DIY 5k Monitor - success :-)

[jonatans]

So finally I will receive a used 2017 iMac 5K and I have also ordered a JRY-W9RQUHD-SA1 board in order to make a 5K display. I have one question that I haven't found answer to when briefly read all the posts in this thread and it is, what is the power plug dimension and polarity off the JRY-W9RQUHD-SA1 board?

 

[PaulD-UK]

Other boards are all the same, so I think the JRY--SA1 would be the same:
Barrel plug 2.5mm x 5.5mm, centre + positive.
Preferably one that is rated for 5-8 amps, especially if you are planning to use the 90w USB-C PD charging facility.

Good luck with the build...
Since this is a fairly new board your experience of how it goes, and how the board performs, would be very helpful.

 

[Xarl-li]

Hi, a few days ago I asked about the dimensions of the camera mount. Does anyone have the CaD file?

 

[tangjunhao]

Hi, a few days ago I asked about the dimensions of the camera mount. Does anyone have the CaD file?

iMac 27" (2014) Internal USB Camera Mount by KevDoy | Download free STL model | Printables.com

For those converting their iMacs to displays, here is a camera mount to add a camera back in. | Download free 3D printable STL models

www.printables.com

 

[Donald.l.Smith]

I just got my JRY-W9CHUD-AA1 driver board from Stonetasken but it appears that the backlit cable is a mismatch (see photos). Emailed Stonetasken and currently waiting for a response. Has anyone run into a similar problem?

 

[PaulD-UK]

@Donald.l.Smith
That's the cable they supply.
It does fit, so tightly that once in it is very difficult to dislodge.
Which is what is wanted...

You have it in the correct orientation in your picture, with the red wire on the edge connecting to the grey wire on the edge of the panel's cable.

https://forums.macrumors.com/attachments/backlight-circles-jpg.2247268/

It is a very tight fit, so needs to be kept straight whilst you apply firm pressure to carefully force the pins in. It won't go right in, but once its firmly stuck together that's OK.
Once in it's best to use some adhesive tape to keep it together.

 

[Donald.l.Smith]

I was able to connect the backlit connector and applied power to the board. I can turn on the screen by pressing the button on the OSD board, the LED lights up and the screen lights up. I connected it via HDMI cable to a Raspberry PI 4 but no desktop image appears. Should the OSD board's menus show up without a computer signal? A problem with the LCD cable connection? If the panel is bad would it still light up (grey screen/ not black), but not be able to display the image sent from the PI? If I connected the backlit cable incorrectly would the screen remain black and not light up?

 

[PaulD-UK]

Your backlight connection is fine if the screen shows any brightness.
The OSD will not work if there is no video signal coming from a computer.
My R1811 will show a choice of video inputs if there is no computer connected, but that is all.
The JRY--AA1 may not have that option?

So there might be a problem with the 60 pin video cable to the screen panel.
Or the HDMI cable from the RPi?

 

[KayPee]

Hi guys. I'm hoping someone with the R1811 can help me out.

I've received all the parts to do my conversion of a 2014 iMac. I have a R1811 v4 board from Aliexpress and have just given it a try after connecting everything up temporarily. I connected the backlight cable and display connector using the advice from this forum and connected my MacBook Pro to the R1811 via a Thunderbolt to DP. I powered it all up and was happy to see that everything seemed to work!

The MacBook Pro picked up the display as an extended display and applied an "imac pro" colour profile. I could see the extended desktop displayed on the screen. So far, so good.

However, I'm not sure what I did, but I think I changed something on the menu and seemed to have screwed something up. I now can't access any menu functions other than the "Quick Link" menu shown in the screenshot and the "input selection" menu. When I select the DP input source, I get a message saying "No support" and then "Power saving" and the screen goes off. When I wake it up, it takes me to the Quick Link menu in the screenshot, stays on for a few seconds if I don't do anything and then sleeps again. I can't seem to anything other than the Quick Link menu and the Input selection menu.

Maybe I'm being really stupid but I simply cannot find a way to get the display working again after the first few seconds when I first plugged it in. Could it be a faulty cable? Have I damaged the R1811? Is it something I need to do on the MBP? Is there some hidden menu option on the R1811 that I'm not seeing?

I've tried both display ports on the R1811 and tested an HDMI port as well. No luck. The MBP still detects the display in the display settings, but nothing is actually shown on the display.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[PaulD-UK]

@KayPee
The R1811 appears to be waiting for you to input a DP setting, either one of the two DP inputs, or maybe DP1.2 or 1.4. You need 1.4.

Does your OSD allow you to navigate at all? Or does nothing on the Control Strip button bar move the selection?

If so is the Control Strip plugged in properly? Is it shorting to ground anywhere?

Do you have a IR Remote Control? If so does that work?

Do you have a video capable USB-C/TB3 cable to use? Or HDMI.

 

[KayPee]

@KayPee
The R1811 appears to be waiting for you to input a DP setting, either one of the two DP inputs, or maybe DP1.2 or 1.4. You need 1.4.

Does your OSD allow you to navigate at all? Or does nothing on the Control Strip button bar move the selection?

If so is the Control Strip plugged in properly? Is it shorting to ground anywhere?

Do you have a IR Remote Control? If so does that work?

Do you have a video capable USB-C/TB3 cable to use? Or HDMI.

Thank you for your reply @PaulD-UK. Both the control strip and IR remote are operational, so I can navigate the menu. The mains issues are:

1) I can't seem to get access to any menu other than the one in my screenshot and the input selection menu. This may be due to what you said about the R1811 waiting for a DP setting. When I navigate to the "DP Option" setting on the menu, I do indeed have three options: DP0, DP1 & DP2. For each of these, I have the option to set the input to 1.1, 1.2 or 1.4. I've tried setting each input to 1.2 and 1.4, but this doesn't change anything.

2) The display sleeps and constantly goes into power-saving while I'm in the middle of navigating the menu, which is incredibly frustrating when I'm trying to find my way around to adjust the settings. No idea what might be causing this. Could it be something on the MBP side that is causing this?

 

[Regulus67]

2) The display sleeps and constantly goes into power-saving while I'm in the middle of navigating the menu, which is incredibly frustrating when I'm trying to find my way around to adjust the settings. No idea what might be causing this. Could it be something on the MBP side that is causing this?

This is unexpected behaviour.
I can turn it on with the remote, without starting the mac.

To reach this, I turn on the R1811 with the remote, and the power diode will light red.
Then I press menu, and get the menu on the screen as shown in the photo. And I can navigate through the options.
But if I do nothing, it will go black in 8 seconds. If I go to Other I can set the timer for the menu to 30 sec as an example.
I do not even need to have the mac connected to access this menu.

When I started the R1811 first time, the menu was in Chinese, and I struggled a little to find the English menu.
Haven't had any issue with my card. I have used it with a Mac Pro 2019, and at the moment using it with a mac mini M1.

Looks like yours is set to 60 sec

 

[KayPee]

This is unexpected behaviour.
I can turn it on with the remote, without starting the mac.

View attachment 2460156
To reach this, I turn on the R1811 with the remote, and the power diode will light red.
Then I press menu, and get the menu on the screen as shown in the photo. And I can navigate through the options.
But if I do nothing, it will go black in 8 seconds. If I go to Other I can set the timer for the menu to 30 sec as an example.
I do not even need to have the mac connected to access this menu.

When I started the R1811 first time, the menu was in Chinese, and I struggled a little to find the English menu.
Haven't had any issue with my card. I have used it with a Mac Pro 2019, and at the moment using it with a mac mini M1.

Looks like yours is set to 60 sec

@Regulus67 I've just tried what you suggest. If I turn on the R1811 without plugging into my MBP, I still can't access the menu you've shown in your screenshot. In fact my menu looks totally different with a different blue colour scheme altogether. I see the menu in the screenshot attached, it stays for a few seconds and then the screen powers off.

If I plug my MBP in using a USB-C to DP cable, a small blue box appears saying "No support" for a few seconds before powering off.

i have tried changing the setting for DP1 to 1.4 as suggested by @PaulD-UK but no luck.

 

[PaulD-UK]

Part of the problem is that @Regulus67 and I are using different versions of the old firmware, whereas @KayPee is using the latest RealTek branded firmware.
This means we all have different OSD menus, so can't exactly replicate your problem.

However the situation is that @KayPee's R1811 does not have a valid DP setting in its OSD, so the board is not handshaking with the MacBook Pro at switch on, so the MBP stops sending a signal, and the R1811 detects this, and goes into standby mode - switching off.

What needs to happen is that the R1811's OSD DP Option setting needs to be set to the correct DP Input source (connected to the MBP) AND DP 1.4 selected. AND THEN THIS SELECTION HAS TO BE 'ENTERED' to select and remember it.

The Control Strip has an LED, Menu button nearest, then Down, Up and ENTER at the end of the strip.
Maybe the Enter button can pressed once you have DP 1.4 visible in the OSD?

Also: On my firmware (V04 DP1.4) when the computer and R1811 monitor is powered up, if I press the (end) Enter button on the Control Strip it gives a choice of all the different inputs + Auto (selection). The Up/Down buttons allow the correct input to be chosen, and then the end Enter button selects it and closes that menu.
Can you access that selection with the RealTek firmware?
If so, you can do that very quickly, without accessing the main OSD.

Alternatively, there is a Reset option in the OSD, but it’s on the second page of the OSD, which is not easily found until you realise there are further options beyond the first page.
I think that there are three options on the second page and one leads to the Reset choice.

 

[KayPee]

Part of the problem is that @Regulus67 and I are using different versions of the old firmware, whereas @KayPee is using the latest RealTek branded firmware.
This means we all have different OSD menus, so can't exactly replicate your problem.

However the situation is that @KayPee's R1811 does not have a valid DP setting in its OSD, so the board is not handshaking with the MacBook Pro at switch on, so the MBP stops sending a signal, and the R1811 detects this, and goes into standby mode - switching off.

What needs to happen is that the R1811's OSD DP Option setting needs to be set to the correct DP Input source (connected to the MBP) AND DP 1.4 selected. AND THEN THIS SELECTION HAS TO BE 'ENTERED' to select and remember it.

The Control Strip has an LED, Menu button nearest, then Down, Up and ENTER at the end of the strip.
Maybe the Enter button can pressed once you have DP 1.4 visible in the OSD?

Also: On my firmware (V04 DP1.4) when the computer and R1811 monitor is powered up, if I press the (end) Enter button on the Control Strip it gives a choice of all the different inputs + Auto (selection). The Up/Down buttons allow the correct input to be chosen, and then the end Enter button selects it and closes that menu.
Can you access that selection with the RealTek firmware?
If so, you can do that very quickly, without accessing the main OSD.

@PaulD-UK Yes I'm able to navigate the menu with both the remote control and the control strip, despite the annoying power-off issue. I think I've set and "committed" the DP Option correctly to 1.4 for all of the 3 DP input sources, although the menu still displays "Enter".

Similar to your firmware, I do also have the option of selecting different inputs including 3 DP inputs, 2 HDMI and one auto selection. I've tried all 3 DP inputs as well as the auto, but to no avail. When I select DP1 (which is the one I'm plugged into), I get the "No support" message.

Also, worth noting that my MBP does seem to recognise it as an external display named "imac pro" (see screenshot) when I plug it in, so it's clearly detecting something.

If anyone would like to have a look, I've recorded a video to show my setup and what's happening: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ssBUCbBeMfhy9hFhLjW1tWSQtx2pqYop/view?usp=drive_link

Thanks so much!

 

[PaulD-UK]

Does the Reset option, which is one of options available through the second page of the OSD, after clicking beyond the eight icons on the first page, have any effect?

 

[KayPee]

@PaulD-UK I can't seem to navigate to the 8-icon menu or the reset menu. They sometimes appear for a split second when I power on the display, but not long enough for me to take any action on them. The only menus I have access to are the quick links menu and the input selection menu and they doesn't seem to be any route to navigate anywhere else from these menus using either the control strip or the remote.

 

[PaulD-UK]

The only other possibility is to try another cable on another input. USB-C/TB3 or HDMI.
EDIT, I see you did this.
Looks like the board needs hard reseting on the PSB itself, but there isn't any documentation to help an end user accomplish this. :-(

A firmware reload might solve it, but you can’t do that without a working DP port.
Sorry I can’t be of more help..,

 

[KayPee]

@PaulD-UK No worries. You've already been a great help I really appreciate you taking the time to provide your input.

I've ordered another USB/DP cable just to check anyway. Do you think it's possible that I've damaged/blown something? Would anything appear at all if this was the case?

 

[PaulD-UK]

People have damaged their boards by short circuits to the case but that kills the board completely.
Shorting the fan power socket resulted in it being on all the time and not going into standby.

But I have not heard of the video inputs not functioning before.
They obviously still work so that the Mac can detect the board’s ID, but the OSD can’t make the input selection be set.
So no video can get to the screen. 🙁

Good idea to try another cable. Or a USB-C monitor cable. But if you say an HDMI cable doesn’t work then maybe it won’t solve the problem.

 

[PaulD-UK]

@KayPee
Good News 👍
I’ve had a session with an R1811 with the newest RealTek firmware.

Your problem is reproducible on a fully functional R1811….if you run it with no input cable connected.

So either your DP cable is partially faulty, or the correct input is not getting set.

To get to the input selection menu you just power up as you were doing then press the Exit button on the remote control. Not Menu…..

This gets to a horizontal menu which will stay there as long as you need to select the correct input selection - I think…

To get to the Reset button you can use the left button to get to the second page of the menu, and select Factory then click through the settings page that shows first to another menu which is Reset.

Good luck 😉

 

[KayPee]

@PaulD-UK Oh that's great. Thanks for letting me know.. Good to know I'm not going crazy!

I'm able to access the horizontal menu and have tried every input option available, but none seem to work. All of them show "No cable" except for the one DP input in use that shows "No support".

However, I'm not able to get to the reset button as you describe. If I scroll left on the horizontal menu, it just scrolls infinitely through the inputs when it gets tot he end. There doesn't seem to be a second page of the menu that I can access.

It seems a faulty cable may well be the issue, but this seems odd considering that the display did work correctly when I first powered it up to test. I have a new cable arriving tomorrow, so will give it another try.

I've contacted StoneTaskin as well, so hopefully they can shed some light on this. They seem to think the issue could be related to the resolution output from the computer, but I've not made any changes to this. I don't think OSX Monterey lets me select a specific output resolution anyway.

 

[PaulD-UK]

You set the Display resolution in Monterey in the System Preferences > Displays panel. You need to go to the Advanced option to set ‘View Resolution as list’ so you can check the numbers are correct.
It should be 2560x1440 (Default).
This is the HiDPI setting for 5K.

On a R1811 with nothing inputting I don’t get the ‘No Support’ message, so obviously the cable and/or Mac are doing something, but not displaying the screen.

If you disconnect all inputs, and have the board powered off, then I can get straight to the Reset option by powering up, and pressing the Exit button as soon as the No Cable message shows.
You have about a second to press Enter before you lose the page….

 

[KayPee]

@PaulD-UK SUCCESS! I managed to get the display working following the steps you outlined for the reset. I also upgraded to Sequoia as I didn't have the advanced option for viewing the resolutions as a list in Monterey.

What I didn't do first time around is disconnect the cable COMPLETELY... not only from the mac, but the board as well. Once I'd done this, I powered on the board and the reset option appeared for around a second. I repeatedly pressed the enter button as soon as it appeared and it seems to have done the trick! It took a few seconds for the reset to happen but eventually, the power LED on the control strip went green and the display powered up and now seems to be working ok!

@PaulD-UK I can't thank you enough for your help! Now I just need to do the actual conversion and gut the iMac, so I can use the display with my new Mac Mini! Hopefully, that goes smoothly, but I've come to expect the unexpected!

 

[SubDriver]

A question for anyone who has used a JRY-W9RQUHD-SA1 controller board for their conversion. Can you confirm that the USB-A ports on the card are in fact USB 3.0? The StoneTaskin site doesn't specify it as such, but I have found other sites that indicate it as USB 3.0. Additionally, the blue internal components of the port normally indicates USB 3.0, but that can be faked relatively easily.

If it is in fact USB 3.0, has anyone tried connecting any internal components to it other than potentially a keyboard or mouse? I haven't yet purchased a controller card for my upcoming project, but having USB 3.0 resident on the board opens up other potential usable configurations such as leaving the existing hard drive or SSD installed inside the enclosure and connecting it to the USB 3.0 port since 5 Gbps isn't much of a drop off from 6 Gbps SATA III (much better than the drop off all the way down to USB 2.0 speed of 480 Mbps).

Bottom line, if the SA1 does have USB 3.0 ports then the SA1 board adds a new dimension of possible internal configurations/components that no other controller card discussed in this thread provides. This might make it a much more attractive option to consider - I know it makes a difference to me.

Hoping @PewQ or @kevinherring or anyone else who has used the board can provide some insight.

Here is an image from one AliExpress seller.