Anyone interested in a Hi-def (1920 x 1200) mod for PB/MBP?

[bryanus]

Well, I'm on 10.4.10 already, and that was a clean update from the original 10.4.8 that was on the restore discs. There is no 10.4.11, at least not yet released by Apple.

Is there a modified 10.4.10 kext that I missed somewhere in this thread?

Have you tried installed the 10.4.10 kexts for the Backlight? That may help you with the screen going dark.

 

[noetus]

How much DPI is too much?

On a slight aside, it's interesting to note that the $100 laptop for the developing world, the new XO (which can be hand-cranked), has a screen DPI (dots per inch) of 200. Now consider for a moment that the standard 14" XGA screen has a DPI of 90 (!!!!), and even our own lovely 15.4" WUXGA manages a DPI of only 147, and that, for most users, "makes the text too small".

This on a $100 laptop? For kids? (Though also for adults.) Clearly the OS (called 'Sugar', built on Linux) is properly resolution independent - not something Vista manages, nor even the upcoming Leopard (properly). It's amazing to me that people just ACCEPT that too high a DPI "makes the text too small" without batting an eyelid and thinking for a moment that this is the fault of the OS, not the high DPI/screen. (To be fair, it's probably also a consequence of the way web design has evolved - though the XO is web-friendly, indeed is designed for the web, and seems to manage the issue of fixed DPI fonts in html without issue.)

It's laughable and sad at the same time that our state-of-the-art OSes can be so backward... and everyone pretty much just accepts it (and even blames the backwardness on the hardware for "making the text too small"!!!). It is really about time that this deplorable state of affairs changes and the OSes started growing up.

(Can you imagine if people generally only bought printers that printed at 100 and 200 dpi because the higher-resolution printers "made the text too small" ???)

 

[Faye]

Sorry, I got the versions confused. I've been stable on 10.5 for so long (ADC) that I've forgotten the 10.4 state of affairs.. it's 10.4.10 which broke everything and 10.4.9 you should copy. If you only have 10.4.8 then try that.


Faye

 

[TheStu]

So i have read this thread from the very first post and let me tell you guys, you have all done some really fascinating work!

I do have some questions though

Has anyone yet put together a step by step instructional for upgrading to a WUXGA screen on a NonSR MacBook Pro?

I can't tell from reading, but has there been any consistency between all you guys, or does each person have to fiddle with their setup to get it running correctly?

 

[craigatkinson]

So it's already confirmed that the high def mod will work on Leopard?

Sorry, I got the versions confused. I've been stable on 10.5 for so long (ADC) that I've forgotten the 10.4 state of affairs.. it's 10.4.10 which broke everything and 10.4.9 you should copy. If you only have 10.4.8 then try that.


Faye

 

[whateverandever]

On a slight aside, it's interesting to note that the $100 laptop for the developing world, the new XO (which can be hand-cranked), has a screen DPI (dots per inch) of 200. Now consider for a moment that the standard 14" XGA screen has a DPI of 90 (!!!!), and even our own lovely 15.4" WUXGA manages a DPI of only 147, and that, for most users, "makes the text too small".

This on a $100 laptop? For kids? (Though also for adults.) Clearly the OS (called 'Sugar', built on Linux) is properly resolution independent - not something Vista manages, nor even the upcoming Leopard (properly). It's amazing to me that people just ACCEPT that too high a DPI "makes the text too small" without batting an eyelid and thinking for a moment that this is the fault of the OS, not the high DPI/screen. (To be fair, it's probably also a consequence of the way web design has evolved - though the XO is web-friendly, indeed is designed for the web, and seems to manage the issue of fixed DPI fonts in html without issue.)

It's laughable and sad at the same time that our state-of-the-art OSes can be so backward... and everyone pretty much just accepts it (and even blames the backwardness on the hardware for "making the text too small"!!!). It is really about time that this deplorable state of affairs changes and the OSes started growing up.

(Can you imagine if people generally only bought printers that printed at 100 and 200 dpi because the higher-resolution printers "made the text too small" ???)

You're severely misinformed about the quality of the XO display. And honestly, this resolution independence crap is wildly exaggerated. It's all about the UIKit and SVG widgets. That's up to developers mostly.

As for the XO screen, it's only 200DPI in grayscale mode.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XO-1_(laptop)#Display

 

[bryanus]

Doh, does anyone have the 10.4.9 kext I can try?

Also, there was some sort of MacBook Pro firmware update I just applied, hoping it would somehow magically fix everything. Well, I installed it and the first time I rebooted everything seemed the same. I packed up and left for my trip.

The next day I tried to boot and the screen was dark. I then tried to reboot into Windows to do my "trick", but windows was totally screwed. It was like a 10-color .gif with lots of banding, etc. So I rebooted into OSX, but this time my trick didn't work. The screen was still dark.

So I tried my hot keys for SR and rebooted. That didn't work either. I then noticed that when I hit my hotkeys nothing was happening (you can actually see part of the screen if you shine a light onto the screen and look closely). Feeling my way around the screen, I managed to pull up SRX and noticed all my hotkeys had reverted and were erased. I somehow managed to set them again. A couple reboots later and my hotkey trick worked to bring the screen back.

If you haven't applied the firmware update and are using SRX hotkeys, I might avoid it for the time being.

Sorry, I got the versions confused. I've been stable on 10.5 for so long (ADC) that I've forgotten the 10.4 state of affairs.. it's 10.4.10 which broke everything and 10.4.9 you should copy. If you only have 10.4.8 then try that.


Faye

 

[bryanus]

Unfortunely, it's still a very fiddly affair...

I thought I had read and re-read every little thing, but when i got down to it, I found that what worked for others didn't necessarily work for me. I'm still struggling with this to make it rock solid stable.

When I have more time I'm going to try and create a customized EDID override like Faye did for her Toshiba panel. Then hopefully I can get rid of SRX and be never fear rebooting again.

So i have read this thread from the very first post and let me tell you guys, you have all done some really fascinating work!

I do have some questions though

Has anyone yet put together a step by step instructional for upgrading to a WUXGA screen on a NonSR MacBook Pro?

I can't tell from reading, but has there been any consistency between all you guys, or does each person have to fiddle with their setup to get it running correctly?

 

[TheStu]

That is unfortunate, my friend is still on the fence about upgrading his panel to the WUXGA, mostly because although he would like the high resolution, he worries about the MacBook Pro's continued ability to play games at native res, although he probably could drop it to previous native for gaming.

His main concern is that he has a bum backlight, or perhaps a bum backlight inverter. He is ordering the inverter this week, and if it turns out that is the problem then he probably will not do the panel upgrade. If the actual backlight is shot though, then he will do the upgrade. I am afraid though that I will be the one to handle the upgrade though, so I guess I may be asking a lot of questions here.

 

[Faye]

So it's already confirmed that the high def mod will work on Leopard?

I can confirm it's working with 10.5 9A559 with the Tosh panel, my EDID/Override file and 10.4.9 AppleBacklight.kext.


Faye

 

[jrsade]

Doh, does anyone have the 10.4.9 kext I can try?

Also, there was some sort of MacBook Pro firmware update I just applied, hoping it would somehow magically fix everything. Well, I installed it and the first time I rebooted everything seemed the same. I packed up and left for my trip.

The next day I tried to boot and the screen was dark. I then tried to reboot into Windows to do my "trick", but windows was totally screwed. It was like a 10-color .gif with lots of banding, etc. So I rebooted into OSX, but this time my trick didn't work. The screen was still dark.

So I tried my hot keys for SR and rebooted. That didn't work either. I then noticed that when I hit my hotkeys nothing was happening (you can actually see part of the screen if you shine a light onto the screen and look closely). Feeling my way around the screen, I managed to pull up SRX and noticed all my hotkeys had reverted and were erased. I somehow managed to set them again. A couple reboots later and my hotkey trick worked to bring the screen back.

If you haven't applied the firmware update and are using SRX hotkeys, I might avoid it for the time being.

After the firmware update Mac OS X still works fine, but Vista is flickering and the colors are strange. I have to run PowerStrip to settle a timing tick down to get the correct picture. Is there a way to make this correct timing permanent without having to run PowerStrip all the time?

 

[mediapirate]

1680x1050 Hitachi TX39D99VC1FAA

Well the deadbeat at Ebay finally sent me my 1680x1050 display and I was able to get it installed tonight. As expected there's nothing on the display when booting OSX, I see the apple logo and spinning wheel (distorted) and the black. I then tried booting a vista cd and the Elive MBP cd while I was able to get a picture on both Vista and Elite it was odly distorted. I'm going to post a picture of the screen. I'll also work on the keytext files this weekend to see if I can get it working in OSX.

After the firmware update Mac OS X still works fine, but Vista is flickering and the colors are strange. I have to run PowerStrip to settle a timing tick down to get the correct picture. Is there a way to make this correct timing permanent without having to run PowerStrip all the time?

 

[harpersincleelu]

Ltn154u2-l04

Well I just wanted to say I was able to get the LTN154U2-L04 to work with my C2d MPB 15in. I had to initially use an external monitor and download SwitchResX (just the control Panel wich does not expire) and then change the Hz to 56 (55.939) Of course when ever you plug in a new monitor it changes the Internal LCD to 1920x1200 60 Hz so you have to change it back. The quick fix is to have display preferences in the finder bar and just before you plug in the ext monitor move to mouse so it is on the display preferences, plug in the monitor and then click on Display Prefs and choose 1920x1200 56 Hz, Millions (blindly with arrow keys and enter) and it will work. I wish I had a decent override file so I could get the brightness buttons to work, but this LCD was a good solution because it requires no kexts, no terminal and still works after the firmware update. Vista did of course need to be tweaked with Power strip to not be wierd. Thanks to this thread for all the reading materials and hints

 

[bryanus]

Well I have the same panel as you, and I use the freeware program called Shades to act as my brihtness controls. You can map the brightness keys to the Shades app to control the brightness. It's a 'fake' brightness, though; it merely darkens the screen by way of overlaying a gray-ish color over top (I asked the developer if this was how they did it). So no power savings or anything like that...

But I do have the automatic backlit keys; that just worked without anything special.

I actually have 3 different SRX timings that seem to all work the same: 56,58, and 60 even. I don't know how or why it works at 60, but it does.

Ever since I updated the firmware, I lost Windows XP compatibility. Colors look like a 10-color gif. I can use PowerStrip to tweak it, but it's never perfect, and the thing that irks me is that Windows had always just worked perfectly without any other program for me. The firmware update seems to have killed it.

I also think the firmware update, in messing up Windows, has made my OSX panel less stable than it was prior to the update. Seems to start up dark more often now, and I'm hearing some whining noises coming from the right side of the display depending on the angle of the screen. I had this problem before, but it went away with a clean OS install, but now it's back.

Sorta sick of this screen actually. It works, but not great. I'm thinking of passing it on craigslist and getting a SR MBP instead, maybe the 17" HD this time and just be HD native from the get go.

Love the 250GB HD upgrade I did though. Much quieter and much cooler in the palmrests now, too.

Well I just wanted to say I was able to get the LTN154U2-L04 to work with my C2d MPB 15in. I had to initially use an external monitor and download SwitchResX (just the control Panel wich does not expire) and then change the Hz to 56 (55.939) Of course when ever you plug in a new monitor it changes the Internal LCD to 1920x1200 60 Hz so you have to change it back. The quick fix is to have display preferences in the finder bar and just before you plug in the ext monitor move to mouse so it is on the display preferences, plug in the monitor and then click on Display Prefs and choose 1920x1200 56 Hz, Millions (blindly with arrow keys and enter) and it will work. I wish I had a decent override file so I could get the brightness buttons to work, but this LCD was a good solution because it requires no kexts, no terminal and still works after the firmware update. Vista did of course need to be tweaked with Power strip to not be wierd. Thanks to this thread for all the reading materials and hints

 

[bryanus]

Any luck with the 1680 screen? Bummer it didn't work off the bat. What about the HD screen you got?

Well the deadbeat at Ebay finally sent me my 1680x1050 display and I was able to get it installed tonight. As expected there's nothing on the display when booting OSX, I see the apple logo and spinning wheel (distorted) and the black. I then tried booting a vista cd and the Elive MBP cd while I was able to get a picture on both Vista and Elite it was odly distorted. I'm going to post a picture of the screen. I'll also work on the keytext files this weekend to see if I can get it working in OSX.

 

[bryanus]

Noetus, any luck with yours?

This thread must LIVE!

 

[mediapirate]

1650 panel cont.

The 1680 screen has thus far not worked for me in OSX but does work perfectly in Vista. I'm waiting for the Tosh Panel which I hope works as right now I have a non functional MBP (less Vista) which more or less defeats the point of having a Mac right

I was able to get two HP 1280x800 LG and 1440x900 Tosh panel's to work perfectly. They booted with OSX and Windows without any modification's required. It's going beyond the 1440x900 resolution which presents the problem upon loading OSX. I'm able to see the Apple and wheel spinning at boot on the 1650 panel but nothing when loading the desktop.

Any luck with the 1680 screen? Bummer it didn't work off the bat. What about the HD screen you got?

 

[harpersincleelu]

But I do have the automatic backlit keys; that just worked without anything special.

I actually have 3 different SRX timings that seem to all work the same: 56,58, and 60 even. I don't know how or why it works at 60, but it does.

Is there any way you can post your Overrides file DisplayProductID-5534 because I only have 1920x1200@56. Also are you using and kexts?

Thanks for any help

P.S. I hear you on the starting up bright/dim. It always seems to do with starting with a fully charged batter or not. Also The firmware update got me so irked I removed the boot camp partition altogether and started using paralles. Much faster and you can pause the maching and resume real quick.

 

[dtklamf]

hi
I have a 1.67ghz g4 powerbook with 64mb video and the screen is failing via a big crack through the centre of it.Is it possible to just simply replace it with one of the "high res" displays I see listed on parts websites?

I dont want to do any of the outstanding mods some of you have done just simply screw in a new replacement screen i just figured it'd be a good time to grab a bit more screen estate.i know it's not much but for the few extra bones i'd go with a larger screen

 

[bryanus]

you should be able to. the only thing you need to be aware of is that your screen is 15.2" and not 15.4 like most screens in that size are. If it says it will work with your Powerbook I'm sure it will be fine. Also, you want the 1280x960 resolution.

hi
I have a 1.67ghz g4 powerbook with 64mb video and the screen is failing via a big crack through the centre of it.Is it possible to just simply replace it with one of the "high res" displays I see listed on parts websites?

I dont want to do any of the outstanding mods some of you have done just simply screw in a new replacement screen i just figured it'd be a good time to grab a bit more screen estate.i know it's not much but for the few extra bones i'd go with a larger screen

 

[noetus]

Noetus, any luck with yours?

This thread must LIVE!

Well, I gave up with the Tosh screen, I'm afraid.

I took delivery of a Samsung rev. 04 screen from ztronics1 but I haven't tried it yet. I'll let you know when I do. By the way, ztronics1 I found to be a pain in the **** to deal with - did anyone else? Simply wouldn't answer any questions I sent, I wanted expedited shipping and simply got no response to several emails. When I sent the extra money for it, I got the standard shipping and no refund - and no response to further emails.

I will say this though - the screen arrived very well packed and was new as described. Much better packed than the Toshiba screen was, which was essentially wrapped a couple of turns in bubble wrap, and then thrown in a large box LOOSE - and sent over to the US from the UK like that! (That was part of the reason I figured the screen was at fault, because of the state of the box it arrived in and the poor packing.)

I have one clarifying question before I try the Samsung. When I make/use a new overrides file for the new screen, I have to name it according to the make/model of the new high definition screen I'm putting in, right? It doesn't replace (by name) the old screen's overrides file, right? Sorry for being confused

 

[bryanus]

I didn't have any issues with them except that it took like 2 weeks to get my screen. They said they shipped it but apparently never actually shipped it for another week and a half. But yes, it arrived perfectly packaged. I used the same packaging to sell my old panel the next week.

As far as I know, you create a new folder for the new overrides you will be creating. I don't know how to do the trick that Faye did, and "trick" the OS into thinking the panel is a natively supported display to get brightness and backlight working.

I am using Thomas' ATIinject file as well as SRX. I'll post my overrides when i can, hopefully later tonight.

Anybody have the 10.4.9 backlight kext? I wanna try that.

Update: uploaded my override files for the Samsung -L04 display

 

[harpersincleelu]

As far as I know, you create a new folder for the new overrides you will be creating. I don't know how to do the trick that Faye did, and "trick" the OS into thinking the panel is a natively supported display to get brightness and backlight working.

If you make the line which reads

<integer>19619</integer>

which follows

<key>DisplayVendorID</key>

to read

<integer>1552</integer>

This tells OS X that the display was made by apple and this gets you bright/dim keys but with my override it does not dim or brighten the LCD.

Hope this may be a step in the right direction!

 

[bryanus]

I've had the keys working once actually. But when I pressed them nothing happened but I saw the indicator on the screen show up, but it was stuck on the lowest notch I think.

If you make the line which reads

<integer>19619</integer>

which follows

<key>DisplayVendorID</key>

to read

<integer>1552</integer>

This tells OS X that the display was made by apple and this gets you bright/dim keys but with my override it does not dim or brighten the LCD.

Hope this may be a step in the right direction!

 

[harpersincleelu]

More of a solution for Samsung LTN154U2-L04

The attaced zip contains the ATIinject.kext from around page 22 of this thread It also contains an override file based on the same, but altered to work with LTN154U2-L04. It enabled me to have all the screen resolutions (800x600,960x600 1024x768stretched 1600x1000, etc) but still no brightness control.

Here are the steps I took

1. Copt ATIinject.kext to /System/Library/Extensions

2. type sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/ATIinject.kext in the terminal

3. Replace DisplayProductID-5534 in /System/Library/Display/Overrides/DisplayVendorID-4ca3
with one in zip

4. Reboot if all is well just never use 1920x1200 @ 60

5. If all is not well (displays but extremely dim) hook an external monitor and adjust settings. It only started to display right once I removed the external monitor. Then I could plug and unplug and switch all around a million combinations mirrored/unmirrored/different resolutions on both the LCD and ext monitor. But even with the right settings initially it had to get connected one time to the ext monitor and then unplugged before it would show on the LCD.

Hope this helps anyone.

If only there was a way to change the EDID in the DisplayProductID-5534 file I am guessing brightness might work. But I do not know how?