Help needed identifying & working with a Cooler Master case

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jhsachs

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Apr 10, 2009
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Can anyone help me find information about a Cooler Master case?

First, how to identify it? I've looked at the pictures of current models on Cooler Master's web site, and I'm pretty sure it's not one of those. I hope there's a model number or something, somewhere on the case itself, but I haven't found one yet. It's a full tower or ultra tower case with a row of connectors and controls along the top of the front panel: from left to right, 3x2 USB ports, mic and speaker, 1394, reset, and power.

Second, how to remove a DVD drive from one of the drive bays? I've removed the mounting screws on both sides, and the drive slides backward a couple of centimeters, then stops. Something hard is blocking it, but I don't see anything. I tried wiggling the drive left/right and up/down, but it didn't help.

Third, where to find a manual? Most equipment makers keep PDFs of manuals on their web sites, but Cooler Master apparently does not. I found an accordion folded installation guide for some other Cooler Master case loose on the web, but it's written in the "international" style (drawings with minimal text), and it wouldn't explain anything unless you already understood it. It would have me believe that to gain access to the drives one pulls off the front panel from the bottom, but this model's front panel is a different design that requires tools for disassembly, if it comes off at all.
 
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I solved part of this: there are plastic tabs on both sides of each drive bay, and I was able to remove the DVD drive by pulling outward on both tabs while I pushed the drive out of the bay. It seems like it ought to take three hands, but it can be done with two! 🙂 (I actually tried that before I posted, but I didn't understand how the tabs worked so I didn't pull hard enough.)

noidea, you're right; I carelessly wrote "backward" after trying and failing to remove the drive in both directions. When it came out, it came out the front.

scout, giving a link is problematic because it points to a PDF; the browser loads it into a separate copy of Adobe Reader without displaying the URL; the URL displayed below the link ends with "dot-dot-dot"; and when I copy the link's URL from Google's search page, it points to Google. But if you Google "cooler master case manual" you'll get it (provided Google gives you the same results it gave me). It's about a page down the results list, titled "[PDF] ® Installation Guide > - Cooler Master." Google's precis is in Portuguese, but the document uses several languages including English.

Although the link is incomplete, I can see that it's somewhere on Cooler Master's web site, not "loose on the web." I still haven't figured out how to find documentation through the site, though.

Later I found a whole manual, also for a very different case. It's near the top of the same results page, titled "[PDF] MASTERCASE Pro 5_Manual_1 - Cooler Master."

matt, I have photographs but I won't be able to upload them for another day or two. I'll look forward to learning more from this community when I do. When I post the pix you'll notice that one of the case fan grilles is missing; I hope I can get a replacement from Cooler Master, but obviously I need to figure out what model I have to do that.
 
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Here are the pictures (warning, they're about 2 MB each for maximum resolution).
http://jhsachs.com/DSCN1532.JPG
http://jhsachs.com/DSCN1533.JPG
http://jhsachs.com/DSCN1534.JPG
http://jhsachs.com/DSCN1535.JPG

I now know what my case's name is: CMStacker. It's blind-embossed at the top of the front panel, and the lighting made it absolutely clear in the first photograph, although it escaped my notice when I was looking for it in 3D.

That doesn't completely resolve my puzzle, though. Google's pictures show a huge variety of CMStacker cases, some of which don't even have case fan grilles as a separate part. So to replace the missing part I need to figure out which CMStacker it is. when I riffled through the pictures, nothing jumped out at me. I'll look more carefully later. Pointers or unique insights are welcome, though.

Google picture search is a great idea. It may not help at this stage, because there are too many similar objects to pick through, but I'll give it a try, and I'll keep it in mind for the future.
 
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That's probably it. This is typical of the frustration I've had with Cooler Master's web site: the picture is too small to show details, and they did something to the web page that makes it impossible to copy the picture and paste it into a paint program so I can enlarge it.

I zoomed in on the web page and got a somewhat better view, but the resolution is too low to let me say more than "probably." And, of course, "Thank you."
 
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