ZG5 pinout

Newbie here in the forum, hoping to find some information. I'm trying to find a pinout on the ZG5 for the motherboard and LCD. I'll explain what I'm trying to do but please no bashing or negative input. I've already heard answers of yes, no, maybe and are you stupid for trying to ruin a perfectly good netbook, lol. I'm trying to install a ZG5 in my project Nissan. I'm removing the LCD and installing it in my sunvisor so the problem is this: I need an LCD ribbon cable 10 feet long. Yes, that's a 10, lol. Now before I hear the garbage about data loss, packet loss, etc. I'm very much aware that it may not work so I do have an alternative but would rather have a pin out for the LCD ribbon cable connection so I can try to have the webcam and mic work too. So question is where can I find a pinout for the mobo and LCD? Now for the alternative, the LCD cable has 24 wires, 15 LCD, the other 9 for mic and webcam. Well the VGA port just happens to have 15 pins. I know data can travel thru a VGA cable longer than 10 feet but one: I still need a pinout of the LCD to make the cable connections and two: would there be issues with power since external monitors have their own power source? I might be able to answer the power source question if I had a pinout but I can't find one anywhere. Sorry the post is long, just trying to make clear what I'm doing, thanks in advance!

 

P.S. Sorry for the double post and correction, I think there's 25 wires in the LCD ribbon cable, either way 15 for the LCD.

 

Can't help you with the pinout, but as a technician who's always putting new electronic gadgets in my car I must say I'm very intrigued. I'd really like to see the final product as well, so make sure you take as many pics of the process as you can. I've just installed a 7" WinCE computer in my Falcon, with GPS, audio & video input (via RCA-3.5mm jack) with an inbuilt FM transmitter, so it handles just about everything for me.

As for the ZG5, I'd be more inclined to use a 12volt monitor with VGA input. You're right that VGA can send data across longer distances thanks to the cable. But the reason I am suggesting this is because it's easy and you can buy pre-made VGA cables at around 10 foot or longer. All you'd have to do is snip the end off it, locate the appropriate pins/wires (which you can find at www.pinouts.ru), remove (de-solder) the VGA port and hard wire (solder) the VGA cable to the mainboard, which would make for a cleaner installlation. Plus since you're intending to open up the ZG5 and attempt something that will void your warranty anyway, in my opinion it's a better option.

I'd also suggest using an in-car charger combined with the ZG5's battery, that way you can leave the netbook in standby mode when the vehicles not being driven, so as to save the cars battery.

The hard part for you will be finding a monitor that fits where you want it to go AND has a high enough resolution to be actually usable.

Hope this helps, P.S, ill delete the other post for you.

 

Well I figured why buy a gps for roughly $300 when I have a perfectly good netbook I can tear apart, lol. Why be limited to only maps when I can tether it to my blackberry and have internet access at the same time, yes I know theres other ways to be "mobile" but my carrier TMobile doesnt charge for tethering like other carriers. Not to mention being able to use a computer in your car would be awesome, lol. Since the screen is small, but much bigger than a GPS, why not put it in your face and closer to what you should focus on, the road, not the computer, lol. Gonna also add an FM modulator to it so I can use it to store and play music thru the car stereo too. I contacted a few places that "custom" make cables but it seems nobody wants anything to do with it. I have been hacking apart the LCD ribbon cable for "testing" purposes to see if it will even work with the ribbon cable but am still working on it so the "rough draft" version I might finish up this weekend, only have 3 more wires to hack, splice and extend 10ft to at least test the LCD and length of cable. Now with the VGA port, I can find a pinout of the VGA cables, wiki I think, but still need a pinout of the LCD to solder the cables directly to the LCD. Might just have to try it the "old fashioned" way, trial and error, lol. Just hate to possibly destroy so many LCD's, lol.

 

Well an update and correction to my other correction, lol. There are 17 wires for the LCD which now makes more sense. 15 for the actual LCD and I'm guessing the other 2 are powering the display. So I finally finished up extending the ribbon cable but I think I crossed a wire or two, hard to see those little bastards, lol. Hooked it up to test it out, LED's come on and turn back off. Thinking that maybe its crossed wires since I unplugged the ribbon cable completely and the computer boots just fine, I plug the cable back up and turn it on and the LED's come on and it turns back off, so it must be a wiring problem. Tested 2 displays and both work with the "normal" cable. Not a complete failure though, I at least found out that it don't harm the computer, guessing it fails the POST and shuts down to prevent damage, lol. Now if I can manage to get a pinout of the display then I should be able to use a VGA cable and run 2 extra wires to supply the power, (I'm guessing that's what the other 2 are for) and it should work perfect. Might order another ribbon cable and try extending it again to see if it would actually work or not since I obviously messed up the first one, lol. So as it sits, still need a pinout for the display.

 

After much research I've found that the only way to use the VGA port to connect a VGA cable to the display is thru a controller. Something about converting the signal from analog to digital. This controller is built into the laptop. Using the VGA port means I would need another controller. As far as I've found, they make controllers for other LCD's but none with the connector for the 8.9" display. May have found an easier route though. In my searching for a controller I found an external 8.9" display, (they claim 9" though) made by doublesight, (DS-90U). I ordered it on amazon.com for $130 and it seems like the perfect victim for my project. It actually uses the USB port for the display as opposed to the VGA port and it pulls its power from the same USB port as well. Sounds like a winner to me. I would have liked to have found just the USB controller that is in that monitor but have found absolutely zero parts for that monitor. Probably because as far as I can tell it came out late last year so its fairly new. It would help if I knew some part numbers but I can't find anything for that monitor. It should be here Thursday or Friday so as soon as I can rip it apart, I'll post part numbers and verify the LCD is the same as the ZG5. I the meantime I need to find a "victim" sunvisor to rip apart to figure out the best way to mount inside of it. I don't want to ruin a perfectly good visor, (but apparently I'll attempt to ruin a good $130 monitor, funny, lol).

 

So I got the new USB monitor in today and yep, its in pieces, lol. Turns out I was right. It uses the exact same 8.9" display but the only difference is that it has a USB controller. I do have a part number for the controller PN:20089-200002 but guess what? Absolutely nothing found under that so I assume the parts haven't been released as of yet. Graphics arent as smooth, (mainly shading I guess is the "technical" term I'm looking for) and I'm assuming that has something to do with the USB controller but they're not horribly too far off. I may be able to play with the settings to help smooth it out but I'll try that as soon as I'm done tearing it up, lol. I'll post pics of the "finished" install into my victim sunvisor and probably once again of the final "good" sunvisor as soon as I figure out the best way to install it. The object of the installation is to be able to permanently install the monitor while being able to still remove the netbook from the car. Shouldnt be too much of a problem as everything now is as simple as plugging it up and turning it on.