I have seen this brought up maybe a handful of times across multiple forums. There is a ton of space in the pre-unibody macs, including the A1181 Polycarbonate ones (1,1-5,2).
This is definitely a case where many people tend to unfairly use the word "impossible" in place of "impractical." Electronics aren't rocket science, and with enough persistence and time, virtually anything can be done from Installing a NUC Into an iBook G3 clamshell, to turning a series of dead iMac G4 flat panels into slave displays.
The CCFL backlight in my MacBook is bumming me out. When it reaches peak brightness, it is plenty bright. The wait for it to reach this is about 3-5 minutes, with no more visible "brightening" occurring past maybe 10 minutes. This lines up with everything I've read on CCFL based panels.
Anyone who has refurbed lots of A1181's knows that there is a surprising amount of variation in the displays, with different manufacturers of different lots producing various degrees of warmth and contrast and brightness and even cable placement.
I could hunt for the ideal CCFL display, and I have a colder but brighter panel sitting in my parts drawer... But I am already saving up for the parts needed to recreate the MBA Keyboard Swap/Keyboard Backlight Mod - why not get a display while I am at it? I have all the odds and ends laying around already, and I am certain that many others do.
This thread includes details relating to the A1181 inverter pin layout, notably post #5 and post #10.
I am curious how the layouts for LED backlit Macbook's from 2008-2009 compare, and what changes could be made to get a picture (the A1342 and early A1278 models come to mind).
Assuming the internal display is driven in a way that makes basic soldering/modifications to certain values a non starter, has anyone considered hard wiring a similarly sized LED backlit LCD to the mini DVI port internally, then fitting that display into the stock LCD housing? Given the chunkiness of these CCFL panels, I would imagine that off the shelf adaptors might even fit into the casing. Even gutting the optical drive for space would be a possibility for a clean proof of concept.
It is this, along with the backlit keyboard, and an extended battery, that keep me awake at night. I love this laptop, I will continue to use it as is. But I also have this weird obsession with making more. There is so much room to work with here and the design makes me so so happy to use as my daily driver. What do the more competent and qualified among us think?
This is definitely a case where many people tend to unfairly use the word "impossible" in place of "impractical." Electronics aren't rocket science, and with enough persistence and time, virtually anything can be done from Installing a NUC Into an iBook G3 clamshell, to turning a series of dead iMac G4 flat panels into slave displays.
The CCFL backlight in my MacBook is bumming me out. When it reaches peak brightness, it is plenty bright. The wait for it to reach this is about 3-5 minutes, with no more visible "brightening" occurring past maybe 10 minutes. This lines up with everything I've read on CCFL based panels.
Anyone who has refurbed lots of A1181's knows that there is a surprising amount of variation in the displays, with different manufacturers of different lots producing various degrees of warmth and contrast and brightness and even cable placement.
I could hunt for the ideal CCFL display, and I have a colder but brighter panel sitting in my parts drawer... But I am already saving up for the parts needed to recreate the MBA Keyboard Swap/Keyboard Backlight Mod - why not get a display while I am at it? I have all the odds and ends laying around already, and I am certain that many others do.
This thread includes details relating to the A1181 inverter pin layout, notably post #5 and post #10.
I am curious how the layouts for LED backlit Macbook's from 2008-2009 compare, and what changes could be made to get a picture (the A1342 and early A1278 models come to mind).
Assuming the internal display is driven in a way that makes basic soldering/modifications to certain values a non starter, has anyone considered hard wiring a similarly sized LED backlit LCD to the mini DVI port internally, then fitting that display into the stock LCD housing? Given the chunkiness of these CCFL panels, I would imagine that off the shelf adaptors might even fit into the casing. Even gutting the optical drive for space would be a possibility for a clean proof of concept.
It is this, along with the backlit keyboard, and an extended battery, that keep me awake at night. I love this laptop, I will continue to use it as is. But I also have this weird obsession with making more. There is so much room to work with here and the design makes me so so happy to use as my daily driver. What do the more competent and qualified among us think?
