Linux on a cash register
11/13/02

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I really needed a stand-alone web server, but having one with a custom LED-on-a-stick would be that much better. I just had no way to mount it. The case for the actual PC is a "sleeve" of sorts which goes all the way around the face plate. If I screwed into it, I wouldn't be able to slide the case off the PC unless I removed the screws. If th escrew holes were even slightly indented, then it'd make it very hard to get the case off (it's real tight fit as it is) That sounded like too much work. So I started to look around for a better way to attach everything.

Adding to my difficulty was the PSU case: it has no top. It's meant to be bolted into the main case register housing and using it outside the housing means exposed wiring. So I had to figure out how to cover that as well.

The plywood in this picture is its old cover I was using. I drilled 4 holes into the wood and zip-tied the unit down onto it so that the wiring was covered. I did this for testing the printer and stuff and it was only temporary (but very strong). It's what gave me the plywood-on-the-wall idea, actually. I wasn't going to do that, but I thought perhaps I could mount the LED-on-a-stick's bracket right to the wood, then the wood to the PC. I started looking at bracket placement and took this picture.

After flipping it over and putting it against things, I noticed the bare area (in the lower right in this pic) inside the PSU. It looked like it would have almost exactly enough room for the stick's bracket. A little more measuring told me that the bracket's screws would penetrate nothing, and the bracket could mount on top of the housing just fine. So I got the drill.