X61 Tablet revival and SXGA+ mod for normal X61

[axur-delmeria]

So I managed to obtain 3 battered and incomplete X61 Tablets (for a reasonable price, I think). None of them had AC adapters, RAM, latches, or stylus included. The hard drives, along with the HDD tray and cover, were missing as well.

After swapping casings and adding some of my spare parts, I ended up with two more-or-less "working" units: one with Core 2 Duo L7700 [1.8GHz] and the other with L7500 [1.6GHz]. Both have XGA displays and working 8-cell batteries, but only 1 has a hard drive. Also, their hinges were "half-broken"-- one of the arms were broken.

Now I'm left with another L7500 planar board, battered casing, completely broken hinge, keyboard with the left Ctrl key missing, and what appeared to be a cracked display
.
I took another look at the LCD panel and discovered two things:
1. it was an SXGA+ panel
2. only the touch panel was cracked (!!)

I wasn't inclined to rebuild this one, so a crazy idea popped into my head:

SXGA+ mod for my main X61 laptop. (!!)

I know that the X61T's display is glued like hell. Actually, the cracks in the touch panel were slowly oozing with it.

I did it anyway, armed with a steel scraper like this one:

and a small bottle of nail polish remover (basically an acetone solution) to soften the adhesive, even if just a little bit.

I know that using solvents on an LCD panel is a big no-no, but my reasoning was that it will react with the adhesive long before it reaches the panel underneath.

I wedged the scraper between the touch panel and the LCD and gently pushed as far as it can go.
The acetone weakened the adhesive enough to let me break off up to 1cm-sized pieces.

It took the better part of today, but I got it done. The touch panel is in a thousand pieces now (I don't care).
A quick test on the partially-assembled Tablet #3 confirmed that it survived the operation.

And now, the hard part: removing the adhesive from the LCD panel without wrecking it.

For now, I'm using a box cutter as a makeshift spatula/scraper to remove as much glue as I can.
I'll also search for chemicals that can make the glue less sticky, but won't harm the LCD panel.

Only after that can the SXGA+ mod properly start.

Wish me luck!

[RealBlackStuff]

Read this before you do anything further: http://thinkwiki.de/X61t_Glasplatte_ohn ... l%C3%B6sen
Do a Google translate, unless you can read German.

[axur-delmeria]

Thank you very much!

My dad suggested paint thinner, which might be close enough to the "mineral spirits" mentioned in the article.

I'll try this tomorrow.

[axur-delmeria]

Update:

Done cleaning the LCD, but scratched it a bit due to small shards from the touch panel still stuck in the glue.
LCD panel still works though.

New problem:

I don't want to modify my LCD cable because I don't have a spare and my hands can get a bit shaky.
i.thinkpad has an adapter, but doesn't ship to my country (US, Europe, Japan only). D:

Any ideas?

[axur-delmeria]

The SXGA upgrade comes to a screeching halt as the 1400x1050 LCD panel wasn't working when tested yesterday.
Will continue diagnosis to determine which component is at fault (LCD panel, backlight, inverter, or LCD cable).

Wish me luck.

[Raceboy]

Easy, just test it with the good known original Tablet LCD cable and inverter. Then you can pinpoint the problem.

[axur-delmeria]

Good news: the SXGA+ LCD still works. As it turns out, the LCD cable on the incomplete X61T had failed. I tested the panel on another X61T and it works.

Bad news: the pink wire on the CCFL backlight broke. I might have to remove the CCFL and resolder the wire.

[axur-delmeria]

Since the bare X61Ts did not come with the HDD tray, I decided to make my own instead of buying.

I used the HDD tray from the dismantled T42. The other one came from the HDD box from my ancient 760XD.

I used some rubber from a bicycle's inner tube and duct tape for the rubber rails.

Pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/axur-delme ... 945043263/

[jedisurfer1]

macgyver meets x61 tablet. Nice work. Nothing like building your own stuff. Did you ever get an x61t sxga+ and touchscreen?

[RealBlackStuff]

Did you ever get an x61t sxga+ and touchscreen?

Doesn't exist, unless your name is also MacGyver.

[axur-delmeria]

My X61T scared me the other day.


Didn't use it for a few days.

Plugged it on AC. No AC indicator light, no battery light, no power.

Removed the planar board, tested the fuses, they're all ok.

I put the board back in, plug it in, suddenly it works again.

Weird.

Now I have an entire lid assembly with cable for the SXGA+ mod on my non-tablet X61, but don't have time to do it.

Then again, I'm still internally debating on whether to mod the cable or try to make a adapter.