Reverse Engineering a NetBook's Logic board I/O Connector setup for RPi Classic Mac Emulation Platform etc..

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Intro became a bit of a rant , but I went with it.

Not ready to hack my inspiration, the gorgeous HP_Mini that got me back online and here again after several years AWOL. That black beauty was so reminiscent of my beloved Duo Systems that it spoke to me at first sight and was love at first touch.

But there's this really clunky ASUS Eee PC thing sitting here as a ready victim with a lot more available cubic inside.

TLDR
Didn't much care for emulation, but that I can get over I think. Such a hack would be far more palatable to me than the run of the mill OS bodge that totally ripped off the title for fabulous hardware hacks of yesteryear for silly OS machinations. Cool stuff on its face, but a really terrible example of what's become this cultural appropriation thing. Now EVERYTHING is a hack, 'nuff said.

Who's of the notion that bringing really old Macintosh Classic OS, fairly old computer tech that got taken over by the silly tabletization of portable computing. Now every pro version of such nonsense looks like a clumsy incarnation of a real computer NetBook. :-b
/TLDR ___________________________________________________________________

Willing to lay this EeePC on the sacrificial altar of the demigod BODGE AKA Finagle, deity of the astroidVerse.

There's room for a PCB carrier board for any given SBC that would connect its I/O to the eviscerated shell. So of course my notion would be the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 IO Board model. The core of a Raspberry Pi CM carriert could be grafted into the footprint/connector array of any junked NetBook or . . .


Can't imagine such has not been being worked on out in the PiVerse? Linkage to any projects that would be of use here would be much appreciated. The whole shebang, connectors and all might fit into this ASUS Clunker, but not likely for HP_Mini with its Docking Connector. If the fruit board is available as is, sans I/O connectors to be nailed onto any given physically reverse engineered logic board/connector/mounting setup we'd be good to go right now. No time to search ATM.

Meanwhile, any SBC of choice would suffice, ideas, yeas, nays?

edit: you can lay the blame for this bit of craziness at the feet of a member who may wish to deny distribution of subversive Q800 emulation propaganda relating to this morning's muddled musings. And yeah, this will likely make for a nice current use Ubuntu machine for me.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Looks like the parts will fit . . . one way or another.

Lotta tall connectors will need to be removed from the CM4 I/O board and the new (probably new) LCD controller board.
Signals to be routed from their pads-n-thruholes to connectors on the reversed Logic Board form factor I/O port carrier board.
One of two USB ports on the right side will be converted to HDMI out for a second screen.

HD15F will be installed for using the panel as a VGA display from another source, no VGA out available and controller has VGA in.
Likely upgrading 10.1" 1024x600 panel to 10.6" 1366x768 panel.

Looking forward to pulling the stock panel, if it's not LVDS, maybe I can drive it straight off the CM4 IO board? Or find a panel that might work out for that?

At any rate, hoping a config such as this will allow me to install/remove hats and remove the CM4 by simply removing two screws and the bottom pan. Never know when it might be fun to just unplug CPU a/o hat for installation in another project kitted with another $35 IO board nailed to a similar MoBo form factor port bodge. Hopefully CM5 will be pin compatible.


Not even new yet to emulation, what OS/Hardware Level emulation will Pi4 support?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Interesting! Do these files allow you to build your own version of the IO Board? If so, so slick to integrate the IO board into the replacement MoBo!

There is also a KiCAD PCB design set available:

• Compute Module 4 IO Board KiCAD files

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Bringing project into perspective as I've neglected to explain the long term goals of this exercise.

Macintosh PowerPortable 17" Graphic Arts Workstation circa 1996 or so:
Inspiration was the frog design Portable and the wall wart tethered Apple//c. Dana's sleek interpretation of the frog concept brought it off the back burner a while back. With 17" KDS Radius panel it'll be run off A/C as a Luggable Workstation.

Three operating modes projected:
Baseline: 1400c/G3/466 under 9.1 with NewerTech VIEWPOWR 1400/16 at 1152x870 8bit or 16" at 16bit
Emulation: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4/Ubuntu/QEMU under OS 8 at 1280x1024 16bit or 1024x768 24bit
Current Day: Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4/Ubuntu 1280x1024 at something or other bit?

Apple wouldn't ship a better resolution than available under QEMU in a laptop until the TiBooks. Then only with only 90,880 additional pixels stretched across an annoying widescreen aspect ratio in 15" with only 854 pixels in height while 3:4 at 17" while 870 pixels in height is far more useful to me for AI etc. Don't need the extra pixels wasted at the sides.

Under QEMU, the PowerPortable bests the 6 years or so later TiBooks and even the 17" TiBook in resolution. HEH!

 

[CC_333]

@Trash80toHP_Mini Following your various hacks is always... interesting!

This one, in particular, has my attention somewhat, because I think it would be neat if, say, a clamshell iBook (I'm partial to those because it was the first ever laptop I could call my own), and build a modern computer into it, and I like your notion of using a Raspberry Pi with its ports broken out to the donor machine's stock ports (if I'm interpreting this correctly?).

That said, why choose the Pi Compute Module 4 over a regular Pi? Are they special somehow?

I shall investigate....

c

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Thanks. most folks don't bother to comment, always nice to know I'm not working in a vacuum.

Any research into the CM_4 and feedback will be very welcome. CM 4 is more than a standard Pi4 in many ways to my way of thinking. It's first and foremost specifically designed as an embedded processor, that it can be unplugged and switched between projects is a very big advantage for me.

CM_4 applications are very different and its I/O much more flexible. It employs onboard eMMC as fixed disk. While Pi4's USB3 channel has been hacked to provide PCIe I/O expansion, its $35 standard IO board has the slot right on board. As such, PCIe can be parlayed into USB3 but more importantly CM_4 can host the controller SATA solid state drive as fixed disk. SSD along with any hats can also be moved between projects along with the CM_4.

I'm dying to hear what a KiCAD expert has to say about the Compute Module 4 IO Board KiCAD files in terms of blowing the I/O ports directly to the backplane ports of my PowerBook_100. From there it would easily be designed to fit into any PowerBook, much less desktop form factor.

Pi4 used as you described would be a nightmare of internal cabling conversion, CM_4_I_O customization is something anyone could order and build in a far more elegant fashion, even if its implemented as a basement port wiring conversion, rearranged connector expansion unit with the I_O board's connectors removed and nailed to it with soldered pins and bodge wires as is the case for this first rev of the hack..

There's more, but I've gotta head out to work. Thanks for spurring me on to explaining the concept in more detail.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Thinking about it, you could easily nail a denuded Pi4 to an I/POport adapter board for your TSiBook and it should work out very well.

Is the screen in your iBook LVDS? What's the diagonal and aspect ratio of that panel? Check out the RPi controller panel combos on eBay, you might find a really nice high resolution display somewhere between iAnemic and 4K.

I'm waiting for the day when roll out LCD panels can be trimmed to custom sizes with matched controllers capable of running any cut to fit resolution. I'll be very happy, figuring a few years out. Dunno if it'll be roll your own (unlikely) or cut to order (more likely) but it's coming.