(I first posted this in the iMac G4 upgrades thread, but have decided to give this its own thread, after a kind suggestion by OrangeSTVguy)
This is going to be a bit long....
I have been thinking for sometime about adding a touchscreen to an iMac G4. It's a beautifully built machine, and the floating display and slick design seems like a perfect candidate for a living room digital picture frame.
There needed to be a way to display the family's now large photo library. Looking at current prices for digital frames, I was rather disgusted, and I thought with an entire computer, there'd be so much more room to tinker and play with.
So I got an old iMac G4 (15inch, 700mhz). Popped in an airport card. Set up a few sync-able folders across the computers in the house (first through Windows Live Mesh, but now through Sugarsync), for easy updating of which pics are displayed.
It was nice. It sat in the corner. It showed photos beautifully (and time and date with some geektool scripts and tweaking). But I wanted more. So i decided to also make it a jukebox, and some sort've 'internet appliance' if you will. A touchscreen was just demanding to be added. And thats where my real project has started:
I had considered just putting the touch screen over the entire lcd+bezel and then getting a matte shaped like the white bezel to go on top. I decided against this- i wanted to preserve/showcase the imac as much as possible.
I followed the iMac g4 service manual guide to take apart the screen's unit.
It's not too difficult to get the lcd by itself, though i'd recommend going slowly.
Theres especially one part, where the manual warns about breaking a ferrite bead that is on the video connector. It really is pretty fragile - I broke it.
After securing the lcd unit by itself, I thought the front bezel (the white rim which has the "iMac" written on it) would simply be able to be unscrewed from it. Unfortunately, thats not how the bezel is joined: instead, its glue and more importantly, plastic tabs that are hardened/connected onto the lcd's unit.
You have to break the tabs to get the bezel free from the lcd. I used a small credit card to slip inbetween the bezel and the lcd unit, sliding it along, and using it as leverage to 'pop' the tabs off.
From there i referenced this site's guide to the touchscreen installation: http://www.cyclotouch.com.au//installation.php
(it was the exact same kit components the most part too...must be manufactured from the same place)
After cleaning the lcd, i placed the touchscreen on top. I didn't bother using double-sided tape here, as the glue left behind (to attach to the bezel) was still strong enough to hold it well (also, less bulk).
The wire for the touch screen comes out the left side of the screen....I suppose I could pass it through the neck of the mac, but to be honest, that is far more work than I bargained for- and the neck is not easy to work with at all.
I sanded down the tabs on the bezel, put double-sided tape on the back of it, and stuck it to the touchscreen after testing it out.
Of course, with the added bulk of the touch screen, there are a few sacrifices.
1) Something I wasn't aware would happen/didn't even think of: the weight of the lcd is so precisely tuned for the neck... This means I can only keep the lcd in the top most position, or it must stay at the bottom- it cannot be held inbetween, it will slide down (and if placed high enough will crash down).
2) There is a space between the front bezel and the clear siding/lcd....I plan to place a matte around the edges of the bezel to keep dust out and for a cleaner look.
Notes: I had to go searching for the correct driver, the one provided kept crashing on the calibration: i found the right one here:http://touchkit.com/Drivers.htm (I used the Mac osx driver version 1.0.8.4226)
SOFTWARE:
I had Leopard installed first...I wanted the touchscreen to work with frontrow ...but there is absolutely no support whatsoever, so my second choice is xbmc, which runs alot smoother on tiger (for me), so I reinstalled tiger (which is a bit zippier anyway).
Theres only really one skin that works well with xbmc for touchscreen at the moment (that I've found), and its the new default, 'Confluence', since it has the back buttons for easy navigation use. However, the skin does not look the greatest on a 4:3 display.
So, I'm still looking for solutions here (suggestions please!). In the meantime i'm using itunes, and I love that when I come home it can see/share my macbook's library. iTunes would be a great solution byitself, if only coverflow worked over shared libraries. (having to use the list view isn't a pleasant touch experience)
I've just discovered DragThing, and am planning on putting a 'drawer' at the bottom of the screen, for a slick way to access the dashboard, itunes, xbmc, safari, and address book.
Sorry! I don't have pictures of the finished unit besides this crappy pic taken with my phone in low light.
I'll get back to the project in another few weeks (and hopefully add a few videos). Please, feel free to give some advice/suggestions, or ask questions!
This is going to be a bit long....
I have been thinking for sometime about adding a touchscreen to an iMac G4. It's a beautifully built machine, and the floating display and slick design seems like a perfect candidate for a living room digital picture frame.
There needed to be a way to display the family's now large photo library. Looking at current prices for digital frames, I was rather disgusted, and I thought with an entire computer, there'd be so much more room to tinker and play with.
So I got an old iMac G4 (15inch, 700mhz). Popped in an airport card. Set up a few sync-able folders across the computers in the house (first through Windows Live Mesh, but now through Sugarsync), for easy updating of which pics are displayed.
It was nice. It sat in the corner. It showed photos beautifully (and time and date with some geektool scripts and tweaking). But I wanted more. So i decided to also make it a jukebox, and some sort've 'internet appliance' if you will. A touchscreen was just demanding to be added. And thats where my real project has started:
I had considered just putting the touch screen over the entire lcd+bezel and then getting a matte shaped like the white bezel to go on top. I decided against this- i wanted to preserve/showcase the imac as much as possible.
I followed the iMac g4 service manual guide to take apart the screen's unit.
It's not too difficult to get the lcd by itself, though i'd recommend going slowly.
Theres especially one part, where the manual warns about breaking a ferrite bead that is on the video connector. It really is pretty fragile - I broke it.
After securing the lcd unit by itself, I thought the front bezel (the white rim which has the "iMac" written on it) would simply be able to be unscrewed from it. Unfortunately, thats not how the bezel is joined: instead, its glue and more importantly, plastic tabs that are hardened/connected onto the lcd's unit.
You have to break the tabs to get the bezel free from the lcd. I used a small credit card to slip inbetween the bezel and the lcd unit, sliding it along, and using it as leverage to 'pop' the tabs off.
From there i referenced this site's guide to the touchscreen installation: http://www.cyclotouch.com.au//installation.php
(it was the exact same kit components the most part too...must be manufactured from the same place)
After cleaning the lcd, i placed the touchscreen on top. I didn't bother using double-sided tape here, as the glue left behind (to attach to the bezel) was still strong enough to hold it well (also, less bulk).
The wire for the touch screen comes out the left side of the screen....I suppose I could pass it through the neck of the mac, but to be honest, that is far more work than I bargained for- and the neck is not easy to work with at all.
I sanded down the tabs on the bezel, put double-sided tape on the back of it, and stuck it to the touchscreen after testing it out.
Of course, with the added bulk of the touch screen, there are a few sacrifices.
1) Something I wasn't aware would happen/didn't even think of: the weight of the lcd is so precisely tuned for the neck... This means I can only keep the lcd in the top most position, or it must stay at the bottom- it cannot be held inbetween, it will slide down (and if placed high enough will crash down).
2) There is a space between the front bezel and the clear siding/lcd....I plan to place a matte around the edges of the bezel to keep dust out and for a cleaner look.
Notes: I had to go searching for the correct driver, the one provided kept crashing on the calibration: i found the right one here:http://touchkit.com/Drivers.htm (I used the Mac osx driver version 1.0.8.4226)
SOFTWARE:
I had Leopard installed first...I wanted the touchscreen to work with frontrow ...but there is absolutely no support whatsoever, so my second choice is xbmc, which runs alot smoother on tiger (for me), so I reinstalled tiger (which is a bit zippier anyway).
Theres only really one skin that works well with xbmc for touchscreen at the moment (that I've found), and its the new default, 'Confluence', since it has the back buttons for easy navigation use. However, the skin does not look the greatest on a 4:3 display.
So, I'm still looking for solutions here (suggestions please!). In the meantime i'm using itunes, and I love that when I come home it can see/share my macbook's library. iTunes would be a great solution byitself, if only coverflow worked over shared libraries. (having to use the list view isn't a pleasant touch experience)
I've just discovered DragThing, and am planning on putting a 'drawer' at the bottom of the screen, for a slick way to access the dashboard, itunes, xbmc, safari, and address book.
Sorry! I don't have pictures of the finished unit besides this crappy pic taken with my phone in low light.
I'll get back to the project in another few weeks (and hopefully add a few videos). Please, feel free to give some advice/suggestions, or ask questions!
