I’ve got some more progress to report. I printed a new version of the bottom case with a routing channel for the eDP cable and a little cover to hold it in place. You can also see a small guide that lives in the screen assembly for the same purpose. I’ll likely wrap the cable in some chafe-protecting tape before I final assemble everything.
The keyboard and trackpoint are now fully functional as well. I’m using the power and USB lines that are present on the mainboard’s input cover connector. That’s the flex jumper you see on the bottom right. The keyboard row/col lines are connected directly to the Teensy 3.6 microcontroller. The trackpoint strain elements are run through a Sprintek 8707 trackpoint to PS/2 board, which then runs to the Teensy.
In the video you can also see the new top cover I designed to replace the original part. Mine was in about 5 pieces and couldn’t really be salvaged. This new piece should also be compatible with completely unmodified 701Cs, so it might be useful to people restoring those machines.
The Caps Lock, Num Lock, and Scroll Lock indicators are working as well.
Main open work on the integration board:
Test the lid sensor and audio board passthrough. (Missing a sufficiently long FFC cable at the moment)
Test the wifi/bluetooth. (Have all the parts, just haven’t done it yet)
Fix the power button PCB. (I goofed up the tactile button pinout)
Fix some function key related bugs in the QMK firmware build. (Some Fn key combos put the key overlays in a wonky state)
Thank you very much for the detailed updates on this. I think the red printed part look super classy on this. In the video where you are showing the keyboard in action as it slides out I saw just how compact the 701C really was. Such a marvelous notebook. This is the perfect size to me. Just small enough to be ultra portable but big enough with the awesome keyboard to be totally usable.
I would love to see a video of the Framebook 701C when and if you have the time for something like that. What a way to continue the amazing engineering in the original and using it today to great effect.
I don’t think I would ever tire of getting updates on this.
@2disbetter thank you! The footprint really is quite small for what it is, but the thickness is how it still shows its age. A Framework 13 is a fair bit larger, but the significantly lower profile ultimately makes it easier to tote around and use.
The red is just the random PLA I happen to have in the printer right now. I definitely want the “finished product” to be black.
Current status: After the last progress push I hit minor burnout on the project, so I’ve put it aside. This isn’t atypical for me. I work on things in spurts. I’ll get back to it in a few weeks. This is a pre-emptive apology for the upcoming lack of updates.
Super cool! Thanks for the update again! I’ve been gone from the forums for a while, so I wasn’t seeing any updates. This is still such a cool way to upcycle a legendary older thinkpad.
Hah, no stress at all. I actually just received another broken 701C in the mail that I managed to find for a fair price. This one will donate some of its parts to my build. I think now that I have all the spares I need I’ll get back to the project. Hopefully I’ll have some fresh updates next week!
@Karl_Buchka I’m deeply inspired by your work, and decided to create one of my own for x31.
I’ve got some questions. I’m wondering what pins you are using from the internal connector. It seems like it only gives one USB and rest are for keyboard rows and colums. Are you using that one USB for running all peripherals? Perhaps there’s a USB hub on the daughter board?
I’m also wondering what that m.2 connector on daughter board is for.
Any advise would be so appreciated. Awesome work, and thanks!
Thank you for the kind words! The only pins I’m using on the input cover connector are for USB, 5V power, and the power switch input.
There is no USB hub on that board. The USB D+/D- lines are run directly to the corresponding pins on the Teensy microcontroller.
The additional USB-A ports and Ethernet port are broken out from one of the left side USB-C ports on the Framework mainboard. Those are routed via a custom 4-port USB hub that I designed.
The M.2 connector is a 1:1 breakout of the M.2 connector on the right side of the mainboard. Since the mainboard is pushed up against the right side of the case, I didn’t have enough room to install the Wifi/BT module. I designed a 7.5mm wide board with an M.2 card-edge interface that flips all the conductors 180 degrees onto a high density FFC cable, which then runs to my input cover board and breaks them back out to the M.2 connector you see.
Let us know how it goes when you get a moment! Absolutely love the work you’re doing here, as someone who has also come from a long line of Thinkpads to using Frameworks now.
JUST saw this and I can only say this is an absolutely amazing project as someone who uniquely used thinkpads a long time ago when they were the greatest laptops around. Resurrecting such notebooks is one of the big contributions of Framework ;). What an amazing work.
I got a 701cs from a customer over a year ago to repair, but it was a total basket case with numerous faults related to the main battery exploding and leaking all over the board. The customer abandoned the machine, so after it sitting in pieces off to the side of my bench staring back at me that long, I decided to try doing something with it, which is when I found this project.
I’ve mostly figured out what I’m going to do for the screen and motherboard, but I’m completely baffled on the butterfly keyboard.
The problem I’m having is with the two keyboard connectors, through some extensive research, I believe it’s called an “interstitial flat flex cable” with a 0.3mm pin pitch. But I cannot find this connector anywhere. I’ve ordered a few sample connectors, and they always end up being microscopic and nowhere near the correct size. After 10 or so failures, I gave up and removed the ones from the old main board, and then ran into another problem, the PCB mounting pins are also not a standard size. I’ve bought several of those FFC/FPC adapter boards from Ali Express, but none of those are the correct pin pitch. It seems to be something like 0.55mm.
I was wanting to know if anyone has a source for those weird keyboard cable connectors, and potentially a generic adapter board that they can sit on? I really want to have to avoid soldering wires directly to the flex cables and permanently alter them. Currently I have a jank setup using an 80 conductor IDE ribbon cable, which just happens to match the pin pitch on the IBM connector. I’d prefer not to use this method, because it takes up too much space. The janky adapter works well enough with a TeensyDuino that I can get half the keyboard working at a time, but it’s not consistently reliable.
The keyboard and trackpoint FFC connectors are from the Molex 52204 series. They are 0.625mm pitch. Molex no longer manufactures these connectors. I purchased new-old-stock from Quest Components.
I have breakout boards for these connectors that fan them out to a pin header. I’d be happy to send you a few if you want. Just DM me your contact info.
I’d love to get a few of those adapters, but since I have a new account, I can’t use the PM system. If you have another way of contact, I’d be glad to pay something for them.
Are the PCB files available? I could get one of the board fab companies to run some of them off.
Also, thanks for the link to those connectors. I’ve been pretty bummed I couldn’t find the right connector after a month of looking around.
I see you’re currently at “29m read time, 2 topics viewed, 21 posts read”
If you just click 3 more topics / threads and scroll through another 9 posts, then you should hit Trust Level 1, and be able to PM. You just need 5 topics viewed plus 30 posts viewed. Understanding Discourse Trust Levels
I never had a 701c but, like so many people, I have very fond memories of owning IBM branded ThinkPads - I think the models were XT21/22 T21/22. I don’t know how much of it is coloured by nostalgia now, but my memory would have me believe these were the best laptops I’ve ever used. They were solid and dependable. I’ve had a Lenovo ThinkPad for the last 10 years (waiting to be replaced with a FW16), but it’s just not the same.
Great case designs, great keyboard, good IOs, somehow the worst displays they were able to get their hands on XD.
Though I gotta admit as a think-pad fanboy, my favorite laptop case design is probably still the hp 8570w. It’s too big for me these days but it is the nicest mobile workstation build I know of.
The case design is nice, except for the cursed rubber coating that rots away. Unfortunately, Lenovo still uses it.
My 701cs has rubber rot all over, as does my much newer Lenovo X1 Carbon 6th gen.
It can stripped using IPA, which has an effect similar to paint stripper, it’ll make the coating mostly fall off in clumps and sheets without damaging the underlying plastic. The problem is what to replace it with. Rustoleum rubber paint gives you a nice finish, but no idea how long it will last. Enamel paints give you a durable finish, but they’re not the nicest on your hands.
