I was so excited to get the display up and running that I followed the quick instructions that were provided.
The initial installation was smooth, and took approximately 10 minutes. You insert the MX610 into an empty 5 1/4
inch drive bay, attach the USB cable, and install the software drivers. I was then able to install the LCDC
software and play around with the display for a little bit. Using the LCDC Software, I was sending strings to
the screen, and then giggling. I had control. Now what I really needed to do was customize the display.
Installed and operating
My first customization was to remove the external USB cable. The retail version of the MX610 only comes with an external
USB cable, which is what I hooked up during the quick install. Obviously, this is much more cumbersome than to
connect the device to an internal USB header. The review sample included an internal USB cable, which is not
included in the retail version, but is available as a standalone product. I removed the external USB cable for the
case-friendlier internal USB cable.
I also liked the look of the Indicator LED Bus that was included with the review sample. This is a bus of 3 bright
LEDs. I decided to mount this to a 3 1/2 inch dive face plate. Installation was relatively easy, with having to
drill 3 holes into the face plate, and mounting a snap, literally. The LEDs snap into the LED holders. This bus
was included with the review sample, but must be purchased separately from the retail MX610. You can set the LEDs
to run any sequence you like. To test this, I created a sequence that scrolls the LEDs back and forth like K.I.T.T.
Yep, I'm a total nerd. If you feel like blinding yourself, look directly into these bright LEDs. They rival the sun
for brightness.
View of the LED Bus
My next customization was to attach my current case mods to the MX610 so that I wouldn't have to control them through my
bulky switches and microbus. This involved rewiring my Cold Cathode and case fans, which was no small task. Once
I had them rewired, connecting them was a simple as plugging them into the 3 pin fan headers. The CCFL
(Cold Cathode) was also plugged into one of these at the recommendation of the Technical Manual, which is included
on the CD. The Technical Manual also recommended that if the user wants to do anything that requires more power
than +5V to plug in an unmodified floppy power cable to the high power input of the unit. Since I was going to use
one of the fan headers for the CCFL, which requires +12V, I plugged in a floppy power cable.
Inside the Case
Other useful items that were sent with the review sample, but are not included in the retail MX610, are a pair of
temperature probes. The MX610 can connect up to 32 temperature probes over what is know as a Dallas 1-Wire Bridge.
I only used 2 connections for these temperature probes. I placed the probes in locations in my case, one where it
should show the correct ambient temperature, and another where it shows a temp near the CPU. More on how I used
these later.
