Macbook pro lvds ipex pinout— technical question

I'm writing this post because i have the lcd assembly of a 17" macbook pro early 2011 and I would like to transform it into an external monitor.

I have bought a LVDS controller suitable for the led panel of the macbook (LP171WU6-TLB2), this controller has DVI and HDMI port and a LVDS interface to connect to the panel.


I don't want to remove the glass of the lcd assembly in order to reach the i-pex connector that is backside the panel, so i would like to use the male lvds cable that normally is connected to the logic board to interface the controller.

I have seen that there are 24 wires attached to the 40-pin ipex connector, i know the pinout of the ipex connector (see the photo attached) but i don't know which signal brings each wire.

If I would be able to know the pinout of the wire i wouldn't have problem to connect the monitor to the controller, cutting the wires and inserting them to the controller board.

Please, could you tell me more about the lvds interface and maybe the pinout of the 24 wires attached to the ipex connector?

Till now i know there are:
x3 green wires
x3 red wires
x5 blue wires
x13 yellow wires

Tot=24 wires







And the connection should be:

GND
VCC
V EEDID
DATA EEDID

RA1-
RA1+

RB1-
RB1+

RC1-
RC1+

RCLK1-
RCLK1+

RA2-
RA2+

RB2-
RB2+

RC2-
RC2+

RCLK2-
RCLK2+

Vdc (+)
Vdc (–)


Tot:22






And the other two wires?


Thank you very much in advance for help.

Nobody knows anything?

Where could I find the schematics of my 2011 17" mbp?

Thank you in advance.

cloudchaser said:

I saw you were able to complete this project. Did you get the pinouts that you needed?

I'm about to start working on the same with a 2006 Macbook monitor and any help would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

Yes, finally i have succeed in transforming my died macbook into an external monitor.

First of all you need to know the exact model of your panel; it could be found in two ways:
1) searching the web
2) unmounting the display assembly

Then you have to find on ebay a LVDS controller board, it's better if it is 100% compatible.

When i started this thread i didn't have inspected accurately the ipex connector, in fact after i have unmounted it i have discovered that inside the yellow wires there were other two wires. With a 12x lens i was able to identify each connection wire that matched exactly the pinouts i have already posted.
But i thought that there was no point in connecting manually or solder each little (too little!) wire to the connection board, so I have decided to unmount the assembly.
It was quite simple to do, i have used a hair dryer and a suction cap (the gps' one) to extract the glass cover.
I don' think that 2007 macbooks have a glass cover to protect the lcd, but the important thing to do it's only reach the connection of the panel and plug in the connector provided with the controller board.

That's all. I hope to be useful, if you have more questions i'll try to answer you.

brewcrewmac said:

I have a dead Macbook pro A1261 model and the lcd display is a 17'' 1920X1200 glossy. I want to use the display as an external monitor like you did and I already dissambly the display from the laptop. Now I search the right LVDS controller board and I can't find it on the web, maybe you can help me with that.

Click to expand...

Hello!
Which LCD do you have?
Please could you tell me the exact model? You should find the model number on the backside of the panel.

To find the right controller board you should try searching on ebay, remember to select the advanced query and choose "search worldwide" in fact the shops which sells this kind of stuff are from China or HK. I suggest you to activate also "search in the description" and to use a query like "number of the model + LVDS"

I hope you'll succed in this project!

brewcrewmac said:

My LCD is a Samsung LED LCD LTN170CT06, I find a couple of controller on ebay but no one has the exact number of my LCD. I'm searching for a controller with HDMI and DVI.

Click to expand...

These are ebay sellers which have a lot of lcd controllers.
I suggest you to ask them.

http://stores.ebay.it/njytouch/
http://stores.ebay.it/eqstore/
http://stores.ebay.it/csmqshop/