Recently acquired two well-used PowerBooks...what can I do, now?

[TheShortTimer]

I have not snapped photos (per TheShortTimer's request), but those will be in-coming.

We'll wait.

 

[splifingate]

So; it's so.

Received the M8943LL/A 65W Power Adapter today.





NIB



*sniff*

They don't make products with VOC's like this any more!

The A1138:



Needs a little *urhm* cleaning...



I've never actually seen a lappy with a DVI connector!



Unfortunately, it was dropped during its previous live.



The A1134:






This one was dropped in a previous life, also; someone made a simple fix...




Just a few photos before I actually get to powering these little beasties on!

 

[B S Magnet]

So; it's so.

Received the M8943LL/A 65W Power Adapter today.

View attachment 2356575

View attachment 2356576

NIB

View attachment 2356578

*sniff*

They don't make products with VOC's like this any more!

The A1138:

View attachment 2356577 View attachment 2356579

Needs a little *urhm* cleaning...

View attachment 2356580 View attachment 2356581

I've never actually seen a lappy with a DVI connector!

View attachment 2356583 View attachment 2356585

Unfortunately, it was dropped during its previous live.

View attachment 2356584

The A1134:

View attachment 2356586
View attachment 2356587
View attachment 2356589
View attachment 2356590

This one was dropped in a previous life, also; someone made a simple fix...

View attachment 2356591
View attachment 2356594 View attachment 2356592

Just a few photos before I actually get to powering these little beasties on!

An unopened 65W charger. Wow. Well done!

That, I imagine, was not cheap!

 

[Amethyst1]

I've never actually seen a lappy with a DVI connector!

Even better, it’s a dual-link DVI connector. How many laptops could run the 30” back in the day?

 

[splifingate]

An unopened 65W charger. Wow. Well done!

That, I imagine, was not cheap!

USD30 🤷‍♂️

Alas, it has been opened, now

 

[TheShortTimer]

I've never actually seen a lappy with a DVI connector!

Now you have!

They're also present on some 12" PowerBooks, the Aluminium MacBook Pros and A1181 MacBook models.

Just a few photos before I actually get to powering these little beasties on!

Thanks for indulging my curiosity. They've seen some action - as is to be expected for machines of their age but fingers crossed, they'll work great and in the A1138's case, look great with a clean up.

 

[splifingate]

Even better, it’s a dual-link DVI connector. How many laptops could run the 30” back in the day?

!!

I remember seeing a photo of Al Gore in his office, running multiple 30"...

Lusted for just one of those, way-back-when

Happen to have a 27" LED Cinema (single-cord MS+mDP+USB variety) over there --> awaiting a good internal cleaning.

I could not afford the 3065's when they were available, but I still have two HP LP2065's in the attic (they served me well for many years).

Fast-forward the Past!

 

[splifingate]

!!

I remember seeing a photo of Al Gore in his office, running multiple 30"...

Lusted for just one of those, way-back-when

Happen to have a 27" LED Cinema (single-cord MS+mDP+USB variety) over there --> awaiting a good internal cleaning.

I could not afford the 3065's when they were available, but I still have two HP LP2065's in the attic (they served me well for many years).

Fast-forward the Past!

Found it:

https://flic.kr/p/M63KH

 

[Amethyst1]

They're also present on some 12" PowerBooks, the Aluminium MacBook Pros and A1181 MacBook models.

…and the original MacBook Air (as micro-DVI), the Dell XPS M1710 and the Lenovo ThinkPad W700.

Happen to have a 27" LED Cinema (single-cord MS+mDP+USB variety) over there --> awaiting a good internal cleaning.

Using this, you can run it from the A1138. At full resolution.

 

[TheShortTimer]

…and the original MacBook Air (as micro-DVI), the Dell XPS M1710 and the Lenovo ThinkPad W700.

I didn't know that about the original MBA. You've got one, right?

 

[Amethyst1]

I didn't know that about the original MBA. You've got one, right?

I had one, but even with an SSD the experience was lacking so I ended up selling it.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Found it:

https://flic.kr/p/M63KH

Huh, I wonder what mac was driving those monitors.

My guess is a Quad with a GU6800.

Wish I had that set up now LOL

 

[splifingate]

Wish I had that set up now LOL

ha! Me three.

Al was (is?) a brilliant wonk^25

I'm quite sure he had access to the best of the best.

 

[Amethyst1]

My guess is a Quad with a GU6800.

At least two GPUs are necessary for three 30”s.

 

[B S Magnet]

At least two GPUs are necessary for three 30”s.

Prefacing, as always, how displays and graphics cards are not part of my wheelhouse:

Is there a way for an A1138 or A1139 to power, say, two external displays via some kind of splitter adapter for DVI, or would it only be possible to deliver a “two-screen” solution by using the internal display alongside using just the one DVI display port with something like the 30-inch ACD?

 

[Amethyst1]

Is there a way for an A1138 or A1139 to power, say, two external displays via some kind of splitter adapter for DVI […]?

Yes, there are two options for two or more external displays:

1. A Matrox DualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go, presenting itself as one ultra-wide display and splitting the signal across two (or three) displays. These were available with VGA (didn't work with my A1106 which has the same GPU), dual-link DVI or DisplayPort input, the latter additionally requiring a dual-link DVI to DisplayPort converter. The problem is that resolutions wider than 2656 pixels don't work properly on the ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 in OS X, basically restricting this to two 1280×1024 (or three 800×600) displays.
2. A VillageTronic VTBook, providing a second (single-link) DVI or VGA that's completely independent of the PowerBook's built-in DVI/VGA.

(There’s also the Margi Display-to-Go but it’s very old (2000?) and doesn’t seem to have drivers for OS X, only 9.x.)

My guess is a Quad with a GU6800.

At least two GPUs are necessary for three 30”s.

The PCIe G5s were offered with a GeForce 6600 [LE] with one DL-DVI, a 7800 GT with one DL-DVI or a Quadro FX 4500 with two DL-DVIs, meaning three 30"s require one of the following configs:

• One 7800 GT + two 6600 [LE]s
• One FX 4500 + two 6600 [LE]s
• Three 6600 [LE]s

There were no PCI GPUs with DL-DVI back in the day, so more than two 30"s wasn't possible on an earlier G5 AFAIK.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

At least two GPUs are necessary for three 30”s.

Yes but I have a sneaking suspicion that HRCs mail server was driving the third monitor.

 

[weckart]

I've never actually seen a lappy with a DVI connector!

The rot started with the TiBooks. The first two iterations (Mercury and Onyx) started with VGA and the final two (Ivory and GigaHertz) swapped that for DVI.

 

[B S Magnet]

Yes but I have a sneaking suspicion that HRCs mail server was driving the third monitor.

ACD #3, powered by
🧈 + 📧

The rot started with the TiBooks. The first two iterations (Mercury and Onyx) started with VGA and the final two (Ivory and GigaHertz) swapped that for DVI.

Wait… why “rot” exactly?

VGA to DVI, skipping ADC, brought the later Ti PowerBooks forward to digital-oriented LCDs which, by that time, were on par with — if not dominant in new sales over — analogue CRTs. And at least it didn’t require an adapter as with the iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and the like. Worse came to worst, those 15- and 17-inch PowerBooks still had analogue S-video out.

 

[Amethyst1]

VGA to DVI, skipping ADC, brought the later Ti PowerBooks forward to digital-oriented LCDs […]

And the DVI-I port also carries analogue signals.

And at least it didn’t require an adapter as with the iBook G4, 12-inch PowerBook G4 and the like.

Apple’s LCDs were still ADC when the TiBooks gained DVI though, so you still couldn’t connect them unless you had an A1006 or a DVIator. Ah, the joy of tech that “just works”.

 

[splifingate]

Wait… why “rot” exactly?

!!

 

[B S Magnet]

!!

This doesn’t aid to answer my question!

 

[TheShortTimer]

And the DVI-I port also carries analogue signals.

Yes, I much prefer that over the VGA-only ports on my iBooks.

 

[splifingate]

This doesn’t aid to answer my question!

Aye; An exclamation about an exclamation is not an explanation for an unexplained exclamation

I, too, am pondering what "rot" is....

 

[Amethyst1]

You ppl are wasting way too much time on long replies.

!! = yes/me too
~! = no/not me
? = what/why/where etc.
?! = are you effin’ serious?