EeeUser Eee PC Wiki

User Tools

Site Tools

Trace: • Take apart
an_eee_modder_s_handbook

Table of Contents

This is a collection of my summaries of the eeeuser forum, after reading and posting for about 2 months. It can also be found at http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=27068 (the links work at this other posting site)

Hopefully, this can be a starting point for new forum users. There is a HUGE amount of experience here, so please use the search function so you don't ask questions that were already answered several times.

Please excuse me if I didn't reference you and you were an earlier poster than december 2007, as I didn't routinely have to search that far back in the forum.

My 2 modded eee's are stock Xandros, one in advanced, one in basic mode. Touch screens are from fido-dido999. The first hub was swivel from target, mislabeled. The second hub was the webcam kit from fido. The first mod used a usb plug as the source and the wires run back inside the case through the modem port. It has an on/off switch, but has a visible dongle on the left hand side outside the case. The 2nd mod is all internal, with webcam plug-in kit and can be turned on/off from the menu bar with the downloaded controller from this wiki.

Btw, I started a photo gallery at yahoo, if anyone else wants to post mods. I thought it would be fun to have a visual collection of the mods in one place

http://tech.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/eeePCmod/photos

WARNING: Opening up and modding your eeePC can be dangerous and voids your warranty. Proceed with the following at your own risk. If you brick your eeePC, you may or may not be able to fix it. (But you can find lots of sympathy and advice at the forum here)

Take apart

Installing a touchscreen is well described by many, with ivc having excellent pictures at the wiki - http://beta.ivancover.com/wiki/index.ph … l_Upgrades

ivc's wiki also lists parts, vendors and how-to's for the many devices and switches that he installed

When re-assembling, take care that none of the wires are over the copper donuts where the screws will pass. many a eee has been bricked when wires were pinched by screws on reassembling.

Pre-installation check - it's a good idea to check that your hub and devices, drivers actually work on the bench, BEFORE you install all the parts. this can save you hours of debugging, trying to figure out where the problem connection or device is located.

MOB tour by tnkgrl http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=2355

Wiring

Power sources

Ground sites

USB data sites D+/D-

Wiring diagrams

Wires that can be used – 26-30 ga

  • IDE cable – fine except for maybe power wires
  • ethernet or usb cable wires – 26 or 28 ga
  • 30 ga may be too fine for extended current over 150 mA - see kajer link to brick below
  • braided or solid are fine. I prefer solid as there are fewer little copper hairs to short

Physical space for MODs

USB sockets

  • the unused pci-e spot on the 4G has been very popular
  • a spare SD card reader can sneak next to the RAM – see ivc's mods above

USB hubs

  • around the RAM area
  • on top of the SSD
  • next to the reset switch
  • in the spare pci-e area (if you're not modding an 8G)
  • if very small, even in the lid – see metachuh's mod, below

Switch internal devices on/off

Increase cooling

Electrical insulation

  • kapton tape – check ebay for rolls or sheets
  • electrical tape

Fixating things down to the MOB

  • double stick sponge tape is good for hubs and bumpy items
  • clear double stick is good for affixing the touchscreen - it's thin and transparent
  • hot glue has been used to stick devices and hold wires down

soldering tips

  • fallentine's tips – http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=7800
  • use thin solder, no thicker than the wires
  • use rosin flux, a great soldering helper – gets the solder to go where you want, with less heat
  • if soldering small points, may use kapton to shield the areas you DON't want to solder

touchscreen bulge

  • can cut off TS connectors to make things thinner, though a bit tricky to solder to the ribbon from TS
  • can take the black padding out behind the LCD for more space
  • can nibble off the plastic wire guides in the lid for more room
  • kiddshop and others added washers to the lid screws for a bit more thickness and space for TS

source for parts

Touchscreen

supplier pros cons
fido-dido999 fast ship, cheaper, not as clear?,
good support hub assembly messy
works in Xandros plastic usb plug can short
kiddshop more transmittance?,
extra parts no support

USB hubs

be sure to check any hub's ports before you take it apart. many are poorly assembled and some even mislabelled on the PC board

fido-dido999 and kiddshop on ebay

some have used small hubs with the usb sockets attached to the board, but this makes for messy, time-consuming desoldering

AC adapters

Warning: Do not plug an adapter that is not the correct voltage and current into your eeePC. most laptops use more power, so you could fry your little computer.

  • 9V @ 1.5 amps just barely works (sometimes blinks between AC and battery mode). The outside of the plug, the barrel, is negative, or ground must check before plugging in
  • use a continuity tester to look for shorts, in particular be sure there is NO connection between 5v power and ground
  • check for shorts between adjacent wires

Touchscreen software

Troubleshooting

eee hangs on booting

  • check for mistyped command in touchscreen files
  • check the RAM module is well seated

eee is dead

  • unplug AC, pull out battery, hold power button for 20 seconds, replace battery
  • short the CMOS http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=24246 post #8
  • unplug the internal battery
  • try F9 restore if suspected software corruption
  • check for burnt transistor → vinnie's link, below

eee has top row of keys shifted

  • do the pull battery/ hold power button routine

touchscreen module won't launch, wants root permissions

      >su
      >password

touchscreen seems stuck in one place

  • check that bezel is not pressing down hard in one corner
  • check for shorts across the TS wires
  • check for swapped TS wires

touchpad doesn't work after reaasembly

unlock and reseat the tab. probably not making full contact, tab not pushed in

factoids

  • screws are 2 mm, metric not SAE
  • webcam covering is conductive, so careful not to reroute it and cause a short
  • webcam plug is NOT protected from over current
  • left usb is weaker than others - this might be why some people report external USB drives not working why others say they do
  • the webcam receptacle has 5, not 4, pins. Take care aligning to push upward and leave the bottom pin open, if you use a 4 pin jst plug
  • the ohm hub is mislabelled on the printed circuit board – http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=15932
  • some wireless mice do not work with the dongle under the RAM door, there seems to be too much shielding on the under side of the eee
  • webcam draws > 250 mA
  • bluetooth draws > 250 mA
  • flash drives use ~ 100 mA
  • touchscreen uses ~ 125 mA
  • operating temp ~ 55 C
  • the commonly burned transistor is part number Fairchild FDN306P http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/FD%2FFDN306P.pdf
  • jst connectors for webcam
  • 4 pin recepticle: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea … 55-2185-ND

  • 4 pin header: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSea … -1790-1-ND


fantastic mods

bricking stories

that's it as of 5/3/08. i'll try to update this as time permits. thanks. Last edited by chewy (2008-05-06 11:29:53 am)

an_eee_modder_s_handbook.txt · Last modified: 2008/05/23 08:00 by dummzeuch

Page Tools

Donate Powered by PHP Valid XHTML 1.0 Valid CSS Driven by DokuWiki