There now plenty of tiny ARM Linux boards, which are normally sold without case, but usually it’s not to hard to find a 3D printed case. But if you have small board, and don’t feel to purchase a case for it, there’s an other solution: use an old mouse. That’s exactly what Slider2732 has done with his Orange Pi Zero board to convert it to a mini PC running Armbian, or a game console running RetroOrangePi. So after the keyboard PC, here comes the mouse PC!
So what did he exactly use for the mouse PC?
- Orange Pi Zero board
- An old Logitech mouse for the case and cable
- An 8GB micro SD card to flash the operating system
- A 4.3″ car reversing monitor (optional) acting as the display with composite input
- An Rii wireless keyboard/mouse, as the mouse function is not included with the mouse PC…
- A PAM8403 based 3W audio amplifier
- A 0.25W speaker
- Salvaged fan from an ATI graphics card + 32 Ohm resistor
You’ll have to find an old mouse with sufficient height, and cut plastic parts that get in the way. The mouse cable is used to carry power, audio and composite video in his setup, but you could customize it as you see fit. Note that you should get 6 wires in a PS/2 mouse, and only 4 wires in a USB mouse, so the older the better 🙂
You can find more details about the build in the video.
Via Hackaday.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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That’s a cute idea for a case.