The long road to a final unit

[EvilDragon]

A flex cable is indeed needed (like with any other device out there as well) as you can't fit enough wires through the hinge.


However, the cable is twice as wide, doesn't have any edges where it can rub where it's rolled and we only need half of the traces (so no double side like on the Pandora). We could even make redundant traces in a different order on the other side if we wanted to (but I doubt we need that).

 

[Djhg2000]

I can't find it now but I'm sure I've seen some manufacturer roll up the cable and put this black textile-like tape around it.

I think I found it in a laptop and it did exactly what we want; it went through a hinge. It could have been a phone but that seems less likely.

It felt really sturdy and I would assume it moved the flex in the cable to points where it could move without rubbing against edges.

Edit:

Found it, it's the screen cable to my EeePC: i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/340/982/388/388982340_235.jpg . It seems like Toshiba uses similar cables. Now we need to find a supplier who can fabricate a cable for us...

 

[thatgui]

A flex cable is indeed needed (like with any other device out there as well) as you can't fit enough wires through the hinge.

I'm looking at my Lenovo Thinkpad x201s and as it looks like, the LCD just goes straight up from the base (in)to the lid, exposing a part of the cable in the small gap between both of them. Why isn't that a possible in the Pyras case ?

 

[EvilDragon]

Well, it might be possible, but the LCD cable connector is at a place where there's no direct connection...

 

[fusion_power]

A flex cable is indeed needed (like with any other device out there as well) as you can't fit enough wires through the hinge.

I'm looking at my Lenovo Thinkpad x201s and as it looks like, the LCD just goes straight up from the base (in)to the lid, exposing a part of the cable in the small gap between both of them. Why isn't that a possible in the Pyras case ?

A twisted cable can last much longer (if done right) than a straight one, the straight cable always have all the bending force onto one spot, really bad design imho. A twisted solution reduces that an can rotate in itself without having all the force at one spot.


Again, the twisting was not the issue with the first CC Pandora ribbon. But I would still prefer a simpler solution with a single cable through the hinge and a additional decoder chip next to the screen so no direct ribbon data cable is needed (like it was planed actualy).


And IF you want a ribbon and want to twist it through the hinge like onto the Pandora, it may be better to use an sloped/angled design like this:

This could make the rolling and guiding through the hinge much easier than a straight cable.

 

[rygD]

I guess I need to pick up another Pandora LCD cable or 5, since it turns out they are cutting into themselves.  Any ideas on how to prevent that?

Is it possible to get a more durable inexpensive outer layer/coating/sleeve for the Pyra LCD cable to avoid that type of damage?  I am guessing as long as it is durable enough not to separate or otherwise damage the traces internally the next step is protecting it from the outside.

ED, I like redundancy.  If it adds no cost, and isn't difficult to design and implement, I say go for it.

 

[TrashyMG]

I guess I need to pick up another Pandora LCD cable or 5, since it turns out they are cutting into themselves.  Any ideas on how to prevent that?

Could it be a deformity in the case around the hinge that could be cutting into the cable?  

 

[rygD]

I don't know, but if those who have had it happen would check it would be massively appreciated.  I will be rather unhappy if these devices which are being discontinued because of the lack of parts are unusable because of the lack of replacement parts.  I could open and close mine a couple hundred times a day to see what happens.  Maybe I should add some tape to all the sharp cable edges when recasing it to avoid cable self-sawing.

 

[EvilDragon]

They are cutting into themselves if they're not assembled properly.

 

[GOGO]

They are cutting into themselves if they're not assembled properly.

I never opened my Pandora to do any repairs or mods. So am I save from my LCD wire cutting into itself because my pandora was and still is assembled by OpenPandora GmbH? How long will it last?

I was paying a fortune partly because there were spare parts freely available. Your shop is out of nubs and LCD wires for quite some time now. My Pandora became my most important device. I'm getting nervous.

 

[rygD]

Getting nervous here, too.

They are cutting into themselves if they're not assembled properly.

How do we make sure to assemble them properly?  In the video it seemed pretty straightforward, so if we follow your directions are our Pandoras safe?

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

I used the intructions in the video, and my Pandora is going on 2 years old with me with constant use with no problem.  Never had an LCD cable issue so far.  As with anything else if you are not gentle with your toy, it will get damge sooner than later.  When I open and close the lid, I do that very gently and slowly...

 

[Zink]

They are cutting into themselves if they're not assembled properly.

Umm, I mean no offence, but are you absolutely sure about that?

The ribbon in my pandora had cut into itself despite the fact that it was assembled by your people. That can mean that:

a) my Pandora's cable had been assembled incorrectly,

B) the cable misaligned itself during normal use over 1,5 years,

c) you are wrong, and the cable will cut itself regardless of assembly.

In any case, I would really appreciate if a better solution was developed for Pyra (or at least the same solution with many redundant wires).

As for how it's made in laptops, I have disassembled several laptops in my life, and I never saw the rolled ribbon, like in Pandora. I have now two: Dell and Acer, and they both have the cable similar to the one Djhg2000 wrote about - thin individual wires grouped into one thick tube or a tape of wires rolled into a tube. I can make some pictures when I have a chance.

 

[thatgui]

A twisted cable can last much longer (if done right) than a straight one, the straight cable always have all the bending force onto one spot, really bad design imho. A twisted solution reduces that an can rotate in itself without having all the force at one spot.

Again, the twisting was not the issue with the first CC Pandora ribbon. But I would still prefer a simpler solution with a single cable through the hinge and a additional decoder chip next to the screen so no direct ribbon data cable is needed (like it was planed actualy).

And IF you want a ribbon and want to twist it through the hinge like onto the Pandora, it may be better to use an sloped/angled design like this:

This could make the rolling and guiding through the hinge much easier than a straight cable.

Having a cable constantly rubbing against itself does not sound very sensible either, but I don't know for sure. The "Lenovo solution" seems to last very well, I know that they use this kind of connection since at least the x60 series (probably earlier series too) and I have never heard of a display cable having a similiar problem, with a lot of the x60/1 notebooks still under heavy use (since its initial release in 2007).But this is moot anyway, if an attempt makes no sense, mechanically.

 

[Grench]

How many leads does the Pyra need case to screen?

What about having a row of exposed contacts on the top of the base hinge and a series of wires/brushes that connect to them from the screen? Look ma, no moving cables!

Of course such a connection would be prone to dirt, wear, etc... probably not a great idea.

I like how it was done in the Thinkpads - plastic armored flat cable through slots.

I'm not so fond of having the flat looped cable go through the hinge. It strikes me as another 'it works in the DS so we're doing it that way' solution. Hopefully ED has it all figured out.

 

[comradekingu]

A solution could be to beef up the cable. IBM always had a braided mesh around the screen cable going up to the lid.

Also making sure the inside of the hinge is smooth will help.

 

[Linux-SWAT]

They are cutting into themselves if they're not assembled properly.

Umm, I mean no offence, but are you absolutely sure about that?

The ribbon in my pandora had cut into itself despite the fact that it was assembled by your people. That can mean that:

a) my Pandora's cable had been assembled incorrectly,

B) the cable misaligned itself during normal use over 1,5 years,

c) you are wrong, and the cable will cut itself regardless of assembly.

In any case, I would really appreciate if a better solution was developed for Pyra (or at least the same solution with many redundant wires).

As for how it's made in laptops, I have disassembled several laptops in my life, and I never saw the rolled ribbon, like in Pandora. I have now two: Dell and Acer, and they both have the cable similar to the one Djhg2000 wrote about - thin individual wires grouped into one thick tube or a tape of wires rolled into a tube. I can make some pictures when I have a chance.

Not only ED is sure about that, but also everyone who knows how to fix the cable.

That said, I've seen cases where the tape used at the back of the screen wasn't properly gluing. With time, the cable moved enough to get itself into trouble.

It concerns cable generation 1 and 2 (silver).

About gen 3 (black), I didn't see a single problem yet.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

How about wireless. Just use a miracast screen


Talking about miracast, can Pyra wirelessly connect to a miracast-equipped monitor?

 

[fusion_power]

How about wireless. Just use a miracast screen


Talking about miracast, can Pyra wirelessly connect to a miracast-equipped monitor?

I'm sure this would be possible somehow to transmit the image to the screen wireless. Question is how big is the delay then.  

 

[Zink]

Not only ED is sure about that, but also everyone who knows how to fix the cable.

That said, I've seen cases where the tape used at the back of the screen wasn't properly gluing. With time, the cable moved enough to get itself into trouble.

It concerns cable generation 1 and 2 (silver).

About gen 3 (black), I didn't see a single problem yet.

Oh, the one that broke for me was the silver one. That sounds promising. I would still feel safer with the redundant wires, if that won't add much to the cost