P170EM eDP/4K screen modification (possibilities?), advice needed

Hello everyone, it seems the 17" 4K screen offered by AUO/Sharp are marvellous and i'd love to put one into my old P170EM as the final upgrade. Did some digging on schematics and managed to DIY a 30pin clevo eDP to 40pin I-PEX type eDP cable so it fits both side,but no luck lighting it up. I'll post some photos and diagrams here may i ask for some help




The screen above is AUO B173ZAN01.0

According to P170EM ESM, the eDP is connected to IVB igps eDP out




but not activated by default, both processor and PCH string(note the "low" for eDP)






I've already located the resistor (R81, R601, R605) and the Diode (D29)




Is it possible to solder a jumper from R81 and R605 to GND ( provide "low" signal)
and remove R601 to disconnect LVDS connection, so activating the eDP port?
Thank you, suggestions welcomed

 

I think when I looked at this tonks ago the IVB iGPU can only output 30hz at 4K...

 

No need for that; the port becomes active when you hook up an eDP screen.

The issue is that these systems were only designed for 3D eDP panels, which use 5V for lcd control, rather than the 3.3V 99% of eDP panels run on. The 4k AUO is a common 3.3V (ceiling 3.6V), so there's a risk that hooking it up to 5V has killed it ...

If not then look here for some solutions. Could hook up directly to the 3.3V source as suggest by Khenglish, but that'd mean the lcd circuit can no longer be powered down, so in sleep mode it'd still drain some power. Not nearly as much as the backlight, but unless the panel has its own sleep mode then the battery would still go flat. Alternative is to disconnect PLVDD_SEL pin from the eDP connector #25) and solder it directly to the PLVDD_SEL pins on the LVDS port (#11 and #13), making it assume an LVDS is present and delivering 3.3V to the circuit (it's a combined output for both lcd ports).

And bennyg is correct; even when the dGPU is active the display signal still passes over the cpu and this generation is limited to 10.8 Gbit/s, which'd leave a maximum of ~50Hz (presuming you'll 'overclock' the display, that is). Since this is an Optimus system that needs either flashing a custom edid or the new Intel HD drivers;
After years of denial, Intel finally acknowledges Custom Resolution is broken and fix is on its way!

Not sure if 3rd generation is included by now, but if not then James D has posted a workaround here.

Ah, and just to be sure; list the mapping of your cable mod.

 

Thanks for your detailed reply!
Following the solutions above I've detached eDP #25 and jumber-wired it to LVDS #11 + #13
but it doesn't light-up still. I might have blown the integrated DC-DC converter indeed will order another panel from Taobao and at the mean time, I'm planning to upgrade my graphics card to MSI GTX1060 MXM(HD7970m deserves an honorable retirement) any advice on that?

ah, the pinout


Too lazy to draw another diagram.
What I did is skip #1 & #40, #23-#26 combined, #28-#31 combined
eDP signal, HPD, PLVDD and LED power connected accordingly

 

Check the voltage on the PLVDD pins with a multimeter to make sure these have switched to 3.3V.

For the pin-out; trace back the pins on the stock cable in order to find out where each lcd pin winds up on the motherboard's edp connector. From the schematics alone it is not clear which grounds are combined regarding panel logic, signal and backlight (there's only two on the mb).

Can't help with 1060M, but in theory these should work just fine hardware-wise (Optimus will take care of the display, so even an LVDS would be ok). Check the Owner's lounge for actual upgrade experiences.

 

It's actually easier to get dgpu edp to work than igpu. I had igpu all wired up but it refused to work. If you flip everything to dgpu and flash some modded bios prema made dgpu edp fires up.

Don't try the screen yet. You have to mod the cable and board for 3.3v. If you already have though the screen is probably ok.

I have a thread on TI. When I am back to my laptop I can repost info here and answer questions in more detail.

 

Thanks for replying I should have asked here earlier
My GTX1060 MXM card is arriving tonight btw, might try to fit that in first!

 

Here's my TI thread: https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...3-hardware-mod-p150em-dgpu-direct-output-wip/

To get 3.3V cut the PLVDD_sel line, then move Q33 to the Q34 position. The power FET necessary for 3.3V on eDP is the Q34, but it was pulled on production P150EM and P170EM boards.

I never got iGPU eDP to work despite everything being wired properly and Prema tinkering with the BIOS. dGPU output does work though, but you need to switch caps on the motherboard to route the MXM slot eDP to the eDP connector instead of the iGPU.

Remove these caps:

C37
C36
C43
C42
C103
C104
C39
C38
C41
C40

And this resistor:

R58

Place the removed caps in these locations to route the MXM slot:

C130
C46
C137
C50
C139
C105
C45
C141
C138
C51

And place the removed resistor here:

R68

You'll need a modified BIOS and vBIOS from Prema (or me if Prema lets me send the files that work best). A modified BIOS is not enough and has some quirks, so a modified vBIOS is also necessary.

The above will get you an image, but your backlight will be out. This is because VGA_BLKTEN is now dead as it's tied to iGPU use. You need to lift pin 2 on chip U8 and solder the leg to pin 1. If this is too tedious for you let me know, we have alternatives. In addition, you need to add a jumper in place of the missing R91.

 

I've got some questions after reading your thread.
1. Is panel bright/dim adjustment working with your mod at last?
2. Does it work if I connect an external(extra) monitor after dGPU eDP re-routing?
since DP/HDMI port are also routed to the PCH not dGPU directly, and extra work is to be done on BIOS/vBIOS
just wondering if that kills the other port



Regarding INV_BLON (U8) output mod, yes it looks hard to me (with my poor soldering skills)
Is it not possible to use the other connectors 3.3v PLVDD #11/#13 as mentioned by t456 above?
I'm also considering making a Y-shaped bundle with one side connect to the eDP for signal + HPD, another side connect to the LVDS for PLVDD, BLON, VLED and GND
and just to make sure, #29 brightness_R connect to the panel side #33 BL_PWM_DIM, correct?

again thanks for the input here

 

1. Yes, but only when using the brightness slider in windows. The keyboard shortcut no longer works.

2. External ports on win7 work well, but win10 is problematic. The intel driver can't run on win10 with dgpu edp connected. You can run the basic windows driver though and have working external ports, but there is no optimus when using the windows basic igpu driver. Having win10 not auto install the intel driver is very frustrating, as MS tries to pull driver control from you in win10.

I'll reply to your other questions when I am on my laptop and can view schematics.

 

You can't use PLVDD from LVDS. It uses the same incomplete circuit that eDP uses. 3.3V for LVDS does not use PLVDD pins 11 and 13, but instead 12 and 14. You need to fill the missing Q34 pad. If you don't have a heat gun to switch the Q33 5V FET to the Q34 3.3V FET pad you'll need to bypass the whole PLVDD circuit for 3.3V. You can use LVDS pins 12 and 14 if you want to bypass.

Brightness_R is the PWM for backlight control from the PCH. This goes dead if no LVDS screen is connected. You need to route the dGPU backlight PWM, which is pin EX_VGA_BKLPWM_S on the eDP connector. To finish the dGPU backligh control wiring you need to add a dab of solder bridging the connection across the missing R91.

Unfortunately while backlight brightness is routed off the MXM slot, blacklight on/off is not, so you cannot replace the PCH (iGPU) backlight on/off line on pin 2 of U8. For now just wire INV_BLON to 3.3V.

 

Do you mean #12 & #16, 3.3VS?(#14 is VGA_ENAVDD)
I have a heat gun at work just lack of proper skills fear of damaging the whole board
How about getting another MEP4435Q8 FET and solder it onto Q34 without touching Q33? That would be a tad easier for me.

Talking about Brightness_R, I've replaced my HD7970m MXM with a MSI GTX1060 MXM last night and successfully entered Windows (7), but then I've lost brightness control of the LVDS screen(windows brightness slider disappeared) and external DVI/DP output. AMD driver removed, Intel HD driver reinstalled - properly(I suppose) and after some driver .ini mod, the latest nv driver for pascal is also installed. Still the screen is on VGASave driver, am I missing something here? Do i need a modified BIOS/vBIOS file even with the original LVDS screen? BIOS is prema mod for P170EM already
https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/10163-pascal-mxm-p-series-refresh/&page=6
I'm slowly reading through this thread, do you think i could locate some hint in there or somewhere else?
Here attach with some photos Thank you

 

and with the pinout revised: (just ignore the GND they will be connected )

after those capacitor relocated, R58 removed, R68/R91 connected with solder I should be able to light up the screen?

 

I can't see any of your images other than those in the OP. I'm not sure if others have this problem or not.

Yes I meant pins 12 and 16. Sorry for the typo.

Yes you can just use another chip and have both Q33 and Q34 filled. Q33 is just unnecessary as we would never use 5V and was a source of a FET. Remember that the PLVDD line must be cut or connected to 3.3V.

I never ran Pascal cards so I don't know what's necessary to get them to run. I believe a modified BIOS is required.

As for dGPU eDP working without a modified system BIOS, it will partially work if the 1060 vBIOS is set to ignore the MXM structure and use any display it detects. Some 980m vBIOS were set up this way, but most weren't. If the vBIOS is set up like this you will only get an image if the 1060 driver is running properly, and it will only work once you get to windows. I would get the 1060 working properly in optimus before I try getting the eDP working. But if you already have all the physical mods in place there's no harm in trying.

 

Ah, didn't notice, image link fixed!
With everything's done and if I failed to mod U8 pin 1,2, I'll have to connect backlight enable from the panel to 3.3v, correct?

For the Pascal MXM, it's just a mess of new and old drivers.
The latest Intel Graphics driver won't work properly with NV and keep triggering the win7 VGAsave adapter,
when I wanted to boot into safe mode to remove them it was stuck at system32\amdkmpfd.sys ... loading forever
So i plugged another SSD in and installed a clean copy of windows 7, used the old intel graphics driver from clevo dated back to 2013.
Then installing the latest NV driver with .ini mod, and it's working now!

btw is there any diagram which locate all cap and resistors on the PCB?
I still couldn't find R91...

 

R91 is located very close to the eDP connector.

Yes, if you don't source pin2 of U8 then you need to connect the panel's INV_BLON to 3.3V instead of the INV_BLON circuit.

With your driver now running give it a shot if you fixed PLVDD.

Also I still can't see your images.

 

NBR often has probs with images...

Tapatalk shows the image with the 1060 installed as a thumbnail for the thread but once I go in the thread not one loads...

 

Switched host to imgur are they visible now?

 

Yep. In Tapatalk and on pc

 

Those heatsinks make me nostalgic

Pretty cool investigations on the circuitry, I shall continue to watch

 

Isn't P170s heatsink decent enough for 1060 with proper care and tweak it should serve well into coffeelake 6c / zen apu's era, really looking forward to those aswell

 

Yes the heatsinks are good. 1060 uses less power than the 7970m and 680. If you want you can upgrade to the sm series heatsinks.

In the pic you showed you did not have any thermal pads on the core inductors. You should add them.

 

P170/P177sm's heatsink? Does it fit at all? I will have a look on taobao.

Indeed, the old pad used on 7970m teared when I remove the sink, I've ordered some Laird tflex 700 1mm for them, due to arrive tonight, thanks for reminding.
I'll also carry out the eDP re-routing and panel wiring change this weekend, hopefully success so I could proceed with the BIOS/vBIOS change

 

The sm heatsinks are 100% compatible. HM, EM, and SM laptops all have interchangeable parts. Looking closely at your pics though I see you already have an early SM heatsink meant for the 780m. The 880m and 980m heatsinks are slightly better, but what you have is already overkill for a 1060.

I've had an email exchange with Prema. Don't do anything that will break LVDS like pulling up pin 2 on U8. The 1060 is very quirky on EM systems and will freeze POST if things aren't just right. My dGPU mod is incompatible with a 1060 so you need your own mod.

Good luck with the final mods.

 

Sad news for me I'll definitely need help on the BIOS/firmware thingy.

Anyway to sum up the mod:
1. re-route eDP with capacitors
2. remove R58
3. add Q34 for 3.3v eDP PLVDD
4. add R68/R91
5. panel BL_Enable to 3.3v

LVDS circuit remain undisturbed
Thanks for every input here and I'll let y'all know the results!

 

The above are correct. You can skip removing R58 though if you want. I just did it for completeness and there was no change from before and after removing it.

 

Update: GTX1060 running, with slight throttle

Trying to test the installation with kombuster and games tonight, and discovered it's actually running quite hot, hotter than expected

but putting my hands behind the fan, doesn't feel that warm compared to a full load hd7970m

So I've turned my P170 upside down again for inspection


MSI's GTX1060 MXM implementation have some components located to the left of the die, between screw #2 and #3, as shown in the picture. I suspect that is causing uneven contact of the heatsink. So I've added a little spring taken from my mini-z racer's suspension to screw #3. That lowered the sink further, but still under sustained load the GPU reaches 90'c hence throttling any suggestions?

 

Shave off the parts of the heatsink that touch the card in the wrong spots. It looks like you're hitting an inductor. A Dremel tool is great for this. If you don't have one a hacksaw and file are sufficient.

Do not try to compensate by increasing how tight the heatsink is. You will kill the card doing that. You cannot have the heatsink incorrectly contacting the card anywhere.

 

For 170xm yes, 370xm heatsink for 1st gpu only looks like it is the same but it is not. And btw msi 1060 was P&P or need some magic?

 

It's P&P, only needed some care on driver installation ( .ini edit ) and the heatsink issue as shown above.
BIOS / vBIOS remain untouched.

 

Any news? The lack of an update makes me think you burned something.

 

hmm, not yet
just got everything on hand last weekend and was messing around with the GTX1060



I tried to do some soldering but somehow it's not sticking to the pcb.
I may need some better solder, any suggestions?
My iron is able to adjust between 250C to 450C, it was set at 400C.

 

Were you able to remove the iGPU caps?

 

Yes, I removed 4 of them already.

 

Removing caps takes more heat than added them so I'm confused why you're having a problem. Just make sure you have a dab of solder on the tip and it should melt the unleaded solder on the board.

It looks like you got extra power FETs for the mobo's GPU power supply circuit? I piggy backed an extra set of ME 4425s on mine.

What do you plan on doing with all those larger ceramic caps? Are you going to add them to the 1060, or maybe the missing caps for the mobo's CPU voltage filtering? Most of the caps missing are for the system agent and memory controller and not the cores, so I don't know what adding those will get you.

 

You need to remove any solder mask and apply flux if the solder will not stick.

 

Any updates?

If you're having problems I can just do the mod for you if you happen to be around upstate NY.

 

Thank you for your kind offer, but I'm from the other side of the globe, Hong Kong

I did some soldering last weekend and burnt 3 of them (measuring with multimeter and they're shorted)
So I've changed the plan a bit: bought some silver epoxy and just stick the new cap on it. Hopefully it will be a bit easier for me...

 

I always love threads like this. Awesome to see you guys modding the hell out of your Clevos.

 

I doubt that will work. If anything having no cap and shorting the connection with solder may work. That may blow out the eDP drivers though as DC voltage differences will no longer be screened out, but I think the caps are more of a static charge safety for if you had external cables that were regularly being plugged and unplugged.