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N.A.Q. How do I turn my old laptop into a digital picture frame? With patience. This is a bit of a project. It encompasses some programming, some electrical work, and woodworking. None of it is extremely difficult, but at times it can sure feel like you've bitten off more than you can chew.
Step One: Select your victim. For this exercise, I'll be using a Dell Latitude CP M233ST. The LCD needs to be in good, of not great, shape. You'll also need a hard drive, CD-Rom, and a USB port*. Step Two: Pick your frame. 10x13 or 11x14 is a good match for an 800x600 display. CONSIDER THIS: There are a kajillion and a half manufacturers of LCD picture frames these days, which means your picture frame needs to be cool... it needs to stand out, it needs to have *YOU* (or the recipient) written all over its design. The last thing you want to do is spend 3-4 hours building something that looks like it came from Radio Shack. That said, also take a few things into account: The laptop size (once stripped of most of its plastics, the location of the USB key we're going to use (and how it interacts with the frame), and where you want the frame to sit when it is done. Also remember, if you're feeling lazy, this project can probably be fit into a shadowbox. Step Three: Gather your supplies.
Let's Roll.... While the laptop is still in one piece, boot from your DSL Live CD. At the boot prompt enter: fb800x600 noscsi noagp nomce noddc expert and press enter. then turn it on: sudo swapon /dev/hda1 Now install DSL: sudo -u root dsl-hdinstall. If you followed the steps above, you will be installing to HDA2. This creates a backup of the unmodified file. At the command prompt type in: sudo apt-get install feh unclutter Now enter: sudo nano .xinitrc Look for the second line that says "fi". Delete all lines after that (CTRL-K), and replace with: As the last entry (should be line 4), enter: mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 This mounts the USB key that the pictures will be stored on.
CTRL-X, followed with YES to write out the new file. Enter one per line: CTRL-X, followed by "y" to write out the file. (Our flags tell
FEH to stretch or shrink the picture, run at full screen, randomly select
the picture, and switch it every 300 seconds (5 minutes). cd /usr/local/bin Shut her down, and grab the screwdriver. Remove the battery, and anything else that easily pops out. Start removing all plastics, EXCEPT the back cover of the LCD. Depending on your laptop design, this can be a useful item to keep, as it gives you a shield against stray backlighting escaping the frame, it gives you something less destructive to hit glue the matte to, and a better surface for gluing the motherboard down. (Yes, I just said "glue the motherboard"... I'll say it again in a minute.) Remove the hinge assembly that mounts the LCD to the motherboard. We're basically making it a clean shot to fold the laptop backwards, with the motherboard now behind the LCD. You'll also want to adjust where it is sitting, allowing for the power cord connector and/or USB key location. Now warm up the glue gun, and plaster that sucker to the back of the LCD cover. Don't block any holes that are important. If you plan on continuing to hack this thing, you might want to leave access to the CD-Rom connector, etc available. It's a fine balance, but you want it on there SECURE! Let the glue dry for a few minutes. Wipe down a flat surface, drop your matte on it, and then place your contraption on it, flipping regularly to make sure you have it squared and aligned to the matte opening. (Keep in mind, you can't always trust the laptop manufacturer to make a perfectly square LCD cover. Verify with your eyes! Now take the glue gun, and run a bead around the outside of the LCD cover, making sure that equal portions are touching the cover and the matte. Allow it to dry. Clean the inside glass of your picture frame. Do a good job, we won't be able to get to it again. Place the matte and laptop remains in the frame. Verify that they are square, and place another bead around the outside of the matte, securing it to the frame. If the border of your picture frame is wide enough to hide it, you can opt to use double sided tape instead. (This can give you a little more wiggle room with the back case we're going to build next.) How, let's build the back cover. Using a ruler, find out the height your box needs to be to cover the laptop components, without sticking out freakishly from the back of the picture frame. My project needed to be 2 and a half inches deep, measured from the matte. Using balsa wood, build a box to cover the back side. I used sheets of balsa, trimmed to 2.5 inches, and connected for a 3 sided box. The bottom was left open, with nothing more than a quarter inch crossbeam to complete a "box" design. Using smaller pieces cut from the quarter inch, I reinforced my corner sections. I them glued the back that came with the frame onto the box. (If your frame back didn't come with a kick-stand, you might want to attach it now... or if it is big enough, use it as the box back, instead of the frame backing.) After drying 24 hours, I used a speed bore bit to cut an access hole that will align with the laptop power switch. Depending on your personal preference, now might be a good time to paint the box you created. You don't want it to clash too much with the frame. Now, connect and secure your power cord to the laptop, and test out the rig as it sits. On this next part, I can't be of much assistance. It is time to attach the back to the frame, completing the project. If you plan on using your frame as-is, with little to no hacking, grab the glue gun, the gorilla glue, or some other form of your favorite adhesive and have at it. If you plan on hacking, or making any modifications that require hardware, you're going to want to create a sturdy, but removable method of securing the back. On the 4 picture frames I've built, here is what I've done:
"Use your best judgment... you know we trust you."
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Anything that isn't already copyrighted elsewhere, copyright me 1995-2008