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dandydan · Jan 3, 2007, 05:53 PM

Due to an unfortuante incident where the screen of my G4 powerbook was broken off by someone running into my computer, I had to replace the screen. Fortunately my brother gave me a slightly newer G4 than mine that he had gotten for free from his boss when the logic board went.

Replacing the screen took a while but it went successfully except that my G4 (onyx I believe) was a bit older than the newer G4 screen. The new screen has a max resolution of 1250ish x something whereas my old screen was 1100 x something. Sorry that I don't know the exact specs...I don't have either with me and I'm not exactly a computer whiz.

Anyways, when I fire up my laptop everything looks fine when the grey screen with the darker grey apple appears but when Max OS X (10.4.8) finishes loading and the finder window appears it only uses up about 90% of the screen with the right 1.5" and about 1" at the bottom being either grey or rainbow.

So I guess my dilemma is that my computer isn't using the extra pixels that this new screen has which is kinda lame. I've tried resetting a bunch of things per my bros instructions but nothing has changed. I can't figure out a way to select a higher screen resolution than 1100 x ?. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

ibook_steve · Jan 3, 2007, 06:38 PM

The computer doesn't recognize the newer screen and cannot use the extra space because it either doesn't know it can draw there or it can't draw there (possibly not enough VRAM). There's really nothing you can do.

Steve

romeosc · Jan 3, 2007, 07:17 PM

What options are you given when you choose Display preferences.....

dandydan · Jan 4, 2007, 10:03 AM

The wierd thing is that my computer uses the entire screen when I first start it up and it's at the light grey screen with the dark grey apple logo but then as soon as it opens the finder window it drops to using about 90% of the screen.

Anyways, under display preferences all I can do is select a resolution from 640x480 all the way up to 1100 x something but I can't select anything higher than that. Regardless of which one I use it doesn't use more of the screen...sometimes less. There is also a 'detect displays' button which doesn't seem to do anything.

hemant · Jan 4, 2007, 10:28 AM

Originally Posted by dandydan

The wierd thing is that my computer uses the entire screen when I first start it up and it's at the light grey screen with the dark grey apple logo but then as soon as it opens the finder window it drops to using about 90% of the screen.

Anyways, under display preferences all I can do is select a resolution from 640x480 all the way up to 1100 x something but I can't select anything higher than that. Regardless of which one I use it doesn't use more of the screen...sometimes less. There is also a 'detect displays' button which doesn't seem to do anything.

Try the mac modifications section of the forums, there are a few people working on their LCD's. They should be able to help you.

ibook_steve · Jan 4, 2007, 02:08 PM

The reason the whole screen is filled at boot is because this is before the graphics drivers are loaded. The boot process simply splashes the entire screen with pixels with the Apple in the middle. The graphics drivers and graphics chip must be able to "talk" to the display properly to use the entire screen real estate. The software and chip you have don't know how to talk to the whole display, so they do the best they can.

Steve

dandydan · Jan 4, 2007, 02:52 PM

That makes sense...thanks for the explanation.

The graphics chip seems pretty difficult if not impossible to replace...am I correct in thinking this? I have the entire computer that the screen came from (minus a few goodies like the ram and the battery) so is there a way I can steal the graphics chip? Or alternatively, can I download some new drivers?

BigBadBiologist · Jan 4, 2007, 02:57 PM

I think if you look closely, you'll see that the apple really isn't centered at the beginning. the whole screen really isn't being used.

There is nothing you can do to get the rest of the screen to work. It's a hardware limitation of the VGA TiBooks. I made the same mistake a few years ago while replacing my TiBook screen.

ibook_steve · Jan 4, 2007, 04:40 PM

The GPU is soldered to the logic board and not replaceable.

Steve

dandydan · Jan 4, 2007, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by BigBadBiologist

I think if you look closely, you'll see that the apple really isn't centered at the beginning. the whole screen really isn't being used.

There is nothing you can do to get the rest of the screen to work. It's a hardware limitation of the VGA TiBooks. I made the same mistake a few years ago while replacing my TiBook screen.

Hmm...I thought I was looking pretty closely and the apple really did appear centered but you may be right. I'll check again when I get home tonight with a ruler. Since you've got experience with replacing tibook screens I imagine you're right.

Anyways, thanks everyone for crushing my hopes

Actually, it's not that annoying..it just feels like a shame to not be using those extra pixels..oh well.

dandydan · Jan 4, 2007, 05:50 PM

One other idea: Is it possible to take apart the screen and essentially toss my old screen inside the new screens case so that I have good hinges on my stock screen again? I tried taking the 4 little bolts out but even with those out I can't pry the 2 halves of the screen case apart.

thetman · 07:59 PM

its not free but SwitchResX lets you manually set resolutions that OS X wont let you,

SwitchResX

BigBadBiologist · Jan 4, 2007, 07:58 PM

taking the LCDs out of the casings is very difficult. they are glued together. But there's a good guide here for doing it:
| macdan | Titanium PowerBook display repair |

But if your old LCD is good, that's probably your best bet. Just be patient.

dandydan · Jan 5, 2007, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by BigBadBiologist

I think if you look closely, you'll see that the apple really isn't centered at the beginning. the whole screen really isn't being used.

I checked last night and my laptop IS using the whole screen at startup. I measured the apple to ensure it's centered and it's bang on. Furthermore, eversince I put this new screen on, before the grey apple screen appears, a new screen appears before it which is a light grey background covered it dark grey dots. I have no idea why this new screen briefly flashes for maybe 2 seconds on the entire screen (maybe I reassembled something wrong) but it does prove that it's using the entire screen.

dandydan · Jan 5, 2007, 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by BigBadBiologist

taking the LCDs out of the casings is very difficult. they are glued together. But there's a good guide here for doing it:
| macdan | Titanium PowerBook display repair |

But if your old LCD is good, that's probably your best bet. Just be patient.

Hmm...that is a nice guide. I'll see if I can take apart my old screen and if that goes well then I guess I'll tear apart the new case and use my old screen with the new hinges. Unfortunately my old screen isn't in that great of shape. It's not destroyed but there is some noticable scratches from where my keys and trackpad touch. I guess it's a 'pick your poison' situation where I can either have 100% of a scratched screen or 90% of a nicer one.

dandydan · 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by thetman

its not free but SwitchResX lets you manually set resolutions that OS X wont let you,

SwitchResX

Will just manually setting the resolution fix my problem? Or is there other stuff I need to do as well?

That looks like a really cool program and it seems like there's even a free 10 day trial. If this fixed my problem it's definately worth 14 euros. Thanks!

thetman · Jan 6, 2007, 01:06 AM

Originally Posted by dandydan

Will just manually setting the resolution fix my problem? Or is there other stuff I need to do as well?

That looks like a really cool program and it seems like there's even a free 10 day trial. If this fixed my problem it's definately worth 14 euros. Thanks!

to be honest i have never used it, i learned of it after reading about some mac owners using it to force 1920x1200 res after a custom install of a wuxga panel into their MBP, It seemed to me it allowed them to force OS X to display the correct resolution because it did not offer that res w/o running the program

dandydan · Jan 8, 2007, 01:52 PM

Well I spent quite a bit of time playing with SwitchResX this weekend but I couldn't get it to do anything. It seems like my screen isn't really talking with my computer or something because in the SwitchResX program all the info from my display like the number of pixels, serial number etc. that is supposed to just pop up, isn't there and when I type it in it just resets back to zero. Also, I can't add any new resolutions that weren't in the apple preferences....not even ones less than what I'm running now. I think what's happening is that when you add a res. in SwitchResX you have to restart your computer and when it's starting up it checks the new res with the monitor to see if it's allowed. Because my monitor doesn't seem to be digressing any info, I think it's just disallowing everything. Anyways, I guess it's a choice for me between using 90% of this screen or ungluing these screens and using my more scratched original screen in this new case.