PowerBook 100/RPi-CM4-Lite

[Trash80toG4]

PowerBook 100/2300c LCD/Logic board upgrade has been in process for well over a decade. This revision has been on the back burner since the Compute Module 4 first came out. The I/O board makes it perfect for this upgrade of my beloved BabyPB, very first laptop, bought new and maxed out in the day. Finally got the makings for Christmas and getting started at long last!

Pics sport the cutback top plate for LCD which clears the deck for utilizing the fantabulous 1400c KBD. That was done oh so long ago along with the 2300c LCD currently snugged away in the lid. That was a perfect fit.

10.1" 1920x1200 LCD is about perfect top to bottom, but I'll have to widen the bezel opening a few millimeters to fit.









Controller board fits into HDD Bay. LCD cable matches type in PB100's inter-hinge interface. If I don't wind up with this one, there are others that have what looks like a rheostat semi-circular wheel for brightness that would be perfect for interfacing with the OEM knob. Ribbon cable on those may or may not need to be replaced with twisted pair cable . . .

. . . dunno, we'll see. Now I've got pics up to play with and dream about at work. New boltdown interface for LCD Deck/KBD required.

 

[Trash80toG4]

 

[Trash80toG4]

Thanks guys! PicoPSU discussion here:

PicoPSU: is waste heat proportional to current used?

I've got a high output model/power brick on hand and a 160W PicoPSU on the way. Using the 160W unit inside a Duo case to power: RPi Compute Module 4 RPi Pico KBD Matrix to USB Converter Duo TrackBall (ADB) ATmega32u4 based TrackBall to USB Converter 10.1" 1920x1200 LCD/Controller Assumption...

68kmla.org

Still need to locate the 1400c KBD adapted base, just love that heavy use patina of BabyPB contrasted with the 1400c KBD.
Found the lid with 2300c LCD inside. LCD/Controller above on the way for $50 offer!

LCD Controller Board:
HDMI LCD Board Work for LVDS Interface LCD Screen
Input Power Adapter:12Vdc More than 2A.
Come In Standby Model When Not Input Signal
Standby Model <1W
Video Input: HDMI
OSD: Brightness Contrast Auto Language And So On
Language: English French German Spanish Italian And So On
Board Size:74mm x 53mm x 12mm

10.1" B101UAN01.1 1920X1200 LCD Screen:
Display Mode AHVA, Normally Black, Transmissive
Resolution 1920RGB)×1200
Outline Size 228.6 × 149.6×4.65 (H×V×D)
Display Area 216.81 × 135.5 (H×V)
Brightness 400 cd/m² (Typ.)
Contrast Ratio 800:1 (Typ.) (TM)
Viewing Angle 85/85/85/85 (Typ.)(CR≥10) [Left / Right / Up / Down]
Signal Interface LVDS (2 ch, 6-bit) , Connector , 40 pins
Backlight WLED
Input Voltage 3.3V (Typ.)

 

[Trash80toG4]

@Drake developed the perfect interface for the PowerBook 100 Trackball:

https://tinkerdifferent.com/resources/adb-usb-keyboard-mouse-adapter-firmware.26/

@RolandJuno over at the MLA picked up where I left off on development of the Portable's peripherals:

Mac Portable Peripherals - Schematic Development

Thanks to a post by @techknight somewhere I had the connector pinout from the Schematics to begin with. Up front, started late last night. Working from the solder side of the KBD, trying to match the pinout to the connections GND seemed wonky, the MODIFIER connections weren't making sense...

68kmla.org

He came up with the perfect KBD matrix adapter. That'll make adapting the 1400 KBD soooo much easier for me! Time to fire up the Buzz-o-Matic again! Need to fab an adapter for flex cable edge card interface. IDC cable setup of the Portable was too easy.

A Stealth Macintosh Portable Case Mod

I just posted a new blog entry about creating a stealth Macintosh Portable case mod. I've had a M5120 for a for years and have been unsuccessful in getting it to work. So I removed all of the internals and created a new computer using a Raspberry Pi 5 as the base with MiniVMac (and QEMU). My...

68kmla.org

Stealth Macintosh Portable

Hardware is coming together very nicely. Looks like removing the PCIe slot connector and wiring up a cable extension for the M.2 board is the only major modification I'll need.

Nice to have all my reference links posted here for perusal in down time at work.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Settling into waiting (impatiently) for components to arrive mode again. After all these years in process I should really be more patient.

Component placement experimentation:

The PCIe adapter for M.2 fits into the metal case for my setup, but is about a quarter inch too tall when slotted into the board for the PB100. Pulled the two decades old MacAntFarm™ project box out and looked into the gaping maw of my DOA 165c. Might fit slotted right up in there?

I'll be snagging one of these cable based PCIe extender/adapters to solder the IDC wires into the PCIe Slot's thruholes for flexible fitment into BabyPB.

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160W PicoPSU is heading back to Amazon. Illustration showed no tall components on one side, so too thick for flexibility. If a simple power conditioning board can replace the PicoPSU that's good. A complicated one allowing use of the battery developed would be better.

Absolute KISS compliance may have me purchasing this far superior 150W PicoPSU for maximum flexibility.



I'll be removing the connectors and wiring PTO directly onto its pads and the 12V Power Jack wires into the connector's thruholes. No need for aux power lines or connector. That will make for a very tidy little package to be tucked away into available cubic just about anywhere.

Planning to use this HDMI connector stub for the time being. That makes for simple soldering of the internal LCD controller cable using them at both ends. That pushes I/O board back into the case a bit, no problem but could use the extra cubic if flush. Looking at those SMT pads for the HDMI connector has me wondering about soldering a flat cable's wiring at that point for the connection, dunno, more looking around.

I'm wedded to making the CM4 hack work per first inspiration. Can't resist having an actual PCIe slot on board, but using it as an M.2 interface wasn't what I'd thought of back then. The Lite version has no EMMc on board, hence the far superior M.2 setup. EMMc on board disables the SD card slot, for me that was a no brainer.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Doing this kind of thing with the new CM5 and its I/O board would be a lot easier. It might even be fast enough to run OS9 in emulation? M.2 Slot is right on board, no PCIe slot.

I have the CM5 I/O board on hand for a future Duo/CM5 project. CM4 rig doesn't quite fit into the Duo case I've been playing with.

 

[Trash80toG4]

Well that didn't take a lot of research!

Looks like I should be able to desolder the "internal" HDMI connector and replace it with the cable connector from this board!



Looks to be fine in the component placement pics above. But should this plug card protrude too far out of the HDD cubic, it should be possible to do the same connector swap on the LCD controller end of things?



A nice assortment of adapters and custom cable lengths for this bodge are available!

DRAT! Realized the pitch of the two connectors is off a tad, so back to the soldertail HDMI connectors above.

 

[Trash80toG4]

. . . one piece at a time!

/JohnnyCash

Tucked everything away and started looking for missing bits of a PowerBook 165c. I'm trying to get it back together to finally test after I snagged it for the MacAntFarm™ project two decades ago. I'd already acquired a couple of victims for that and had the unfortunate experience of bringing them back to life. So I began tearing it down immediately after snagging the beautiful thing for $10 as is at a flea market.

Be that as it may, I found BabyPB's modified palmrest section and just had to get right to snipping and filing away bits of the 1400c KBD chassis and keys. The physical modifications for the graft are now in full working order.

As you can see, I need to sand smooth and polish up ESC (and ON/OFF) key corners, but I can now stash this stuff away until parts arrive. Low res pic of the combo above is from years back.


edit: forgot to mention that the rigid aluminum frame of the 1400c KBD will be an integral part in building the chassis that ties this puppy all together structurally.

 

[Drake]

Some of your components are made of paper, be careful when applying 12v to them or they'll catch fire!

 

[Trash80toG4]

No power jack, no problem . . .

TwinSlot fitment prototype of paper and cardboard laminated with flammable adhesives sitting in the PCI slot of an Alchemy/Gazelle machine that might be fired up however . . .

 

[Trash80toG4]

Non-Flammable components beginning to arrive!

1920x1200 will be a workable resolution running under Ubuntu in a 10.1" diagonal. Much better than most laptops with 1920x1080 and far better than lower resolutions of many.

Love the modern look of the larger LCD. No mounting tabs, but that black surround is much better than silver. I'm happy.