ThinGpad project

[gtn]

Hey all thinkpaders'!
I am have been a long time thinking about a frankenpad, like a 600x with a 770z panel,
a X41sata or a T6x quxga, but nomoney-no time...
Then W700ds came out with dual screen and wacom tablet, that definitly made me wanna
build a custom ThinGpad with this spec :

-2 or 3 displays
-with a 17" screen
-adapter included in base

As this project can be big, i made this thread asking anyone's ideas not to miss
anything important or to make ugly mistake...

<<ThinGpad project>>
-hardware
--x200 tablet 7449-9EU (x3) [295x228x33mm] 190-nit CCFL AFFS+ display

---whitelisted (gsm/3g,gps...) or Coreboot/Libreboot:
Intel Turbo Memory 2-4GB Minicard
Wireless USB PCI Express Half-Mini Card
Qualcomm® UNDP1/Gobi2000-Ericsson F3507g Wireless WAN card
I/O card modem , 5-in-1 Card Reader for X200 Tablet (42W8011...)

--adapter 19.5v/3.3A-Ultrathin Dell DA65NS3-00 [125x65x15mm] (i need 3...)
--NW9440 [390x273x44mm] (for houssing or full custom)
--dongle usb to ethernet 1000 (to connect all 3)

-software
--OS: Win7+XP+Android(?)
--Ms Garage Mouse without Borders (control all 3 pc with 1 mouse/kb)

-sources
--1 power buton : http://neighborhoodsupport.net/?x=entry ... 504-113148
--msata mod+undervolt a X200 : http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=95173
--7449-9EU has a 190-nit CCFL AFFS+ display:http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads ... let.465396
--http://psref.lenovo.com

Daily use: T420si (ssd msata+500gb+1Tb ubay), R61e (T7300), Z61m (T7200)
To repair: T61 (Ram overheat caused ram slot melt!)
Have been mine:570e,770x,A31p(double dvd+ linked to an external 3.5" PATA HDD: "ePata" many years before eSata )

[axur-delmeria]

Are you trying to build a 17-inch laptop with 2 add-on screens, or a giant tablet built from 3 X200Ts?

There's quite a discrepancy between your objectives and the parts you have at hand.

Trying to link 3 X200Ts and make them run like a single machine is, quite frankly, harebrained, inefficient, and gives me a "what the heck is he smoking" reaction. Unless you can give me a very good reason why, I'm not recommending such an approach.

It might be far easier to add a capacitive touch panel to an existing 17-inch laptop, remove the keyboard, then modify the lid and frame to turn it to a oversize, overweight tablet.

[coolcat37]

I'd like to see what comes out of this

Perhaps if you modify a leather satchel to accommodate this "3x X200 bulky companion" you can buy a donkey and have it carry for you. That way it maintains it's portability whenever you wish to roam the earth

Optional upgrades:
An operator to operate your Bulky Companion
An interpreter to communicate with the horse
Perhaps some post pigeons
An old Ford Model T with a Telegram machine in it (and some Telegraph Troops to lay the cable)
Semaphore flags
Some signal lamps
A covered wagon to put all the above technology in
A flyboat to cross waters

That would be a maxed out 3x X200.

[gtn]

Are you trying to build a 17-inch laptop with 2 add-on screens, or a giant tablet built from 3 X200Ts?

Hey,
yep, reason "what the heck is he smoking", is a part of my life...
main explanation is that i wait so many years to mod a thinkpad
and
i used android studio+bluestack on the same T420si
so making a 17" non-touch based on one X200t should be my last choise
if i have no time to release a 2 or 3 displays...
(i thougth about a 17" android tablet, but cable on tablet seem different, lvds or not?
maybe a MS Surface 17"...)

here, what i will try todo :


or

[gtn]

...
Perhaps if you modify a leather satchel ...

oh, i c, have you ever handmade anything, i mean not virtual things.

hereby 3 guitars i have done between 199x and 2000:
https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0BzcoSm7 ... TVYbDlvZEU

and what should i do with those lcd panel :
https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0BzcoSm7 ... ENpTktxSTQ


MOD edit: these pictures are too big, tags removed. (max. 50KB, 800x600)
Please read the Forum Rules, especially Section 5.

[ajkula66]

Curiosity of an oldtimer - who was building guitars likely before you knew how to play one - was woken up by these pictures...

The example in the middle: is the body really copper-based or you've found a finish that emulates it?

The instrument on the right: a mixture of late 70's Ibanez and early 80s Kawai, albeit with some touch of your own.

And a final question: why are we missing a headstock on all of those? That's a fireproof way of cutting the sustain in half, or less...unless one is doing a solid graphite build.

[axur-delmeria]

One area where you may encounter difficulties is the main screen.

LCDs with resolutions higher than 1440 x 900 require two LVDS channels. The X200T was designed to handle a 1280x800 screen, and thus only has a single LVDS channel. Here I'm assuming that you want a 17-inch screen because you want Full HD (1920x1080) or WUXGA (1920x1200).

To get around this, there are two approaches:

1. Use the VGA port. It's quick and easy (get a good 17 inch laptop LCD then buy a controller board for it), but there's a little quality degradation due to the digital->analog->digital conversion chain.

2. Tap the Displayport signals on the Ultrabase connector. I'm not even sure if this one is possible, Leokim did an FHD mod that involved the Displayport, but that was for the X201 and not the X200/T, and that involved making a new cable, and a BIOS mod. :O
Then again, that BIOS mod was done to fully integrate the screen into the system (backlight controls included). If the 17-inch screen was more like a stand-alone monitor (self-powered, with own backlight and brightness controls) it might just work.

For the 2nd display, you need to put more support, as the swivel hinge isn't designed to carry the weight of the screen assembly like that.
It may be possible that you'd only need the screen assembly and not the entire X200T: if you use the VGA or Displayport, the LVDS link for the LCD is unused, so perhaps all you need is to extend the LCD cable-- with proper shielding of course (aluminum foil tape comes to mind).

However, this means that at boot, the left screen is the primary, unless you set the BIOS to use the external display by default.

As for the third screen, perhaps using a separate tablet is best.
Or, if you're adventurous, try finding a USB-based display controller that can drive the X200T screen (may need additional power source to drive the backlight), then stick a capacitive touch film (with USB connection) on it instead of using the original digitizer.
One caveat though: I'm not even sure if the X200T's GMA X4500MHD is capable of driving 3 displays simultaneously. :O

[gtn]

- is the body really copper-based or you've found a finish that emulates it?
- on the right
- missing a headstock on all of those?

-i was looking after a 'capacitor sensor', i mean these are 2 cupper plate [1.5mm] separate
by [15mm] of wood
- this is my very last 'Camy 2000' :p .An hollowbody mapple/oak with a minibucker Duncan,
it is 'french lacquered' finish, this is why it is yellowich + a [25mm] bridge+tuning of my conception
-all my guitar are headless: i begin to modify guitar when i was on 'the road', so transportable
was a priority...

[ajkula66]

-i was looking after a 'capacitor sensor', i mean these are 2 cupper plate [1.5mm] separate
by [15mm] of wood

Interesting.

- this is my very last 'Camy 2000' :p .An hollowbody mapple/oak with a minibucker Duncan,
it is 'french lacquered' finish, this is why it is yellowich + a [25mm] bridge+tuning of my conception

That looks like a semi-hollow to me, but you're the one who made it so I won't argue...

-all my guitar are headless: i begin to modify guitar when i was on 'the road', so transportable
was a priority...

I don't quite get the point - and I've spent a lot of time "on the road" during 1980s - but whatever works for you is fine by me...

[gtn]

...higher than 1440 x 900 require two LVDS channels...
1. Use the VGA port.
2. Tap the Displayport signals on the Ultrabase connector.

...driving 3 displays simultaneously. :O

-thank for info on 2 LVDS, i was wondering why their were Rin1,2,3 on X200t
and OddRin1,2,3+EvenRin1,2,3 on 17.3 (so it explain HP DreamColor Rin4 !)
i should find a 17.1 1440x900 but they are mainly CCFL (ok i can do a led mod...)

1 Yep you got the same idea : vga port, easy + getting a already done base, but many weigth added and maybe power hungry...
2 WOW the Ultrabase connector...i was to buy a ultrabase to know more about connector, i need a 2nd lan port
but for sure i wont use a single motherboard for multiple display, it only a L9600 1.8Ghz...

i thougth putting the 2 systemboard behind the 17", with a double hinges...

yep, maybe this project is to ambitious ...

[gtn]

... semi-hollow to me ...

hum... here a pick, behind is semihollow [50mm] and 40-30mm 'digged', and back is same [50mm] and 40-30mm 'digged',
glue on middle, so i called it hollowbody not double semihollow body
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcoSm ... zhDWGljNUU
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcoSm ... GsycDgwelE

[axur-delmeria]

At this point we're not even sure if the X200T supports an internal LCD with a resolution higher than 1280x800. IMO it's risky.

Wait, if the Displayport on the X200 Ultrabase supports DVI and HDMI via an adapter, then its should be true on the X200T, right? That adds another set of possibilities for the main display.

i was to buy a ultrabase to know more about connector, i need a 2nd lan port.

The LAN port on the Ultrabase is a passthrough. In other words, it's the same LAN port in the laptop.

USB LAN is probably your only option.

One more thing: try getting USB 3.0 ports, either through the Expresscard slot, or one of the miniPCIe slots. Fellow member flyingfishfinger is familiar with miniPCIe USB 3.0 cards because of the mods he made on his X61.

[gtn]

.... it's the same LAN port in the laptop ...
...miniPCIe...

thx for info. i saw a pcie x1 lan that fit minipcie port (maybe it is not on bios whitelist..) :
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=Mi ... t&_sacat=0

but usb is the easyiest way...

[gtn]

Hey,
Can i split a LVDS panel in two easily? (cable only not by lvds mux/demux ic)
i mean in a wuxga 1920x1200,
half left panel 960x1200 for first motherboard
half rigth panel 960x1200 for 2nd motherboard
(or anyone can explain what diff between Rin1,2,3 and OddRin1,2,3/EvenRin1,2,3)

[axur-delmeria]

Can i split a LVDS panel in two easily? (cable only not by lvds mux/demux ic)

I doubt it.

[FryPpy]

960x1200

(or anyone can explain what diff between Rin1,2,3 and OddRin1,2,3/EvenRin1,2,3)

Easy.
To form 1 (6bit color) pixel you need 3 diff. pairs (+ 1 diff pair for clock) and 7 clock ticks. You can read LCD specs and find LVDS timing diagrams. This 4 diff pairs is 1 LVDS channel.
In big LCDs - they use 2 LVDS channels. First LVDS channel forms Odd pixel and second - Even. If you split (mechanically) video cable and connect it to 2 different sources (Thinkpads) you can get 2 different images mixed in single image. Where odd columns are taken from first image and even - from second.
But this is not all bad things. To do this bad thing you need

960x1200

natural resolution (with 960 columns and 1200 rows) but not 1200x960 rotated (virtually by means of GPU or CPU) 90 degrees.

IMHO.
ALL this thing (W700TS have bad design. This is not notebook (too heavy to transport). Even normal W700 is to big to place it in common bag. With this side screens it will take too much time to switch it to transportable position. W700's lid can't handle X200's lid with only single point of attachment. X200's swivel probably tear some meat from W700's lid when you try to manipulate it. Even W700ds hinges can't (i think so) handle W700 lid with 2 * X200 lids attached.

But it can be good concept for other usecase. You can build custom screen frame (not take it from W700, but build it from scratch). You can use any resolution or aspect ratio LCD for central screen. You can use even normal LCD monitor for central screen (and connect it to desktop PC if you need more firepower .
And attach completely unmodified X20x tablets to it.
You can use stripped X20x tablet LIDs and use LVDS to VGA / HDMI converters.
But i thing the main thing in this concept is "AntiVirtuality" - possibility to have 3 different OS (environments) without virtualisation. With dirt cheap thinkpads "AntiVirtuality" can be easily built up and take no more space (energy) than common desktop.

Main goal is to build rugged frame and hinges to attach main screen and tablets.
Second goal is to build software environment to manipulate side screens with single keyboard and mouse. I doubt that MS thing can be used for android, windows and linux keyboard sharing. But native touch support of X20x tablets can be used to make it easy. And the rest is to share keyboard among 3 devices.

You can use wireless network insted of wired. But if you can get good frame all wires can be placed inside it.

If you can make side screens (thinkpads) detachable (like undocking from ultrabase and getting right workbench with recently tested software to conference hall) - it can be wonderful!

[gtn]

-...1 pixel (6bit color)...
-...And attach completely unmodified X20x tablets to it...
...you can make side screens (thinkpads) detachable

-So if i well understood, standard laptop lcd panel are 2^6x2^6x2^6=262,144 colors vs 16.7Mcolors
-Hum... dual ultrabase linked, i will think about !

[FryPpy]

-So if i well understood, standard laptop lcd panel are... 262,144 colors vs 16.7Mcolors

Yep. Even our beloved T60's IPS LCD is 6bpc. There are many 8bps LCD's and DreamColors are 10bpc (1.07Bcolors)

Second goal is to build software environment to manipulate side screens with single keyboard and mouse

Other option - use small KVM switch to share keyboard and mouse among thinkpads. This is easy thing and some KVM's can be swithed with keyboard shortcuts (like ScrLk + ScrLk + 1{2|3})

[gtn]

i just received the three X200t : 14lb/6.4kg ... bulky in reality...
https://drive.google.com/uc?id=0BzcoSm7 ... 2pETHB2YzQ

KVM's swithed keyboard

Thx for idea, i should do a "on/off usb, with a 4+3 wires mouse...

[gtn]

here more spec of display:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcoSm ... XBhOVB1WGM
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzcoSm ... WlzVU8wNjg

[RMSMajestic]

1st problem:
Can FX3700m output two independent displays?

[gtn]

Can FX3700m output two independent displays?

A W70x DS have a vga+dvi on ultraport...
By the way my tri panel is based on x3 X200t