68kMLA Classic Interface
This is a version of the 68kMLA forums for viewing on your favorite old mac. Visitors on modern platforms may prefer the main site.
| Click here to select a new forum. | |
| PowerBook G3 Wallstreet replace CCFL with LED strip | |
| Posted by: AEChadwick on 2023-04-11 12:32:22 I love my PowerBook G3, and the fading CCFL was not doing justice to its beautiful 14" Screen. I have a couple "parts" machines, so i got out the multimeter to see if I could get an LED strip in there. (This mod was a quickie while trying to part out another project, but this went so fast & easy so i thought it would be fun to share.) I thought the inverter board would be too complicated, but under analysis it was pure function: +23v always on, 3.2v that turned off when put to sleep, and 1.5v-2.9v changed via the brightness button—pretty clearly VCC, ENA, and ADJ. I pulled the connector off the inverter cable and wired the LED strip to the pads. Diagram included; forgive the flip-flop from back to front, but i labelled everything. The CCFL is thin and fits tightly along the bottom of the screen. You have the pop the LCD out of its frame and then carefully unsnap the cover from the bottom. I used a couple small styrene shims to shim the LED strip in place. I tested each step along the way to constantly make sure everything was connected correctly before putting it all back together. I used the plastic case from the inverter board to re-package the LED controller into the same space. It works really well with a couple caveats: there are a few slightly brighter spots on the bottom of the screen and the tiniest bit of shadow in one corner, just the imperfect nature of the LED strip i used (so insignificant it doesn't even show in pictures); and like the iBook mod that inspired this, the brightness is inverted—reduce slider to zero for maximum brightness, slider to max for a tiny decrease in brightness (adjustments are subtle at best, the LED strip is mostly just brilliant all the time).  | |
| Posted by: s_pupp on 2023-04-11 12:56:21 Well done! | |
| Posted by: avadondragon on 2023-04-11 20:03:52 Awesome! I've been wanting to do an LED upgrade on my PDQ. It is getting pretty dim. | |
Posted by: AEChadwick on 2023-04-11 20:36:42Awesome! I've been wanting to do an LED upgrade on my PDQ. It is getting pretty dim.i've pulled apart several wallstreet & PDQ and they're functionally identical inside; i don't know about the inverter board in Lombard & Pismo, but i honestly bet it's the same—i hope someone will undertake the same mod and share pictures. | |
| Posted by: davidg5678 on 2023-04-12 06:12:17 Great work! When I get a chance this week, I hope to do a similar mod to a PowerBook G4's LCD. | |
| Posted by: Apfelklassik.de on 2023-04-13 02:50:31 Great mod! Thanks for sharing. | |
| Posted by: tkz on 2023-08-10 09:09:16 This is great news! Somehoow I do not see the pics. | |
| Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-08-10 09:27:26 Whatever backend handles the photos here appears to be broken at the moment. | |
| Posted by: AEChadwick on 2023-12-05 20:29:42 hey team, i was unsatisfied with the reverse signal and just could not let go. So i spent a while really digging though the DF6113 and figured out this mod. I have already used this in several powerbooks that had the "inverted output" problem, and so far it works great. I am not smart enough to explain it... i just kept pushing around data sheet, dismantled a couple controller boards, used google translate to dig through a russian guy's website, and then just started pulling off caps and bodging parts around. This mod is purely to the board, no other wiring tricks or anything (i have tried it with the blue boards, too, the components have different IDs but their location is almost identical). here is the mod i devised. I tried to show it off in the little movie, but the iPhone adjusts too fast & well, so the movie is pretty much useless. Pass with your best violence.  | |
| Posted by: nickpunt on 2023-12-06 13:28:50 Nice job! The movie helps, even tho the screen doesn't change brightness you can tell it's working based on the surroundings getting darker 🙂 Have you considered making a YouTube video that explains the whole mod & walks through the changes? If not you then maybe teaming up with a YouTuber who might be able to do the production? I think a lot of people would find it valuable to see the whole process, as this is a mod a lot of people are going to want to / need to do sometime in the future, across all sorts of different notebooks. | |
Posted by: AEChadwick on 2023-12-06 13:32:59If not you then maybe teaming up with a YouTuber who might be able to do the production? (omg. i would love to be a guest for any of the retro macintosh youtube folks... are any in the Los Angeles area? consider me on standby.) | |
| Posted by: macman0512 on 2024-08-17 18:50:52 I wanna try this out on my Lombard. The display's almost unreadable right now. My Titanium G4 is also going Barbie (AKA pink). Any advice for either machine? | |
| Posted by: AEChadwick on 2024-08-20 07:41:37 i do not have a Lombard to play with, but i pulled this picture from a search: the inverter board appears to use the LT1182, same as the Powerbook 1400 (the Wallstreet uses LT1184, functionally identical with a couple different inputs). I have been poking around the 1400 inverter board for awhile, it's pretty straightforward—i have identified the pins as attached. Map those pins to the wire harness or to some test points and you can try it out. You just need to figure out which of the lombard’s twisted pairs is ADJ... | |
| Posted by: AEChadwick on 2024-08-20 07:42:35 (I do not have a Titanium G4 nor can I find any reliable pictures of the inside. Post something and maybe we can poke around.) | |
| 1 |