turn my ibook LDC into external screen

Hi everybody !

I'm newbie here, so please be indulgent if I posted this on the wrong forum or I did not found a topic related to my question… any mistakes will be gladly corrected !

so, to come to the point, it's all in the subject or almost.
I have a g3 500 Mhz Ibook who has a problem with its video circuit (I guess, I tried to change screens with no result whatsoever) : the LCD 12" screen works just fine, but the computer seems unable to send any image on it. when I plug in an external screen on the appropriate plug, it work just fine, though.

so my question is : I'd love to turn my LCD screen I took off my old Ibook into an external screen I could use a a second screen with my other Ibook (G4 1 Ghz). Having 2 screens for your Ibook on the move, what a mod, wouldn'it ? :P

any suggestions, written in easy english (speak slowly, english is not my mothertongue ! ) on how to do thos would be mostly welcomed !

Thanks in advance and :woohoo: for the work you guys do here ! :kiss:

When I look at your avatar I must say the answer has to be.....42...

But really, did you check the ribbon cable to the lcd and the connector on the board? Your video board my not be bad. And if it is, you may be able to find one on ebay.
Good Luck!
anil8tor

yeah, answer is defintely 42, and it makes me so depressed ! you know, life, you can loathe it or despite it, you can't ignore it…
to answer your post, I must say that now, I'd be more interested into turning my ldc into an external screen for my G4 Ibook than repairing the old one, which works just fine with an old 14" crt monitor plugged in…

the brain th size of a planet and I don't even have a clue on how to do this… depressing

As you probably know, the iBooks are prone to this issue. It is sometimes fixable. Double check that the connector is in tight. Next, Google up a fix-its out there. You may need a new part and he is right to check eBay. I see your are from somewhere other than the US, so that may be difficult or expensive. By the way, dont bother with making a monitor out of it. That is way too expensive (not worth it).
-maestro

maestro wrote:


thanks for your answer, even if it makes me feel even more depressed do you mean it would be too expensive because I would need to buy many spare parts ? I was thinking of a way yo "plug" (sorry for my lack of vocabulary, hope you understand me anyway) my Ibook screen's wires into a standard apple monitor connetor (the ones you use to plug in an external rtc on your ibook). is that pure fantasy ? :S

are you SURE that there is no image on the screen? A very common failure is the backlight inverter (~50USD), which would initially lead you to think that the screen is broken, when in reality, if you were to shine a flashlight at the right angle, you'd see the video - just no backlight.

TutAnGeek wrote:



my dell does the same thing when im in the car and i bump the switch for the screen (for when you close the lid) also sometimes it sticks in

well, I don't know about the blacklight, what I did was to change my lcd screen with another one, wich I know was working fine, but did not work on my Ibook. So I assumed nothing was wrong with the LDC itself.
that's why now I'd love to resuse it as an external monitor (my old Ibook is no longer in use for "on the go" use, it stays at home with an old CRT monitor. The lcd display is carefully packed and stored, waiting for a new life as extrnal monitor, if this is possible :unsure:

thanks anyway for your answers, I'll think about putting back this lcd on the ibook if there is really no alternative

I beleave you would need a power supply, the lcd controller, and other "bits" from the video board in an iBook. And a frame or stand of some sort. I think this could be done, but may cost more than its worth. But hey, thats your call. I would start by researching components of video on your ibook. Then maybe purchas the video board off ebay, grab your soldering iron and "have a go at it"

By the way, your english is near perfect! B)

You know, this idea has come up so many times. I wish someone would just do it. At least then we would know how to. I think that it would take someone with some pretty good electrical engineering skills and knowledge of computer electonics to pull it off. You may be better off fixing your iBook or selling the LCD on eBay.
-maestro

Consider that the entire Logic Board for that book can usually be gotten on ebay for under $100 US, far less than the value of the screen, If it really is the video chip on the motherboard (which is known to fail, there was an enire recall on those models) Just swap out the motherboard and iBook is back in action.

anil8tor wrote:

indeed, that makes quite a lot and looks complicated

anil8tor wrote:

this part is more easy, but useless if you haven't coped with the first one

anil8tor wrote:

basically, this means going deep down into electronics… maybe too deep for me
anil8tor wrote:


gee, thanks for the compliment !

yea, I am with you on maestro. We have heard this same question a dozen times and all without any solution. I don't think there are any guides available, but it sure would be nice to get one

maestro wrote:


you bet !! I was hoping in fact this person actually existed…
:unsure:

maestro wrote:

I'l starting to figure this out of your answers…


maestro wrote:


Yeah, I got your point… pity though, but thanks anyway for your answers !

mordaskyt wrote:


ok, doesn't answer my question, but obvisously, there is no answer so far. At least, you give me an alernative I can work on. thanks

oojacoboo wrote:


ok, too bad for the false good idea… thanks for your answer !

I've occasionally found the parts (invertors interface boards etc) that in theory would allow you to do this at http://www.tridentmicrosystems.co.uk/interface_kits/index.html but the cost always seems prohibitve for the actuall monitor you would get. Its unfourtunetly just more economical to sell the pannel and buy a cheap tft, obviously dosen't have as much of a geek factor though...

if you do go through with this I am imagining a hinge on one side of the current ibook lcd where you would attach another lcd face up. Then you could have a tablet like pc as well as a dual screen ibook. You could just open it up and slide the other screen around. You would have to switch from mirror when you opened up, or maybe you could create an app to do that for you. You would need a cover for the screen on the top, like the itablet one as well. This would be a really sick mod! Maybe you could somehow get two onboard video cards into the ibook.... :S

OK guys, if we ever want to pull off this home-made external LCD mod, what we should do is compile a list. The most cost effective way to do it, is to find a standalone LCD monitor which uses the same model of LCD as a Mac of some sort, then find one which is smashed, and buy it cheap. Hey presto, an LCD monitor.

So anyone who comes across a broken LCD monitor (or an out of warranty one which they can have a play with), open it up, and post the make model number of the panel on this site somewhere. Maybe start a new thread for it. Samsung monitors would be a good bet, LG/Philips too. These have been used in alot of recent Macs. But the required inputs can be different from model to model, so note the model number correctly people! Eventually we should be able to build up a reasonable list between us.....

If you wanted to build your own without having to find controllers which match, you'll need a fully working iBook (or whatever), an oscilloscope and a big pile of textbooks. At the very least.