Smith's "DOS Head Unit"
The "Janus Project"
August 31, 2006
The "Janus Project" is the brainchild of Kyle Williams of the Janus Wireless Security Research Group in Portland, Oregon. Mounted inside an epoxy and silicone-sealed watertight case lives a 1.5GHz C7 powered EPIA EN 15000G motherboard, 2 x four-port PCI to mini-PCI adapters, 8 x 802.11a/b/g mini-PCI WLAN Modules, 2 x 1W 2.4Ghz WLAN amplifiers, a keyboard and a 17in LCD screen. The system can scan up to 300 wireless networks simultaneously, storing and AES encrypting in real time all the data onto its 20GB hard drive. By focusing all 8 WLAN cards onto an access point and using a combination of common Linux tools, the Janus Project can crack a WEP key in under 5 minutes. WPA and WPA2 encryption aren't far behind - Kyle and his friend Martin Peck are optimising the software to use the Padlock hardware acceleration of the C7 chip to crack those too.
If Kyle gets captured in enemy territory and tortured, an "Instant Off" switch will render the captured data useless until a password is entered and a USB stick containing a 2000-bit passkey is inserted. Presumably during the torturing process.
The Janus Project (Tom's Hardware)
The "Leela PC"
August 05, 2006
Jan Erik Vangen wrestled with his conscience before producing a Futurama-themed follow up to his very popular Bender PC, but he figured if nobody else was going to do it he might as well. Leela is fully Mini-ITX powered, has a working webcam in her eye - and a USB thumbdrive in her... thumb.
Jan Erik Vangen's "Leela PC"
Where's the rest?
The rest of the many Mini-ITX projects archived on this site can be found linked from our news archive, or using the alphabetical list on the right of the page. Or just have a random one.
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