The A1150 Revival Project

[rampancy]

So I snagged an A1150 from someone through a local buy/sell site for $60. Maybe I overpaid, but the lines and design of the classic pre-unibody MacBook Pro are so beautiful. Compared to the A1181 MacBook, the 15" display of the A1120/51 is such a joy. Apparently this machine was left behind in a hastily-vacated apartment and was gathering dust in the landlord's son's closet for several years after it was found; it's in pretty good condition, but the keyboard and trackpad didn't work, and the battery is on its last legs. I really couldn't resist the fun of trying to bring this machine back to its former glory - especially since this is one of the more rare 256 MB VRAM models.

After a mishap with a faulty replacement, I've been able to replace the keyboard/trackpad, and I also swapped the hard drive for a Lexar SSD. (I've got to say, it's amazing how much SSD technology has progressed, where even bargain-basement DRAM-less SSDs can provide a huge performance boost over hard drives.)

I'm not really sure where to go from here - the machine runs quite hot (70-80+ deg. C) under load, which immediately makes me want to do a thermal paste replacement. But I'm rather hesitant to do that, since the last time I tried it led to disaster with another MacBook Pro. Maybe replace the Airport card with an N-capable card? Replace the DVD drive or swap it with an IDE-SATA drive caddy?

I'm seeing how far I can push this machine - it'd be an interesting project to see if I could use this as my daily driver...

 

[Amethyst1]

Congrats on your new acquisition! Those Core Duo Macs will always have a special place in my heart because the CPU is just a slightly-updated dual-core Pentium M.

I'd definitely look into repasting both CPU and GPU (or at least cleaning the fans), and one thing I've done on both my Core Duo MBPs (when I still had them) was to remove the sticky black stuff behind the speaker grilles, I remember reading here that this improves temperatures.

Apart from that...

• 2 GB RAM
• new battery to prevent CPU from downclocking to 1 GHz once old battery is truly gone
• LED-backlit screen upgrade (from A1211/A1260) - that will be another huge upgrade
• second SSD instead of optical drive (so you have one for main OS[es] and another for experiments)
  • 32-bit Lion (hacked)
  • 32-bit Linux
  • 32-bit Windows 7/8.x/10
• better WiFi card

 

[rampancy]

LED-backlit screen upgrade (from A1211/A1260) - that will be another huge upgrade

I didn't even know the A1211 had an LED-backlit screen, let alone that it was possible to use it with an A1150! Do you know of anyone who's done that swap? That's going to be huge for longevity, since I know that the CCFL backlight on the current screen is due to die out sooner rather than later.

 

[Amethyst1]

I didn't even know the A1211 had an LED-backlit screen

I was wrong about the A1211 - I meant the A1226 (mid-2007). Sorry. I'm always getting those numbers mixed up.

Do you know of anyone who's done that swap?

IIRC @vddrnnr has.

 

[Applicator]

I wouldn't even think about leaving that dry old thermal paste inside that MacBook and repaste it asap.
Second thing, apart from RAM and battery, would be an A1286 multi-touch trackpad!

 

[Amethyst1]

Do you know of anyone who's done that swap?

My memory really sucks... Sorry again! @amedias and @vddrnnr have done it - here's the thread:

Club 15

Oh yeah I’m in this club too! On the left is: 1x A1211 2.33GHz MBP with Radeon x1600 GPU and an LED backlit screen from an A1226 (bloody awkward conversion but worth it!) 2x A1226 2.2GHz MBP with replaced Nvidia 8600 GPUs, one matte screen and one glossy. On the Right is: 1x A1046 1.0GHz...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Applicator]

Do you know of anyone who's done that swap?

I‘ve swapped my A1211 display (which should be basically the same) for an A1286 LED unit and it was way worth it. Still I have to admit, it was not without any hassle, as the display would‘t turn on after the first try and I managed to rip one line of the iSight ribbon cable.

 

[rampancy]

I‘ve swapped my A1211 display (which should be basically the same) for an A1286 LED unit and it was way worth it. Still I have to admit, it was not without any hassle, as the display would‘t turn on after the first try and I managed to rip one line of the iSight ribbon cable.

What gives me a little pause is that apparently there *can* be differences in the form factor of the inverter connector cable between the A1150 and the A1121, which would mean I might have to do a cable swap -- for me, fairly trivial on an A1181, but on the A1150/21 it looks a little more daunting...

For your swap, were the inverter/data cable connectors the same?

 

[Applicator]

@rampancy No, I used the the new LCDs inverter and the old LCDs cable. You will have to swap out the cables, because the LED Display uses different connectors. A1150 and A1211 should be the same, except for the second Wifi antenna cable.