Recreating Backlit Macintosh Portable Display Flex Cables

[Androda]

Hello everyone,

As we all know, flex cables for a variety devices are starting to get a little bit creaky and in many cases have cracked. Great examples of these are display cables for the Macintosh Backlit Portable, PowerBooks, and the eMate 300 (though in the eMate's case it's because of a bad hinge design that kills the cable).

I have been working on recreating the backlit macintosh portable display flex cable, and the work is nearly done. I just need to double check edge dimensions and do a test hard PCB run to be sure the connector footprint is going to work out, before committing to a prototype run of the actual flex cable.

How many people would want to buy one of these newly manufactured recreation cables? Expected sale cost per cable will be around $45 plus shipping.

An important note is that I haven't found the exact connector yet, so you would need to transfer the existing connector from old cable to new. That's a service I could offer as well, for people that are uncomfortable soldering. Probably $10 extra, it's not a ton of work to move across with my nice desoldering gun.

Comments and questions are invited and encouraged. I plan to do more flex cable recreations as I have time and if there's interest from the group.

 

[Androda]

On the subject of recreation display cables, I just pushed the flex cable design for the backlit screen upgrade into my PCB Designs repo on GitHub. Note that you need connectors and the ROM slot card for this to work.

This is *not* the 5126 backlit cable, this is the upgrade for the 5120.

 

[cc333]

My first post at TinkerDifferent! I'd formally introduce myself, but since most of you probably know me from 68k MLA already, a simple hello would be enough, I think

Anyway, I was fortunate to get a functional original cable to replace the one that had torn in the backlit Portable I bought (it had been patched, but it tore more as I was troubleshooting other problems, and just became altogether inoperable). If the replacement goes, I'm out of luck.

I see that 100% of everyone (all 2 of us ) opted for the connector transfer service. I would attempt to do it myself, but I wouldn't want to fry either it or the connector accidentally, but I just remembered they're actually through-hole, aren't they? If so, I could probably gather the courage to move the connector(s) myself if I'm careful.

Nevertheless, having the connector move service option is good, and in time, maybe a supply of either newly made or NOS connectors can be found to reduce the need for one.

c

 

[Androda]

My first post at TinkerDifferent! I'd formally introduce myself, but since most of you probably know me from 68k MLA already, a simple hello would be enough, I think

Anyway, I was fortunate to get a functional original cable to replace the one that had torn in the backlit Portable I bought (it had been patched, but it tore more as I was troubleshooting other problems, and just became altogether inoperable). If the replacement goes, I'm out of luck.

I see that 100% of everyone (all 2 of us ) opted for the connector transfer service. I would attempt to do it myself, but I wouldn't want to fry either it or the connector accidentally, but I just remembered they're actually through-hole, aren't they? If so, I could probably gather the courage to move the connector(s) myself if I'm careful.

Nevertheless, having the connector move service option is good, and in time, maybe a supply of either newly made or NOS connectors can be found to reduce the need for one.

c

Yes, the connector is through-hole on the backlit portable display cable. So it could be semi-easy to do with desoldering braid.

Next step for me on this project is to measure the original connector and try to find something that matches the pin pitch. If I can find one of those, then tweaking the design to use a modern and available connector should be doable.

 

[Androda]

I have ordered a test PCB (not flex) which is the through-hole connector end of the cable, to verify that the footprint is correct. Once that arrives and is verified, I'll do one last check of dimensions and pads for the ribbon cable ends and submit for a prototype run of these cables.

Also of note, I searched around for a few hours trying to find the original connector with no luck. I did find a Samtec connector with the right pin and row spacing for the plug, but the through-hole leg spacing is totally different. And it's $8 per connector. A bit spendy, but an option.

 

[JonF]

I really need one of these cable, would happily pay $45.

 

[Androda]

The test PCB arrived, and we have success: connector footprint matches nicely.

I'll be doing final checks on the cable design over the next few days, and will place an order for a set of 5. Then the design can be tested, and hopefully it works.

 

[JonF]

That’s great! Please put me on the pre order list.

 

[epalama1]

Hello! I think you were the kind person who helped me repair the handshake line on my backlit Portable a few months ago over on the Vintage Macintosh Restoration and Preservation group. I am also in need of a new ribbon cable and would gladly buy one from you when they are ready... thanks again for the help!
-Ethan

 

[Androda]

Hello! I think you were the kind person who helped me repair the handshake line on my backlit Portable a few months ago over on the Vintage Macintosh Restoration and Preservation group. I am also in need of a new ribbon cable and would gladly buy one from you when they are ready... thanks again for the help!
-Ethan

Glad your portable is working again. The capacitors have been replaced, right?

In other news, I just placed an order for a prototype set of 5 of these recreation cables. Chinese New Year is still going on, so it'll probably be some time until production and shipping. Two cables have been previously spoken for by testers (even before I made the original post of this thread), and I won't be selling the remaining three until the testers say it works.

 

[epalama1]

Glad your portable is working again. The capacitors have been replaced, right?

In other news, I just placed an order for a prototype set of 5 of these recreation cables. Chinese New Year is still going on, so it'll probably be some time until production and shipping. Two cables have been previously spoken for by testers (even before I made the original post of this thread), and I won't be selling the remaining three until the testers say it works.

Yes, they have been replaced. Ok though, thanks for the update! I definitely have no problem with waiting... just happy someone is actually working on these things.

 

[CedsRepairs]

Joined the bandwagon

 

[Androda]

Production is complete on the cables, and they are currently being shipped to me. Hope to have them by the end of the week, and then can ship them out to my testers.

 

[Androda]

@techknight has received the cable now, so it's up to his timeframe to move the connector over and give it a shot.

 

[techknight]

Probably going to test it this weekend, and I will report back with the results.

 

[Androda]

@techknight has confirmed that the recreation cable works!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1504812168373542913

It needs a little bit of tweaking to make assembly easier. For example, the soldering rings around the mounting holes for the connector are a bit small and hard to get good solder adherence. I assembled one this morning and definitely agree. The cable probably needs a layer of semi-thick packing tape (maybe the PEI stiffeners offered by the cable manufacturer would work) to guard against punctures.

And soldering it together with the original pull tab and stuff is a bit of a pain due to the number of things you need to hold in place. I found that flipping the pull tab over so it's under the connector made it easy enough to tack down the corners, and then solder the rest.

If it looks like the cable was made backward, that's because the original cable has two folds.

Assembled one of these this morning, using my only backlit-portable display connector. Seems a shame to cover the nice matte black with packing tape for durability, but we do what we must I suppose.

 

[Stephen]

Many people seem to think that the CC-NC hardware license allows them to sell or redistribute at cost, which is not correct.

Gosh, they must be stumped on what the "NC" half of the four letters mean.

 

[Androda]

If you responded to the survey and are still interested in one of these first-batch cables, please send me a direct message. I have 5 cables remaining, including the one which I posted above which already has the connector moved. Looks like 8 people responded to the survey, so it's first come first serve for now. I'll hold for survey respondents for two or three weeks, and update the design to both be easier to solder and more protected from the factory for the next order.

Due to the issues with ease of use, the price of these proto cables is lowered $35 for bare cable. Connector move service is still $10. The one which is already assembled will be $45, and I have no more cables to pull connectors from.

To protect the cable it should be wrapped in flexible packing tape, at least from the through-hole plug end up until the two offset white dots which are mid-cable closer to the wide flat-connector. This is the area which will primarily be moving and flexing, and the packing tape will guard against abrasion similarly to the original cable's thick protector sheets.

 

[epalama1]

If you responded to the survey and are still interested in one of these first-batch cables, please send me a direct message. I have 5 cables remaining, including the one which I posted above which already has the connector moved. Looks like 8 people responded to the survey, so it's first come first serve for now. I'll hold for survey respondents for three weeks, and update the design to both be easier to solder and more protected from the factory for the next order.

Due to the issues with ease of use, the price of these proto cables is lowered $35 for bare cable. Connector move service is still $10. The one which is already assembled will be $45, and I have no more cables to pull connectors from.

To protect the cable it should be wrapped in flexible packing tape, at least from the through-hole plug end up until the two offset white dots which are mid-cable closer to the wide flat-connector. This is the area which will primarily be moving and flexing, and the packing tape will guard against abrasion similarly to the original cable's thick protector sheets.

I'll take the already-soldered one please!

 

[epalama1]

Can confirm, it works great!