Project: Macbook Tablet

By enigma-penguin
in Apple (macOS)

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Neowinian

8jpc

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Hello everyone, I have seen a lot of discussions about adding power button by solderiing where the keyboard connection used to be.

But in fact, there are two pins for power button is also available separately on the motherboard itself.

At the button screw for the fan, ( assuming you are looking from the top, LCD in front of you)

theres two silver square with the power button sign sitting right above it.

personally I had been using a screw driver to short the two pins to power the laptop on, but one of you guys pointed out that there should be a resistor to protect the circuit,

does anyone know the specific size of it?

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6502

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I saw the power on points 8jpc was referring to

it is in the bottom ( not button) screw point of the fan...

he is right it is labeled as such

Any resistor value that works should be ok. it would be better than no resistance I guess

the power on switch shorts these points by a carbon/rubber which offers some degree of resistance

I dont use a resistor, like 8jpc i use anything metalic to short power on pins on ATX motherboards so I assume there is no hard to do so in the macbook logic board

@8jpc

thanks for the info

do you happen to know of any sata points in the macbook's logic board? I need to install an additional hard drive in my macbook (soon to be a OSX server)

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Neowinian

8jpc

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@6502

I tried looking for one, but I don't seems to locate something nice like that again.

But please note that the bluetooth is connected as a usb device, so we might be able to do things with it (assuming no one really uses the bluetooth...at least i don')

@xthakila

one thing you can do is, put solder on the wire first, and then heat up the wire at where close to the solder is. And then just connect to the pins while heating it up.

I am still really busy with school work, so I haven't done that yet. I will have pictures if I get that to work.

PS. sorry for the poor english there, I am no native speaker.

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Grand Master

enigma-penguin Veteran

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Sounds like you guys are really getting along well with your projects (barring small issues), sorry I haven't been answering questions. I've been studying for my final uni exams for the year and I really haven't had time for much else.

As to the resistor, yes it's not really needed; it's more about protecting the board from any sort of issues than anything else, so you can do it without it and it'll work just the same. The other power button socket is a vestigial one (from the original design) and I'd say it's the one used during testing and maintenance. Like any ATX BTX board it will work just the same as the one on the proprietary port. I would probably suggest soldering to the proprietary port rather than the standard port if you're not used to soldering work xthakila, it keeps it simple and it does the same job without higher risk.

As to the extra drive situation, there are some companies that offer that sort of solution for macbooks. I might suggest looking in to those and or their support forums to find out what they use to pull that off, but I suspect it just connects to where the dvd drive did and uses uATA/100 (a normal IDE drive).

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xthakila

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ok I have a quick question I am having trouble with getting a touch screen. Racing buy sent me a broken screen.

I am looking to get a capacitive screen now.

3m makes some but I am not sure if the dimensions would fit.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/TouchSystems/TouchScreen/Solutions/ProductCatalog/?PC_7_RJH9U52308F8102RKCHBJT2831_nid=1HN58Z36PMgsVH30Q8PS7XglDV3HLNZV6Mbl

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/TouchSystems/TouchScreen/Solutions/ProductCatalog/?PC_7_RJH9U52308F8102RKCHBJT2831_nid=39NXG0F7MSgsVH30Q8PS7Xgl7TV2T3KRCKbl

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/TouchSystems/TouchScreen/Solutions/ProductCatalog/?PC_7_RJH9U52308F8102RKCHBJT2831_nid=GZ1KCZ9DT0gsVH30Q8PS7XglXFWTSH00H8bl

http://www.leadingtouch.com/UserFilesfile/IR1330P25-G3.pdf

Would any of theses fit??????

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6502

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@xthakila

in response to your query

sorry I'm not familar with touch screens . My project unfortunately does not involve touch screen but simply restoring into use a macbook with defective topcase ribbon

I guess your project has to wait until enigma-penguins exams are over

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Grand Master

enigma-penguin Veteran

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Just got in home, but it's 4:30 in the morning. I'll hit the rack and take a gander when I wake up, however it's unlike race_buy to not replace a broken item. What exactly was wrong with the screen?

[Edit]

All of the 3m 13.28 inch screens will fit just fine, their dimensions mate up pretty well to the macbook;

The one you have is :

(Outer Dimensions)

W: 298.50mm x H: 194.70 mm

(Viewable)

W: 284.53 mm x H: 180.98 mm

And the one I have is:

(Outer Dimensions)

W: 299mm x H: 195mm mm

(Viewable)

W: 288.88mm x H: 181.6 mm

This post might seem familiar, mostly because the same manufacturers tend to make all the screens and wholesale them out all over the joint. As for the leadingto one; it's dimensions seem too large, but it lists the size as 9, 19 inches.. so you'll need to ask them about their 13 specs. When you read this let me know, I'd really like to know what went from with the resistive screen from race_buy.

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xthakila

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How did you ever solder to the motherboard. The points are tiny the solder is to big and the wires are to small they will end up touching at the solder points do you think that is an issue. Also I think the motherboard will get damages with the solder lol

Any help will be appreciated....

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6502

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@xthakila

thatis why I asked you how your soldering skills are. If you have none or basic soldering skills, have a professional do this for you

you need special solder tools and wires for board-level soldering

you need low wattage soldering tool, temperature need not be that high, thin wire, and a steady pair of hands

You also need a second pair of hands to hold a magnifying glass while soldering. If you have those lamps with magnifying glass and light, this is a time to use it

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Neowinian

Statue4

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I'm going to try to do this tablet project to a 17" non-unibody MacBook Pro. I might try to make the keyboard into an external one. Maybe the trackpad too. If it is possible I'm going to try to work the iSight camera the design.

How should I go forth cutting the aluminum case?

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Grand Master

enigma-penguin Veteran

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You should find a message in your inbox Statue4 and xthakila sorry it took so long.

xthakila:

In this case you're going to find it hard to do the work as it can be really fiddly, I just saw that 6502 gave you the advice to ask someone else for help at this point and I'd have to agree. You could do it yourself but you probably don't have a fine tip/adjustable tip heat adjustable soldering iron and you may end up having issues heating the work.

If you cant find someone to do it and you end up taking the risk, take it slow and get someone to hold a magnifying glass. Heat the points you're going to be soldering to and bring the solder to it (not on the tip of the iron). When in doubt always have solder wick on hand, but only heat the bad solder or you'll pull half the board off (in reality I will stress that if you're not confident, then ask for help).

Statue4:

My strong recommendation would be to not attempt this if you've never done it before and to definitely avoid it if this is your only computer. The big issue is that there are large number of things that can go wrong if you don't know how to take precautions for them and you can risk messing up just about every component in the process. It might be something to try later when you've got around to replacing this macbook with something else.

If you're intent on doing it you'll need the following;

- A Dremel

- A cutting disk for plastic and metal

- A dust mask

- static wrist band

- electrical tape

- wire crimps (depends)

- A fine/adjustable tip and heat adjustable soldering iron

- Solder wick aka desoldering braid (just in case)

- Extremely small phillips head screw drivers and depending on your model possibly torx screws

Also: that screen you selected would work, but I would be wary of the weight it adds.

Regards,

Matt.

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Neowinian

8jpc

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my touch panel had finally came today and i used it tape this thread =]

but one problem is the touch panel is that the display looks bad now....

it now looks like it is distort, and i am already peeled off the two protection.....

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Grand Master

enigma-penguin Veteran

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You need to wash the panel down, a light damp cloth and some paper towels will do the trick. There are a LOT of oils left on the screen by that film, so you'll have to take them off :)

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Neowinian

MacGeek83

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Just came across this topic late this eve & it's just what I was looking into. Going to try and read through the entire topic tomorrow but just wondering if anyone has attempted this with a MacBook Air somehow. I have a MacBook & a MacBook Air to chose from & I think a MacBook Air would be a great tool to convert to a tablet?

Thanks!

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Grand Master

enigma-penguin Veteran

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@ MacGeek83:

It might be possible with an air, but there would be several large differences between it and my setup. Firstly you would need a film/film touch screen (at the smaller 11 inch size you should be able to find one for sure), secondly you need to find a place to put the usb controller. That last part would be crazy difficult to do considering the amount of space inside a new macbook air, maybe a lot easier in an older one.

Again though I will always stress that when you do this you risk damaging a very expensive piece of equipment, be prepared and make sure you know what you're doing before you start. Plan it out, have the tools ready and as long as you're safe... things should go to plan.

@ 8jpc;

I did indeed find residue on both sides of the screen, but just in case start on the side the touch components aren't on and see how that affects the view-ability. Initially when I removed the film I ended up with a swirled and oil residue effect on the screen making it difficult to see. I actually ended up just leaving it on inside the computer, as I didn't want to pull it apart again and it eventually went away. As for how I package the screen, it's actually very simple.

- The screen uses all existing brackets and frames in their original position

- Only the screen is reversed and the hole cut into the top (and trimmed and polished)

- This is then pressed against a breeze stopping tape (the kind you trim exterior doors in) on the underside of the plastic frame

- These buffers mate up with the position of the metal screen surrounds under the glass

- There is another buffer between the glass and the lcd metal surrounds (but much thinner)

- Because this is spongy it allows me to use the original brackets to press the screen against the casing without warping it

- To stop it shifting side to side, there are rubber chucks that I put into the housing on each side

- This allows the screen to float and be pressed, but still be fixed and require very very little recalibration after being tossed about

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Neowinian

8jpc

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ic...thats what i had for a long time, except I still dont have tools to cut the lid. So I was just tiding the screen on to the hinge with wires.

and the touch panel is just taped on....i was amazed with the fact that it worked pretty well with tape.

plus i was concerning about the length of the screws, since we have added thickness to it.

I am having trouble deciding the orientation of the touch panel, cause either way theres risk of snapping that wire, and it looks REALLY fragile.

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Grand Master

enigma-penguin Veteran

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In my case the ribbon is permanently in a very tight bend and has been so since it was made. in fact it's actually got a fold in it now (only a small one on the edge) and it still works just fine :) . As for the screws I was able to get them to bite in without much of an issue, but it depends on how much you're willing to bodge :p

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