Prompted by your good chef in IRC here's the second part to my effort to create a digital picture frame. In the first part I mainly described a couple of "gotchas" I ran into with respect to using software, and things I'd recommend doing before putting the notebook in the frame. In this part I want to stress how important pre-planning is with respect to the entire project. I took the project right through to the end - with a working digital picture frame as an end result, but I learned some things about what frame to choose, matting and other non-geek aspects that would make building a digital picture frame simpler.
One of the problems I ran into was picking the "right" frame. I spent A LOT of time looking at stores for a frame that was deep enough to hold the notebook without all the plastic stripped off. I found one that I thought was close (pictured), but when things came apart it wasn't nearly enough. That really wasn't a huge deal because the notebook could sit on a bookcase. I also learned that most hardware vendors have no flipping idea about what furring was? Furring is one of the terms the Linux Toys book, where this project idea originally came from, uses to describe wooden or metal slats used to hold something in (e.g. a notebook into a frame). I discovered too late that the frame I bought actually had the back wood NAILED into the frame. If you're buying a frame look for a quick release mechnism so you can easily take the back off. A little too late I had an offer to build a custom frame.
To further my dismay the picture I bought was glued to the matting, so when I went to take the matting off it crumbled like a sad doll. But with a little patience I did get it apart in relatively good condition. I knew the matting wouldn't be suitable, so I drove around looking for bristol board that I could cut for a frame. I bought both black and white. By the time I got everything measured on the black bristol board, my "test bed board," I really didn't feel like cutting another board - note to self: keep SHARP utility knife around and lots of blades!
The frame proved challenging, but taking apart the notebook was even more of a challenge. I build and repair PCs in my day job, so I have a little experience with electronics, but I generally don't work with notebooks other than to swap RAM, hard drives, etc. I was very delecate handling the notebook, so delicate that I decided to leave the plastic casing on the main part of the notebook. I did remove the plastic casing from the screen side of the notebook. It proved a little bit of a challenge despite the fact that I knew all the screws were hidden behind small rubber tabs in the screen. I actually busted plastic off the bottom of the screen, knowing that there were a couple of screws behind some tabs I was having trouble removing. As it turns out I was able to remove the tabs after most of the plastic shield was removed. I used electrical tape to tape off the electronics.
This is the part where if the hardware guys and I knew what furring was I would have saved myself lots of grief, electrical tape and duct tape. If you squint real hard you can see a photograph of a giraffe in the digital picture frame. I managed to get everything in, but with LOTS of duct tape and electrical tape. I don't recommend this to anyone! Get some wooden strips and make sure the notebook is securely fastened. It doesn't matter how much duct tape you use, the notebook is going to move, sorry Red Green! I also used black electrical tape to tape my network cable, which was actually black, the same colour as my power cable, together.
The end result was a working picture frame that my family could access from their Y: drive. I got a lot of "that's very cool" despite the fact that it was a poor job at best. In an effort to clean up I removed all the components, completely stripped ALL the plastic off the notebook, and in the process seem to have killed the notebook. Though I was extremely careful I didn't use an anti-static strap or mat. If you're going to completely tear apart your notebook make sure you're properly grounded, even if it is only a Pentium I or II notebook.
I will be building another picture frame notebook. It was a fun project to build and I learned a lot in the process. My recommendations are:
- If you can get someone who is willing to build you a custom frame cheaply, take them up on that offer.
- Test your notebook often when you're taking it apart to make sure you haven't tripped up anything.
- If you're doing some custom matting keep sharp knives around.
- Jewelers screwdrivers are wonderful for taking notebooks apart. I bought mine for $1.00 at a dollar store. Use a set that's shorter rather than longer. Long jewelers screwdrivers tend to be more difficult to use.
- Make sure you have lots of time to do this project. It's not a 1 hour project.
