Thinkpads Forum

I bought a 15" XGA T60 last year but it has mostly been collecting dust while I use my T500 and X61. A few weeks ago I ordered one of these UXGA LED screens just to try it out. I know it was a lot of money and there were modifications needed, but I figured why not? I modified the inverter to connect to the LED backlight and I soldered on a reversed connector to the panel. I was super careful and checked and double checked everything with my multimeter and macro photos. I'm not a professional solderer by any means, but I think I did a good job and it all seemed to check out perfectly.

The backlight worked perfectly fine, but the picture on the screen was messed up. It looks like the resolution is stuck on 1024x768. Windows could not identify the monitor and let me increase the resolution. Another problem which is worse, is that the image is displayed twice, one on top of the other, both being squashed vertically / stretched horizontally. The top image shows the full 768 pixel height, but the bottom image has the bottom third cut off. In addition, sometimes the colors go crazy to the point of not being able to identify what is on the screen. I wish I could take a picture to show what it looks like but my camera's battery died last night and I can't find the charger. If I swap the panel with the original XGA, everything works perfectly fine (no backlight, but it looks fine with my flashlight).

Anyway, after that happened I was upset for damaging the panel. Not letting the panel get the best of me, I ordered TWO more. They were delivered today and tonight I tried again to solder on a new connector, but the same exact thing happened. I was careful with ESD, as my wrist, the panel, and my soldering iron were all grounded. I used as low heat as possible to do the soldering, but there also aren't any chips nearby and the board was not getting hot. I am freaking out right now at the possibility that I killed two of these panels. I have a third one just sitting there and I don't know what to do. Theoretically everything should work and searching online showed nobody having this issue with this panel in their Thinkpads.

The description of the problem sounds like an issue with the LCD flex cable. There's a similar problem in another thread, with an SXGA+ modded X61, where it sometimes fails to recognize the SXGA+ panel. The resolution is locked at XGA, and the display output is tiled.

The other possibility is an EDID issue, which may also be caused by a faulty cable.

If this is EDID problem - lets try Linux Live CD (ex Ubuntu). And see what it can show on your LCD.
And please post picture of resoldered LVDS connector.

You'd be better off reversing the connector on the LCD cable, rather than the LCD connector.
I've done dozens of those by now.
BUT, if even only ONE connector-leg is not soldered on properly, you get problems like yours!

Those screens fit onto all T60/T61 and R60/R61 motherboards.
Even a T43p with UXGA cable can use them, except its dimming function is limited to the three highest settings.
As for the inverter, it's best to remove the transformer that goes to the CCFL-connector.
Eventually that will overheat because of non-use.
Advantage: removing it will add almost 30 minutes to your battery life.
Disadvantage: you cannot reuse the inverter for CCFL screens.
Which one did you use?

If you have no backlight on the XGA, most likely blew the F7 fuse (to the right of the mobo LCD-connector).

For more info, see my website: http://theboardroom.info/led_mod.htm

PS: there is no EDID problem with these screens.

FryPpy wrote:And please post picture of resoldered LVDS connector.

First attempt: http://s1179.photobucket.com/user/gymle ... f.jpg.html
The second panel looks similarly done.

Just got done removing it and re-trying: http://s1179.photobucket.com/user/gymle ... w.jpg.html

RealBlackStuff wrote:You'd be better off reversing the connector on the LCD cable, rather than the LCD connector.
I've done dozens of those by now.
BUT, if even only ONE connector-leg is not soldered on properly, you get problems like yours!

Those screens fit onto all T60/T61 and R60/R61 motherboards.
Even a T43p with UXGA cable can use them, except its dimming function is limited to the three highest settings.

I think you nailed it. The many of the pins were barely soldered on. They could have easily come apart. It looked connected and the multimeter showed that it was fine even though the connection was very weak.

RealBlackStuff wrote:As for the inverter, it's best to remove the transformer that goes to the CCFL-connector.
Eventually that will overheat because of non-use.
Advantage: removing it will add almost 30 minutes to your battery life.
Disadvantage: you cannot reuse the inverter for CCFL screens.

I removed the transformer just now. Thank you.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Which one did you use?

If you have no backlight on the XGA, most likely blew the F7 fuse (to the right of the mobo LCD-connector).

For more info, see my website: http://theboardroom.info/led_mod.htm

PS: there is no EDID problem with these screens.

I used the Hitachi INVC752 from the T60.
Picture of the plan I came up with: http://s1179.photobucket.com/user/gymle ... h.jpg.html
Picture of it soldered up: http://s1179.photobucket.com/user/gymle ... f.jpg.html

It was working but then later the backlight wouldn't turn on. I couldn't see anything on the UXGA screen, but I could see that the XGA screen was working. I checked, and the T500 has a compatible inverter board and display cable, so I tried it out. The XGA panel worked fine. Then I tried the UXGA panel and it showed no signs of life. The computer couldn't detect that it was there. I connected the WSXGA+ back again with the stock LED driver board, and the backlight was no longer functional. -.- After reading your advice, I checked that fuse you mentioned on the T60, and it was blown. I assume the same happened with the T500.

I removed and soldered on a new connector on the first UXGA panel I had tried. I must have spent a good two hours working on it doing everything perfectly. As you can see in one of the pictures above, I think it should work this time. I'm worried that both panels are toast though. Thank you for the help.

(3) Cautions for the operation
When the module is operating, do not lose CLK, ENAB signals. If any one of these signals
is lost, the LCD panel would be damaged.

I got my 'inspiration' from the 9th picture IBM Thinkpad T6 series (B) in this Chinese blog:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6d7abe3d0100n1yz.html
I can't ready any of it, but the pics say enough.
Your connection points are different from those (and mine), but they seem to also work.

I normally use the Hitachi INVC753 which was commonly used for SXGA+ and UXGA T60 machines.
Or the 13R1015 from Sumida, which is also found in machines like the T500.
Those are the only models that I find practical to work with.
INVC752 turned out to be just as usable.

When I solder the connector back on to the cable, I use a 10x magnifier to properly see what I'm doing.
When finished I use an additional 5x magnifier (so total 15x) to inspect each of the soldered legs.
I would not even THINK of removing the connector from an LCD panel!
A) I don't have any equipment for that, and
B) it's much easier to work on a (relatively cheap) cable.

Finally, where did you get that Cautions-quote from?

RealBlackStuff wrote:I got my 'inspiration' from the 9th picture IBM Thinkpad T6 series (B) in this Chinese blog:
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6d7abe3d0100n1yz.html
I can't ready any of it, but the pics say enough.
Your connection points are different from those (and mine), but they seem to also work.

That link is interesting. The writing is pretty much just telling you to be careful soldering it.

RealBlackStuff wrote:I normally use the Hitachi INVC753 which was commonly used for SXGA+ and UXGA T60 machines.
Or the 13R1015 from Sumida, which is also found in machines like the T500.
Those are the only models that I find practical to work with.
INVC752 turned out to be just as usable.

When I solder the connector back on to the cable, I use a 10x magnifier to properly see what I'm doing.
When finished I use an additional 5x magnifier (so total 15x) to inspect each of the soldered legs.
I would not even THINK of removing the connector from an LCD panel!
A) I don't have any equipment for that, and
B) it's much easier to work on a (relatively cheap) cable.

I don't have any magnification at the moment other than my normal glasses for far-sightedness. I do have a bright flexible desk light that I put as close as possible to what I'm working on and I rely on my digital camera for visual inspection. It leaves a lot to be desired and I really shouldn't be doing this without being able to fully see what is going on.

To remove the connector, I used Xuron micro shears to cut the pins off one by one. Then I used the soldering iron to remove the solder from the pads and the little bits of the pins that were left. The connector would be nearly impossible to remove otherwise. I think another issue with connectivity was the mixing of lead and lead-free solder. I didn't fully clean the solder pads the first time I tried it on either panel. When I retried it, I went over it again many times with flux and soldering wick until it was cleaner than when the PCB was made. I spent two hours total, but I made sure to do it super carefully. I might try resoldering the second panel before I go to bed tonight.

RealBlackStuff wrote:Finally, where did you get that Cautions-quote from?

That is directly from the HV150UX2-100 datasheet.

For those LCD-cables I use an ordinary 1200W heat gun (paint stripper) for which I made a 2" wide narrow-slit-shaped adapter, so that only the "legs"-part is heated up.
You can see it here (with a different adapter): http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 64#p725664

I also made special molds to hold the cable and connector in place and protect unused parts.
Takes only about 70-80 seconds of 'full-blast' to remove the connector.
Let it all cool down, turn the connector over, put it in its place while making sure all the legs sit properly over each cable connector point.
Now make sure it remains in place (that's why I made those TOP-secret molds ), while you apply Chemtronics CW8100 flux over the legs.
Make sure your fine-tipped soldering iron is heated to ca. 216 C - 420 F and that the tip is clean.
All you need to do now is press each leg onto its contact (with e.g. a small screwdriver) and hold the tip on each connection for at the most 1-2 seconds. You'll see the solder melt and settle. Remove the tip, wait another 1-2 seconds and move to the next leg.
With the help of my tools and molds, the resoldering takes less than 2 minutes.
You don't need to clean or remove solder from the cable OR the connector, and you also don't need any extra solder.
When done fold the cable between Thinklight-extension and connector-bottom in a Z-shape so that the cable-connector sits 10mm lower.

Just in case, for magnifier I use a beige version of this lamp http://www.ebay.com/itm/311317498530 in which I replaced the 3x lens (with a tiny 10x spot) with a full 10x lens.

Sorry I'm a bit late, I thought I had posted this already. Replacing the connector on the display will be tough without magnification and a good heatblower with suitable nozzle. But with those tools and a bit of practice, no big deal. Just remember to put some tinfoil or other suitable material under the board to protect the actual LCD panel from heat (use several layers). Once you have the heatshied in place, working on the panel should be no more intimidating than working on the cable or any other PCB. I never needed flux or cleaning - once you learn and practice working with hot air, you will make it look easy.

My advice would be to either acquire a good magnifier (for example one you hold with your eye, not sure what they are called), and a small-nozzle hot air blower and learn how to use it without blowing small components off the board (practice on something inexpensive..), OR if that's not feasible in the short run, take the last panel to a cellphone/electronics repairshop and ask them to change the connector. Or try RBS's method working on the cable instead of the panel - but please don't try with same method/skills/equipment on your last panel

RBS - Do you mean remove the IC (IC1)on the inverterboard? I hadn't noticed mine getting hot, but will check it out next time I have the brightness turned up.

No offense meant, but advising to work on an (expensive) LCD-panel, instead of on a (cheap) LCD-cable is BS.
Remove the transformer, NOT an IC.

RealBlackStuff wrote:No offense meant, but advising to work on an (expensive) LCD-panel, instead of on a (cheap) LCD-cable is BS.

I think that is the most colorful language I have seen here on this forum, and certainly from you, so I take it I have offended you - which was not intended. Each of us have answered from our own experience, and I did include a preference for your approach over his current tools/skills/method.

Must be a misunderstanding!
You didn't offend me at all, and I was hoping not to offend you...