iMac G4 to Mac mini M1 mod project

[Ursus1968]

Inspired by others that have trailblazed the path before me, I am venturing into the “iMac G4 to Mac mini M1 mod/conversion” landscape, and will document my journey in this thread.

During my tinkering with old iMacs, I have always been grateful when others have taken the time to document their doings, in detail, and thereby contributing to the collected knowledge base around iMac G4 matters, so I find it appropriate to do the same, with the hope that someone can be helped by this.

I will try to be as specific as possible, and share as much details, links etc about components, wirings, configurations etc as I can. I know first hand how frustrating it can be when vital information is left out in guides/descriptions on how to do these kind of things, and my goal is to describe what I do so that “anyone” should be able to follow the same steps. (I am kind of assuming here that I eventually will succeed )

This will most likely take a few months or so, taking into consideration the waiting time to get parts shipped from elswhere + I have other hobbies + the fact that I am not really sure how to pull this off. I have plenty of experience tinkering with G4s, but feel a bit at loss when it comes to wiring/splicing power cables and voltage converters…but how hard can it be? ;-)

Inspiration comes from several people. I guess it started seeing what the legendary Dremeljunkie did a decade ago, and then the recent feat by colbyjjohn94 really ignited my desire to actually do something similar myself. And there are others, both from this forum and elsewhere that have inspired: Macaron, connor55, PML7554, gagigu and just the other day I found Albino Rifici (audio & text all in Italian, so I used auto translate, and it became half-comprehensible for me who don't speak that language)

So, to start with I had to decide which iMac to mod. I have all G4 sizes, (Four 15”, three 17” and two 20”). The 15” is too small and I don’t want to destroy any of my fully functional 20”s. As it happens, one of the 17”s have been throwing kernel panics with probable hardware cause, so I decided to sacrifice this faulty 17”. Contributing to this decision was also the fact that there exists replacement LCDs with the correct form factor (16:10) and with higher resolution than the original.


So as of right now my mod plan looks like this:

• One not-so-well-functioning iMac G4 17” will be sacrificed
• Target transplant is Mac mini M1. Currently trying to find one with 16GB RAM + at least 512GB SSD at reasonable price to strip down.
• Display will be upgraded to one with higher resolution than original (1920x1200 instead of 1440x900)
• As for the original Power Supply Unit , I initially thought about keeping that, but after some consideration decided against it. I wish to modernize the innards as much as possible while I am at it. The PSU is 20+ years old, and though it works fine right here and now, I rather not take the risk of having to re-do that part due to capacitors starting to leak etc within a year or three..
• The DVD player was not really functioning, so that will not be kept. If I pull this conversion off and I go for another conversion in the future, I may change my mind if there is a functioning DVD.
• I really want to keep the original power button
• Ports should be kept intact, but “upgraded” in terms of what is behind them. Not decided yet on what to offer there though, but I see no panic to decide that.
• The audio port + ability to use the original Apple Pro speakers will be a stretch goal. I have not read enough about how to make it work to say at this stage if I will try it or not.
• As for the internal speaker, I may keep that, with the same caveat as for the audio port: don't know how easy or worthwhile it would be.
• The original fan is also optional, but as it is not really in the way where it is, I strongly consider keeping that.
• The microphone in the display bezel would be nice-to-have operational, but also optional, with same caveats as for fan and internal speaker.
• I would also really like to have the LED indicator in the display bezel to work.

The iMac I am using is this model: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_800_17_fp.html
A take-apart manual can be found here: https://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/imac/imac.17-inch.pdf


First step was to take apart the iMac G4, and then start ordering parts. Details will follow.

 

[darngooddesign]

Regarding the PSU, could you do USB-C power instead of using a power supply.

 

[Ursus1968]

Regarding the PSU, could you do USB-C power instead of using a power supply.

Hm, I have not really considered using USB-C, but a quick googling about it indicates that the Mac mini M1 may not be designed to be powered over USB-C. I also need to power the control board for the display (12V) and possibly the original fan (12V) and the display diode (not sure which voltage that needs), and neither of these have any USB-C ports, so some sort of converter/adapter would be needed anyhow.

 

[Ursus1968]

Inspired by others that have trailblazed the path before me, I am venturing into the “iMac G4 to Mac mini M1 mod/conversion” landscape, and will document my journey in this thread.

During my tinkering with old iMacs, I have always been grateful when others have taken the time to document their doings, in detail, and thereby contributing to the collected knowledge base around iMac G4 matters, so I find it appropriate to do the same, with the hope that someone can be helped by this.

I will try to be as specific as possible, as I know how frustrating it can be when vital information is left out, and my goal is to describe what I do so that “anyone” should be able to follow the same steps. (I am kind of assuming here that I eventually will succeed )

This will most likely take a few months or so, taking into consideration the waiting time to get parts shipped from elswhere + I have other hobbies + the fact that I am not really sure how to pull this off. I have plenty of experience tinkering with G4s, but feel a bit at loss when it comes to wiring/splicing power cables and voltage converters…but how hard can it be? ;-)

Inspiration comes from several people. I guess it started seeing what the legendary Dremeljunkie did a decade ago, and then the recent feat by colbyjjohn94 really ignited my desire to actually do something similar myself. And there are others, both from this forum and elsewhere that have inspired: Macaron, connor55, PML7554, gagigu and just the other day I found this guy (audio & text all in italian, so I used auto translate, it became half-comprehensible..)

So, to start with I had to decide which iMac to mod. I have all G4 sizes, (Four 15”, three 17” and two 20”). The 15” is too small and I don’t want to destroy any of my fully functional 20”s. As it happens, one of the 17”s have been throwing kernel panics with probable hardware cause, so I decided to sacrifice this faulty 17”. Contributing to this decision was also the fact that there exists replacement LCDs with the correct form factor (16:10) and with higher resolution than the original.


As of right now my mod plan looks like this:

• One not-so-well-functioning iMac G4 17” will be sacrificed
• Target transplant is Mac mini M1. Currently trying to find one with 16GB RAM + at least 512GB SSD at reasonable price to strip down.
• Display will be upgraded to one with higher resolution than original (1920x1200 instead of 1440x900)
• As for the original Power Supply Unit , I initially thought about keeping that, but after some consideration decided against it. I wish to modernize the innards as much as possible while I am at it. The PSU is 20+ years old, and though it works fine right here and now, I rather not take the risk of having to re-do that part due to capacitors starting to leak etc within a year or three..
• The DVD player was not really functioning, so that will not be kept. If I pull this conversion off and I go for another conversion in the future, I may change my mind if there is a functioning DVD.
• I really want to keep the original power button
• Ports should be kept intact, but “upgraded” in terms of what is behind them. Not decided yet on what to offer there though, but I see no panic to decide that.
• The audio port + ability to use the original Apple Pro speakers will be a stretch goal. I have not read enough about how to make it work to say at this stage if I will try it or not.
• As for the internal speaker, I may keep that, with the same caveat as for the audio port: don't know how easy or worthwhile it would be.
• The original fan is also optional, but as it is not really in the way where it is, I strongly consider keeping that.
• The microphone in the display bezel would be nice-to-have operational, but also optional, with same caveats as for fan and internal speaker.
• I would also really like to have the LED indicator in the display bezel to work.

The iMac I am using is this model: https://everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac_800_17_fp.html
A take-apart manual can be found here: https://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/imac/imac.17-inch.pdf


First step was to take apart the iMac G4, and then start ordering parts. Details will follow.

Finding a replacement display:

The original 17” iMac G4 has a resolution of 1440x900, and is in the 16:10 form factor. This form factor have been out of style for a decade or so (though it is having a slight revival now). But it is still not super easy to find a new 17” display with this form factor, but there is this Dell laptop, offering both 1920x1200 also 3840x2400 display resolution, but buying such a machine only to strip may be a bit of waste, not to mention expensive.

As it happens, there were some old MacBook Pro models that had the 16:10 form with 1920x1200 available. Specifically, these models:
A1229, 2007-2008 (1920x1200 optional at extra cost)
A1261, 2008-2009 (1920x1200 optional at extra cost)
A1297, 2009-2012

So, taking cue from Macaron, it seem like a replacement screen for Macbook Pro model A1297 could work. Such a display have model number LP171WU6, but there are actually 4 variants of that display: TLA1, TLA2, TLB1, TLB2.

The TLA1 is glossy, the others are matte. You can see a comparison of those variants here:
https://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.php?ids=5831,5830,5829,5828

As Macaron successfully used the TLA2 version I will go for that one as well. So I think/hope I have ordered the same bundle of display + controller board & inverter that he bought, and I ordered mine from AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000018423261.html

In Macarons video, he shows that it is a TLA2 version (which is a matte display) that he got, but as far as I could see, it was not explicitly mentioned in the product description which TL-version is it. So I just hope I get a matte version, but it will not be the end of the world if I end up with a glossy display. (But if I would re-do it, I would write to the seller and explicitly state that I want a matte display)

Note that if you are buying this specific bundle, there are two different controller boards you can choose from. Board 1, that has only have HDMI output, and Board 2 , which has HDMI + VGA + DVI. As I have learnt from watching the videos by Macaron and Albino Rifici that it will be tight fitting the controller boards behind the LCD, with the need to cut out some space in the metal back panel to make it fit, I decided to go for the smaller one and ordered Board 1.

(It is a bit confusing/unclear/worrying that in the item description on AliExpress it says that the LCD has a 40 pin LVDS connector, but on the control board it appears to be (at least according to the pictures) 30 pin LVDS connectors. But as I ordered the same bundle (display + control board) as Macaron, I am gambling on that they ship stuff that works together. Time will tell.)

Shipping time is about a month, so I will use the time until then to pick apart the original screen + look for other parts I may want to install (usb cabling/adapters/splitters etc), + researching possible power supply configurations.

 

[Ursus1968]

Finding a replacement display:

The original 17” iMac G4 has a resolution of 1440x900, and is in the 16:10 form factor. This form factor have been out of style for a decade or so (though it is having a slight revival now). But it is still not super easy to find a new 17” display with this form factor, but there is this Dell laptop, offering both 1920x1200 also 3840x2400 display resolution, but buying such a machine only to strip may be a bit of waste, not to mention expensive.

As it happens, there were some old MacBook pro models that had the 16:10 form with 1920x1200 available.

So, taking cue from Macaron, it seem like a replacement screen for Macbook Pro model A1297 could work. Such a display have model number LP171WU6, but there are actually 4 variants that display: (TLA1/TLA2 /TLB1/TLB2)

You can see a comparison of those variants here:
https://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.php?ids=5831,5830,5829,5828

As Macaron successfully used the TLA2 version I will go for that one as well. So I think/hope I have ordered the same bundle of display + controller board & inverter that he bought, and I ordered mine from AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000018423261.html

In Macarons video, he shows that it is a TLA2 version (which is a matte display) that he got, but as far as I could see, it was not explicitly mentioned in the product description which TL-version is it. So I just hope I get a matte version, but it will not be the end of the world if I end up with a glossy display.

Note that there are two different controller boards you can choose from. Board 1, that has only have HDMI output, and Board 2 , which has HDMI + VGA + DVI. As I have learnt from watching the videos by Macaron and Albino Rifici that it will be tight fitting the controller boards behind the LCD, with the need to cut out some space in the metal back panel to make it fit, I decided to go for the smaller one and ordered Board 1.

(It is a bit confusing/unclear/worrying that in the item description on AlieExpress it says that the LCD has a 40 pin LVDS connector, but on the control board it appears to be (at least according to the pictures) 30 pin LVDS connectors. But as I ordered the same bundle (display + control board) as Macaron, I am gambling on that they ship stuff that works together. Time will tell.)

Shipping time is about a month, so I will use the time until then to pick apart the original screen + look for other parts I may want to install (usb cabling/adapters/splitters etc), + researching possible power supply configurations.View attachment 1987241

When gutting the iMac that I am modding, I make my outmost to the keep stuff I remove as intact as possible. The logic board and the DVD have not been functioning so well, but they may still come in handy one day.

And when removing the existing (and fully functional) display, I will try keeping the cabling as intact as possible, but in order to remove them from the neck some destructive moves will be needed. But I will try to do it Dremel junkie-style and preserve all the little pins on the inverter and LCD cables.

As the video output from the modded mac dome to the new display have to go through the metal neck, I not only need a HDMI cable thin enough to comfortably pass through the neck, but I also need a cable where I can detach the HDMI connectors, as they are too big to pass through the hole in the neck.

Once again I refer back to Macaron, who enlightened me to that fact that there exists super thin HDMI ribbons with detachable connectors. These are referred to as FPV (First Person View) HDMI cables, and are mainly used for gimbals and drone photography setups, where they need lightweight + flexible cables.

Finding such cables where I live (Sweden) turned out to be difficult. I found a few alternatives on the European Amazon stores, but I ended up ordering from AliExpress, as the options for cable length and different connectors were so much better.

As for the length, 50 cm may be enough, but to play it safe I ordered two cables:

• One 50 cm HDMI ribbon with A1-A2 connectors
• One 80 cm HDMI ribbon with A1-A3 connectors

As the connectors are detachable, you can of course switch them around as you prefer.

The ones I have ordered are from this store:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002515211106.html

 

[Ursus1968]

Finding a replacement display:

The original 17” iMac G4 has a resolution of 1440x900, and is in the 16:10 form factor. This form factor have been out of style for a decade or so (though it is having a slight revival now). But it is still not super easy to find a new 17” display with this form factor, but there is this Dell laptop, offering both 1920x1200 also 3840x2400 display resolution, but buying such a machine only to strip may be a bit of waste, not to mention expensive.

As it happens, there were some old MacBook pro models that had the 16:10 form with 1920x1200 available.

So, taking cue from Macaron, it seem like a replacement screen for Macbook Pro model A1297 could work. Such a display have model number LP171WU6, but there are actually 4 variants that display: (TLA1/TLA2 /TLB1/TLB2)

You can see a comparison of those variants here:
https://www.panelook.com/modelcompare.php?ids=5831,5830,5829,5828

As Macaron successfully used the TLA2 version I will go for that one as well. So I think/hope I have ordered the same bundle of display + controller board & inverter that he bought, and I ordered mine from AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000018423261.html

In Macarons video, he shows that it is a TLA2 version (which is a matte display) that he got, but as far as I could see, it was not explicitly mentioned in the product description which TL-version is it. So I just hope I get a matte version, but it will not be the end of the world if I end up with a glossy display.

Note that if you are buying this specific bundle, there are two different controller boards you can choose from. Board 1, that has only have HDMI output, and Board 2 , which has HDMI + VGA + DVI. As I have learnt from watching the videos by Macaron and Albino Rifici that it will be tight fitting the controller boards behind the LCD, with the need to cut out some space in the metal back panel to make it fit, I decided to go for the smaller one and ordered Board 1.

(It is a bit confusing/unclear/worrying that in the item description on AliExpress it says that the LCD has a 40 pin LVDS connector, but on the control board it appears to be (at least according to the pictures) 30 pin LVDS connectors. But as I ordered the same bundle (display + control board) as Macaron, I am gambling on that they ship stuff that works together. Time will tell.)

Shipping time is about a month, so I will use the time until then to pick apart the original screen + look for other parts I may want to install (usb cabling/adapters/splitters etc), + researching possible power supply configurations.View attachment 1987241

So the new display has finally arrived. I turned out that I got the TLB2-version, but that is also a matte version, so all good in that regard. (The only possibly significant difference I could see in the specifications is that the TLA1 have a "transmissive contrast ratio" of 800:1, and the TLB2 have 700:1 )

But: I have some struggles getting it to work. I have connected control board / inverter / keyboard as per instructional video in the ad for this display package, but for some reason, the display will not light up. I have started chatting with the customer support on seller side to see if they can help resolve the problem. All items look fine, at least from a visual inspection.

So in picture below, display is obviously in top of image, the board on the left is the inverter, the control board is in the middle, and down on the right side is the keyboard with power-on button etc.

Power in comes from a 12V/5A power brick.

As for video input signal to the control board, I have tried with 2 different HDMI cables from 2 different computers, so I am quite sure the problem is not on that side.

But: the only thing that light up when I plug in the power is a LED on the keyboard.

Now the guy in the 1st line support that I chatted with, wanted me (if I understood it correctly) to rotate the white plug on the left 180 degrees , so that the cables encircled instead where "on top" instead. But that is not possible, as the plug will then not fit.

Looking at the labelling/mapping for the wires on the control board and the inverter board (to which the cables from the white plug on the left connects), I think it looks a bit strange... Should it really be that ON-OFF should not be connected, only DIM/5VCC ?

Cables on control board connection diagram , e.g black & red on top to GND and green and white cables to 12V:

and below is the corresponding layout on the other end of the cable, i.e. on the inverter board, with corresponding mapping of black & red to GND and 12V on the white and green cables on the other side of the connector

.


So if cable between Control board and Inverter Board is connected as it was when I got them, the mapping is:

Control Board cables	Label on control board
Black	GND
Red	GND
Blue	5VCC
EMPTY	On-Off
Green	12V
White	12V

Inverter Board cables	Labels on Inverter board
Black	GND
Red	GND
Blue	DIM
EMPTY	ON
Green	VCC
White	VCC

But if I unplug both connectors in control board and on the Inverter board, and turn the whole cable, the cable mapping is then

Control Board cables	Label on control board
Black	12V
Red	12V
Blue	On-Off
EMPTY	5VCC
Green	GND
White	GND

Inverter Board cables	Labels on Inverter board
Black	VCC
Red	VCC
Blue	ON
EMPTY	DIM
Green	GND
White	GND

So I tried that, but unfortunately it still does not work.

Another thing that mystifies me is the power feed to the display from the inverter. According to specifications, that should be 3.3V. And on the Control Board, there is a jumper, that was preset to 3.3V: (jumper aligned with the square / 3.3V marker on the backside of the board)

But: when I measure the voltage on the plug where from (I assume) the power to the display goes, it reads 12V, which seem odd. But I am open to that I don't know how things are supposed to work (I asked the 1st line support guy about this, but he needed to check with one of their engineers about it)

EDIT: Ok I realize (or more like guessing) now that the 12V is probably for the backlight, and the 3.3V comes from the LVDS connector cable on the Control board. Still does not work though.

 

[Ursus1968]

As the video output from the modded mac dome to the new display have to go through the metal neck, I not only need a HDMI cable thin enough to comfortably pass through the neck, but I also need a cable where I can detach the HDMI connectors, as they are too big to pass through the hole in the neck.

Once again I refer back to Macaron, who enlightened me to that fact that there exists super thin HDMI ribbons with detachable connectors. These are referred to as FPV (First Person View) HDMI cables, and are as far as I can understand mainly used for gimbals and drone photography setups, where they need lightweight + flexible cables.

Finding such cables where I live (Sweden) turned out to be difficult. I found a few alternatives on the European Amazon stores, but I ended up ordering from AliExpress, as the options for cable length and different connectors were so much better.

As for the length, 50 cm may be enough, but to play it safe I ordered two cables:

• One 50 cm HDMI ribbon with A1-A2 connectors
• One 80 cm HDMI ribbon with A1-A3 connectors

As the connectors are detachable, you can of course switch them around as you prefer.

The ones I have ordered are from this store:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002515211106.html

View attachment 1987810

The super-thin HDMI cables arrived at the same time as the display, and were just as described and worked without any problems.

 

[hobowankenobi]

Impressive project!!

 

[CooperBox]

I'm following this with great interest and certainly hope you will succeed.
With reference to your comment, ........."and my goal is to describe what I do so that 'anyone' should be able to follow the same steps".
I know the iMac G4's very well having completely refurbished my collection of 15", 3x17" 1.25GHz models, and x2 20" with added SSD's etc, and would love to think that I'd be included in that "anyone" comment, but generally know my limits, especially when it comes to changing the display and modding it with suitable control board, cable hacks etc.
I believe to satisfactorily achieve these changes one would need a particularly advanced knowledge of modding/soldering electrical circuits. However I'd love to be proved wrong and eventually hear of any 'novices' who ultimately also achieve what you are setting out to do.

 

[Ursus1968]

I'm following this with great interest and certainly hope you will succeed.
With reference to your comment, ........."and my goal is to describe what I do so that 'anyone' should be able to follow the same steps".
I know the iMac G4's very well having completely refurbished my collection of 15", 3x17" 1.25GHz models, and x2 20" with added SSD's etc, and would love to think that I'd be included in that "anyone" comment, but generally know my limits, especially when it comes to changing the display and modding it with suitable control board, cable hacks etc.
I believe to satisfactorily achieve these changes one would need a particularly advanced knowledge of modding/soldering electrical circuits. However I'd love to be proved wrong and eventually hear of any 'novices' who ultimately also achieve what you are setting out to do.

I have read a couple of our post, and I dont think I have that much more actual knowledge about modding etc, I am a long time tinkerer, but have not dug into the details of the electronics before and have no advance knowledge about electrical circuits. But see this as learning journey as well In theory, the changing of the display should be "plug and play", (ok, maybe a bit trickier): Removing the old display and cables, inserting the new display , threading HDMI + power cable through the metal neck, connecting to a standard power plug & to HDMI port on computer. Of course, there will (hopefully, if I get the display to work...) some cable management stuff to sort out, but when I get to that stage, I will really try to share step-by-step details.

But first I need to get the display to work. Have not heard anything back from supplier since Saturday....

UPDATE 1: Just saw this message on AliExpress: "To celebrate International Workers' Day, many of our sellers will be on holiday from April 30- May 4 (Beijing Time)." So that explains the radio silence the past few days.

UPDATE 2: Support asked me to unplug all cables and try again. Still does not work. They will send a replacement control board, so that will mean a few more weeks waiting.... I asked if there was any voltage/continuity measurement or other trouble shooting I could do to narrow down the problem, but they replied that all boards and displays are tested before shipping, so nothing they wanted me to do. So now I am praying that it is indeed the control board that is as fault, not the display....

 

[darngooddesign]

I'm excited to follow along as you wreck and bunch of... I mean, modify an iMac. 🤣

 

[Ursus1968]

So now I am praying that it is indeed the control board that is as fault, not the display....

Yesterday I finally received the replacement for the (assumed faulty) control board that was shipped from AliExpress. I was of course a bit nervous to see if it would work when I plugged it in, put happily enough the display came alive !

I connected the display through the slim HDMI cable to my Dell laptop (which have a 16:9 display ratio and is by deafault set to a resolution of 3840x2160). But as I had chosen to mirror the Dell display, the mirrored display came out showing black bands on top and bottom of the screen.

I tried to see if I could force a 16:10 display ratio on the replacement display from the control menu (accessed either from a small remote control that came with the display + control board package, or by buttons on the small menu control board),

,

but the only options available were 16:9, 4:3 and Auto (and Auto mirrored in 16:9), so forcing a 16:10 was not an option.

But once I changed the resolution on the Dell to a 16:10 resolution of 1920x1200, the black bands disappeard and the full replacement display was used.

So display seem to work fine.

One issue that I am not sure how to deal with is how to access the display menu once the replacement display is in the original housing, as I dont think the IR remote will be able connect at that point. It would of course be great if one could control brightness via the keyboard, but I don't really dare to bet on that to work. Time will tell.

My next steps will now be to:
- disassemble the original Imac 17" display housing,
- fitting the replacement display + control bords in it
- and of course the little matter of disassembling the metal neck and make sure the HDMI + power cables will pass through smoothly.

And in parallel I am of course looking for a good deal on a M1 Mac mini.

 

[elegygrey]

So happy to see this thread since I started mine iMac G4 mod almost at the same time.
Also inspired by Macroon's mod video, I finally decieded to replace its aged 15' display and I've got my new display today.
Still struggling between M1 method and ITX hackintosh method.
Good Luck to your mod!

 

[Ursus1968]

So happy to see this thread since I started mine iMac G4 mod almost at the same time.
Also inspired by Macroon's mod video, I finally decieded to replace its aged 15' display and I've got my new display today.
Still struggling between M1 method and ITX hackintosh method.
Good Luck to your mod!

Thanks! May I ask which 15" display did you buy, and where did you find it?

 

[elegygrey]

Thanks! May I ask which 15" display did you buy, and where did you find it?

Its original monitor was a 15" 4:3 ratio monitor that is now rarely seen. The same size high-resolution monitors produced now are generally used in industrial use and are expensive.
So I got a laptop display used on the Thinkpad T60P. The size is just right, 1600*1200 resolution is also acceptable, and it is cheap enough - less than $ 40.

 

[darngooddesign]

Would using a final-boss Intel Mini be easier or harder than an M1 Mini for this mod? Or is it around the same effort?

 

[Ursus1968]

Would using a final-boss Intel Mini be easier or harder than an M1 Mini for this mod? Or is it around the same effort?

My guess is that it would be about the same (but I am wide open to being corrected by people with more knowledge about this).

- When it comes to the display, it would be the same procedure for M1 or Intel, regardless if you do like me and switch to a more modern display, or if you do the Dremeljunkie hack with keeping the original disiplay and getting all the little tiny TMDS wires wired correctly to a DVI-connector and then to HDMI.

- Same thing when it comes to connecting ports on new computer to the original ports: A bit tricky trying to make things fit in tight spaces, but no real difference.

- As for wiring of power, I may be a bit trickier with the Intel option, but I base this only on that I belive the M1 have quite low power consumption and that an Intel machine may need to fit a bigger power supply inside the dome.

- Also heating / airflow may be an issue with Intel, the M1 mini has a pretty low temperature profile

 

[connor55]

Are you planning to keep the optical drive working? Cause depending on your budget, it would be incredible if you could fit the M1 Max from the Mac Studio into yours. I believe it'd be possible to fit.

 

[Ursus1968]

Are you planning to keep the optical drive working? Cause depending on your budget, it would be incredible if you could fit the M1 Max from the Mac Studio into yours. I believe it'd be possible to fit.

No the original optical drive is not working, so keeping that (or replacing it) is not within scope. I think I will stick with the M1 Mini at this stage, as I see this as my trial & error project. My longer term plan is to do a mod of a 20", and for that I may use an M1 Max. But first things first, have to see if I can get this project off the ground

 

[Ursus1968]

My next steps will now be to:
- disassemble the original Imac 17" display housing,
- fitting the replacement display + control bords in it
- and of course the little matter of disassembling the metal neck and make sure the HDMI + power cables will pass through smoothly.

When taking the display and neck apart, there are a couple of major steps involved.

1: Removing the original LCD. This one is pretty straight forward. The procedure is described on pages 84-89 in the repair manual. https://tim.id.au/laptops/apple/imac/imac.17-inch.pdf , and I just removed the 3 torx screws on the bottom of the display casing, and gently separated the front panel from the back panel, taking care to not rip any of the cables.

and once that was done, I then removed the 4 screws holding the LCD in place and gently lifted it out.

The one thing I want to mention is the same issuse that Dremeljunkie have pointed out:The tiny torx screws on the bottom of the display housing are at risk of being stripped. Make sure to apply enough pressure when removing these so you don't lose the grip and strip them,.

2: Removing the metal shield from the back of the display housing. This step is necessary, or at least preferred, as I will have to make some cut-outs in order for the control boards to the new display to fit. Exactly how to loosen this shield I am at this stage not sure of. Modder Macaron in his video just mentions that it somehow came loose. This needs further investigation before I tackle this.
EDIT: Saw now that connor55 mentioned using a heat gun, to take the back panel apart, so I guess that is the way to go.

3: Disassembling the neck and remove the original cables, preferrably without destroying them.
Now, as I will not use the original cabling, I could just cut them. But I really wanted to make an effort to see if I could get them out without cutting, as I had at this stage not really fundamentally destroyed anything and could, in theory, put everything back in place.

So I removed the neck from the display back, and opened up the neck. You don't really need any special Apple tool for this, I used needle nose pliers, and the hinge plates were very easy to remove.

Once the hinge plates were removed, I used a an Ifixit prying tool to separate the two neck halves.

Once the neck was open, I first freed all the little tiny metal pins in the black inverter and LCD connectors (the ones that were plugged into the logic board) . In doing this, I did have to sacrifice the black plastic connectors, but as I would only use these cables if I were to do a Dremeljunkie TMDS -> DVI mod, I only need the cables and the metal connectors to be intact.

Once they were all free, I first removed the white hard plastic "tubes" that encased the cables on the "dome side" (left in the picture above). I also removed some shrink tubing and tape, to make it easer for cables to pass through the neck. Once that was done, it was all a question about slowly and gently pull the cables, one by one out from the neck. I started by pulling all cables through the bottom/dome side of the neck, and once that was done, I pulled them through the top/display side. I was a bit worried that the small metal connectors might get stuck on somehing, but all went fine. It was not really hard, and I did it gently without any need for excessive force, and finally I had separated all the original cabling, unhurt, from the neck:

 

[davidg5678]

Cool project! I was inspired to look on eBay for my own screen and it seems like it would be much cheaper (by about $100) to buy the same display panel and driver board separately for about $44 total vs ~$150 together on AliExpress.

See here: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=LP171WU6&_sacat=0

I've been meaning to try this project myself someday, so if I ever do, I'll try to remember to report back if these cheaper parts work as expected (although I don't see any technical reason why they would not be identical.)

Keep up the good work --I am excited to see the final results

 

[Ursus1968]

Once they were all free, I first removed the white hard plastic "tubes" that encased the cables on the "dome side" (left in the picture above). I also removed some shrink tubing and tape, to make it easer for cables to pass through the neck. Once that was done, it was all a question about slowly and gently pull the cables, one by one out from the neck. I started by pulling all cables through the bottom/dome side of the neck, and once that was done, I pulled them through the top/display side. I was a bit worried that the small metal connectors might get stuck on somehing, but all went fine. It was not really hard, and I did it gently without any need for excessive force, and finally I had separated all the original cabling, unhurt, from the neck:

Happiness is ephemeral....

Just after I had completed removing all the cables, the left side of the neck became unhinged (or whatever the correct term is). It was super un-dramatic, no large snap or anything, it just kind of popped off when I was fiddling about trying to see how I could route the new cabling through the neck.

(I believe I have seen comments online about that it could be potentially dangerous to open the neck, but I believe that is only really relevant in a case where you open the neck while the base dome + display are still attached, and there is actual and significant tension on the spring.)

Anyhow, I now face the daunting task of having to pull the thing back in place, which if I am to believe others that have done this, may require a bit of controlled violence , take some time and require some help from another person.

 

[g4lver]

Hi Ursus1968, this is fantastic! I found your post because I am trying to do the same build on my iMac G4. I also watched Macron's video and the others you mentioned. Thank you for pulling together and linking all of the parts used - that was posing a major challenge for me.

I've only just disassembled my iMac to see what I was working with inside (lots of dust!) and haven't ordered anything yet.

I'm curious if you have any updates since this last post?

Would love to know your progress and success installing the screen. Did you have to cut it? I would love to make everything plug and play as you stated. Including with the Mac mini.

Many thanks,

 

[Ursus1968]

Hi Ursus1968, this is fantastic! I found your post because I am trying to do the same build on my iMac G4. I also watched Macron's video and the others you mentioned. Thank you for pulling together and linking all of the parts used - that was posing a major challenge for me.

I've only just disassembled my iMac to see what I was working with inside (lots of dust!) and haven't ordered anything yet.

I'm curious if you have any updates since this last post?

Would love to know your progress and success installing the screen. Did you have to cut it? I would love to make everything plug and play as you stated. Including with the Mac mini.

Many thanks,

Hi, glad you appreciate the collection of links/parts! As I believe I mentioned in an earlier post, I have at times found it frustrating when details are left out, so I try to lead by example

I have not made any progress in regards to getting the neck back together, I have a general idea of how I should do it, but must confess that I have been distracted by the nice summer weather in Sweden, and have not spent that much time on this project the past few weeks. But it is still on!

I do expect to have to do some cutting in the display back panel metal shielding (after separating it from the display housing). I you look at Albino Rificis video, you notice that he de-soldered some components on his controller board in order to make it fit behind the display, but I hope that creating more space by cutting out metal will do it, without having to do any soldering work, as that it not anything I have much experience with.

 

[g4lver]

Thank you! I'm a little nervous to start since this is my first project ever. It seems like everything is relatively straight forward (i.e. no soldering). At least for now...! Do you think I will need to solder at some point?

I ordered the same screen package you did - I think I saw a comment you left! - and the HDMI cables from AliExpress. Excited to get them and dive in.

What kind of ports will you put in the back?

I'm thinking 3 USB 3.0s at the current USB locations, 2 USB-Cs at the current FireWire location, an Ethernet port at the same location, and an audio-in port at the same

I'm also wondering if we'll need to do anything for bluetooth or wifi reception. I'd love to have a bluetooth keyboard and mouse for this to give it a really clean look and to hide them when I just want the screen to be a display (e.g. digital picture frame).

Thoughts?