Screen Spanning Hack on new ibooks

[zeeko]

I connected this old 16" 600x800 apple display to my new 12" 1.33 ibook 512 ram w/screen spanning hack and it worked great. No lag dragging across screens, it was AWESOME. The resolution sucks on my other monitor but i plan on getting a new lcd now that i kno this works good.

[aquajet]

Good to hear, thanks for the info. It's a great hack that came in handy on my old iBook.

[ITASOR]

Just so you know, of course it's going to work a TON better at 600x800 than it will at the higher resolution of a new LCD, especially if it's above 1024x768. You only have 16mb VRAM on each screen.

[mjstew33]

i had 1280x1024 working great ;)

[haiggy]

i had 1280x1024 working great ;)


same here. i could even play warcraft III on the other monitor

[cbiffle]

Just replaced my 800mhz iBook with a new one. I haven't run with a second screen yet, but:

On my last one, I routinely ran an external Dell LCD at 1600x1200, in addition to the internal display. This was on a 32MB Radeon 9200. The only noticeable glitch is with Expose, which was stuttery.

So the new iBooks should have no difficulty.

[gizmo_pony]

actually , what is screen spanning hack ? i hv heard that it will void the warranty ?

[ITASOR]

actually , what is screen spanning hack ? i hv heard that it will void the warranty ?

Yes, it voids the warranty only if they catch you. On start up, you can just reset the PRAM and the hack will be gone!

[tikibangout]

I tried connecting my 17" LCD to my iBook. It was nice and all, but I do nothing that requires that big of a screen. 12" is more than enough for me. Thank god I didn't get the 14".

[20rogersc]

Just attatched an old monitor to my iBook and it works fine. And I've just purchased a nice Sony monitor off of eBay for £5 :D

::20ROGERSC::

[DDarling]

So you guys don't think it will lag if i use a 1920x1200 24" Dell monitor.

?

DDarling

[Chrispy]

I will test out my iBook on a 20" Dell widescreen later tonight. I am sure it will work but exposé will run slow.

[Chrispy]

OK i just installed the hack on my Dell 20" running at 1680x1050. Exposé runs choppy but not horrible. To my surprise, WoW runs at about 20FPS on average in windowed mode at 1024x768 :eek: That is very playable and very surprising to me. The back isn't half bad and if you have an external display give it a try.

[persianpunisher]

Just attatched an old monitor to my iBook and it works fine. And I've just purchased a nice Sony monitor off of eBay for £5 :D

::20ROGERSC::

probably fraud, check it out

[20rogersc]

probably fraud, check it outNo it's not :D

I had to pick it up though, an hours drive, which limited bidders I think. I got it home and it worked fine, it's a lovely monitor.

I've been running it at 1152 x 870 (75hz) and everything is running fine. Theres no 'dragging' in Exposé, and my iBook's still only got 256mb RAM at the moment.

It's a great hack, I would reccomend it to any iBook user.

::20ROGERSC::

[Chundles]

I tried connecting my 17" LCD to my iBook. It was nice and all, but I do nothing that requires that big of a screen. 12" is more than enough for me. Thank god I didn't get the 14".

The 12" and 14" screen have the same resolution so you don't have any more real estate, the pixels are just bigger so what you see on the 12" is the same as what you would see on the 14" it would just be physically bigger.

[MUCKYFINGERS]

the spanning hack is f'n AWESOME!!! i'm using it right now and it's so cool!!! joyyyy...

btw i'm running the external display at 1280x1024 and it's just great. Lovin' it and there's no lag! (Only when you use expose'... but with this much screen real estate I don't really need it!)

[20rogersc]

I've been running it at 1152 x 870 (75hz) and everything is running fine. Theres no 'dragging' in Exposé, and my iBook's still only got 256mb RAM at the moment.

It's a great hack, I would reccomend it to any iBook user.

::20ROGERSC::Now running it at 1600x1200 still with no problems, it works like a treat. So great to have that extra space.

It's the best hack I've ever used!

::20ROGERSC::

[MUCKYFINGERS]

My only little gripe is that expose is choppier but with so much screen real estate you don't need expose that much! :) Awesome hack! I want to go get an LCD now (using an old Sylvania CRT at the moment... my dad's 19" LCD rocked though...)

[ThatSoundAgain]

Just so you know, of course it's going to work a TON better at 600x800 than it will at the higher resolution of a new LCD, especially if it's above 1024x768. You only have 16mb VRAM on each screen.

Yup, but not that much worse. I usually go with a res of 1280 instead of 1600 on my external monitor, but both resolutions are definitely usable from my iBook - which is a rev A G4, 800 Mhz / Radeon 9200. The new iBooks should perform even better.

[stevep]

Just so you know, of course it's going to work a TON better at 600x800 than it will at the higher resolution of a new LCD, especially if it's above 1024x768. You only have 16mb VRAM on each screen.

A 1920 x 1200 screen at 32 bit colour needs 9mB of video memory - the iBook has plenty of video memory to run a second monitor at high resolutions. VRAM is not an issue.

[WillMak]

I LOVE THIS HACK.

[davewho]

My iBook will be arriving this week (first mac :) ), and I'm interested in this hack. While I probably won't go through with it for some time, at least until I'm familiar with the machine, I was curious to see exactly what kind of damage it could cause. I would imagine that there might be internal heat issues involved and, probably, the risk that the patch doesn't correctly apply.

If my new iBook were to come down with something and I'd have to take it in, even if the patch was fully removable and untraceable, I'd feel bad if the hack is what caused the problem.

[G5Unit]

What is the max res on an external monitor on the new ibooks anyways?

[ibidiem]

I've had my ibook nearly a month now, gradually been assimilating/assembling my bitchin setup... whence today on craigslist some dude had his Studioworks 995E 19" monitor up for 20 bucks... have been decking around with it for an hour now, and it's very, very nice, though CRT isn't as good to to the eyes as LCD, and bumping up the resolution to fit more info in the boxes makes everything smaller and smaller... kinda nulling the point of having a bigger screen, but with garageband and photoshop it is muy bueno.

I do notice alot of lag, here and there -- typing this reply isn't as snappy as on just the ibook, and expose is not fluid anymore (tho dashboard's ripple isn't affected).

& fyi G5unit : the max system preferences will allow me to span is 1792 x 1344 @ 84.9 hertz on the ext monitor.

The actual program comes with a disable option, so I'm not quite clear why we need to bother with zapping the hell out of anything. :rolleyes: .

Oh, and clamshell mode works fine. I can put the ibook to sleep by shutting the lid, and then can reopen the lid without it waking up, so as to not have to worry 'bout heat issues.

This is a very, very nice little line of code, and Mr. ibook@macparts should be liberally thanked!

[maya]

The hack has existed for any Mac that is not factory capable to screen span.

I know it works wonders on my iMac G5 and iBook G4. :)

Wish it had DVI. :(

[Marky_Mark]

Please can somebody post a link to the hack?

Thanks very much!

:)

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

http://macparts.de/ibook/

[galstaph]

I've put this on my ibook. Had it for about a week or so, until today I didn't really find the true usefulness of this handy little app. (aside from using it to preview the upcoming slides in keynote, which is kick a$$ :D ). I used it just today to spread out my lappy's desktop while working on my keynote in one window, my toolbars in the other along with my guide in word, truly useful not having to switch windows, I'm glad I got this, no issues to report either, it just works nicely.

[Stinkysteve]

Yes, it voids the warranty only if they catch you. On start up, you can just reset the PRAM and the heck will be gone!

I have been using it on my G4 iBook 12 incher since the second month I had it.

I had major problems about a year ago and it was sent back to Apple for a new mother board and hard drive, they didn't notice it, as it was all covered by AppleCare.

[Lucky8]

I have been using it on my G4 iBook 12 incher since the second month I had it.

I had major problems about a year ago and it was sent back to Apple for a new mother board and hard drive, they didn't notice it, as it was all covered by AppleCare.
What was the iBook doing before you had to send it back to Apple?

[Lucky8]

Just got done installing the hack.
Did not try the clamshell mode though... it works beautifully with my 20" Dell with 1600X1200 although I'm using 1280X1024 due to expose slowness.
Is there any reason why I shoudn't use 1600X1200 native resolution on a Dell 20 incher?
What is the best refresh rate to use? 75Hz or 60Hz?

Oh, there's also a black bar on the right of my ext screen when I use the native res. How do I fix that?

[gunnz]

I tried connecting my 17" LCD to my iBook. It was nice and all, but I do nothing that requires that big of a screen. 12" is more than enough for me. Thank god I didn't get the 14".

I've heard that SO many times. Having the 14" screen still has some benefits over having a 12" screen!!! I'm so sick of all these 12" ibook owners just clowning on the 14" ibook just because they didn't want to pay the extra money!! :) Haha, jk. Portability is definitely a key factor in choosing the 12" for some people. And okay, okay, it might not be as sharp, but the images displayed are still larger! Just because the resolution is identical, it doesn't mean that having a larger screen isn't beneficial. For instance, having a movie at the "maximum" setting on the 12" will probably be comparable to having a movie at the "normal" setting on the 14". PURELY in terms of physical size. Granted, the 14" will probably display an image that is not as sharp. For me, it means not having to lean my head toward the screen to watch a movie. Also, I am able to make the dock a much smaller size to maximize real estate.
And yes, I own a 14" ibook. Mainly because I wanted a bigger screen than the 12" ibook, but couldn't afford the 15" PB. I need a bigger screen, regardless of the resolution...for digital painting purposes. It's just easier to see on a bigger screen.

[Eidorian]

I've heard that SO many times. Having the 14" screen still has some benefits over having a 12" screen!!! I'm so sick of all these 12" ibook owners just clowning on the 14" ibook just because they didn't want to pay the extra money!! :) Haha, jk. Portability is definitely a key factor in choosing the 12" for some people. And okay, okay, it might not be as sharp, but the images displayed are still larger! Just because the resolution is identical, it doesn't mean that having a larger screen isn't beneficial. For instance, having a movie at the "maximum" setting on the 12" will probably be comparable to having a movie at the "normal" setting on the 14". PURELY in terms of physical size. Granted, the 14" will probably display an image that is not as sharp. For me, it means not having to lean my head toward the screen to watch a movie. Also, I am able to make the dock a much smaller size to maximize real estate.
And yes, I own a 14" ibook. Mainly because I wanted a bigger screen than the 12" ibook, but couldn't afford the 15" PB. I need a bigger screen, regardless of the resolution...for digital painting purposes. It's just easier to see on a bigger screen.The 12" and 14" iBook have the same screen resolution. (1024 x 768) It runs fine at 1280 x 1024. I installed here for a professor who got an iBook but REALLY wanted to screen span. It chokes in clamshell mode though. Then again we just told him not to do that.

[gunnz]

The 12" and 14" iBook have the same screen resolution. (1024 x 768) It runs fine at 1280 x 1024. I installed here for a professor who got an iBook but REALLY wanted to screen span. It chokes in clamshell mode though. Then again we just told him not to do that.

Nice. I think I might do that. Yes, I know that the resolution is the same. Still, it's nice to have a bigger screen. Simply put, images on the screen still appear larger on a 14" than a 12", right? :)