Build a Home Theater PC from a Broken Laptop and a Tivo

Step 6 Gut the Tivo, and use what you can.

So it's time to remove all of the insides from the Tivo (or whatever you're using) and plan what will stay and what will go.  There are a lot of usable connections on the back if you choose to do some fancy soldering.  I opted to use the USB ports on the back panel, as well as one set of RCA audio jacks.  Another idea would be to use the front LEDs and wire them into the hard drive activity light and power light, or to place the remote control receiver behind the transparent IR lens in the front of the unit.

You'll also want to plan how you'll mount the board.  It needs to be insulated so as not to short out any of the circuits on the mainboard.  I used clear contact paper to line the bottom of the housing before I started doing any drilling, even though the board would be about 1/4" off the bottom of the case.

Once I figured out where everything would go, I laid the mainboard in the case in the exact position it needed to be in.  Using a permanent marker, I made dots on the bottom of the case where each mounting screw hole was on the mainboard.  I drilled holes slightly smaller than the brass standoffs I would use to keep the mainboard off the bottom of the case, then used an electric drill to screw the standoffs into the holes. 

You'll need to understand the wiring pattern for USB ports (Red,White,Green,Black) if you want to reuse the USB ports on the Tivo mainboard.  I used a mitre saw to cut through the Tivo's mainboard just behind the mounting holes.  This allowed me to use the screw holes in the chassis to secure the board to the case.  I then soldered the two USB ports to some cables I had laying around to extend the onboard USB ports to the back.  I also soldered a 1/8" stereo headphone cable to the external RCA jacks to connect to the television.  The wiring depends entirely on how you want to customize the box, so I'll leave it at that.