Thinkpad A31 Screen "Upgrade" (LONG!)

[Wilsonflyer]

Hi.
Happened across this forum whilst searching in desperation for an answer to a question that seems to continue to plague me.

I've been a professional network engineer for over 25 years and problems rarely stump me but this one has. I'm hoping someone here can help me. I think I've just outsmarted myself this time but now it's personal. You'll understand as you read about it.

While on a recent family pleasure trip/vacation with my new baby girl, it seems her formula leaked and seaped into the LCD panel of my A31. Just a little but enough to destroy the panel. While connected to an external monitor, the machine displays perectly.

While I was on my vacation, I could see the LCD well enough to get the work done that I had to get done so I went on eBay and ordered a replacement screen from a reputable vendor. I received a brand new LCD in an IBM SEALED box so I'm fairly confident the new screen is good.

Here's where it gets kinky. My A31 was/is a 14.1" LCD model. I intentionally ordered a 15" as a replacement and I did such without doing my homework/legwork, I guess.

I figured what the heck; it's damaged anyway, I might as well upgrade it to a 15" while I'm going through the motions. I knew in my mind that I'd have to find a replacement bezel but I really thought that would be about all there would be to it. Boy was I wrong!

The screen I ordered is the 15" SVGA+ IPS model. I figured hell; a 15" screen is a 15" screen if it's got an IBM FRU number and it's designed for an A3x, it oughta work, right? Wrong! LOL

When I got home from vacation, my new panel was waiting for me at the door. I anxiously went to tear into the laptop to replace the defective 14" screen with my newly aquired upgrade. I quickly learned that the VGA cable for the 14 was different than the 15. OK. No big deal. Shoulda thought about that one. Slows me down but no stopping this truck, right? So I orders me one of them dar 15" VGA type cable thingies for my new panel and I waits. LOL

(Time Passes)

It comes. I install it. Nuttin'. I got a backlight but nuttin' on the screen. CRAP! Formula must have gotten the inverter too, I thinks to myself so I proceeded to order an inverter and I waits... AGAIN! LOL

(More time passes)

It comes. This has gotta fix it, I think. Wrong. Nuttin'! Same thing. CRAP AGAIN! What ya gonna do now, hotshot? Hey I got an idea. Why don't I goto the IBM/Leveno site and RTFM! (Bein' the super-genious what I be! LMAO)

Well I did and what I learned is that there are apparently about 3-4 different LCD panels with completely different FRU numbers. There are about 3 different FRU's for the inverters and there are even different FRU numbers for the freakin' VGA cable for Christ's sake! (sigh)

Now I'm trying to match things up to the NEW panel I have. Now it's become a project and it's become personal.

I went down to a local mom and pop computer store here in town where the lead systems guy there is a good friend of mine and the store (him mainly) is an authorized service center. He let me scratch through some boxes and I found the matching FRU for the inverter to go with my SVGA+ IPS panel. Went home. Changed the inverter. No joy. Exactly the same results as above (sigh again).

I'm left only with the cable and the one that the manual says goes with my screen is indeed a different FRU number than the 15" cable I have. I've ordered one just for sh%$$ and giggles and it won't be here until next Wed. Paid a small fortune for it too. (Do you get the impression here that I might have just been better off to have just bought a 14" screen as a replacement to begin with and been done with this project?!!! LOL)

I don't even know if the new cable is gonna work. The one I have "fits" properly in both the panel and the MB. I'm guessin' (I'm a genious now since I've read the freakin' manual!) that the MB connector must be different on the cable I've ordered or something since all the machines that were designed to run this SVGA+ IPS panel seem to have a different video chipset as well as more memory than my 16megs. Dunno. It's a guessing game at this point. I would have thought a 15" cable that fits on both ends would "have" to be the right one. I'm pretty sure ordering the new cable is an exercise in futility but it's the only thing left that I can think of that it can be short of a dead/defective "new" panel. Did I mention that I broke the IBM seal on on the box, BTW? LOL Anyway...

Have I just flat-out missed something obvious here? Can this even be done? If so, what have I missed?

The way I see it, I have three basic options:

1) Punt! Buy the 14 I reckon I should have bought to begin with and be done with it once and for all. The two PII Armadas (SPIT!) I have ain't cuttin' it. I need my Thinkpad back. I make a living with it out on the raod doing network installs/troubleshooting.

2) Buy the "basic" 15" panel and see if that works since I have all the proper FRU's to put it in anyway and supposedly, it was designed for the display chipset and amount of video memory my machine already has.

3) My new SVGA+ IPS panel is indeed, defective. What I have SHOULD work. Return the defective panel and get a replacement.

ANY ideas anybody might have that could shed some light on my problem and the interactions of all these pieces and parts would be GREATLY appreciated.

Great forum, BTW. I've done some reading here and have learned a lot about my TP that I never even knew. Keep up the great work, Bill, et. all.

Thanks in advance,
Bob

[cpn]

My gut feeling is that your MB just isn't going to support that screen. One option that you have would be to replace the motherboard with an a31p version that supported the screen. Is there anyone on here that has done that kind of upgrade?

Craig

[Wilsonflyer]

Thanks Craig.

Yea. that's kinda what I'm thinkin' too. A new MB really isn't cost effective at this point since nice, higher-end refurbs can be purchased on flea-bay for $4-500. Just wouldn't make economic sense to me. I'd sell the panel I have and buy an XGA panel and try that first. I think that's where this is all headed anyway.

What I really don't get is this. I could understand my machine not supporting the enhanced resolutions that this panel is manufactured for. Heck, I could even understand if 1024x768 looked like crap on it. What I absolutely DON'T GET is the fact that my existing cable plugs in properly on both ends. RGB is RGB, right? It oughta at least work, hadn't it??? I don't get that at all and I've been at this for a long time.

If I had it all to do over and had I done the research I should have done to begin with (and I SHOULD have known better and now I'm paying for it), I would have probably STILL done the 15" upgrade but I would have purchased the XGA screen in hindsight. I'm 99% convinced that that WOULD have worked to begin with with no additional purchase necessary except a new bezel (which I have already aquired anyway).

I just wanna know why (from an engineering perspective) it won't work. It's gotten personal with me now. It's long past being a money problem. Now it's become an intellectual exercise to me to understand why.

Thanks sincerely for your input but like I said up top, I'd buy another panel or better yet, another TP A31 before I'd change out a MB at this point.

BTW... If you strip the machine per the IBM instructions for replacing the LCD, replacing the MB is a piece of cake. I can see that. I have done it so many times now, though, that I also realize that about 40% of what IBM says needs stripping to replace the LCD isn't necessary after all.

[JHEM]

The display is looking for the FireGL video card of the A31p rather than the Radeon card of the A31, the connectors are just different enough (IIRC there's two pins swapped) that it won't work on the A31.

As you've found out the hard way, the A31 and A31p displays aren't swappable.

Regards,

James

[Wilsonflyer]

Thanks James. Now that makes sense. well, not really but I can accept that.

So if I'm reading between the lines correctly (which is kinda what started this so I better be careful this time), you're saying that my experiment would have worked had I gone with the XGA panel to begin with, right?

Guess that's where I'll head next.

Thanks for the answer. not what I wanted to hear but what I needed to know. Now at least technically, it makes sense. From a design perspective is adifferent story but hey; IBM didn't hire me to design it either! LOL

Thanks guys!

[JHEM]

Either the 14.1" XGA or 15" SXGA+ displays will happily mate up to your lower unit.

But not the UXGA-IPS.

Regards,

James

[Wilsonflyer]

Gotcha. Thanks again James.

[proaudioguy]

I have read several posts here in the last few weeks that would seem to indicate the A31P is SXGA, while the A31 is XGA. This is simply not the case. The A31P is UXGA and the A31 is SXGA. I have the 2 of them sitting right here in front of me. Also according to the TAWBOOK the A31P was never offered with the SXGA screen. I do not know what the problem is with this screen not working, but it's not because it's an A31, instead of an A31P.

A31 2652-D3U SXGA ATI Radeon 32 Meg.
A31P 2653-HTU UXGA ATI Fire GL 64 Meg.

[JHEM]

I have read several posts here in the last few weeks that would seem to indicate the A31P is SXGA, while the A31 is XGA. This is simply not the case. The A31P is UXGA and the A31 is SXGA. I have the 2 of them sitting right here in front of me. Also according to the TAWBOOK the A31P was never offered with the SXGA screen. I do not know what the problem is with this screen not working, but it's not because it's an A31, instead of an A31P.

I'm not certain what you're trying to say here but the A31 came with 14.1" XGA or either XGA or SXGA+ 15" displays.

Only the A31p came with the UXGA 15" display.

Regards,

James

[Wilsonflyer]

Hey James... thanks for all of your advice.

Not as a party to the above discussion regarding what came with what but just as a point of clarity; if my A31 only has 16M of video ram onboard, would there even be any advantage in my purchasing the SVGA+ panel or would I be just as well off and cheaper (also WAY easier to find) to just buy the XGA panel? I doubt I could take advantage of the higher resolutions at least not without significantly compromising color depth. Would those be correct assumptions?

Thanks.

[JHEM]

I wouldn't bother attempting to upgrade your A31 to an SXGA+ display without the 32MB Radeon video card.

Stick with the XGA if you're picky about color depth and saturation.

Regards,

James

[proaudioguy]

I have read several posts here in the last few weeks that would seem to indicate the A31P is SXGA, while the A31 is XGA. This is simply not the case. The A31P is UXGA and the A31 is SXGA. I have the 2 of them sitting right here in front of me. Also according to the TAWBOOK the A31P was never offered with the SXGA screen. I do not know what the problem is with this screen not working, but it's not because it's an A31, instead of an A31P.

I'm not certain what you're trying to say here but the A31 came with 14.1" XGA or either XGA or SXGA+ 15" displays.

Only the A31p came with the UXGA 15" display.

Regards,

James

I am siply saying not only was the UXGA only offered in the A31p, but also ONLY the UXGA was offered in the A31p. You did not recieve an SXGA in an A31p period. I have never seen an A31p with less than 64 megs fire GL and I have never seen an A31 with less than 32 megs Radeon. That would be an A30 or some kind of frankenstien a refurbisher put together I think.

[proaudioguy]

I wouldn't bother attempting to upgrade your A31 to an SXGA+ display without the 32MB Radeon video card.

Stick with the XGA if you're picky about color depth and saturation.

Regards,

James

Just curious as to why this would be an issue other than accelerated graphixs needs in gaming. I may have to replace my system board and 16meg boards seem to be everywhere. Ironically occassionally when mine is acting up it shows up as a 16 meg board. Perhaps half the memory is failing.
Anyway, I do not think it would be a problem to achive millions of colors at 1400x1050 with only 16 megs video. My power mac G3 300 did higher than that with 6 megs.

Am I way off on that?

Honestly the only time my video ever seems to come into play is when I am trying to play GTA vice city at full resolution, full depth of view, IOW all the settings at full.

[JHEM]

I have never seen an A31p with less than 64 megs fire GL and I have never seen an A31 with less than 32 megs Radeon. That would be an A30 or some kind of frankenstien a refurbisher put together I think.

ALL of the XGA equipped A31 models, either 14.1" or 15", only cam with 16MB of VRAM.

No Frankenstein lab necessary.

You needed an SXGA+ display to get the 32MB VRAM card.

Regards,

James

[Captain Igloo]

Another note on the technical side: If your backlight is working, so is your inverter, no need to replace it.

[ThinkpadFan]

I have a question along the lines of this thread.

I have an A31 with the 14" XGA screen. I also have a 'half-dead' T23 (case is cracked at the right side by the Ultra Bay) which has a 14" SXGA+ screen.

I have been using the T23 until recently for the SXGA+ screen -- now I don't need the mobility and would prefer the speed of the A31. Is it possible for me to take the SXGA+ LCD out of my T23 and install it in my A31?

I don't want to get too far into this project if there won't be any hope ...


Thanks,
Dave

[Wilsonflyer]

Originally, I placed this in the wrong thread. My apologies. Original text follows...


A follow-up just to clear the air.

I worked closely with Kathy and Jack at IMS, Inc. ( www.imsales.com ) where I bought the wrong screen (again, MY fault and not theirs). They were cordial and most helpful. They found a new XGA screen for me, sent it to me and are taking my first purchase back for credit.

The new XGA screen works flawlessly. I'm using it right now! YEA!!!

Thanks to the fine folks at IMS for going WAY above and beyond the call of duty. They couldn't have possibly made $5 on my purchase(s) given the time they invested graciously in helping me solve my problem. Thank you guys.

Thank YOU James. Without the information provided in this thread, I would have just put a 14" back in in total frustration and thanks to this WONDERFUL forum, I'm now using a new IBM/Intel internal mini-PCI 802.11a/b/g card instead of the stupid Linksys card I was using. I've got another gig of memory on the way and am looking a 2.6 processor upgrade as I type this.

Can you tell I am ONE HAPPY CAMPER!

Thank you... everybody.

-bob

[proaudioguy]

So other than totally screwing myself with my video game play, is there any reason I can't replace my motherboard (32m) with one of the 16m boards? I have the SXGA screen. If I could find the motherboard with the 64m would that work with my SXGA also, assuming I'm at the 1400x1050 res?

Just to clarify, is there a physical issue keeping this from working, like cable, connector style, etc?

[tony6264]

Kind of off topic but in the same ballpark...I have a A21E with 15" display and bad mobo ...I just picked a A20M with a good mobo and 12" display with ATI graphics and 4 mb ram....everything LOOKS the same, is there any chance that a switch would work? You folks seem to know your stuff and I would value your opinions. Anyone?