Rev A iBook mobo questions

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doug-doug the mighty's picture
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Rev A iBook mobo questions

I am toying with the idea for some hacks to a Rev A iBook (blue clamshell).

Of special interest to me is the solder pads on the rear of the mobo as well as other places. On the rear of the mobo (handle side, top) there are two double-rows of solder pads. The first has 140 pins and I presume is for a docking port (obviouly left out). To the port side of this are four holes labeled +5V, DAT, GND, etc, I presume this is where a USB port would have gone. To the CD side is a row of 20 solder pads.

? - Am I right that the 140 pad group was for a docking port?
? - What could the 20 pad group be for?
? - It looks like there are a few related components missing for a rear USB port, but has anyone got any 'special knowledge' on this part of the mobo?

Underneath the hard drive is a small double row of solder pads. Speculations are invited at this point.

Nearby, between the USB port and the headphones jack, there is a nice little six-holespace where the Fire Wire port exists on later models. I am sure that it is just a matter of a few caps and resistors, but does any one with better insight know if the system would support this and if so, what parts I might need?

Also, if memory serves, according to the block architecture, the keyboard and trackpad are ADB-based. Does anyone know where on the mobo I can tap into the feed into the device controller or if I could hit the trunk somewhere? I did not look too long last night since I did not have the time, but I figured someone else might know.

This is just some homework to see if I could make a future project out of this (and add it to the list of things half-finished).

TIA

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Did the floppy drive use 20 p

Did the floppy drive use 20 pins?

doug-doug the mighty's picture
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yes,but...

while it did, these are not configured in a standard arrangement for a floppy port. These are surface mount pads, not through-holes. I wondered it it might not be some sort of external monitor linkage. If I cannot find any good answers, I will definetely take that as an idea to test out.

I do know the pins for the floppy, so it could not hurt to check it out.

Jon
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Or it could likely be a facto

Or it could likely be a factory board test/diagnostics port.

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Re: Rev A iBook mobo questions

...
Nearby, between the USB port and the headphones jack, there is a nice little six-holespace where the Fire Wire port exists on later models. I am sure that it is just a matter of a few caps and resistors, but does any one with better insight know if the system would support this and if so, what parts I might need?
...

I'm sure others around here would know better than me, but I'd be shocked if adding firewire didn't require adding some kind of controller chip... or at least updated firmware on an existing chip.

Although if it is possible, I would be very interested to know how, as I also have a pre-firewire iBook mobo that I'd love to be able to add firewire to.

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The firewire controller chip isn't present

but the pinouts for it are. On the underside of the board, there are spots for two chips (IIRC) that are unoccupied. My understanding is that the firewire controller chips go there.

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Maybe we should compare...

I have a tangerine iBook (Revision B). Maybe if we got the FireWire iBook mobo (the September 2000 edition) and compared it to the old one we could make better sense of things.

The connector that you guys think may be a floppy--was the iBook G3 based on any previous Mac and perhaps they forgot to elminate the port?

Also hear ADB was the keyboard controller on those for the internal board...is this true?

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ADB and Portables

My understanding is that, up until the very most recent revisions of the PowerBook, ADB is still in use for the internal keyboard and mouse. On the October 2004 and later iBooks, the trackpad migrated to usb (appears to have been adb up to that model. On the January 2005 PowerBooks, the keyboard and entire top case assembly became one big usb device. When you boot into single user mode, you'll see "adb present" pop up during the boot sequence.

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Re: ADB and Portables

... On the January 2005 PowerBooks, the keyboard and entire top case assembly became one big usb device. ...

Interesting... even the speakers and power button?

I've always hated dealing with the wiring for components in the top case assembly, I'm always worried about forgetting to disconnect a ribbon cable and tearing it, and some of the connectors can be pretty difficult to plug/unplug, at least without feeling like something's about to break. Once I even had a logic board with weak solders on the speaker connector, and the thing snapped off when I tried pull the plug out of it.

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