[hoops321447]

The DVI connector on my alum 20" HD cinema display (M9177LL/A) is damaged.

Incredibly unlike previous cinema displays Apple don't supply either the replacement data cable or wire->pin out diagrams to even their own engineers/service providers. Therefore the only solution is to replace the entire unit at a similar cost to a new one.

It seems ridiculous That I should need to buy a whole new display simply because the data cable is damaged.

I've looked at the cable itself and mangaged identify the 4 TMDS Pairs, but have got stuck at knowing which of the 5 remaining central wires (clock,+5v for monitor standby etc.) is which.

With no way of knowing which colour wire corresponds to which DVI Pin I am stuck - and I don't really want to experiment with different combinations as one of the wires probably has 5v running though it.

Only 5 wires stand between me and a working display.

Can anybody help?

Tim

[tooki]

I am pretty sure the cable is available as a service part. (It has been for previous Apple displays.)

tooki

[hoops321447]

Originally Posted by tooki

I am pretty sure the cable is available as a service part. (It has been for previous Apple displays.)

tooki

Unfortunately with the latest cinema displays this is not the case (it was for previous models), as I have been informed by numerous (20+) apple engineers & registered service providers.

They (and apple themselves) have told me their is no option but to fork out for a new monitor.

Incredible as it seems, no such cable exists , if I could take apart a lead from an identical monitor I could see which wire matches which Pin, but seeing as you can't get the new lead I doubt if anyone will let me near their monitor.

Hence I am desperate for ideas/advice on how to wire on a new DVI connector onto the existing cable.

[hoops321447]

Originally Posted by tooki

I am pretty sure the cable is available as a service part. (It has been for previous Apple displays.)

tooki

Unfortunately with the latest cinema displays this is not the case (it was for previous models), as I have been informed by numerous (20+) apple engineers & registered service providers.

They (and apple themselves) have told me their is no option but to fork out for a new monitor.

Incredible as it seems, no such cable exists , The only solution I can see is to take apart a lead from an identical monitor I could see which wire matches which Pin, but seeing as you can't get the new lead I doubt if anyone will let me near their monitor.

Hence I am desperate for ideas/advice on how to wire on a new DVI connector onto the existing cable.

[seanc]

Well assuming it's a normal DVI pinout then This might help.
You can see if you can identify the remaining cables to those that are in the table.
Just put 'dvi cable pinout' into google.

[hoops321447]

Thanks sean,
Unfortuately the diagram isn't much use since the cables originate from inside the monitor, where they are hard-wired into a circuit board in a meaningless order. There is no DVI plug on the cable to match the PINs to.

a standard DVI pin out diagram wont show what coloured wires apple chose to connect to which pin.

I only managed to match the 4 pairs to the correct pins by gutting an apple-made DVI lead and comparing which wires went to each pin. This worked for the 4 signal pairs ( a clear match), but the 5 central control wires were totally different colours.

I know this is a tricky one.. an apple engineer told me that apple refuse to disclose such info (colour > pin out) to even their own service providers... I'm hoping a true 'apple genius' might stumble upon this thread... Is anyone out there clever enough for this one?

[rparke1]

isnt there a replacement plan? or did you not get insurence?

[seanc]

What cinema display do you have?
Look on this sight and use find to search for 'cinema'. It's got repair manuals for them.

[hoops321447]

M9177LL/A (as stated in original post) - managed to get hold of service manual - not much use

[tooki]

Well, how "damaged" is this plug? If it's just one or two pins, you should be able to figure it out with a continuity tester.

tooki

[g5cubed]

If you are unable to fix it, would you possibly sell it. I need a LCD, my HD LCD cracked.

[hoops321447]

Originally Posted by g5cubed

If you are unable to fix it, would you possibly sell it. I need a LCD, my HD LCD cracked.

cheers guys - I found a monitor repair specialist crazy enough to fix it for £50...

hopefully my lovely display will be working again soon!

[hoops321447]

In case anyone else has the same problem, here are the correct colours to pins:

Pins 1,2,3 = Pink, White, Black
Pins 6,7,8 = Black, White, Orange/Brown
Pins 9,10,11 = Beige, White, Black
Pins 14,15,16 = Red, Dark Brown, Orange
Pins 17,18,19 = Thin Black, White, Thick Black
Pins 22,23,24 = Blue, Yellow, Not connected
Pin C5 (horizontal pin) = Not connected

"black" on the signal pairs basically means "shield" - might not appear black but as loose shield wires around the pairs...

Note that Pins 14 = +5V, Pin 15 = Ground, Pin 16 = Hot plug detect.
Check out the following link for a diagram of the pin locations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/digital_Visual_Interface

It's taken me a lot of effort to find this out - so hopefully it'll be useful to anyone else out there who damages their shiny new display cable.

[tooki]

If you don't mind me asking -- what happened to your cable? DVI connectors are pretty hard to damage!

tooki

[hoops321447]

The truth is I bought it off ebay half-price because the connector is missing! - so I actually don't know!

Interestingly I've since seen a suprising number of displays on sale at ebay with exactly the same problem, all going at ridiculously cheap prices - presumably because no one knows how to fix them (not even apple).

So if anyone wants a cut-price cinema display they know where to look....

[ajs76]

CORRECT CINEMA DISPLAY PIN OUTS

Please be aware, many "snipped" monitors are this way as a result of theft.

Don't condone it by buying anything fishy.

To help all those who have genuinely damaged thier Cinema Display DVI connectors, here is the correct Pin Out:

Referencing the Diagram at: Digital Visual Interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Pin Outs are:

1,2,3 = Thin Black, White, Thick Black
6,7,8 = Blue, Yellow, Orange
9,10,11 = Beige, White, Black
14,15,16 = Red, Dark Brown, Not Connected
17,18,19 = Pink, White, Black
22,23,24 = Black, White, Orange/Brown
Pin C5 (horizontal pin) = Not connected

"black" on the signal pairs basically means "shield" - might not appear black but as loose shield wires around the pairs...

Note that Pins 14 = +5V, Pin 15 = Ground, Pin 16 = Hot plug detect.

You will get nothing from your monitor, apart from the power light if the pins are incorrectly wired.

AJS