Repair A1181 mac screen

[macknack]

I am trying to help a relative who has a late 2009 A1181 (or A1187?) macbook 7.1
running high sierra 10.13.6, 2.4 ghz core2, 8gb, nvidia, etc.
The top right of the screen is damaged, but otherwise it works.
So as a quick fix, is it possible to tell the OS (at a device driver level if needs be)
to simply map out the first (say) 50 lines of the display, and start the top of OS task bar
50 pixels lower? Everything would be a little squashed, but it would be a quick fix.

I also have a spare earlier 2006 A1181 that could donate its screen in a swap. Would this
work? I realise I would have to take the lid out and apart, I have done this for PCs but not macs.
I have a repair manual of sorts for this mac. How difficult is it?

Anyway any ideas appreciated!

 

[Amethyst1]

So as a quick fix, is it possible to tell the OS (at a device driver level if needs be)
to simply map out the first (say) 50 lines of the display, and start the top of OS task bar
50 pixels lower?

One thing you can do is create and use a scaled 1280×700 resolution in SwitchResX. You’ll lose 50 pixels at the top and at the bottom though.

 

[rampancy]

I am trying to help a relative who has a late 2009 A1181 (or A1187?) macbook 7.1
running high sierra 10.13.6, 2.4 ghz core2, 8gb, nvidia, etc.
The top right of the screen is damaged, but otherwise it works.
So as a quick fix, is it possible to tell the OS (at a device driver level if needs be)
to simply map out the first (say) 50 lines of the display, and start the top of OS task bar
50 pixels lower? Everything would be a little squashed, but it would be a quick fix.

I also have a spare earlier 2006 A1181 that could donate its screen in a swap. Would this
work? I realise I would have to take the lid out and apart, I have done this for PCs but not macs.
I have a repair manual of sorts for this mac. How difficult is it?

Anyway any ideas appreciated!

As @Amethyst1 remarked, you could a utility like SwitchResX to set a custom resolution that leaves out the top and bottom 50 pixels. Display Maestro can also do this.

As for a screen swap, the MacBook 7,1 is the A1342 (aka Unibody Polycarbonate) MacBook (not an A1181*), which used very different screens. The A1181 screen or screen and display assembly won't work with it. You'll have to get one from another A1342.

*The only 2009 A1181 models were the MacBook 5,2 models which came in 2.0 and 2.13 Ghz, and only officially supported 10.11.6.

 

[macknack]

Ok thanks for those useful ideas. I say 50 pixels, I think its actually more like 80, so taking that much of both top AND bottom would make the display look very letter-box-ish. I was hoping there would be a simple text file to edit for top-of-screen setting buried somewhere in MacOS. I know its not a proper solution for a broken screen but it would be a useful temporary solution. I think this sort of thing will become a more common/useful idea as time goes on, ie an old MacBook that isnt really worth spending much money on with a small screen defect that can be worked around by telling the OS not to use XX pixels on the top/bottom/left/right..

Maybe another approach would be an OS-level app that simply displays a black bitmap at the damaged location, and forces the OS not not use that area in some way. Any thoughts? (I have coding experience on PCs..)

As for the model, ok I will look again at it (I dont have it in front of me at the moment). It does say 2009 on the base, for some reason I thought it said A1187 or something. Its a 64 bit dual core, so yes it can run later OSes. I understand that the panels inside the lid are often fairly standardised, with common arangement options for connectors etc for the same size screen, although touch screens are more particular/problematic. On some of the screens on Laptops and TVs they use epoxy to fix the SVGA panel to the casing, Im hoping Apple havent done that.

Anyway thanks again!

 

[rampancy]

As for the model, ok I will look again at it (I dont have it in front of me at the moment). It does say 2009 on the base, for some reason I thought it said A1187 or something. Its a 64 bit dual core, so yes it can run later OSes. I understand that the panels inside the lid are often fairly standardised, with common arangement options for connectors etc for the same size screen, although touch screens are more particular/problematic. On some of the screens on Laptops and TVs they use epoxy to fix the SVGA panel to the casing, Im hoping Apple havent done that.

Anyway thanks again!

It would help if you either attached a photo of the top underside (where all of the various regulatory information is printed), or a screenshot of the "About This Mac" window.

As for it being "64 bit dual core": some clarification would be needed as all MacBooks after the Late-2006 model (A1181 w/GMA 950 graphics, EMC 2121) had a 64-bit CPU with a 32-bit EFI, and MacBooks after the Late-2007 model (A1181 w/GMA X3100 graphics, EMC 2200) had a 64-bit CPU with a 64-bit EFI.

Furthermore, all of the A1181 panels (including the MacBook 5,2) had a CCFL backlight (and even though their form factor was the same, they were sourced from a variety of different companies with slightly different connector layouts and positions), while all MacBooks starting with the aluminum unibody A1278 (MacBook 5,1) and polycarbonate unibody A1342 (MacBook 6,1) used LED backlights. You can actually see this for yourself if you go on eBay and search for A1181 LCD panels vs. A1342 LCD panels. The latter uses a very different form factor, as the A1342 panels are characterized by a trapezoidal section on the bottom with the connectors.

I *think* Apple started using epoxy to attach the panels to the casing with the retina MacBooks, but maybe someone else like @Amethyst1 knows for sure.

 

[macknack]

Ok Interesting, Thanks for that. When I get that mac again I will take some pix. Its Macbook 7.1, 2009, I thought A1187 but I will check again. I would like to have a go at writing something to "fix" the display by moving the top line. Could it be done in in GCC with the right device driver libraries?
Anyway will post more later.