Raven RV01/DS 1050i Tips and Troubleshooting

After getting my DS rig last year, I've loved the sleek Silverstone Raven RV01 case. However, I've encountered a few irritating complications with the case itself 
Seeing as some other people have these problems too, I'm posting a FAQ about the issues and some fixes I've used.


A. Front 5.25 bay door gets stuck 3/4 of the way up, requiring manual intervention (not cool!), or goes too slow
This is an annoying little problem that many people have with the cool sliding front door of this case.
Commonly Caused by : The front door is not properly lubricated at the factory. If you look inside the door area to the left and right, you'll see that the door rides on two rails. These are lubricated. However, there are two additional lower rails underneath, of which aren't lubricated and causes it to get stuck or be slow.

Solution : You'll have to do a bit of DIY deconstruction to remove the front in order to lubricate the lower two rails.
1. Start by removing both side panels. From the left side panel area, look to the right near the front. Where the right end of the panel closes on the case, you should find six screws holding the front of the case in place. Remove those, and repeat for the other side.
2. Go to the bottom area of the case. Look toward the front of the case again, in front of your PSU, and you'll find six screws. The four outer ones form a rectangle of you connect them like dots, and two are inside that rectangle on the bottom left and right corners. Remove those inner two that are inside the rectangle, on the left and right corners.
3. Tip your case up, pivoting on the back of the case, and look at the bottom of the case. Toward the front, you'll see four more screws. Remove the FRONT-MOST two screws. If you accidentally remove the other two screws, like I did, don't panic if they won't go in. Apply pressure to them while turning them, they're not really machine screws so they don't catch easily.
4. By now, you should have noticed the front cover's loosening up. By now, you should also be able to remove it, so do so. The front will get stuck on the sides though, so you'll have to bend them outward a little bit so it slides off. Use EXTREME caution so you don't snap the plastic!!!
5. Now you can see the front door mechanism in all it's beauty, giving you access to the hidden, lower two rails. Lubricate them with Vaseline or something. Don't worry, the spring mechanism that operates the door is pretty much self-contained, low possibility of messing it up.
6. Reassemble your case front by repeating steps 1 - 4 in reverse.



B. Dust keeps invading the case despite the lower dust filters!
Commonly Caused by : If you've purchased this from Digital Storm and included a System Airflow upgrade, chances are, the side panel fan does not have a dust filter. Being that it is commonly an intake fan, dust can invade through there. If you did not order a system airflow upgrade, nevertheless, because of the openings on the top of the case, dust can still settle from there. Can't do anything about that

Solution : Purchase yourself a 120mm Fan Dust Filter. I went with Silverstone's FF121 dust filter that also better aims the airflow.



C. I can't get my 5.25 bay device out!!!
Commonly Caused By : The tool-less 5.25 bay device holder has screwed up on you, and one of the holder pins is stuck inside your bay device.  Because 5.25 bay devices are commonly threaded so they can be screwed in, the threads can catch on the device holder's pins. If you try to force it in, which is quite too easy by the way, the internal mechanism can snap from the force. This is an issue because when you try to pull the mechanism back, one or two of the holding pins do not retract because the internal mechanism has broken.

For Future Reference : When you use the tool-less holder, remember to be extremely careful. Do not take this thing for granted, as the internal mechanism can break easily if you use force.

Solution : First, you must obviously remove your bay device. Next, you can either order another one from DSO or Silverstone, or follow my instructions on how to fix it yourself.

Bay Device Removal : You'll have to have a little bit of luck, and possibly have to tip your case over.
1. Remove all plugs and jacks from your computer, including your power plug.
2. Open the front 5.25 door, and remove your left and right panels. Remove any screws that may be holding your device in place. Find the push-button mechanism that won't let go of your bay device, and hit the button forcefully to try and retract it. Find your device, push it to the right, and attempt to remove it.
3. Didn't work? Replace your left and right panels. Now, tip your case onto it's left side, and jiggle your bay device until it comes out. Like I said, it's all luck, just gotta pray gravity does its work and drags the pin out of your device.

Push-Button Mechanism Fix:
1. Find the problematic mechanism. You can do this by pushing the mechanism in so the pins jut out, and pushing it again so they retract. The problematic one should only retract one pin or no pins at all. This is why your bay device got stuck in the first place.
2. Find the two screws inside the 5.25 bay device area that hold the mechanism in. They're colored black, and are commonly located where you would normally insert holding screws for your device.
3. Once it's out, notice that the button is on two pins that hangs on a hole on each side. Push a screwdriver into the hole so the pin falls out of the hole and the button nudges out on that side. Use a flat-head screwdriver to pry that side out, using caution so that the internal parts don't fly all over the place.
4. Carefully remove the button by pulling the the other pin out of the hole.
5. Notice the internal mechanism, which is simply a metal bracket that's held in place by, wait, plastic? You should be able to find the problematic pin because its bracket is not held in place by anything.
6. Look for three small pieces of plastic jutting out from the housing, they should match up with the small holes on the problematic pin's bracket. Attach the pin to the bracket, then attach the bracket to those holes. Secure it with some high-strength duct tape.
7. As an extra precaution, secure the working pins, if any, with duct tape also.
8. Reassemble the housing, and screw back onto the 5.25 bay housing.



D. Right/Left panels stick out a bit, or won't close.
Commonly Caused By : Unknown, but solutions are known.

Solutions:
-If it won't close, try to close it, then slap the center of the panel. Opens up perfectly normal afterwards for me, doesn't pop out as soon as I release the panel again. (I've checked for any cable blockages, there are none, just proving that I'm not blind)
-If the bottom rear of the panel sticks out a bit, just push it in manually with the palm of your hand.



E. I thought this was a silent case. It's too noisy!
Commonly Caused By : Corsair Memory Fan, or any other 120mm case fan.

Solutions :
-Install a fan controller to manually control your fan speeds. (You do not need to control the giant dual 180mm fans. They're usually quiet enough so you don't even notice a difference.)
-Replace your fans with a quieter, efficient fan. Higher dba = More Noise. Higher CFM = more efficient.


Every time I find a problem with a fix, I'll post it here for anyone who wants to read it.


Edited by ablahblah - 27 Feb 2010 at 10:04pm

F.  My Computer is Gradually Getting Hotter By The Month!!!
Commonly Caused By - Clogged Dust Filters
Solution - Refer to the User Manual for steps to get the dust filters out. Just to clarify, there's one on each side panel, and two inside the case itself. The back is accessible from the outside, the frontal one is internally removable. Clean with a duster first, then spray with compressed air. While your case is open, nice and airy, spray and dust the rest of your computer with compressed air.

F. I installed that SilverStone Clear CMOS Switch thingy onto the specially cutout portion on my Raven. Now my rig won't turn on.
Commonly Caused by - Silverstone goofed up. Big time. The pins are all mislabled.
This is the FIRST time I have ever seen SilverStone screw up soooooo badly....I believe they've mislabeled all pins on this product.
Solution - Trace the pins leading down from the switch. The central wire should go to the central pin of the CMOS pins, the wire from Normal should go to the pin your jumper was in originally, and the wire from Clear should go to the last remaining pin. If you don't remember what was what, just make sure the center pin from the switch goes to the center pin on your CMOS pins, and plug the other two into whatever. If your computer doesn't turn on, just swap the two pins.