The new USB-C power bank has arrived. So, how did it do as a battery for the DIY laptop?In brief: The power bank delivers plenty of power for the motherboard, GPU, and other peripherals It can’t deliver enough to power the LCD controller & panel from a separate outlet. Actually, it could, but would require […]
The new, slightly larger LCD panel has arrived, as has a PCIe riser plus mounting frame. Someone else warned me that multiple PCIe risers that he tried didn’t work, a good reminder that everything should be tested…The video above shows the test run using the new components. As you can see, it’s all working well. […]
The laptop project has stalled. I’m waiting for some components to arrive, and I can’t order the replacement USB power bank I need, because it’s out-of-stock. It’s been out-of-stock for over a month now. While I’m waiting, let’s have a look at keyboards.USB keyboards just like your laptop keyboard are hard to find. Touch-pads aren’t […]
The USB-C battery pack has arrived; let the testing begin! At first glance it looks like the battery pack is working great. I had the machine fully running on battery power. However, there are some issues… The battery is supposed to switch on automatically when a load is attached via one of the two USB-C […]
The original DIY laptop design used a small UPS with a home-made lithium ion battery pack. This works, but has a potential safety issue. There’s no way to guarantee that the batteries you buy are authentic and of high quality without doing your own testing. Poorly made counterfeits could spontaneously ignite or explode, and that […]
ZitaFTP Server v1.19 has just been released. It brings us a step closer to dropping the “pre-release” label with the following updates:Overwriting a file wasn’t truncating it back to 0 (i.e., overwriting with a smaller file wouldn’t change the file size). FIXED Now starts the GUI on-demand if the port number is 0 (i.e., the […]
I want to upgrade my DIY laptop’s LCD screen, because I’ve found a bigger keyboard (more about that one later). Plus, I want a true 24-bit colour LCD panel. The current 14″ panel is 18-bit, and I can see banding where there should be smooth gradients. In brief, here’s a list of the specifications that […]
It’s important that the DIY laptop I’m designing has enough cooling, or it’ll fry itself. So, I’m building a temperature logger that will be able to monitor the temperature in multiple locations. It’s a side project of a side project…The video above shows me getting the first temperature sensor up and running with an Arduino […]
Lately I’ve received an increase in queries about the DIY Mini-ITX laptop project that I was working on. Some assume that the project is dead. It’s not; it’s just sleeping. See the video above for details.DIY Laptop Project?If you missed it, I demonstrated a battery powered Mini-ITX machine end of 2017, and announced plans to […]
ERROR It’s taken a while and several iterations, but I’ve finally got a a full HD (1920×1080) LCD panel and controller that I’m happy with.What I like:Full HD screen with low response time A matte anti-glare screen surface The controller has a sturdy cable & connector to the LCD panel Can be powered from a […]
