The Acer Guy

You want comments? We got comments:

1. bigotefalso wrote, on January 26th, 2009:

   

   Hi, exelent tutorial!!!

   I did this mod too, but I haven’t added any resistor or capacitors.

   My SATA disk works well, I’ve installed Windows succesfully, but there is a little problem: when I dim the screen backlight I get flickering when the hard drive is writing.

   I think this happens because of I didn’t add the resistor and the capacitors.

   Do you have the same problem?

   (Sorry for my bad English).

2. Morris Lee wrote, on January 26th, 2009:

   

   @bigotefalso,

   no, this is not a problem with the resistor, so you said you never had to add any resistors??? so your hard drive is running on 3.3 v, anyways, acer kinda has a fix for the flicker, but simply locks the brightness level so that you can’t lower it as much as you have now, simply use the newest BIOS will have this funtion, but if it works right now, just don’t go all the way to the dimmest level.

3. bigotefalso wrote, on January 27th, 2009:

   

   What I said is that I haven’t added any kind of resistor, but I did shorted R364 to bring 5v to my SATA disk.

   I agree whit you, I read somewhere that HDD models has the same problem when the bakclight is dimmed, but just whit some bios. So Acer maked a new bios to lock the lower levels.

   A guy in aspireoneforum says that he solded a resistor and some capacitors for warranty a correct voltage to the disk. He says also that he doesn’t have that flicker issue. But he also upgraded his BIOS, so we cannot know if the problem was solved because of the resistor-capacitor or because of the BIOS upgrading.

   Anyway, I will have to upgrade my BIOS, perhaps I would like to dim my screen that low to save battery.

   Cheers,
   bigotefalso

4. Morris Lee wrote, on January 27th, 2009:

   

   @bigotefalso,

   I don’t think i have mentioned that I had flicker issues when I was using the SSD, yes that is right, not only HDD version has the problem. it occurs when the speakers are on with music at the lowest brightness levels.

   but upgrading the BIOS does not allow you to dim as much as you could like before. with the new BIOS, the brightness are merely the same on highest and the lowest.

5. Ferry wrote, on January 28th, 2009:

   

   haha… absolutely a crazy mod!
   Awesome work ML!

6. Morris Lee wrote, on January 28th, 2009:

   

   The whole 250GB is sooooooo worth doing it, so yeah XD, thanks Ferry

7. o_junk17 wrote, on January 30th, 2009:

   

   hello..
   thanz for tuttorial..
   can you tell me where i can download the newest bios for my AA1.
   thanz before
   (sory for my bad english)

8. Morris Lee wrote, on January 30th, 2009:

   

   @o_junk17

   here, http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/notebook/as_one_110.html

9. o_junk17 wrote, on February 1st, 2009:

   

   thank U Morris Lee..

10. Morris Lee wrote, on February 2nd, 2009:

    

    Anytime~

11. tomsa wrote, on February 2nd, 2009:

    

    hi, just a question: will be soldering the R364 give the 5 V not only to the SATA interface but also to the ZIF-SSD Interface? Then the SSD won’t function o.k.
    But then you could maybe connect a PATA (IDE 2.5″ HDD) to the ZIF interface or not?
    Cheers Tom

12. Morris Lee wrote, on February 3rd, 2009:

    

    @tomsa

    soldering the R364 won’t affect the ZIF connector’s power.

    you CAN connect it to a 2.5 inch one, you need a converter, possibility requires a power transformer to 5v, 2.5′ HDD uses 5v, zif only has 3.3v

    connecting to a 2.5′ SATA should cost less, SATA HDD SHOULD be cheaper then IDE, IDE is being phased out. the with SATA, you can easily mod the desktop converter(like I did) for the Aspire One.

    regardless the case space modification is required for a 2.5 HDD

13. Steve wrote, on February 5th, 2009:

    

    Great mod Morris!

    Where do the black and red wires connect on the board?

    I can’t see from the picture where to connect the positive and negative wires to get 5v power to the 2.5″ harddrive.

14. Morris Lee wrote, on February 5th, 2009:

    

    Steve, you can find the pin connections here

    http://209.85.173.101/translate_c?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://aspire1.ru/news/2008-11-21-12&prev=/search%3Fq%3Daspire%2Bone%2Br364%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN&usg=ALkJrhgkeadgapvcsvt86TCgWIXg3Zf5CQ

    I know I left out that part, when I get time, i will fill it in

15. jay wrote, on February 8th, 2009:

    

    want to ask to you really have to short out the resistor R364? and want to ask because i would be using the connector that i have from my US to SATA external drive. to put on my AAO 110. so can i connect all the 15 pins for the SATA power connector? or just have to use the 5 & 7 pins for the power? thanks

16. Morris Lee wrote, on February 8th, 2009:

    

    @jay,

    just the connector 5 and 7 will do, you have to short the R364 to provide the 5 volts

17. jay wrote, on February 9th, 2009:

    

    thank you i’ll try to do the mod over this weekend then i’ll post some pics after the mod.

18. Philip Mallapre wrote, on February 11th, 2009:

    

    Morris, will it do any harm if I try to solder 15 pin of the power connector? I was thinking soldering all of it to make the connector more stable or somehow semi fixed on the board.

19. lino wrote, on February 11th, 2009:

    

    Hello

    can anyone publish value of missing resistor? Someone, who has the 150 model with HDD.
    thx

20. Morris Lee wrote, on February 11th, 2009:

    

    @Philip Mallapr,

    it will do no harm, but the holes are really small, if you are up to it, you can.

    @lino,

    the value of the resistor is 0 ohms, simply soldering the 2 points together will provide the 5V like a charm.

21. Lino wrote, on February 16th, 2009:

    

    HDD works good, thx

    Hi all,
    what about to use the WiFi switch to power on bluetooth? On my AAO 110, this switch is able to switch-on the 3G function, when you push it to LEFT (you only need make the hole bigger to left side) and maybe to use the blue LED which is onboard. (sorry for my poor english). Is it possible that this switch gives 5 (or 3,3)V to unused PCIE connector?
    thx

22. Totoche wrote, on February 18th, 2009:

    

    hi all,
    I’m french, and I seek to realize this mod.
    My problem :

    I don’t know where i do solder the power connector, and the sata connector !
    On the motherboard, the sata pins are plugged and i don’t know how solder the sata connector

    Can you help me ?

    Please !

23. Morris Lee wrote, on February 19th, 2009:

    

    @Lino,

    I am not sure why you need 5 v for the PCIE slot, can you explain?

    @Totoche,

    it is the best if you get one of those solder sucker, you heat it up, while it is liquid, it can suck it out.

24. Totoche wrote, on February 19th, 2009:

    

    Thank you,
    I just heat the hole and remove the solder with solder sucker ? after that, I could solder my sata connectors ?

25. Totoche wrote, on February 19th, 2009:

    

    but when i heat it ! Nothing becomes liquid and I can’t suck anything

26. Totoche wrote, on February 19th, 2009:

    

    you must drill holes of the 22 pins sata before soldering? or no ?

27. Morris Lee wrote, on February 20th, 2009:

    

    @Totoche,

    DO NOT DRILL!!!!!, you might damage the conducting edge between each layers of the PCB board.

    if it doesn’t liquidity, try adding some solder on the soldering iron creating a bigger heating surface area for heat conductivity, that is how I did it if anything does not melt.

28. GauntMan wrote, on February 21st, 2009:

    

    @Totoche, and MorrisLee

    As I´ve posted on Aspireoneuser forum some newer AAOnes doesn´t have all the holes one the SATA connector drilled through. Probably some attempt to make modding harder. All gnd-pins on the dataconnector are solid and most of the pins on the powerconnector. The four datapins och the data connector (pin 2,3,5,6) are not solid so I used those and not having grund here doesn´t seem to matter, it wokrs fine. On the power connector I used pin 6 for gnd and pin 7 for +5V as those were the only drilled through.

29. Morris Lee wrote, on February 21st, 2009:

    

    @GauntMan,

    I didn’t drill through, if they are sold ones, I would find another way of getting them on with out doing stuff like drilling through the board.

30. GauntMan wrote, on February 21st, 2009:

    

    Neither did I. I just udes those that were already drilled and it was enoght to make it work. All you have to do is remove the pins from the connectors that are not possible to use.

31. Morris Lee wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

    

    @GauntMan,

    I am not too sure, but I am not the person who would be ready to risk that much.

    perhaps you can provide some pictures?

32. GauntMan wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

    

    Right. As soon as my digicam comes back from repairs I will write down a guide with pictures and post a link here and in the thread at aspireoneuser forums.

33. Michael Walsh wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

    

    @GauntMan If it’s a walk through I’ll be more than happy to let you post it in the “Expert Voices” section.

34. GauntMan wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

    

    Michael Walsh:

    Sound nice. I will write it as a walkthrough. Digicam should arrive during the coming week. I will make contact when the guide is finished for publishing. Will a guide in a Word document with embedded picturs work or would you prefer plain text and the pictures as attachment with instructions of where to put them?

35. Morris Lee wrote, on February 22nd, 2009:

    

    @GauntMan,

    I am glad you hear that you’d like to contribute too! anyways, I used to just do it in plain HTML on my site for Michael. I think MS Word Doc files are little more complicated to convert to the method we are displaying articles in.

    I am really not sure which method he prefers, but I think HTML is the best since it is going to be published as a web like this article I have posted here.

36. Lino wrote, on February 23rd, 2009:

    

    hi morris, i don´t need 5V for PCIE, but i think that switch switches something, or not? It will be a better solution to use it for bluetooth power on/off.

37. tot0che wrote, on February 24th, 2009:

    

    hi mauris,
    you say not to drill,
    but I had already begun to drill …

    I could fix this error?
    If I solder my connectors in the right holes ? It should work ?

    thank you !

38. Morris Lee wrote, on February 24th, 2009:

    

    @toctoche,

    I do not know if it is going to work now, there is no fix if you drill the wrong place on the PCB board.

39. tot0che wrote, on February 24th, 2009:

    

    ok, but I have 5 holes drilled as yet, and I have no drill the wrong place on the motherboard !
    you advise me to finish drilling or welding other connectors without drilling

    but the problem is that the metal used in the holes doesn’t melt and i don’t know how

    how I can solder the remaining connectors without drilling

40. tot0che wrote, on February 24th, 2009:

    

    please ! help me ! i’m going on holidays friday and I would like it to be completed to leave

    Please !!!

41. Morris Lee wrote, on February 25th, 2009:

    

    @totoche,

    go what you have done for now, but no more drilling, please send me a picture of the holes and maybe I can advise you more

    morrismurphy@gmail.com

42. ByB wrote, on February 25th, 2009:

    

    Heys, sorry the question, but… Is the red and black wire a little big for the holes? Do you have a pic from the exactly hole do you use for that wires? do you have cut some wires from the black and the red to fit them in? Sorry about my english…. Thanks

    ByB

43. Morris Lee wrote, on February 25th, 2009:

    

    @ByB,

    Don’t be sorry for the question, that is why this box is here, anyways, you can find the exact pin connections from the link I provided above

44. ByB wrote, on February 26th, 2009:

    

    Thanks for the answer and the attention!
    I already saw the link you post before, but my question is, that the red and black, are huges for the tiny holes, how have you done that? Cut some wires and make the red and black fit on the tiny holes? Or divide and fit half wires from the red in 1 hole and the other half in other hole (same for the black)?
    Many thanks for wasting time!
    Regards

    ByB

45. Morris Lee wrote, on February 26th, 2009:

    

    @ByB,

    I actually took off the red and black cable, I only haded so i can hold it up for the pictures.

    I actually used smaller wires for the soldering for the power.

46. ByB wrote, on February 26th, 2009:

    

    Ohh ok! Many thanks really. Now i got it. Thanks for everything!
    Regards

    ByB

47. GreenGoblin wrote, on March 2nd, 2009:

    

    I don’t understand where do black and red wires connect to pins…

    Can you post a photo or pattern?

    Thanks

    Bye

48. Morris Lee wrote, on March 3rd, 2009:

    

    @GreenGoblin,

    please refer to the link I have posted above for the pin connection references

49. Cab wrote, on March 4th, 2009:

    

    Did this mod and installed a hdd.
    just have to add, u need only one gnd on the sata control-wire (pin 1,4 or 7)

    The improvment on speed is just unbeliveble xp boots up just as fast as linpus

    Thanks a Bunch for the tip Morris Lee.

    From one Very happy Acer one owner.

50. Morris Lee wrote, on March 4th, 2009:

    

    @Cab,

    yeah, I only used one pin for the ground, I am very happy that you are happy with the “upgraded” aspire one!

51. jay wrote, on March 4th, 2009:

    

    i just opened my aspire one 110 and planning to do this MOD but one thing I noticed before starting the mod is that the R364 resistor on my motherboard is missing is that OK or I need to find a R364 resistor to put on that empty slot. can I just short that without the R364 resistor.

    again thank you and hope for your quick response.

52. em wrote, on March 4th, 2009:

    

    morris,

    benchmarks pleease.

53. Morris Lee wrote, on March 5th, 2009:

    

    @jay,

    you just have to solder the 2 points together like I did in the picture.

    @em,

    I only have the free version of the HD tune, I will provide the benchmark soon.

54. Morris Lee wrote, on March 6th, 2009:

    

    Benchmark posted, enjoy~~

55. Wevil wrote, on March 8th, 2009:

    

    just want to thank you for the pictures and infos, I upgraded my acer from 8GB ssd to 320GB this weekend

    guess your fan is also more active with the disk inside? have to get used to the noise but the speed and storage is worth it!

56. Morris Lee wrote, on March 9th, 2009:

    

    @Wevil,

    yeah, it is soo worth it, and not a problem! love to share! the bottom does get little hotter when I keep in on my bed and watch a movie. other then that, idle is pretty much the same.

57. tot0che wrote, on March 9th, 2009:

    

    I haven’t picture of my motherboard, but I have a picture where I noted the 5 holes that I drilled !

    look

    http://img10.imageshack.us/my.php?image=95568a2c9022.jpg

58. Morris Lee wrote, on March 9th, 2009:

    

    @totoche,

    as long as your motherboard looks that one and you use a small small drill bit then it should be fine.

59. tot0che wrote, on March 10th, 2009:

    

    Okk I tried,
    at worst, I sell my hard sata and I bought a ZIF

    thank you, I come to tell you if I succeeded

60. Morris Lee wrote, on March 10th, 2009:

    

    @totoche,

    good luck! I will wait for your success story!

61. arch(er) wrote, on March 12th, 2009:

    

    hi,very nice blog indeed…I will be doing this mod after I could get my hands on a 2.5″ sata hdd…Would a 7200 rpm work in case I’ll use it on my AA1? I was also lucky to have a identical board layout as yours. XD I can’t wait to do this mod!XD

62. Morris Lee wrote, on March 12th, 2009:

    

    @arch(er),

    I would try to keep it a slow one as for power saving and the mobility, since Aspire One is small, you might be travel with it often, having a slower drive is saver. 7200 shouldn’t be necessary with the performance you get from a netbook anyways.

63. arch(er) wrote, on March 12th, 2009:

    

    Thanks for the info, I use linux on my AA1 and the ssd is so pathetic when upgrading/installing packages (heavy writes)…I have also a hitachi travelstar (zif) 30gb 4200rpm which I got from an ipod 5g of a friend of mine…I was following tnkgrl’s guide but this hd won’t be detected. I’ll post if I can get your mod to work on me…Wish me luck…XD

64. Morris Lee wrote, on March 13th, 2009:

    

    @arch(er),

    I saw your post on tnkgrl too, but I am assuming it is the BIOS compatibility, in the sense of PC does not like the Mac branded hardware even though they are the same physical thing. other then that, I am out of ideas

65. Michael Walsh wrote, on March 16th, 2009:

    

    @GauntMan

    Word’s fine, but if you got images, let me have them separately. I you want to mail me at michael@theacerguy.com I’ll set you up with an Expert voices account so you can do it yourself if you’re happier that way.

66. arch(er) wrote, on March 17th, 2009:

    

    @Morris Lee: I had succesfully put a 2.5″ hd on my AA1 thanks to your wonderful guide. XD Thanks alot!!! Now I can dual boot with XP and Linux with no space limitations…Cheers!!!

67. Morris Lee wrote, on March 17th, 2009:

    

    @arch(er),

    it is great to hear another success!

68. Sparkion wrote, on March 18th, 2009:

    

    Very nice tutorial Morris Lee,

    Btw: Swiss Army Knife? Just admit it… it s a nail file :-p

    And for the picky people amongst us: A LED light isn’t correct, because LED itself means ‘Light Emitting Diode’ so when u say LED light, you actually say: Light (e d) light.

    Okay, just messing with ya. Great tutorial.

69. Morris Lee wrote, on March 18th, 2009:

    

    @Sparkion,

    ahah, it is actually a swiss army knife, but I used the nail filer end so I don’t scratch or cut the surface of the PCB board(I can post another picture of prove if you want ).

    Just fixed up the “LED” grammatical issue, now I am referring to the “light” that the LED emitted I love, so it is all good XD. (I am aware of the LED’s acronym, but I wrote this when some time like 2:00AM ish, right after I finished this modification.)

    But yeah, thanks for the comment!

70. Adam wrote, on March 20th, 2009:

    

    I am going to do this mod this weekend. Looks quite easy (I used to do Xbox modchips, so this is easy)

    One question… Have you guys removed the SSD, or do you have both the SATA HD and the SSD in?

71. Morris Lee wrote, on March 20th, 2009:

    

    @Adam,

    I tried keeping both in, but the SSD won’t show up, I think is probably my cable but I can’t be too sure. I only use my harddrive now.

72. Adam wrote, on March 20th, 2009:

    

    Hey thanks for the reply dude…

    I’ll leave the SSD in and see what happens.
    Just been out and got some extram RAM too, got my Broadcom WiFi card arriving today too (need that for OS X!)

    I’ll post back with results

73. Morris Lee wrote, on March 21st, 2009:

    

    @Adam,

    hey, I got a broadcom 4311(BRCM1020), not too sure if it works with OS X yet, but I read from places that it is reported working. haven’t had time to test it out on my aspire one, but let me know if you ever get yours working, and which build you used

    Keep me posted!
    Morris Lee

74. Sparkion wrote, on March 22nd, 2009:

    

    Hahaha, I was just messin’ a little with you Morris. Seriously, Very nice Post!! Compliments.

    (I myself had many typo’s in my first post so.. that s why i posted a few moths ago a revised version of “how to install ahci on xp after… 2nd”

75. Morris Lee wrote, on March 22nd, 2009:

    

    @Sparkion,

    I figured, no worries, HEHE

76. lorisone wrote, on March 24th, 2009:

    

    Hi can please tell me where is the pin 1 data on the MB? Many thanks.

77. lorisone wrote, on March 24th, 2009:

    

    Hi please can you tell me where is the pin 1 data on MB? Many thanks.

78. Morris Lee wrote, on March 24th, 2009:

    

    @lorisone,

    The one closest to the heatsink/fan should be pin 1.

    look closely just above the white box that the pins are in, there are little numbers indicating the order of the pins. From the pictures I have taken, I can see that there is a 7 just close to the mechanical key lock of the SATA cable as well as 8, at the every end of the other side(away from heatsink/fan) there is a 22, this indicates that the number increases as it starts from the pin closest to the heatsink/fan.

79. Mário wrote, on March 29th, 2009:

    

    @MorrisLee

    Hi, first of all, let me say, great mod!

    I started doing this mod but I’ve noticed that my AAO is one of the newer that don´t have all the holes one the SATA connector. As GauntMan, I have pin 2,3,5 and 6 drilled through, but on the power connector I only have pin 7 and 11, I don’t have pin 6 for ground! Do you know if I can use a near ground trace, for example, from the usb port, or the fan connector?

    Many thanks.

80. Morris Lee wrote, on March 29th, 2009:

    

    @Mário,

    would you kindly email me a picture of the holes that are not drilled through?

    morrismurphy@gmail.com
    Morris Lee

81. Me wrote, on April 7th, 2009:

    

    hy
    i installed the hdd in my acer aspire one and works, thx Morris Lee.
    first of that i installed an bios from the Gateway the zg7,i seen that the ssd and the hdd are working together.
    thx again, great work

82. Morris Lee wrote, on April 7th, 2009:

    

    @Me,

    congrats, very happy that you find this useful. What is the advantage using the Gateway BIOS? I know they are virtually the same from Aspire One

83. Typo wrote, on April 9th, 2009:

    

    I finally started doing mods to my AAO, starting with this one. Thanks Morris Lee for the pics and the link to the Russian site pics. If this helps, on the SATA port, the grounds (2 outside, one middle) were solid, and for SATA power all pins were solid except pin 7 (5v) and pin 11 (Ground). Use a qtip and some isopropyl alcohol to clean all the yellow stuff off the all the holes, when your done clean the soldering area the same way to remove any resin and to double check your work. If you use a conical tip and hold on edge of pin holes, you will see it melt and sink in a little, then quickly use a desoldering pump and it will clean them out easily. If you dont see it melt and sink in slightly it is solid, move on to the next one, I think they may have done it randomly, any one of the 6 grounds will be open and 1 of the 3 5volts will be open. I am using a Seagate Momentus 160Gb 7200rpm, it stays between 33-43 degrees celsius. Has anyone noticed the 9 holes by the ZIF connector, looks like usb, anyone tried anything with it? It would be a nice place to hook up a receiver for a mouse.

84. Wan wrote, on April 18th, 2009:

    

    Thank Morris for the picture and the links, my aspire one now with sata 2.5 HD, 160GB Samsung, using Gateway, the screen dimmer as it was, back again to 10 level brightness, but flickering much worse, dissapear at level 3, when HD led blinks it will flicker. I found that sata connector I have is not the as you, it only has 4 wire inside, but that is not a problem, the problem is it is somekind like a die cast plastic rubber and it is hard, so I have to carefully carved it little by little, but the result worth . The 15 dots for power, they are not holed, my friend who soldered it found out, he used solder sucker many times and heated up many times, so we decide to just solder it to the dots surfaces. Another issue with Samsung HM160HI is it wont show up at restart, the disk is missing, but the led is reading, I try to set the HD password through bios, and then delete it, and now it never happen again, I thought it was because the soldering was not strong enough, but it was strong, I’m not sure what caused the disk missing from bios.

85. Morris Lee wrote, on April 18th, 2009:

    

    @Wan,

    It is advisable that you upgrade your BIOS, it prevents you to go to the lower levels of the brightness, the lower levels have lower current floating through to the back light, there for, slight change in power consumption will create a flickering effect on the screen.

86. Me wrote, on April 21st, 2009:

    

    there’s nothing different(only a different logo)
    the version of my bios is v0.3103 , which seem to be equal of an older version of the original acer aspire one. i keep this because of the lower levels of brightness.
    i’ve seen that the floating light at the lowest level on linpus it’s stable.(i’m testing this).
    now i’m working to get the hdd(ntfs partition) working under linpus

87. Morris Lee wrote, on April 21st, 2009:

    

    @Me,

    for linpus to read ntfs you just have to install ntfs-3g.

    First install livna repository, then in the terminal, you should be able to install ntfs-3g by using:

    yum install ntfs-3g

    use yes to all prompts

88. olz1983 wrote, on April 21st, 2009:

    

    Hi, i think i will try this mod cause i didn’t believe that the ssd could be such a bottleneck…

    But hey, can you say something about the Tempreatures?

    I have an hitachi 7,2K rpm 100GB sata disk that i would insert to the aao.

89. Morris Lee wrote, on April 21st, 2009:

    

    @olz1983,

    it would be fine, but consider that you will be moving a lot with a netbook, I would suggest a 5400rpm drive

90. olz1983 wrote, on April 21st, 2009:

    

    ty for reply

    Yes i know but im allways shut it down if im really moving, so that wouldn’t be a problem. I’m just a bit afraid of getting to high temperatures, when I do the mod cause the aspire one with ssd is a bit smaller then the versions with “normal” hdd.

    The point is i have a good working sata 2,5″ hdd (7,2K rpm) and if i would buy another i can buy a cf card or an 1,8″ pata disk an dont need modding my netbook that extrem

    But if you say it shouldn’t be a problem with heat i’ll give it a try.

    P.S. YES i know WHAT I’m going to do so I will NOT flame you if something goes wrong

    I will post when I’m ready

    Another point i will suggest for all other trying this mod is that you can use a desoldering wick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder_wick instead of an desoldering pump.

    So far from now you get feedback when im ready

91. olz1983 wrote, on April 21st, 2009:

    

    Same problem as someone had above, the holes i would need to sloder the sata to are closed….

    Only 2 holes are usable, so i realy dont want to drill trough my mobo i let it be good

    will try to geht a 1,8″ pata disk…

    Just for information

92. Morris Lee wrote, on April 22nd, 2009:

    

    @olz1983,

    ohh, never knew anything about soldering wick or what it is, interesting tool though. Using a sucker pump should be more applicable to more delicate jobs.

93. Me wrote, on April 22nd, 2009:

    

    yes, it installed the ntfs 3 g package with the live update but doesn’t see the hdd ntfs partitions, only the usb storage devices and only in read mode not write.
    I’ve changed the wifi card with an intel 3945 to install normaly ubuntu. I don’t like the Linux4one distributions because i couldn’t find support for bluetooth.

94. olz1983 wrote, on April 23rd, 2009:

    

    @Me

    why you changed the wifi-card?
    You can use the ahteros card with madwifi (kernel = 2.6.28) im using it on debian lenny with 2.6.29 kernel from unstable.

    It works perfectly, only the led isn’t working with the ath5k module, but thats no reasen to avoid using it.

    With madwifi you can use the led too.

95. Morris Lee wrote, on April 23rd, 2009:

    

    @olz1983,

    that maybe true, I never doubt the compatibility for the wireless, I switched because there seems to be a problem with most of the wireless cards in the Aspire One series. I suppose it was ideal to swap it out before anything goes wrong.

96. Morris Lee wrote, on April 23rd, 2009:

    

    @olz1983,

    Support for bluetooth is actually on the official acer driver support page.

97. olz1983 wrote, on April 28th, 2009:

    

    Morris, does your aao have bluetooth?
    Mine hasn’t a bluetooth device installed.

98. Morris Lee wrote, on May 1st, 2009:

    

    @olz1983,

    no, I do not have bluetooth on mine, haven’t installed one yet either, planning on it though~~

99. SSU wrote, on May 7th, 2009:

    

    hello morris lee,

    i’m planning to do moddification this week. One question to ask you. After install 2.5″ sata disk, is it the SSD also working with? If yes, how to show up in BIOS?

100. SubSonix wrote, on May 7th, 2009:

     

     Hi, i was modding for the second time to add 2.5″ hdd and when i was removing it to check on it i dislodged a component at position U27, does anyone know what this is??? I’ve been to a few electronics stores and they can’t help me…
     Please help…

101. Morris Lee wrote, on May 9th, 2009:

     

     @SSU,

     couple post before stated that it worked for him/her, I assume it would for you then, but there is no need for the SSD anymore though, simply dead weight.

     @SubSonix,

     Can you provide a picture of this problem?

102. miko wrote, on May 13th, 2009:

     

     hi, thanks for sharing this!
     Before make a mistake i need to identify pins where i had to solder sata power cables.

     On pics you posted i see there are three cables, but you show in your image only two.
     can you tell me posizion for (+) and (-) power connector in more details? thanks

103. Frogmonster wrote, on May 24th, 2009:

     

     I just wanted to say thanx. Between you and Tnkgrl’s mods, you have gave me the ideas for my modds. Since i started with a windows version of the Aspire one, it was a little easier. With a lot of cutting, i managed to do a 500gig SATA hard drive, internal blue tooth, internal F.M. transmitter for audio, Ram upgrade, and a touch screen with a usb hub. Still have to do my internal GPS modd. Some of the modd can be seen here.
     http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=164495
     Haven’t posted any pics yet. I will.
     Just wanted to say thanx.
     Frogmonster

104. Erdi wrote, on June 5th, 2009:

     

     Hello Lee,

     Very interesting post, and I have try this at home. But I got some problem:
     The terminals seems all solid, I can’t melt the tin, so I decided to solder the cables directly on the terminals. But they cannot make strong bonding and detach easily if I pull them. I use a 40W solder with very point tip. Do I need a solder with more watt? OR do you have any suggestion?

     Another problem (not related with the mod) Sometimes, my Aspire one display is not full. Only about the eeepc size, this is from the beginning of start up (Acer BIOS welcome screen). In the lower part, there are parts of displayed text/picture (just like tiled wallpaper, with the full pic in the left-upper area, and truncated tile in the bottom and right area). Do you have any solution?

     Thanks b4, BTW 4 Lee and anyone who has solution/suggestion, I will greatly appreciate if you send copy of your answer directly to my e-mail: erdwi_r@yahoo.com

105. Morris Lee wrote, on June 5th, 2009:

     

     @Erdi,

     The soldering, I just added more solder on the surface for the holes that does not go through and use another wire to buffer the force it may come across if it is attached to the connector only.

     The screen problem, I recall someone had the same exact problem when installing a touchscreen, I recall it was the connection for the cable not connected properly, check if you have bend any connectors for the screen.

     Morris Lee

106. walter wrote, on June 8th, 2009:

     

     hi
     i tried doing the mod-but i failed:-(
     i then replaced everything and made it as it was,now my acer doesnt want to boot.

     I rekon this mod is not under acers warranty.

     i phoned them to find out what a motherboar’s price is and uu wount belive it but it is more expensive than the whole Netbook.

     any requests to where i can get a motherboard for cheap in SOUTH AFRICA?????I am enjoying my acer but now i can do nothing with it!!!

     Anyone intrested in parts????
     PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!

107. Morris Lee wrote, on June 8th, 2009:

     

     @walter,

     I am sorry, no this is not under warranty, did you drill any holes through the connections?

108. Alwie wrote, on June 9th, 2009:

     

     @walter

     Hi
     Where in SA are u. Drop me a mail and I will try to help.
     septemma@gmail.com

109. Weaver wrote, on June 29th, 2009:

     

     Hi dont mean to sound stupid but unless i ask i wont know, i have a hdd out of another laptop but it is ATA is this different, can i fit this drive atall or not, nice one liam

110. Morris Lee wrote, on June 30th, 2009:

     

     @Weaver,

     Yes, you can, something like this http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/upgrade-1-8-zif-to-CF-micro-ata-adapter-for-iPod-HDD_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ330321632271 will get you going in no time!

     Cheers!

111. weaver wrote, on June 30th, 2009:

     

     thanks for that mate im going to bin the ata drive and buy a sata would u reccomend a certain one for this mod i was looking at a 500gb that is 9.5mm thick http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Product/40362/Hitachi-500GB-hard-disk-drive-2-5-inch-SATA-for

     would this do the job, i am not very clued up on this stuff although im more than capable of fitting the drive
     nice one

112. Morris Lee wrote, on July 1st, 2009:

     

     @weaver,

     I think that drive is fine, SATA should work flawlessly.(if you got the connection right)

113. Fireboy wrote, on July 1st, 2009:

     

     Hi guy’s I just tried this mod and I can’t get the harddrive to boot. When I look in the boot order the drive showes up, then on roboot all I get is a flashing dash in the upper left corner. Is this a bios issue or did I solder something wrong. I cant even get it to boot off a usb. No DOS, nothing.

114. Morris Lee wrote, on July 3rd, 2009:

     

     @Fireboy,

     Do you have any OS installed to the harddrive? if not, you have to use a USB device to install OS to it, to boot from USB, press F12 to see boot menu.

115. WEAVER wrote, on July 3rd, 2009:

     

     HI CANNOT SEE WHICH CONNECTIONS THE TWO POWER CABLES GO TO IVE LOOKED AT THE LINK AND THE OTHER GUY HAS GOT THREE WIRES IVE ALREADY CUT THE OTHER TWO OFF? IVE STRIPPED MY SATA CABLE IT HAS 8 WIRES YOURS HAS 7 AND THE OTHER GUY HAS 6 CAN YOU HELP

116. WEAVER wrote, on July 3rd, 2009:

     

     SORRY I WAS BEING STUPID I HAVE REALISED WHERE THE WIRES GO, I HAVE JUST FINISHED WIRING IT UP WHEN I BOOT IT UP IT TURNS OFF AFTER ABOUT 60 SECONDS, IM JUST MAKING BOOT DISK WE WILL SEE WHAT HAPPENS THEN

     NICE ONE

117. WEAVER wrote, on July 4th, 2009:

     

     YOUR A STAR MATE WORKS MINT 500 GB RUNNING BETTER THAN MY DESKTOP, I WORK WITH ELECTRONICS AND I FOUND THIS TO BE CHALLENGING NOT FOR THE DIY’ER. DO YOU KNOW OF A WAY TO GET MORE RAM IVE GOT 1.5GB BUT SURELY IF THIS WORKS THERES A WAY TO GET MORE RAM LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK MATE
     NICE ONE WEAVER

118. Philip Mallapre wrote, on July 4th, 2009:

     

     Hi Morris,

     Done doing the Modification. and it work out right. what I did was, I have an external hard disk cage, I took out the SATA and Power connector there using hot air. since some of the holes on the mobo was rock solid what i did is solder all the legs of the SATA and Power connector on its top and used a glue stick and melted it on the sides of the connector. before I doing the test I made sure that all was soldered right using tester.

     right now its on Windows7 and no hiccups or whatever. Hard disk installed was Seagate Momentous 100G 5400RPM.

119. Morris Lee wrote, on July 4th, 2009:

     

     @WEAVER, Philip Mallapre,

     Congrats to both of you! WEACER, the max ram on the A110 or A150 is 1.5 GB, it is pretty much a physical limitation for there is not more RAM slot and each can only hold max of 1GB.

120. s lee wrote, on July 5th, 2009:

     

     have you tried to install windows xp on a 2.5″ usb hdd?
     I tried, but it crashes in a bsod.

121. Morris Lee wrote, on July 6th, 2009:

     

     @s lee,

     you can’t install Windows to USB(not from the disk out of the box anyways) you need to modify the disk image.

122. s lee wrote, on July 6th, 2009:

     

     OK, how?
     I’ve been installing various Linux distros just fine, why am I having trouble with windoze?
     Windoze xp booted up to where you get the logo and progress bar. then it BSOD.

123. Jay wrote, on July 6th, 2009:

     

     hi i’ve done your steps, and i managed to install the sata connector and was able to boot to winXP for few minutes. after a few minutes my aao110 turned off and it never turn back on again. i dont know if my board was short. any advice how to check if my mobo is dead?

124. weaver wrote, on July 8th, 2009:

     

     hi jay
     when i did the mod i covered all the new connections with liquid insulation tape as i was worried about them shorting out they are quite close together.

     Morris
     have you done a touch screen just wanted to know if its worth doing or is it a mission job

125. Morris Lee wrote, on July 8th, 2009:

     

     @weaver,

     Actually, I didn’t do the touchscreen mod, I feel it is not useful as I used my Aspire One as my mp3 player before, now I have a Cowon S9.

126. WEAVER wrote, on July 10th, 2009:

     

     morris

     might be a stupid question but i dont know that much about computers and you obviously know about the aspire one is it possible to upgrade the processor i know my dad did it on a desktop but i am unsure if it is possible with this machine, sorry for all the questions but you seem to be the only helpful person when it comes to the aspire one

127. Morris Lee wrote, on July 10th, 2009:

     

     @WAEVER,

     I am sorry, the processor is soldered on to the board, it is POSSIBLE for switch to a N280, but you need to unsolder the CPU and solder the new ones on.

128. Jay wrote, on July 18th, 2009:

     

     Hi Morris,

     I was able to fix my aao110 but only after I removed the sata connector, and removed the soldered 2 ends of resistor. But im not sure if that’s the reason why aao went dead for few weeks. Because before I did you MOD my aao battery was dead for few weeks as well because I havent been using it. then I tried to do you MOD with probalby 10% of battery. So im not sure if this mod can cause the motherboard not to charge. Because after installing the sata connector and soldered the 2 ends of resistor even my aao is plugged in its not charging or the power light is not even ON. Is there any reason that my aao would not charge because I soldered the 2 ends without resistor? Thanks and hope you can reply before I try to do this MOD for the 2nd Time.

129. Morris Lee wrote, on July 18th, 2009:

     

     @Jay,

     it sounds like you have something shorting the motherboard the 1st time, Please try covering the side of the harddrive facing the motherboard with some electrical tape.

130. weaver wrote, on July 19th, 2009:

     

     Hi jay
     i had this fault at first i think it is more likely that the housing of the sata drive would be shorting something out on the board,that was the fault i had, you could cover it with insulation tape like morris suggested i had a sleeve out of an old laptop which sorted the problem.

     Morris
     i have accidently killed the mousepad i didnt have the ribbon plugged in properly , do you think i could wire the mouse pad the back of a usb socket

131. Morris Lee wrote, on July 19th, 2009:

     

     @WEAVER,

     I am sorry, I don’t think it is possible to rewire it to another USB port since the device controller is on the motherboard(as you can see, the mouse buttons are soldered on the MB as well). Only option for you is to use external mouse or purchasing another mousepad.

     are you sure you don’t have the cabble flipped upside down?

132. weaver wrote, on July 19th, 2009:

     

     no its not upside down, ive been using it with an external mouse, il keep an eye out on ebay for one with a broken screen or something so i can use the board

133. rj bernaldo wrote, on July 21st, 2009:

     

     would it be possible to extend the pins using wire so the whole connector can be movable? or would inserting the pins unto the hole be easier? tia. planning to try this mod this week hope everything works great.

134. Morris Lee wrote, on July 21st, 2009:

     

     @rj bernaldo,

     Yes, that is what I have done to the ones that are not “drilled through, I just soldered an extension on top.

135. weaver wrote, on July 24th, 2009:

     

     my board was not drilled through so i carefully drilled it with a sewing needle although you could buy the proper drill bits if u wanted, if u extend it with bits of wire you need to make sure they cannot short out i used liquid insulation tape but you could probably use some bt/cat 5 cable that will be insulated already

136. n00b wrote, on July 26th, 2009:

     

     I have no experience with soldering whatsoever. Any first time tips so as to not mess up my aao? the spaces in between those soldering points seem so close together

137. n00b wrote, on July 26th, 2009:

     

     hm, would it be possible to put in a 3.5″ sata hdd instead and cut off the extra bits of the case so it could fit?

     and would 7.2k rpm disk speed be too hot for a small sized netbook? tia once again sir.

138. Morris Lee wrote, on July 26th, 2009:

     

     @noob,

     get a solder sucker, it can take away too much solder.

139. Nitro wrote, on July 30th, 2009:

     

     God save the Queen and Moris Lee !!!
     You’re a genius. I made your mods in my ZG5.
     The sensation to see WinXp at boot is like to have NOS in car.
     I tried to use the original SSD and sata hdd at the same time for extra storage, but Bios configure always SSD as IDE0 and always try to boot from SSD. I searched in bios (rev. 3309) but no way to change boot order. IDE0 is SSD, IDE1 is empty and i think that sata is configured again like IDE0 but it is not showed.
     Is possible to boot from sata and use SSD like add on storage ?

     Sorry for my horrible english and thnx in advance !

140. Morris Lee wrote, on July 30th, 2009:

     

     @Nitro,

     Easy! install a simple linux distro like fedora or ubuntu, configure grub (the boot loader for linux) to boot the SATA instead. Besides, linux will probably be the only OS will run smooth enough on the SSD

141. weaver wrote, on August 1st, 2009:

     

     Morris/Noob
     I find solder wicks better than the sucker have you tried them?

     tip: get someone else to do it!

     only joking you are at the right place if you get any problems morris has been the most helpful person on my aspire one travels.

142. erdi wrote, on August 10th, 2009:

     

     Hello Lee,

     Its me again. I just want to say thank you so much for this wonderful tutorial. BTW I have made some money from modding other’s AO.

     One question: Is there any way to utilize the SSD, maybe as a flashdisk / external storage or anything? I really need to know since I don’t know what to do with the retired SSD.

143. Morris Lee wrote, on August 10th, 2009:

     

     @erdi,

     I hammered the aluminum part just below the keyboard which gave me some more space to keep the SSD in there aswell. Aspire one ALWAYS boots the SSD if both SSD and HDD are present, so I use linux on the SSD with grub pointing to my HDD as first boot device. hope that works for ya!

144. Qc wrote, on August 17th, 2009:

     

     Hi,

     thank you for the how-to. Work perfectly for my zg5 with a WD scorpio blue 160g.
     Holes are so small for a good welding job…

     2 thinks for help :

     - Use a dremel with a 1/2 mm drill to makes holes on the mother board
     - It’s not clear in your how-to, but for the power, holes 7 and 11 work fine.

     Got only one problem : the screen flicks with hdd activity. Not a big deal, at least I upgraded 8 gig to 160

     Thank you again

145. Morris Lee wrote, on August 18th, 2009:

     

     @Qc,

     Screen flicker seem to happen when i had the oldest BIOS, I am using 3114, I think, I got no more of that problem.

146. Erdi wrote, on August 20th, 2009:

     

     Helo Lee, its me again.

     I got some problem with my latest mod on AO:

     1. HDD detected at BIOS inormation page(seagate momentus 250gb) but didnt show up at BIOS boot option. HDD 0 is still ssd1800

     2. BIOS option for CD-ROM usb always say aircard … although I use different external usb (toshiba-samsung) even if I didnt plug in any exernal USB CD-ROM.

     3. If I partitioned HDD on AO, XP installation will not work. there is message : have wrong hdd configuration ….. (just like there is no active partition on the drive) I have to repartitioned hdd on my other laptop, formated there and then bring it back to AO and install XP.

     4. I feel (I dont have exact measurement) BIOS loading took long time compared with normal AO.

     This AO BIOS is ver 3309, other AO i have modded use original BIOS version. Do you think it is BIOS problem, or hdd problem?

     IS there any difference if I connect all 4 SATA power cable? not only the 2 one like you show in your tutorial? This is my first mod with 250gb. I am affraid the hdd lack of power supply.

     Thanks for your answer, I will greatly appreciated if you send a copy of your answer to my e-mail.

147. Morris Lee wrote, on August 20th, 2009:

     

     @Erdi,

     In the BIOS configuration will always show either SSD or the HDD, not noth both(no idea what is the real deal here), but if you want to HDD to be the first bootable, unplug the HDD, boot SSD, shutdown, and plug the HDD back in, HDD should now be in primary.

     You can always check by pressing F12 at the Acer logo, you will have to enable the F12 boot menu.

     I would prefer if you partition with the XP installation step.

     Power cable shouldn’t be the issue, as they are really just one cable(they are already connected in on the PCB if you look closely, and it does not provide the 12V for desktop HDD, so soldering all pins is extra work, might help the structure though(XD)

148. Erdi wrote, on August 20th, 2009:

     

     Hello lee,

     What I mean is: in normal AO, after succesful mod, I will got HDD detected on BIOS and it show up on boot page. Also, if I connected ext DVD-ROM, BIOS will detect its type and show it on boot page. When ext DVD ROM unplugged, then it will not show in boot page, Am I right?

     But in this case, HDD0 always detected as ssd1800, and ext DVD-ROM alwasy detected as aircard …. (im forgot the whole text). although I use another type, even if I unplug ext DVD-ROM.

     Previous OS installed is ubuntu, BIOS ver 3309 and unfortunately I didnt try to turn it on before modding, so I cannot compare the situation before and after mod.Should I change the BIOS back to original version?

149. Morris Lee wrote, on August 20th, 2009:

     

     @Erdi,

     yeah, probably it is the BIOS problem, you could try 3114, I think that is one I am using

150. Helge wrote, on August 22nd, 2009:

     

     Thanks for sharing your experience how to uprade the 110L with a 2,5″ sata, mate

     Obviously it had to work, now with the pictures I must try it out!

     I read on a site there is the recommandation to put in an capacitor (100-150 uF; next to the 5V restistor soldering spot), but there is no need for that, I suppose?

     Maybe I´ll get a solid sata connector to mount on the board, but your way looks very nice.

     Greetings
     Helge

151. eward wrote, on August 22nd, 2009:

     

     hey i was wondering if you have that site or pic for soldering the power and the ground

152. erdi wrote, on August 24th, 2009:

     

     Hello Lee,

     Thanks for the advise (bout AO problem in previous post). I reflash the BIOS with ver. 3114 and it works fine. BTW do you have any suggestion about the cause, maybe it will be usefull for others, here are my guesses, which one you agree?
     1. There are some flaws in BIOS program written for ver. 3309 (Is it? since it it the most recent BIOS, it should be the most perfect one, isn’t it?)
     2. there are corrupted process in flashing BIOS (but if this is the cause, AO should not work at all I think)
     3. Do you have other ideas?

153. Morris Lee wrote, on August 24th, 2009:

     

     @erdi,

     1. Not entirely, could be the newest, but may not be the best, this applies to all softwares and drivers too.

     2. In the even of such problem, you can try http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/08/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html – thanks to macles!

     3. As for the cause of the problem, I still have to read through the change log, I just arrived at Edmonton now, after 12 hours of driving……

154. olz wrote, on August 24th, 2009:

     

     Hi,

     on my searching for “cool” mods for my aao i found following: http://www.todoumpc.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7237&PN=1

     So for me i want my keyboard BUT it comes in my mind to buy a LCD (http://cgi.ebay.de/Acer-Original-LCD-Display-8-9-Aspire-One-A110_W0QQitemZ170355456276QQcmdZViewItemQQptZNotebook_Komponenten?hash=item27a9f9f914&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) and a touchscreen kit (http://cgi.ebay.de/8-9-Acer-Aspire-One-Solderless-TOUCH-SCREEN-PANEL-KIT_W0QQitemZ280377812619QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_Elektronik_Computer_Computer_Monitore_Flachbildschirme?hash=item4147d1e68b&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14) to mod them outside like the tablet mod from this crazy guy above.

     So “only” problem (technically) is here someone who can provide a solution to plugin to LCDs to the mainboard of the aao? Perhaps to switch LCD via Button or somethink like that, cause i dont want to and dont think it is possible to let both LCDs work simultanously.

     This would be a perfect to hab a nice Ebook-Reader, Tablet-PC and Netbook all in one

155. erdi wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     Hello lee,

     I have an open question for you and anyone who have modded succesfully. Just for sharing.

     1. What about battery life?, mine has shortened life rather drastically. How to maintain battery long life?

     2. What about HDD temperature? I use HDDtune and it shows a quite rapid increase in HDD temp, from 35C at start up to 40-43C after a few minutes. It give me unsecure feeling everytime I use my AO, though it never goes beyond maximum temp allowed (46C). Is there anything we can do with the fan to lower HDD temp?

     Thanks a lot in advance. Enjoy our time with AO.

156. Morris Lee wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     @erdi,

     1. My battery is just fine, I don’t see much difference.

     2. HDD temperature is not a problem, 46c is very cool, if it reaches over 70~ish, than that is when you should worry. However, to cool it down, try a1ctl by Noda

     Cheers!

157. willy fernandez wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     I can’t see where to connect the power wires, that link just doesn’t work, could you show me a more detailed picture of the connection?

158. Morris Lee wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     @willy,

     http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml

     connect one of 4,5,6 and one of 6,7,8 since 4,5,6 is all connected as is for 6,7,8.

159. n00b wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     used a different power source for the connection for the sata. is that okay or will my battery die like crazy? hope to get my sata connector done by tom. i want it to be movable so i can switch in a 3.5 1.tb hd and cut a hole on the aspire one. hahahaha

160. n00b wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     would it be okay to connec another sata connector along with the current sata for another sata disk?

161. Morris Lee wrote, on August 25th, 2009:

     

     @noob,

     a different power source will be fine, but the 3.5′ hdd will not work with 5v from the power connection from the aspire one, as laptops do not provide 12v to the 2.5hdds. It is not ok to connect another HDD.

162. Craig wrote, on September 4th, 2009:

     

     Hello Morris, i need your help please!!!. I used the solder sucker but did not work. So i used a needle to try and push the solder out and the copper rings from the holes came out from both sides of the PC board holes. Does that mean the contacts are lost or can i just fill the hole with solder?

     Thanks Craig

163. Morris Lee wrote, on September 4th, 2009:

     

     @Craig,

     can you email some pictures? or post them on somewhere and link it in your comments?

164. Faisal Aslam wrote, on September 6th, 2009:

     

     hi lee,
     i have aspire a110. im living in dubai didnt find 1.8″ pata/zif hard drive. but this sata hack is looking good to for my aspire one..

     Lee i dont need space im not worried speed, talking about 8gb ssd. but my problem is my ssd stop working after 5 10 minutes then its also stop showing in bios. u have any idea about this?? what should i do?

165. Morris Lee wrote, on September 6th, 2009:

     

     @Faisal Aslam,

     I think it can be a cable problem(due to some heat expansion after booting up, metal conducting shifts slightly, SSD fails to read).

     if you got the guts, open it up, reinsert the zif cable of the SSD and see if that helps, if not, you can try bios update too.

166. Faisal Aslam wrote, on September 6th, 2009:

     

     i did bios update like 2 times. and i think i can deal with cable because i upgrade the ram last week and that went well.

     Lee im planing to buy 1.8″ ssd(MTECH) PATA/ZIF for my A110. will i able to change that with my 8gb fuckin ssd?

     thanks man u r doing great job.

167. Morris Lee wrote, on September 6th, 2009:

     

     @Faisal,

     As long as it is standard ZIF connection, I don’t see why not, but as for the real compatibility, you will never know.

168. Matteo wrote, on September 12th, 2009:

     

     Nice article, I just do not quite understand where the sata connects on the mother board and same with the power…? Does the sata go to the 3pin connect infront of it?
     Thanks.

169. erdi wrote, on September 13th, 2009:

     

     Hello Lee, me again..

     Just curious, what is the function of 2 small switch in AO mainboard? (near memory module I think) First I think its a kind of CMOS resetter but there is no effect at all.

     Maybe you can explain ho to utilize them.

     Another issue: I have compared some of netbooks, and I find that Dell and HP mininote is somewhat more responsive than AO. Since general specs just the same, what make the difference? Maybe you have some opinions

     Thanks in advance

170. Morris Lee wrote, on September 13th, 2009:

     

     @erdi,

     never noticed the switch, I will take a look when I open it next time.

     more responsive?? you mean in XP maybe? probably because of the SSD, with, HDD, should be all about the same.

171. Peter wrote, on September 20th, 2009:

     

     Real great How-to. My a110 now works with a 320BG WD
     Thanks a lot.

172. Key wrote, on September 23rd, 2009:

     

     Hello, does anyone have any experience replacing the standard 16gb ssd with a new sata2 ssd? would love to get shot of old one.
     many thanks Iain

173. Morris Lee wrote, on September 23rd, 2009:

     

     @Key,

     You have to try to get “SLC” type of SSD, this will get you a guaranteed performence, what the Aspire One netbook uses is the cheap MLC SSD.

     So if you get MLC, you will get about the same performence in Windows unless you use some third party tweaks like ewf

174. Fireboy138 wrote, on September 28th, 2009:

     

     Hey, thanks I did get the HDD to boot via usb and installed an OS. This is the best mod ever! I used a 500gig WD Scoripo Blue and can’t fill it fast enough! Thanks again.

175. joyogk wrote, on October 14th, 2009:

     

     hi people. last night I made this mod on a aspire one a110, it reconized the 2.5 HD.
     today I was going to assemble the AAO and only get a black screen. does anyone knows whats the problem?

176. Morris Lee wrote, on October 14th, 2009:

     

     @joyogk,

     Do you see the acer logo when you boot the laptop???

177. joyogk wrote, on October 14th, 2009:

     

     nope

178. Morris Lee wrote, on October 15th, 2009:

     

     @joyogk,

     I am assuming it is a BIOS failure, you might want to try this

     http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/08/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html

     Sometimes the BIOS of the AAO fails, many users had to go through the BIOS recovery.

     Good luck,
     Morris Lee

179. joyogk wrote, on October 15th, 2009:

     

     thanks morry lee.
     i was searching on the net and found what you mentioning.
     it recoreved the PC
     GGGGRRREEEAAAAT

     tomorrown i will finish the mod

     thanks a lot

180. weaver wrote, on October 15th, 2009:

     

     hi morris i was wondering if you could help me with a problem on my aspire, i have replaced my dead speakers with some out of a toshiba but when i turn up the volume the sound plays intermitently. any ideas Weaver

181. Morris Lee wrote, on October 16th, 2009:

     

     @weaver,

     It sounds like they are too powerful for the aspire one, it is not getting enough power. you may have “make” yourself a powersupply internally just for the speakers from like a 5v source or something.

182. Windraver wrote, on October 19th, 2009:

     

     Brilliant and scary.

     I’m getting a AOA110 this week via ebay and I was looking around for a good way to upgrade the hard drive when I came across this post.

     I’m confused about the resistor and the power source.
     For power, I tried the link and I found the site dead.

     I read through the comments as best as I could and still didn’t find much information other than:
     http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml
     So I presume that the
     456 and 789 are connection points on the motherboard correct which are located as I circled in the picture below?
     http://windraver.net/images/powersource.jpg

     As for the Resistor, do I remove the R364A resistor and bypass it? Do I need to add any new resistors or do I simply need to bypass the resistor?

     Thanks, I really look forward to trying out this mod.

183. Windraver wrote, on October 19th, 2009:

     

     So to make sure I’m understanding this right.

     I borrowed a picture from one of your commenters

     I marked the spots I think I need to connect the black and red wires, where I need to solder, and where to connect the SATA.
     http://windraver.net/images/ConnectSolder.jpg

     Is the picture correct?

     Is there anything else I’m missing?

     Thanks ^_^

184. Morris Lee wrote, on October 19th, 2009:

     

     @Windraver,

     Thanks for the notification for the dead link, I have posted 2 new images indicating the required information

     You almost got the right idea, double check the pin number count with the new images I have attached. I think you are counting it backwards, just double check it again, you should count from the mechanical key lock(the gap)

     just solder the R364 resistor like the image I have showed.

     Morris Lee

185. Windraver wrote, on October 19th, 2009:

     

     Okay, so I cleaned up the picture and corrected it.

     Is it correct now?
     http://windraver.net/images/ConnectSolder.jpg

     if it is correct, you can use this picture so that other people can understand it and do this mod for themselves as well.

     Thanks for you help and guide! I appreciate it

186. Morris Lee wrote, on October 19th, 2009:

     

     @Windraver,

     It looks fine now, and thanks for the soldered image, I will post that one in here too with credits!

     Morris Lee

187. Michael Walsh wrote, on October 20th, 2009:

     

     See if this works:

     

188. Morris Lee wrote, on October 20th, 2009:

     

     @Michael,

     Hehe, I don’t know if you have already realize, I posted in the article already, I have every piece of info required to complete the mod on here now, I was bit lazy and just referenced to another site. Since it is down right now, so I had to pick up the slack XD.

     Anyways, the article is golden at the moment, unless I’ve made mistakes

     Morris Lee

189. Michael Walsh wrote, on October 20th, 2009:

     

     It was 5am when I posted that. Forgetaboutit…

190. Michael Mejsner wrote, on October 21st, 2009:

     

     Hi everyone

     I have tried this mod, where I have gotten a sata-socket from a defect laptop and have tried to solder it to the Ace mainboard. But have trubbel with getting the solder to connect the connectionpoints, and the mainboard is one of them where the soldingpoints is not all through the board, so it makes it a little difficult to make the connections work.

     It was possible for me to make the pins solder to the soldingpoints, but it does not se the drive, but I can hear it is getting power.

     Should I try drilling the holes out with a tiny drill?

     By the way. Thx for a great guide.

191. Morris Lee wrote, on October 21st, 2009:

     

     @Michael Mejsner,

     You don’t need to drill through, even though people has reported that they have done it and it works, but I don’t recommend it as you may risk damaging your board.

     All I did was to solder on the top, but you need to make sure they are in contact, the joints are rather small, you may get flux stuck between the connection, if so, you need to use alcohol to clean it out first.

     Morris Lee

192. windraver wrote, on October 22nd, 2009:

     

     Did you get any [problens with keyboard?

     my following keys aren’t working right. The

     98
     76
     54
     79
     9p
     -0

193. Morris Lee wrote, on October 22nd, 2009:

     

     @windraver,

     are you telling me keys in keyboard character codes? or just those numbers does not work??

194. windraver wrote, on October 23rd, 2009:

     

     i’m thinking some solder might be shorting some keys. i’ll check it out.

     the keys listed above will ty[pe both keys when i [press then… exam[ple the letter “p” or “[” the it will ty[pe both “[p”

195. Morris Lee wrote, on October 23rd, 2009:

     

     @windraver,

     yes, that seems to be shorted, but first check if you have the ribbon cable snapped in all the way properly

196. Windraver wrote, on October 23rd, 2009:

     

     yea its pluged in all the way. I was in class and I had a pocket knife so i popped the keyboard up just to check haha.

     There was some splashed solder in various places which i cleaned up. Now the keys “9″ “-” “[” don’t work and the video on boot up comes up off alignment and at the incorrect resolution. It fixes itself though once windows boots up. Kinda strange. I’m gonna have another look around.

197. windraver wrote, on October 23rd, 2009:

     

     Couldn’t figure out where the problem is.

     Video fixed itself after I took it apart again, probably a loose wire. The keys i mentioned above still don’t work. I can’t type them but they are nine, minus, and beginning bracket. I think I might have broken a connection somewhere though im not quite sure where it is. Is there any place you know of that i can source a wiring diagram of how the keyboard is connected and what each key triggers? That was I can trace the 3 keys and find the broken connnection.

198. Morris Lee wrote, on October 23rd, 2009:

     

     @windraver,

     Check your LCD connector, sometimes it can be hard to connect it properly. Maybe because windows sort of boosted the signal of the connection so it looks fine once windows is booted.

     I looked through the service manual, which is still not very detailed, there is nothing that will help you.

199. Windraver wrote, on October 24th, 2009:

     

     yea, the video problem is gone. It went away after I took it apart again to search for the keyboard problem. It turns out that 9,7,-,[, and f11 all don’t work. I’m using a different laptop atm. If anyone comes up with something I’ll be glad to hear it. Otherwise i’m just gonna search til i find the problem.

200. aatoma wrote, on October 26th, 2009:

     

     Hi Morris,

     I want to thank you for posting this great mod. I successfully implemented it even if I’m not an expert in soldering. It took me several hours (and several sata cables as well) for proper connectors, soldering and connectors positioning, but finally it works. I can confirm that some motherboards (like mine) are missing R364. The terminals are there anyway, so I had to bridge them and the hard drive showed up.

     Again, thank you.

     Antonio

201. Faisal wrote, on November 13th, 2009:

     

     hey!!!
     im writing after a while to just say thanks for helping me out. u suggest me to check my cable and i did. it was little out, i pushed it in properly and then it start working great…..

     my Aspire one a110 is working awesome with windows 7. i wanna share few stuff with you and all to run Windows 7 on Aspire 1 like a charm.

     FLASH POINT: its the best thing u can get from 8 gb slow ssd. this software make your ssd work like super duper high speed ssd.

     Vlite: After editing my Windows 7 on it i have 3 gb free space and its working perfect.

     Guys if u owe one aspire 1 8gb slow ssd belive me it can be a perfect machine with ram upgrade and windows 7 like mine i dont need anything else i use it as my full time machine.

202. Faial wrote, on November 19th, 2009:

     

     hey Lee you have any idea how to reset aspire a110 bios from the motherboard????
     i tried to change bios version and its dead now:$ with usb its not working screen iss off. i know that way u can update bios with usb without going to dos. but this time its not reading usb.

     tell me if u have any about reseting bios from the motherboad. cheers

203. Morris Lee wrote, on November 19th, 2009:

     

     @Faial,

     Here you go!

     http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/08/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html

     good luck!

204. Michael Walsh wrote, on November 19th, 2009:

     

     @Faial Tell Macles TheAcerGuy says hi (again)!

205. mdj wrote, on November 22nd, 2009:

     

     Hi ppl.
     I made this modd and the hdd is recognized on the bios. but when I going to install windows, the same doesn’t recognize none hdd.
     what could it be???
     the hdd is a hitachi

     thanks.

206. windraver wrote, on November 22nd, 2009:

     

     @mdj
     I had that problem before where windows didn’t recognize my HD. It turned out that the copy of windows, as old as Service pack 1, didn’t have the drivers necessary to load the SATA HD. I found that SP2 and later copies of windows worked. Windows 7 works as well. You might want to consider loading the drivers for the HD prior to installing windows.

207. Chris wrote, on November 23rd, 2009:

     

     Hi.. was there a decision to the wifi/3g switch???….. There was a question of using the 3g(left) movement to swich a usb bluetooth dongle mounted internaly??

     I used this site to do my HDD mod and works a treat.. just installed a touch screen, while the case was open im looking for the answer to above question.

     Cheers

     Chris

208. Morris Lee wrote, on November 23rd, 2009:

     

     @Chris,

     I believe if you allocate the space for the switch to go to the other end, it should toggle the 3G(if it is got one, or you can install it like how tnkgrl did, google that name will get somewhere)

     Morris Lee

209. Chris wrote, on November 23rd, 2009:

     

     hi… but i dont want to toggle 3g. I want to use the switch to switch a usb dongle mounted inside? I was wondering if any one had done this…. It was asked further up.????

210. Morris Lee wrote, on November 24th, 2009:

     

     @Chris,

     Sorry, missed read what you wanted to do, you probably could, you will need to go through Launch Manager, that should be your easier solution, then using regedit, edit the entry for 3G, you will need to link to essentially 3 bat files and some small exe files to do it.

     build a folder containing “current”, “on”, “off” folders, in each folder, make a file named like bt.bat(NOT like bt.bat.txt, go to folder options to show extentions) have the shortcut linked to the bt.bat in the “current” folder and have the bt.bat in the “on” folder to enable the bluetooth using a simple exe program called devcon.exe and have the line “C:\Windows\devcon.exe enable “USB\VID_050D&PID_016A&REV_0388″” in the bat file, and right under that command, use xcopy and copy the bt.bat in the “off” folder to “current” and vise vera for the one in the “off” folder.

     That is so you don’t have to get into programming.

     I can email you a sample through email:
     Morris Lee

211. Faisal aslam wrote, on December 1st, 2009:

     

     hey Leee!!!
     http://macles.blogspot.com/2008/08/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html

     u gave me this links thanks for that but my problem is way much bigger then this……. this is wat i tried to do before i mean updating my bios with that renamed bios file in usb but my A110 is not flashing bios anymore its seems to be totaly dead. what i asked is is tjere is a way we can reset bios from hardware or any other solution….

     updating or reseting bios with usb is not working my screen is permanent black and updating bios from usb is not working in any case….

     hope ill get a reply sooon… anyways thanks a lot u helped me before hope ull try again… u r doing excellent job.

212. Morris Lee wrote, on December 1st, 2009:

     

     @Faisal aslam,

     I am sorry, i do not know how to reset the BIOS that way, not without a special machine that can read the CMOS in the motherboard.

213. windraver wrote, on December 1st, 2009:

     

     @Faisal aslam

     so question. Is the power light coming on when you press it?

     try the following stuff.
     unplug the AC adapter
     remove the battery
     count to 10
     reconnect AC and battery

     repeat the steps provided on how flash the bios via USB. it “should” work

     a lot of people had the same problem with the screen not turning on. all that was needed was to load the correct bios files, hold fn+esc before pressing the power button with the usb memory stick in the usb port, and it should work.

     if it doesn’t work, try a different USB drive. the usb drive does make a difference. if it doesn’t work the first time, turn off and try again. sometimes it takes a few tries to get the usb drive to detect and read. also try using different usb ports.

     good luck and i hope that helps.

214. Faisal Aslam wrote, on December 2nd, 2009:

     

     thanks @ Lee & windraver

     windraver yes i tried every thing light is getting on off every things seems to ok but asipre is not reading from my usb. i tried 4 usbs no use. wht u guys suggest me should i take it to sum Computer repairing shop?

215. Erdi wrote, on December 19th, 2009:

     

     Hello Lee,

     I have a problem again. Its very URGENT for me, so I will greatly appreciate anyone who can give a solution ASAP.

     My Problem maybe just like Faisal Aslam. Here is the chronology:

     I tried to flash BIOS since it has a trouble in reading SSD/Hard drive (initial bios was 3309) I try to downgrade it to 3114.

     Unfortunately I forget to plug in the batt pack when doing the procedure (Fn+Esc …etc.. as on mascles blog) and then the power was off in the middle of the process. (unfinished flashing I guess)

     Then when I restarted the procedure (with batt pack attached) nothing happen, just blinking power LED till I force to turn it off.

     If I try to power it on normally (just press power button, no Fn + Esc procedure) The power LED just light on, but nothing else happen.

     Do you have any solution for this problem or I have to give up??

     Thanks a lot in advance

216. Morris Lee wrote, on December 19th, 2009:

     

     @Faisal Aslam & Erdi,

     hum.. BIOS is really not my area of expertise, try posting on macles’s blog, see what he is got to say, or read over what others are experiencing on his blog.

     Morris Lee

217. Tomaz wrote, on December 21st, 2009:

     

     Hi Morris, it works. I just finished this mode
     on my AOA110. They become very cheap from
     second hand and it is perfect gift for wife
     or girlfriend.

     Thanks and greetings from Slovenia, Tomaz

218. Morris Lee wrote, on December 21st, 2009:

     

     @Tomaz,

     Congrats! Good to hear another success!

     Morris Lee

219. Martin wrote, on December 22nd, 2009:

     

     Hi Morris

     I’ve been thinking about doing this mod for like a week or so, but I’m not sure about the sevenpin data cable. How can I be certain about the pin’s placement on the motherboard? Besides that everything seems understandable to me in your great guide:D

     And just to be clear; this motherboard is only capable of the first gen sata at 1.5Gb , but will be able to support second gen at 3.0Gb drives as well, but with limited transfer speed?
     If so, I gonna get a 500GB hdd, since a speedy SSD will be capped down to about 100mb/s anyway.

     Thanks so far!

220. Morris Lee wrote, on December 23rd, 2009:

     

     @Martin,

     with the pin numbers, the only way to tell is count from the tab, I have provided a diagram for where to to count from, if you are really unsure, just solder all the pins, that will definitely work.

     SATA 1.5 vs 3.0, they should be backward compatible with each other, there should not be a problem with it, except the bandwidth limitation, then again, Aspire One is set to IDE compatibility in the BIOS by default, there is no way to change it as far as I know. so you may really be limited at ATA bandwidth, there is no worry though, you don’t need that performance in this little guy anyways.

     Cheers!

221. Martin wrote, on December 27th, 2009:

     

     I don’t see any diagram for the sata connector? The pins for the power is no problem. How can I know which is the 1st sata pin on the MB?

     About the IDE compatibility; That won’t bother me just as long as I get a better writespeed than the 8GB Samsung SSD!§!

222. Morris Lee wrote, on December 27th, 2009:

     

     @Martin,

     As long as if the SATA cable and the power is plugged into the harddrive (like in 7th picture from the top) you line up the power connector pins, you will line up the SATA cable itself too.

     And yes, pretty much any 2.5HDD harddrive will beat the 8GB SSD

223. Adam wrote, on December 31st, 2009:

     

     Hello Morris ! After instillation 0,5TB harddrive 7200 it working very nice.
     Thx for a great guide.Adam

224. Chris wrote, on December 31st, 2009:

     

     Hi Morris.. seasons greetings.. sorry for the delay in replying. I’m trying to find the electrical connections on the motherboard to connect the bluetoooth dongle to…. I guess there is a switched 5 volts which would supply the GSM module when the switched is activated???? I’m sure I read it somewhere but I cant find!!!!

     Cheers

225. slee wrote, on January 3rd, 2010:

     

     * Somehow your machine does not look like my acer aspire aoa110-1995. I don’t mean the colour.

     * The machine came with an 8GB SSD IDE 1.8 ZIF. I put in a toshiba 40GB ZIF. It died in three months. My duct-tape job probably slammed a few nails in its coffin.

     * I’m thinking of putting in (or outside) a 2.5 HDD. Some of the inside screw points have been removed.

     * I don’t believe the resistor you removed is Zero OHMS. If it is 0, then why short it? A short is zero ohms. Is it 1 ohm or 0.1 ohms?

226. Morris Lee wrote, on January 3rd, 2010:

     

     @slee,

     The Zero Ohms, I really mean by negligible value, therefore, we short it, don’t exactly have the original value though, but this info was from a Russian website, which is referenced at the top, since the actual page is taken down, so I used the crossed out effect.

     After all, it does work, and it has been working for me almost an year now (23 days to one full year to be specific!)

     What do you mean it looks different? you don’t have those pin holes available to work with?

     Morris Lee

227. slee wrote, on January 4th, 2010:

     

     Yours looks bigger.
     Inside mine, I just don’t see how I can safely fit a 2.5hdd.
     Also, it doesn’t seem to be able to power a 2.5SATA.

228. Morris Lee wrote, on January 4th, 2010:

     

     @slee,

     there is a possibility that your case might be different, since you have slightly newer version of the aspire one with different case design, but you DO have to note, I did cut off quite a few things to fit the harddrive inside(as seen in the 10th picture from the top)I trimmed it off with clippers that clips off to the surface, and use a chisel to make sure it is completely flat.

229. La Madriguera de Gnoblis » Esta viva, Igor, ¡VIVA!… mi Acer One wrote, on January 5th, 2010:

     [...] desmontar la Acer One hasta el paso de cambiar la RAM y posteriormente a una entrada del blog de theacerguy donde demuestra que el mod era posible y aprendi el [...]

230. Res wrote, on January 12th, 2010:

     

     I did the Mod and everything is going at its best!
     
     THANK YOU for this detailt description.

     Only, I had to use the driller too, because i was able to open only 2 holes with the solder sucker….

     Now, after installing Win7 (20min), the A110L works smooth …..

     thx RES

231. James Sofonia wrote, on January 12th, 2010:

     

     Morris,

     I did the sata upgrade from your guide in 1 hour, worked first try! Thank you.

     As for r364, I took apart my wifes A150 it has r364 installed. It is marked with a “0″ and measures zero ohms. Your advice of soldering across the pads where r364 should be is correct.

     Jim Sofonia
     Traverse City, Michigan US

232. Morris Lee wrote, on January 12th, 2010:

     

     @James Sofonia,

     Congratulations to you too! but you took apart your wife’s One? she did not get mad? HAHA, thanks for the info though!

233. James Sofonia wrote, on January 13th, 2010:

     

     I paid dearly for that. I did install her wirless mouse dongle inside the acer connected to one of the internal usb ports while I had it apart. It works perfectly and she is still mad for taking it apart!

234. Morris Lee wrote, on January 13th, 2010:

     

     @James Sofonia,

     Wow, you installed internal USB port for Aspire One? are you interested in writing up something for TAG? In expert’s voice? I am sure Michael will be thrilled!

235. mibellavista wrote, on January 15th, 2010:

     

     Thanks for your help.
     This is my guide based in this page.

     http://www.taringa.net/posts/ebooks-tutoriales/4395013/Colocar-HDD-2,5_Equot;-en-una-Acer-Aspire-One-110.html

     Good Bay from Argentina.

236. John Robinson wrote, on January 29th, 2010:

     

     Hi Morris
     I seem to have killed my wife’s aspire one. Basically I did tnkgrl’s 1.8 mod to replace the chronic SSD and all went fine till the usual problems with the ribbon cable. The bios didn’t see the drive and when I touched the cable the leds blinked and the acer powered down. It booted again ok though still not recognising the drive so I replaced the SSD and guess what, it doesnt see that either now.
     My question is….If I have damaged the pata interface is there any point trying your excellent 2.5 sata mod or does that use different circuitry which should be ok? Whether I live or die may depend on your answer!
     USB HDD and DVD drives are picked up ok.

     Thanks

     John

237. Morris Lee wrote, on January 29th, 2010:

     

     @John Robinson,

     Does your netbook still boot? do you see the acer logo? if so, you can probably try that, did you do something to the cable? if the cable is all you have modified, you can still get a cable just for that type of HDD.

     If your netbook still boots to BIOS, then you could still use my mod, but remove the PATA I guess.

     Morris Lee

238. John Robinson wrote, on January 29th, 2010:

     

     Yes it boots ok, get acer logo, can enter bios or boot from recovery disc in dvd drive. I bought and tried a toshiba type blue/white cable but it didn’t make any difference. Also removed bios battery for half an hour to reset it. I think I will order a 2.5″. they aren’t very dear and have proper connectors rather than those flimsy zif things.
     This is a great site BTW. and thanks for the speedy reply.

     John

239. John Robinson wrote, on February 7th, 2010:

     

     Hi again Morris,

     Mine works too! Did it slightly differently as I didn’t have any spare cables. Got one of those cheap usb caddies and canibalised the socket. The drive stuck out a bit more so I had to shave a bit off the side of the daughter board middle post but that holds the drive into the socket nicely. That drive is going nowhere! Wifey is over the moon with her new high speed AA1.
     Thanks again for the method. If I hadn’t come across your site I wouldn’t have known (or believed) it was possible. You’re a HERO.

     John

240. alfoo wrote, on February 15th, 2010:

     

     hi,sorry for my English.I made your mod, I isolated all cables and made the bridge (r364) …
     pc will not turn on anymore! it go only one second with green led, and then nothing!
     any ideas? help me please

241. Martin Mark wrote, on February 15th, 2010:

     

     hi alfoo,

     I had the same/similar problem (apparently very common).
     I needed to flash my bios to solve it.

     First try this:

     http://acer-uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/313/related/1

     ————————————-

     If that doesn’t work follow these intructions:

     Here the link to the instructions:

     http://www.qrpcw.com/2009/01/acer-aspire-one-bios-recovery.html

     And here the download link from Acer for the bios:

     http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_3310_A_AOA110%20&%20AOA150.zip?acerid=633850493862245097&Step1=Netbook&Step2=Aspire%20One&Step3=AOA110&OS=X01&LC=en&BC=Acer&SC=EMEA_27

     NOTE: FLASHIT.EXE is included in the download from Acer.

     Good luck!

242. Jo wrote, on February 26th, 2010:

     

     Hello Morris,

     Thanks to this guide i was able to place a harddisk in my a110.
     It works great without any problem.
     I have removed the original ssd, because i didn’t have place for it.
     I did also update the bios to version 3310.

     Regards,
     Jo

243. Morris Lee wrote, on February 27th, 2010:

     

     @Jo,

     Congrats to you too!

     Morris Lee

244. Gino Italy wrote, on February 28th, 2010:

     

     Thank’s very much, i did it , me to with a wd skorpio, works great!!!!!
     I need know how put in this acer a 3g modem ,
     Did you know?
     Bless you boy!
     Bye and thank’s again.

     Gino IT

245. Morris Lee wrote, on February 28th, 2010:

     

     @Gino,

     adding 3G? the only guide i found was this one http://tnkgrl.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/modding-the-acer-aspire-one-hsdpa/

     Morris Lee

246. Martin Mark wrote, on March 6th, 2010:

     

     @Morris Lee

     forgot to thank you for this tutorial. Thanks man. You helped me a lot.

     Put an Intel X-18 in. Not really worth it. Now the bottle neck is the CPU or FSB or something. The HDD led only blinks once in a while, whereas the cpu is running at 100% when loading apps.

     I will swap HDDs with my 17″ laptop after my roadtrip.

     Regards
     Martin

247. Morris Lee wrote, on March 6th, 2010:

     

     @Martin Mark,

     You are welcome!

     yes, the Aspire One is limited to the CPU and GPU, the CPU is like a powerful pentium 3, the internal build in 945 is actually downclocked too, maximum RAM is limited to 1.5GB, sort of disappointing in a way…

     Morris Lee

248. Peter Steinhoff wrote, on March 14th, 2010:

     

     I’ve put an 2.5″ sata ssd in mine which might be the best option regarding both performance, low power and also space (if you remove the cover from the SSD drive).

     I used an Intel X25-V 40GB and it works fine.

     I did not remove all plastic tabs on the bottom as they hold the bare SSD internals in place. I covered them with elctrical tape though as the metallic interior of the case is a conductor and can short circuit the SSD.

     Performance with the SSD is great.

249. Peter Steinhoff wrote, on March 14th, 2010:

     

     PS. there is plenty of room on top of the bare sata SSD drive so one could keep the original 8GB zif ssd drive. As mentioned above it isn’t recognized by the bios and it’s much slower than the new sata SSD but it might be an option if your OS can use it.

250. Morris Lee wrote, on March 14th, 2010:

     

     @Peter Steinhoff,

     Interesting! great job!

     Morris Lee

251. Tiago wrote, on March 30th, 2010:

     

     Hi there.
     first things first, thanks a lot for the great tutorial
     I bought the molex from farnel site http://it.farnell.com/molex/47018-2001/ricettacolo-sata-1-27mm-22-vie/dp/1519812?_requestid=132975
     I managed to clean all the MBoard sata holes to make a perfect work, I soldered all the connector pins, used a Hitachi HDD 320GB 2.5″, and to fix the HDD to the plastic enclosure, I used Hot Glue on both sides of HDD (just a bit).
     I also upgraded to a 1GB DDR2 800MHz sodimm, so now I have 1.5GB memory.

     After the HDD installation work, I powered on the PC, the HDD was detected, nothing abnormal, I updated the BIOS and then I started the installation of OS, I chose XP ’cause the 7 starter is to limited and other versions of 7 might be a bit heavy for the little Acer, so I installed the XP and all the drivers needed, everything runs great, both card readers, USB’s, VGA connector, audio jacks and all led light indicators.

     so, I have no problem and that’s great.

     once again, thanks a lot for the great tutorial.

     PS.: THIS IS A MUST HAVE UPGRADE FOR ALL ACER ASPIRE ONE AOA110 OWNERS!!!

252. keiron wrote, on April 7th, 2010:

     

     hi, thanks for the tutorial, everything went smoothly for me, however a couple of days after i did the mod my laptop will jus switch off for no apparent reason, especially wen i move it, i thot bad connectors so i resoldered and nuthin seems to have worked i dunno if there is a short somewhere, sometimes after it shuts down wen i press the power on button the laptop wont start at all, any ideas on this, do i have to update bios, i have one of the very first acers A110 i installed a seagate 250gb 7200rpm, i did not solder all three holes for each of the ground or positive, just one hole, cud this b the problem?

     thanks for any help

253. Morris Lee wrote, on April 7th, 2010:

     

     @keiron,

     it does sound like bad connection, you should open it up and check it.

     Morris Lee

254. pcfxxr wrote, on April 15th, 2010:

     

     just wanted to say thank you for the tutorial, have now applied this (with minor tweaks) to several aspire a0a 110’s.

255. Tiago wrote, on April 20th, 2010:

     

     i there.
     i made a new mod, soldered a usb to one of the right USB’s (the one next to the audio out jack), the objective was to connect a bluetooth device and get inside the back compartment
     [IMG]http://i39.tinypic.com/15iamoo.jpg[/IMG]
     [IMG]http://i41.tinypic.com/4tahy8.jpg[/IMG]
     although i have a problem, wen i plug in the bluetooth, the outside USB wont work, this means that i cant have 2 USB devices connected to the same USB.
     have any of you tried this mod?
     does the same happened to you?

256. Tiago wrote, on April 20th, 2010:

     

     nevermind guys
     i searched on google and saw that i just cant solder the wires to a USB port.
     i already made the mod, soldered data wires on pci-e (wireless)and the 5v and grnd wire soldered near there to.
     http://www.flickr.com/photos/tnkgrl/2983694346/sizes/o/in/set-72157606718788110/

     i got based on this pic

257. Dave wrote, on April 27th, 2010:

     

     I just want to say thanks to your blog and pics here, it helps me a lot in doing my mod. However, I’d like to make a few points.

     First of all, I tried to fit a standard 2.5″ SSD drive (OCZ low end) or a Seagate 320GB HDD, and it will block the SD socket on the SD/USB/audio board. I resoldered the SATA socket so it is closer to the left side, so it’s about 1 to 2 mm more but still clearance is no good. I had to remove the plastic post on the very right, the middle screw support for the small board, but still not fit the whole drive. So that let me think that you must be using a shorter drive, but you didn’t seem to have a picture with the drive positioned in it, showing the clearance on the right side. So for me, the HDD is out, and for the SSD, I had no choice but to void the warranty and take out the PCB from the inside, and it’s a full size PCB. If this doesn’t fit, then I have to buy a Kingston SSDNow as that PCB is only 1/4 of the drive length inside (for the 30GB one only!), but review said that PCB is stuck w/ tight screws. Luckily, the PCB of the OCZ barely fits, with only very little clearance left.

     I borrowed from another site’s idea, and use some telephone copper stranded wire to tie the board with the main board through 2 holes on the side, and placed a rubber (cable sheath) tube as a space between that SSD PCB and the main board, and now it is parallel to the main board, and doesn’t flop around. This is important because my SATA socket doesn’t align correctly w/ the holes on the main board, as it’s likely a different brand / model of SATA socket that it is designed for, so the physical footprint is different, I cannot secure the SATA socket completely well, and since I might have a bad solder joint and had to remove it, I don’t want to glue it down dead either, so having the SSD (worse when it had the case as the case is much heavier) secured and not flop around is important.

     This is already my 2nd mod. I first used the CF mod, using a ZIF-CF adapter from DealExtreme, that works, but I still found the performance not good enough even with an A-DATA 350x CF (that cost me a fortune). I should have held on and not did that 1st mod and wait for this instead, as I have waited for many months before I did the first mod, while many things (inc prices) have changed. Sometimes it is hard to understand with other users’ perspective as to what it feels as “fast” or “slow” as far as performance goes.

     I’m surprised that with a low end OCZ SSD, and no FlashFire, it runs smoother than my tweaked system running 350x CF with FlashFire (and if not, it’ll stutter), even on paper, the transfer rate is roughly comparable.

     Now my next mod might be an internal BT, but I just don’t want to drill hole for a physical off / on switch, and yet I don’t want it on at all time either.

     Now debating if I should buy a 9 cell battery or not, as it’s on sale. Will see.

     Thanks again for all the great sharing of info and tips.

258. Morris Lee wrote, on April 28th, 2010:

     

     @Dave,

     Congrats to another success, as a matter of fact, I did use the full size 2.5 inch HDD, I had the SD card problem, but I just keep moving the SATA port back even more to get it to fit as mine is actually on wires and allowed me lots of flexibility.

     good to hear another success! maybe I should start recording the number of success reported!

     Morris Lee

259. Tiago wrote, on April 29th, 2010:

     

     in fact, the SD problem is a problem to us all.
     in my case, before soldering i manage to find a way to fit the HDD without loosing the SD or removind the audio out/mic/usb/SD board midle screw hole.
     what i did was, i removed some of the plastic on the back of the SATA molex (maybe 3mm or 4mm), after that i made something like a S with the pins, so that could make some room pushing the SATA molex back (cpu cooler direction) than i was able to fit the HDD with no problems and the sata molex is well fixed.
     i also got some luck, ’cause my father is a electronics tecnician, he made that work for me, lol.
     he said, it was tricky but not impossible,
     unfortunatly i didn’t toke any pics so you guys could see how the molex is soldered to board.

     for example:
     http://lh4.ggpht.com/_925IvoeqOd4/S0-MpIDwcZI/AAAAAAAAAWM/tH6LRTY4xno/s800/DSC00536.JPG
     in this pic you can see the holes of the SATA port, in my board you can’t see the holes, they are hiden by the SATA molex.

     about the performance, its something from other world, a 2.5″ HDD comparing to the lame 8GB SSD its almost a Ferrari vs a Renault Clio, lol

260. Hugo Ribeiro wrote, on May 27th, 2010:

     

     Hi there. One more sucess around here installing a 2.5 sata HDD.

     Now that im finish i have a random problem from time to time.

     The computer works fine till i make shutdown. When i do this and try to start it again the power button dont start. It seems like dead. To recover it i need to unplug it from the battery an wait a few minuts, when i plug it in again all is fine.

     It seems a short that is happening and the motherboard cuts the power off.

     Best Regards,

261. Morris Lee wrote, on May 27th, 2010:

     

     @Hugo Ribeiro,

     It sounds like maybe your CMOS battery is out of juice maybe. you didn’t damage any parts or short any parts in the netbook have you?

     Morris Lee

262. Chris wrote, on June 2nd, 2010:

     

     thank’s Morris Lee, another AOA110 run with WD 500GB Scorpio Blue,and Windows7 Starter thank’s to you..
     Chris from Greece…very good mode…keep tring

263. Hugo Ribeiro wrote, on June 7th, 2010:

     

     Nah, think not.

     i work for 1h or 2h and it runs good.

     When i shutdown he doesnt give any sign of life ever. I need to remove the battery and wait some minuts, when i plug in again all works fine again.

     well, its weird.

264. Novice wrote, on June 14th, 2010:

     

     Hi Morris,

     Is it necessary to keep the existing 8gb SSD drive in the machine, or can I just rip it out and hammer it to bits.

     Please, could you point me to a site with all the win7 drivers for the A110…forgive my laziness.

265. Morris Lee wrote, on June 15th, 2010:

     

     @Novice,

     If the harddrive works fine, you can shred, burn, do whatever you wish with the old SSD, it is not required for booting anyways, but if you keep it in there, you get extra 8GB, why not?

     Morris Lee

266. Novice wrote, on June 20th, 2010:

     

     @ Morris,

     Just finished the mod and all is good, thanks a lot for a most helpful guide. After doing the mod I had the problem with the power switching off completely (no LEDs were on). I then found that when screwing everything together the hard drive pushed against the SATA soldered connections causing them to touch, the motherboard must have some kind of protection because it just switched off, I then cut small pieces of insulation tape and wedged them between the connects !!!never happened again!!! I must also confirm that it is not necessary for all the ground wires (1,4,7) on the sata connection. I must also add that there is a low risk in doing this mod, almost nothing can go wrong (not even touching wires). The hard drive works great, thanks a lot and God bless.

267. Juan Jose wrote, on June 20th, 2010:

     

     I tried to do the mod, but I didn´t succeded. The problem is that my aao doesn´t recognise neither ssd nor hdd sata.

     Can anyone help me?

     I backed up all process but aao doesn´t find any ssd.

     Any ideas?

268. Morris Lee wrote, on June 20th, 2010:

     

     @Juan Jose,

     If your AAO can’t detect the SSD, check if you have the cable inserted all the way, for the harddrive, you need to make sure the wires I have mentioned above are 100% connected properly.

     Morris Lee

269. Juan Jose wrote, on June 20th, 2010:

     

     SSD ribbon well connected.

     No way to recognise ssd.

     Which BIOS is the correct?

270. Morris Lee wrote, on June 20th, 2010:

     

     @Juan Jose,

     What do you mean which BIOS is correct? you should only use the original or the latest that is on the acer’s driver page Specifically for A110

     Morris Lee

271. Juan Jose wrote, on June 20th, 2010:

     

     Ok, I had to upgrade BIOS some time ago, cause my aao seemed to be death, black screen but fan working and power on. I was just thinking why it still doesn´t work.

272. n00b wrote, on June 21st, 2010:

     

     I appear to have succesfully installed my 320gb 2.5″ hard disk. however huge battery loss was then experienced right after. my 3 cell battery only gives off a max of 1 hour now. any remededy to this sir? thank you.

273. Morris Lee wrote, on June 21st, 2010:

     

     @Juan Jose,

     If you don’t get a screen at all, then it is a BIOS related problem.

     @noob,

     Make sure you didn’t short anything out, as it shouldn’t have that much of an impact to your battery, but remember, your battery might be running old as A110 is a pretty old machine now.

     Morris Lee

274. Juan Jose wrote, on June 21st, 2010:

     

     Screen is working, but hdd led flashes. It doesn´t work yet. Trying to clean all contacts and begin again.

275. Novice wrote, on June 22nd, 2010:

     

     Hi Morris,

     About your drivers you are using, I see you getting a minimum of 2 on your win7 rating, I still get a 1 (aero test) no matter what, I install GMA booster (aka. waste of time) with no success. Please post a win7 driver link. The chipset driver and VGA driver has me confused, are they not the same???

     @ noob
     Your battery deteriorates every time it discharges, my advise is always keep it plugged in when possible. I had negligible battery lose after I completed this mod (250gb Seagate).

276. Morris Lee wrote, on June 22nd, 2010:

     

     @Novice,

     It sounds like you don’t have the right driver for the video card. You need to get them directly from intel for the latest one. I recall you are looking for the 945GM one.

     Morris Lee

277. apieh wrote, on July 14th, 2010:

     

     hi morris lee…
     ive done the mod…
     made the contact but when i shorted the r364 resistor,
     the system wont turn on…
     just a blink of the power led and it dies
     when i separate the short i made, it turns on again..
     just like alfoo before…
     ive tried to flash to bios v3310 but still no change
     hope you could help

278. Morris Lee wrote, on July 14th, 2010:

     

     @apieh,

     Won’t turn on as in no power at all when you press the power button? or there is power just no screen?

279. apieh wrote, on July 14th, 2010:

     

     nevermind,
     i rechecked and it was my ground wire touching the 12volt source
     my bad!
     thnks morris lee!
     now my AA1 is eequipped with sata 2.5 drive!
     thnks a lot

280. Morris Lee wrote, on July 14th, 2010:

     

     @apieh,

     Good to hear another success!

     Morris Lee

281. aoe wrote, on July 18th, 2010:

     

     Modded my AA1 with a 30 GB OCZ Solid 2. Since I hadn’t read the whole thread I was slightly disconcerted by the closed GND pins on the data connector, but in the end I just soldered two of the wires to the surface. Electrically it now works fine after resoldering, but the entire 2.5 in case wouldn’t fit in, so I had to strip the SSD board of the metal casing. After reinstalling Debian GNU/Linux I’m now very happy with the speed (despite the encrypted filesystem), particularly Iceweasel/Firefox doesn’t randomly hang for minutes on end writing its status any more.

     Thanks for the good work!

     On another note, the original ath5k Wifi module frequently crashed so hard only a full power cycle would restore it to any function, so I replaced it with an Intel 51000 AGN, which has yet to exhibit any erratic behaviour.

282. robert wrote, on July 24th, 2010:

     

     hi morris did this mod on 2 aoa110 one works fine its a revision f board the other is a revision e board and it does not see hdd.all checks ok with multimeter no shorts all soldered contacts ok so do you have any answer to whats wrong.

283. Lars Forseth wrote, on July 27th, 2010:

     

     Hi there,

     many thanks for this good article which really helps me! I am planning to solder an SATA connector to my A110 mainboard in order to have a micro SATA 1.8″ Samsung SSD (via uSATA to SATA adapter) in my aspire one.

     As far as I understood it the micro SATA SSD only supports 3.3V so I will not solder the ends of resistor R364 in order to have these 3.3V on pins 7-9, right?

     The adapter I am planning to use is this one:
     http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290447571337

     Oh and here’s the datasheet to the SSD I am planning to purchase:
     http://www.google.de/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CB0QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.samsung.com%2Fglobal%2Fbusiness%2Fsemiconductor%2Fproducts%2Fflash%2Fssd%2F2008%2Fdown%2Fpm800_18_inch.pdf&rct=j&q=1.8%22%20SATA%203.0Gb%2Fs%20MLC%20SSD&ei=JU5PTImqC9z-sQaZgemgAQ&usg=AFQjCNGEN7XeacmsQca4ilPN5LQ12bV3yg&sig2=R-JPlOUP2×3wcyc6K6DO1A

     Maybe someone here could give me a hint?

     Thanks and best,
     Lars.

284. Morris Lee wrote, on July 27th, 2010:

     

     @Lars Forseth,

     I am not sure if the 3.3V is already powered, you might want to take a volt meter and check it before hand. However, the ZIF connection does provide 3.3V and the Mini PCI-E also gives 3.3V too, you can look into that.

     Morris Lee

285. Petyo wrote, on July 29th, 2010:

     

     Great work! I did this two days ago on my ZG5. I used HITACHI Travelstar 7K100 HTS721010G9SA00 100GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache and it works even after the difficult soldiering, because of bad and large soldiering iron…
     + the 9 cell battery and upgrading to the max of 1.5GB RAM, this little machine is now cool )) working with Win7 Home

286. Morris Lee wrote, on July 29th, 2010:

     

     Wow, I just did a count, roughly just over 30 reported successes on this page, good job guys!

     Morris Lee

287. nemesis1300 wrote, on August 7th, 2010:

     

     Hello! Thank you for the great article. Just finished the mod today with success although I used a different approach. I was unlucky and I could not remove the solder from the pins and after many attempts I end up with broken solder points. Before I tossed the netbook to the garbage I tried soldering to the other side of the board. So I used wires from an 80 conductor flat cable (ATA-133) to to the job! So everything is working now! Used 250GB WD Scorpio Blue SATA2 HD. I can send you a photo if you like. Thanks again!

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