Removing Antec SX-1030 I/O Shield

[mubs]

The shield has two layers to it: a layer visible from the outside that is the same gray color as the unpainted portions of the SECC steel; and a layer visible from the inside that is shiny like it's chrome plated. The inner layer is quite thin, like typical IO shields. The outer layer appears to be the same thickness as the rest of the case - 1mm. The two layers appear to be bonded together. I am unable to pry the shiny layer off.

My new motherboard has a vastly different IO panel, and comes with a matching shield. I can't figure out how to remove the shield in the case; it appears to be stamped in place. The case manual only says to call Antec if the motherboard does not match the shield that's already in the case.

Would anybody know? Googling didn't help.

IIRC, Handruin has an Antec SX-830 (?) Hopefully he's been through this and knows what to do.

Worst case I'll call Antec Monday, but that means 60 hours of wasted ime on a weekend. I hope to God I don't have to dremel it out. I'm not sure I'll know to leave enough metal there to hold the new shield.

 

[Tannin]

Many I/O shields have two layers, Mubs, usually those from the better quality cases; yours is probably the same. The usual method is to give it a sharp backhanded blow with a screwdriver handle. (From the outside, of course.) It should just pop inwards.

(Err .. that wasn't very clear. Having made sure that there are no screws to remove or other silly stuff on the part of the case manufacturer, hold a large screwdriver (or any similar-shaped object) in your fist, your thumb towards the pointy end, and a few inches of the handle sticking out underneath your fist. Give the I/O plate a good sharp backhanded blow with the rounded end of the screwdriver handle. Put some elbow into it. It's usually best to aim the blow to one side, about three-quarters of the way along the plate.)

 

[Tea]

Stupid human. The bit Tannin didn't tell you was that the I/O plate will, unless Antec have gone totally ga-ga and done something really, really weird, simply be a press-fit. It's just a flat metal plate with raised edges that shrink-fits into a rectangular hole, of standard size and shape. The hole is slightly smaller than the plate, so the fit is quite tight and you can't easily see the join from the outside. If you give it a good thump with your fist it will pop out. (Err .. I mean pop in.) Unfortunately, if you do that, you will also practically always bark your knuckles or cut yourself, and it would be a shame to get bloodstains on your nice new case. So do it the Tannin way.

The new one will be of lighter construction and go in more easily than the old one came out. Get one corner in first and then work your way all around, squeezing it into place. Sometimes they are a bit tight but bad language always helps.

Before you put the new one in, make sure that you have popped out and thrown away any of the press-out sections that need to be removed to give access to (e.g.) your network socket, and left alone any that cover up holes. (They use one plate stamping to cover several different motherboard models.)

Less obviously but more importantly, locate the stupid sticky-out bit immediately over the PS/2 mouse socket and bend the bastard up past 90 degrees so that it doesn't get caught and bent down flat when you put the motherboard in.

 

[MaxBurn]

http://www.2cpu.com/images/reviews/SX1030/backsx1030.html

Doesn't look like anything special to me, remove the motherboard and whack the heck out of it in the prescribed manner as Tannin has outlined.

 

[mubs]

Thanks, Tannin, and Tea, your expertise is invaluable! It's an old case (5+ years), but a very good one, so I'm going to mod it a bit for the new setup and it'll be good to go. I think it came with the "Venus compatible" shield installed at the factory, and since my Tyan Tiger BX based board was compatible I didn't have problems installing it. In fact, I moved the system that was living in this case over to another smaller case of unknown vintage/brand, and the Tiger fit perfectly in that one's shield. So the smaller one has a "Venus compatible" shield as well and must have been purchased in the same time frame.

Max, thanks, but I can see the real thing right in front of me. The review and pic don't really address this issue.

 

[mubs]

Ha! Tried it just now, and one nice whack and it came out all easy and really cleanly. Thanks, Tannin and Tea, you're the best!