[Whoopmeister]

My 1011 finally arrived and over the last two nights I began what turned out to be a much more involved project than I originally anticipated. In short I tried to take the 1366x768 LCD screen from my 1010 and affix it to my 1011 with the primary goal of having a "hi-res" hackintosh. The bottom line is while you can interchange the LCD panels, the project was basically a failure. Let me explain why.

At first I thought I could simply swap the lids from each machine and in short order found that the hinges as well as the hinge mounts are slightly different between the two models. While the mounting screw holes are identical, the two models differ in that they have slightly offset "alignment" holes through which part of the bottom of the main body case protrudes. In order to work around that I completely disassembled both units from top to bottom.

It is possible to swap the LCD panels by through completely disassembling the screens down to the core LCD panels and then swapping those onto the others units LCD rail/hinge assembly. The monitor cables are also interchangeable. I did notice however in removing both monitor cables that the pinout on the cables are slightly different. The 1010 and 1011 have an empty lead in different places and it it this that difference that I presume keeps the hi-res LCD from working on the 1011.

As I mentioned I was able to swap the LCD panels within the lids after completely disassembling the mini's. The lower resolution LCD worked just fine in the 1010, however the higher resolution LCD only got so far as the backlight working. In order to get the backlight working I had to use the monitor cable from the 1011 and the LCD from the 1010. Using the same cable from the higher resolution screen just resulted in a screen that stayed "off" and the machine never got past BIOS I suspect as there was simply no HDD activity.

The bad part about this whole experiment, other than my dashed hopes of having a non-glossy high-res hackintosh, is now I have one extra screw and no empty hole to put it in on either unit. Somehow the screws are screwing with me.

[somms]

Originally Posted by Whoopmeister

My 1011 finally arrived and over the last two nights I began what turned out to be a much more involved project than I originally anticipated. In short I tried to take the 1366x768 LCD screen from my 1010 and affix it to my 1011 with the primary goal of having a "hi-res" hackintosh. The bottom line is while you can interchange the LCD panels, the project was basically a failure. Let me explain why.

At first I thought I could simply swap the lids from each machine and in short order found that the hinges as well as the hinge mounts are slightly different between the two models. While the mounting screw holes are identical, the two models differ in that they have slightly offset "alignment" holes through which part of the bottom of the main body case protrudes. In order to work around that I completely disassembled both units from top to bottom.

It is possible to swap the LCD panels by through completely disassembling the screens down to the core LCD panels and then swapping those onto the others units LCD rail/hinge assembly. The monitor cables are also interchangeable. I did notice however in removing both monitor cables that the pinout on the cables are slightly different. The 1010 and 1011 have an empty lead in different places and it it this that difference that I presume keeps the hi-res LCD from working on the 1011.

As I mentioned I was able to swap the LCD panels within the lids after completely disassembling the mini's. The lower resolution LCD worked just fine in the 1010, however the higher resolution LCD only got so far as the backlight working. In order to get the backlight working I had to use the monitor cable from the 1011 and the LCD from the 1010. Using the same cable from the higher resolution screen just resulted in a screen that stayed "off" and the machine never got past BIOS I suspect as there was simply no HDD activity.

The bad part about this whole experiment, other than my dashed hopes of having a non-glossy high-res hackintosh, is now I have one extra screw and no empty hole to put it in on either unit. Somehow the screws are screwing with me.

That sounds like alot of work!

Thanks for confirming that the Mini10v(value) cannot use the HD LED!

[bunta]

Originally Posted by Whoopmeister

My 1011 finally arrived and over the last two nights I began what turned out to be a much more involved project than I originally anticipated. In short I tried to take the 1366x768 LCD screen from my 1010 and affix it to my 1011 with the primary goal of having a "hi-res" hackintosh. The bottom line is while you can interchange the LCD panels, the project was basically a failure. Let me explain why.

At first I thought I could simply swap the lids from each machine and in short order found that the hinges as well as the hinge mounts are slightly different between the two models. While the mounting screw holes are identical, the two models differ in that they have slightly offset "alignment" holes through which part of the bottom of the main body case protrudes. In order to work around that I completely disassembled both units from top to bottom.

It is possible to swap the LCD panels by through completely disassembling the screens down to the core LCD panels and then swapping those onto the others units LCD rail/hinge assembly. The monitor cables are also interchangeable. I did notice however in removing both monitor cables that the pinout on the cables are slightly different. The 1010 and 1011 have an empty lead in different places and it it this that difference that I presume keeps the hi-res LCD from working on the 1011.

As I mentioned I was able to swap the LCD panels within the lids after completely disassembling the mini's. The lower resolution LCD worked just fine in the 1010, however the higher resolution LCD only got so far as the backlight working. In order to get the backlight working I had to use the monitor cable from the 1011 and the LCD from the 1010. Using the same cable from the higher resolution screen just resulted in a screen that stayed "off" and the machine never got past BIOS I suspect as there was simply no HDD activity.

The bad part about this whole experiment, other than my dashed hopes of having a non-glossy high-res hackintosh, is now I have one extra screw and no empty hole to put it in on either unit. Somehow the screws are screwing with me.

F***in' Dell..

[psyopper]

My day just got a little darker...

Thanks for all the work and taking one for the team! Did you manage to take any photographs of the process, particularly the trouble spots?

It seems weird to me that the cable swap only worked one way. Not at all intuitive nor logical.

[Zorro_was_here]

Thanks for all of your work on this. That was quite the effort. The end result is disappointing but now we know.

[Whoopmeister]

Originally Posted by psyopper

Did you manage to take any photographs of the process, particularly the trouble spots?

Unfortunately not. I had my old Sony DSC-F707 all out and on the tripod ready to go, but apparently my battery has passed the "sell by" date and then some. I got about 10 seconds into the process before it powered down and all I have is my USB sync cable with my PC too far away.

As far as the LCD cable goes, the harnesses are identical both at the mainboard connector position and the LCD monitor position. They interchange just fine when plugging them in, but looking at the mainboard connector, it is obvious they are both missing wires in different positions. That is the only incongruity I can see between the relevant hardware (other than the LCD hinge assemblies).

If I had more than a few days with the machines I would probably start feeling adventurous and see if I could identify the pinout differences between the two. Knowing now that the chances of success are slim, I would hesitate to do anything that might break them since I really don't want to buy either of them at this point.

This is just my theorycrafting, but it seems to me an intentional engineering stroke to prevent people from doing just what I tried to do. Surely an LCD is an LCD as far as the BIOS is concerned and if you had the proper wiring connections in place it would work, right?

At this point I think I am just going to have to wait to see what new options are available in October when Windows 7 starts to ship and hopefully we will see the hardware restrictions put in place by Microsoft for XP lose applicability.

[Athena]

This is a sad, sad day Thank you so much for the time and effort you put in. I was absolutely dreading this project and you saved me from wasting a weekend along with broken computer parts (I'm quite clumsy). I really do appreciate your hard work!

[Jasonson]

:O NOOOOoooooo!!!!!!!

Okay. Thanks for the report. dang.

[davemao]

There's gotta be a way to make this work... Time to crack out the ole soldering iron... (but first I gotta get my hands on a 10v).

[ravic]

I believe the HD screen is made by LG Phillips, if we find the specs for both LCDs, we can figure out the appropriate pinout for them.

I understand that the LCD controller (on the motherboard) goes with an LCD, but i am assuming that both minis use/work with a similar controller.