antec 900 owner please come in

You have to see the reader or dirve in first and slide the tray in until you can at least get one hole lined up for securing it somewhat with a single fastener. Then you toy around a little back and forth with each one while still not tightening any of them all the way down. That seemed to work the best since the case itself will flex a little when going to work on it.

For the problem with the drive here I'll simply toss it since it failed to even see a disk in the drive while only 1 of 3 disks would be seen on another system. I was trying to get the WD DrFat32.exe onto a boot floppy to see 98 go on a few older cases lately.

My old Socket A build here was finally put to use again and a friend requested a pair for his kids for the basics like school work primarily. The problem is that the old Dell seeing an 80gb go into lacks it's own floppy drive where the WD tool could simply be thrown onto a boot floppy in order to format the single 09 primary. Once I can add that to a startup disk the image of the floppy can burned onto a bootable cd.
 
Here's some more pics. I didn't completely remove the reader from the case because the cables are ziptied

You don't want the drive to be flush with the front of the adapter. That probably wouldn't work (it didn't for me). So, as you can see, I pulled the drive up a bit, inside the adapter. I believe this is what PC Eye meant by moving the drive back and forth. Eventually, you'll find the right spot and be able to mount the drive to the adapter.

drive12.jpg



Then you simply place the converter shield over drive, in front of the adapter and slide everything into the case. Make sure the drive is flush with the front of the case.

drive13.jpg


In order to mount the adapter to the case, I believe I drilled a few small holes on each side of the adapter. The holes I drilled correspond with the area of the case where I wanted to mount the drive. The screw you see mounts the converter shield to the case.

drive1.jpg
 
It would probably be much better to take advice from someone that has actually used them, and thus knows what they're talking about ANNR.

The drive adapter is one of the things I really don't like about this case. However..

You mount your device into the unit, with the device sticking out almost an inch. The recessed holes in the sides are where you put your drive screws to fasten the unit down.

The screws for the adapter will line up if you use the "slots" on the top of the cage, rather than the holes at the bottom. The faceplate is also a tricky affair, but with patience you'll see how it fastens in. To figure it out, look at one of the other faceplates in the top three drive bays. It fits the same way.

It's an absolutely terrible design, but once it's in it's fine.

EDIT: Mep got it for you on the money. I was really lagging when I posted.
 
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The contrast is two different type of devices seen in the photos so far. The earlier ones showing how a floppy drive goes in and remains flush is typically seen with most cases to start off with. Simply look at models that do provide the one or two standard 3 1/2" drive slots for them and they are always flush with the button being the only thing extending outward.

Being that a card reader is shaped a little differently as well as not seeing disks pop out due to spring tension you have to go with what works the best. This is why simply sliding the device or drive into the adapter and seeing how it will lineup is the best thing to try out before trying to secure the adapter inplace. Then you have to fight a little to get hte holes lined up one at a time since the drive tray is rigid while the case itself flexes.
 
As I said, it's better to take advice from someone that's used the case and knows what they're talking about.

You don't mount any device in it flush, or it won't sit flush with the bezel cover. It has to stick out about an inch from the front edge of the adapter. That's the same for both floppy drives and USB card readers.

It took a lot of screwing around and a lot of frustration before I got it right on mine... but at least I actually have one and am not making things up as I go along. ;)
 
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Is the fact that I said "flush" leading to all the confusion about the word "flush?" Yes, I also said that you cannot mount the drive flush with the adapter. However, you do want the front bezel to be flush on the front of the case - mainly for appearance. <- If that goes without saying, I probably shouldn't have said it. :P
 
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You odn't have to worry too much about that. What some don't realize is that the 900 was caught on sale when preparing for the new build here. I caught the 900 onsale during the summer when someone posted info on the sale for July 4th they spotted at FRYS while newegg held it up at $140 and still never dropped it much.

At the time FRYS was clearing them out at about $80- later seeing some other sales for a little more. I caught that one since the previous build saw an AeroCool AeroEngine II model.



The 900 was later seen and waited for the next build time to come along again.

 
mep916 said:
Is the fact that I said "flush" leading to all the confusion about the word "flush?" Yes, I also said that you cannot mount the drive flush with the adapter. However, you do want the front bezel to be flush on the front of the case - mainly for appearance. <- If that goes without saying, I probably shouldn't have said it. :P
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Wasn't referring to you ;)
 
SirKenin said:
It would probably be much better to take advice from someone that has actually used them, and thus knows what they're talking about ANNR.
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To clear things up, everyone that has contributed to this thread, with the exception of Stranglehold (I believe), owns the 900.
 
Yes.. but using it and "planning to use it" are two different things. ;) Sitting it in a corner doesn't really accomplish much (come to think of it, recommending aftermarket adapters when it comes with one isn't very productive either, and indicative of not using the product). :)
 
No I dont own the case. It just seemed odd that PC eye didnt seem to say that it had a stock adapter at first, till after I said I thought it did, and a person said it did but it was a pain to install. Then he comes out and says he knew it had a adapter but because it was a pain is the reason he didnt say anything, instead of saying man its got a stock adapter and its a pain this is how you install it. Instead of just giving a bunch of links to adapters.
 
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Ok, it just took me another hour or so to get the thing to sit right on the case.

I was able to line the holes up with the case but it didn't work too. Since the card reader will stick out of the face plate about half inch. I also tried to set the reader a one screw back and that put the reader half inch behind the face plate.

Anyway, at the end i had to drill four holes onto the adapter to get the darn thing right.

Thanks for the help everybody. Special thanks to Mep for taking the picture for me, really appreciate it.

The rest of my hardwares are arriving the day after tomorrow. Will post some picture here will everything is up and running.

but for the time being here is a picture of the front of the case with the card reader setting neatly in the bay like it supposed to. ^^



 
StrangleHold said:
No I dont own the case. It just seemed odd that PC eye didnt seem to say that it had a stock adapter at first, till after I said I thought it did, and a person said it did but it was a pain to install. Then he comes out and says he knew it had a adapter but because it was a pain is the reason he didnt say anything, instead of saying man its got a stock adapter and its a pain this is how you install it. Instead of just giving a bunch of links to adapters.
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But posting stock photographs somehow, magically, is supposed to prove a point.... That he somehow magically *may* know what he's talking about.. How that in ANY way provides a defense for very poor advice and lack of experience (funny how some things never change) is beyond me.. Although at least now anyone reading the thread will know that he can use Google Image Search.

Meh. Usually when I break a pencil I sharpen it. When I can't sharpen it I throw it out. For some reason someone threw it back in the box.
 
SirKenin said:
But posting stock photographs somehow, magically, is supposed to prove a point.... That he somehow magically *may* know what he's talking about.. How that in ANY way provides a defense for very poor advice and lack of experience (funny how some things never change) is beyond me.. Although at least now anyone reading the thread will know that he can use Google Image Search.

Meh. Usually when I break a pencil I sharpen it. When I can't sharpen it I throw it out. For some reason someone threw it back in the box.
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What you lack there has been from being away and not knowing too much about what hardwares as well as cases like the 900 have been discussed. The links for the low cost aftermarket adapter might just well have a place since ANNR found the need to modify the stock drive tray there.

A $2 cheapie may just have avoided the need for that leaving things intact in their original form for possible resale of the case later. Lining up and getting the fastener started in the holes in the black plastic seen with adapter can be a real Royal Flush for some since that is rigid material while the case's own frame tends to flex while working with it. That you find out directly when going to work with it not planning to work with it. :rolleyes:

Here I have to remove the current floppy since it suddenly refuses to detect any 3 1/2" placed in the drive. That means repeating the entire process all over again. But it seems some people wouldn't know that! :P And by the "Mr. Google" title failed back in 2006 since I never searches to only one search engine. I prefer to be a bit more thorough on things.
 
Actually, there was no need to modify it. I don't understand how he found the need to do so... which further reinforces that you're speaking from a complete lack of experience with the product.

I have it, sitting right here beside me... and it has the stock adapter in it, no modification.

Anyways, he got it working, case closed.
 
SirKenin said:
Actually, there was no need to modify it. I don't understand how he found the need to do so... which further reinforces that you're speaking from a complete lack of experience with the product.

I have it, sitting right here beside me... and it has the stock adapter in it, no modification.

Anyways, he got it working, case closed.
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"Lack of experience with the product"? You better rethink that one fast since the Antec 900 has been in use here for months already and was considered back in 2006 after already having bought the other case for the old 939 build then. :rolleyes:

The high price was one thing that stopped replacing the old at the time until someone posted news on seeing a good price reduction. Even when getting the holes in the tray lined up the hard plastic can be a little troublesome for many just getting the fastener started catching the first few threads. That is what makes it the most awkward while trying to keep the hole itself lined up. And just happens to be "Practical hands on experience" something some people seem to lack apparently. :rolleyes:

In the years prior to going into electronics then formal schooling for computers like the microcomputer specialist degree I spend good deal of time with various materials in the tool+die /cnc machining trade. Being a gaming type of case explains the lack of the usual opening seen for one or two floppy drives requiring an adapter to see one go in or any device like a card reader.

If the casing on an addin device is longer then the metal type allows for ease of installation over the plastic tray. That was the one drawback found with the case itself for seeing 3 1/2' drives/devices installed. The actual holes in the tray included are not prethreaded like you would see with aftermarket metal adapters available. That besides blending in due to the type of material are what make it that way.
 
ANNR said:
Ok, it just took me another hour or so to get the thing to sit right on the case.

I was able to line the holes up with the case but it didn't work too. Since the card reader will stick out of the face plate about half inch. I also tried to set the reader a one screw back and that put the reader half inch behind the face plate.

Anyway, at the end i had to drill four holes onto the adapter to get the darn thing right.

Thanks for the help everybody. Special thanks to Mep for taking the picture for me, really appreciate it.

The rest of my hardwares are arriving the day after tomorrow. Will post some picture here will everything is up and running.

but for the time being here is a picture of the front of the case with the card reader setting neatly in the bay like it supposed to. ^^
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Glad to see you were able to get it in ok without ruining the adapter in the process. From the photos there you did good. One thing done differently here however was installing the floppy in the top bay to see two optical drives(one ide, one sata) go under it. That allows for more airflow around those coming in from the 120mm fans and any heat doesn't get trapped at the top like seen with many cases.
 
PC eye said:
And by the "Mr. Google" title failed back in 2006 since I never searches to only one search engine. I prefer to be a bit more thorough on things.
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PC eye;852885 In the years prior to going into electronics then formal schooling for computers like the microcomputer specialist degree [/quote said:
Oh, I could go to town on those. But I will just drop it.
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