Old Dell i6000 laptop into controller??

[m00n]

Ok, so i have this old dell i6000 laying around that i always seem to trip on or stub my toe on.. So on the way out to the trash ghis morning after turning my big toe purple again, i thought, maybe i can turn this into a midi controller..

So, basically what i need are ideas possiblities of what to make and using minimal other parts build a midi controller from a circa '04 laptop... Seems as the laptop would already have 90% of the hard work done right??


This will be my firtst DIY midi anything, so please forgive my ignorance.

**edit**

Was thinking, i also have a bluetooth keyboard for my Mac that has a goofy acting power button.. I just keep it as a backup but maybe i should start with that first???

[nukage]

how exactly would it be useful as a midi controller? Just because a thing has a circuit board and a power supply does not make it easy to turn into a controller. You need a circuit board built specifically for that purpose. If you started adding knobs to an old laptop you wouldn't just be able to solder them to somewhere and expect it to do anything. Maybe I misunderstood how you're thinking of going about this...

[m00n]

Nah you were probably understanding me right.. Have no real purpose or need for another controller, alot of that post was my big toe, haha. When it comes to DIY midi, I know less then nothing, so if it is impractical then I prob wrote it, lol.

[ToOntown]

i have an idea:

Old Laptop
Oxygen 8
Duct tape

position the oxygen 8 onto the keyboard of the old laptop, wrap duct tape around the casing of each device until the oxygen 8 is firmly secured in place (do not block the USB port on the back of the MIDI device!!! you need this!!!).

i think that would be sufficient in accomplishing this task. you have turned your laptop into a MIDI controller!

[DjNecro]

The only thing that you would be able to do (in my opinion at least) would be to repurpose the keyboard... but... um... you already have one

If you were talking about hacking apart an old analogue mixer and turning it into a controller, well... We can talk

[m00n]

The only thing that you would be able to do (in my opinion at least) would be to repurpose the keyboard... but... um... you already have one

If you were talking about hacking apart an old analogue mixer and turning it into a controller, well... We can talk

My old DJX750 a possible candidate? I also have a m1 numark 2ch and a ndx200 that I got new w/ a bad cd player.

[m00n]

i have an idea:

Old Laptop
Oxygen 8
Duct tape

position the oxygen 8 onto the keyboard of the old laptop, wrap duct tape around the casing of each device until the oxygen 8 is firmly secured in place (do not block the USB port on the back of the MIDI device!!! you need this!!!).

i think that would be sufficient in accomplishing this task. you have turned your laptop into a MIDI controller!

Cool story bro.

[DjNecro]

My old DJX750 a possible candidate? I also have a m1 numark 2ch and a ndx200 that I got new w/ a bad cd player.

DJX750:
Without seeing the internals I can't say yes or no, or if yes how hard it would be, but from the pics of the unit itself... If it still works, I wouldn't hack it apart (it will be a one-way mod... no more analogue mixer)... It seems just too good of a mixer (from the looks, no clue how it actually performs) to sacrifice... If it is dead, that's a different story

Numark M1:
This is more like it... old and feature free enough to sacrifice, even if it still works.. The internals are likely to be fairly simple as well. Less is more when you are learning as you go.

If you want to give it a go, carefully open it up and take pictures of the circuit board (both sides) and anything else that looks important... I should be able to tell you more then.

The hardest part is isolating the pots and buttons from the rest of the circuit, after you've tapped into them, the rest is the same as any other diy midi controller: gamepad, arduino, pre-built midi-brain, etc...

Here's a post with a few pics of the internals of my mod (Behringer DX-500). There's a crap-ton more wiring between the board and the faceplate. One of these days I'll post a writeup on that mod, I have more pics I haven't posted yet...

http://www.djtechtools.com/forum/sho...249#post226249

[m00n]

Wow, great work! I underestimated the amount of work very badly. Def time for me to read more..

[safefire]

Do you want to use the buttons as a midi inputs? Cause that can be done.

Or do you just want to use the case as a holster for some knobs and such? Cause that can probably also be done