55 replies to this topic

[mikelpn]

HDD Upgrade Mod - 30 gig Apricorn Aegis Mini - Successful! The 1.8" drive fits with some case modifications, and the USB needs to be an external plug that sticks out a little bit. It took me at least 30 hours to do this project. Apricorn does sell the mini 1.8" drive iwth up to 120 gigs, but I am not sure I want to spend more $ on this project yet.
Mike

[ridestp]

Oh wow!!! I didn't think that would fit anywhere! Please, post lots of pics and a tutorial. That would ROCK!!

[UberNero]

Quote

HDD Upgrade Mod - 30 gig Apricorn Aegis Mini - Successful! The 1.8" drive fits with some case modifications, and the USB needs to be an external plug that sticks out a little bit. It took me at least 30 hours to do this project. Apricorn does sell the mini 1.8" drive iwth up to 120 gigs, but I am not sure I want to spend more $ on this project yet.
Mike

If your telling the truth, and post a decent guide, id be very gracious.
Supposedly there are some unused USB ports on the motherboard, would it be possible for an internal hookup?

[mikelpn]

Hi all, I thought this would be a sought after project so I did take some pictures...I am not sure where to post / upload them. Anyone with info?

[UberNero]

http://photobucket.com/
create an account and post away :D

[mikelpn]

Some photos of the Apricorn Aegis Mini 1.8" HDD install. Sorry, I don't have time for the entire disassembly procedure, but I believe others have posted it before. The installation is fairly straightforward after many hours of engineering on my part. I tried a USB internal hub, but something funky happens with the recognition when the wires get too long and are not properly insulated with ground shield. Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

http://s221.photobuc.../mikelpn_EeePC/

[UberNero]

Quote

Some photos of the Apricorn Aegis Mini 1.8" HDD install. Sorry, I don't have time for the entire disassembly procedure, but I believe others have posted it before. The installation is fairly straightforward after many hours of engineering on my part. I tried a USB internal hub, but something funky happens with the recognition when the wires get too long and are not properly insulated with ground shield. Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

http://s221.photobuc.../mikelpn_EeePC/

:( appears it doesnt leave a clean surface, i was hoping you would be able to replace the original casing and no one would be the wise, other than that, looks good.

[mikelpn]

Apricorn Aegis Mini HDD install note...Others have mentioned internal USB ports of some type that may or may not be usable. I chose an external connection for a couple of reasons. 1. I am not sure the HDD will fully power down when the Asus if "off", 2. The external connection allows me to connect it to another computer for file transfers. 3. I didn't want to brick my EeePC. If you are soldering on a motherboard and you unsolder something small, it can take hours to repair the damage, or worse, leave you with a "cripple" PC. Mike

[mikelpn]

UberNero...by clean surface I think you mean the bottom ram cover door...it does fit back on perfectly. I'll upload another pic...thanks for the heads up.

[UberNero]

Quote

UberNero...by clean surface I think you mean the bottom ram cover door...it does fit back on perfectly. I'll upload another pic...thanks for the heads up.

Ok, i was looking at the tape and going sure it works, until it falls out :P

I might actually try this once i get my eee, and if the internal USB ports are easily solderable, ill give it a shot at making it completly inclosed.

[tnkgrl]

@mikelpn, nicely done... Now just connect the HDD to one of the unused internal USB ports! See: http://forum.eeeuser...pic.php?id=1745

Edited by tnkgrl, 10 November 2007 - 01:03 AM.

[tom61]

Wow! Nice hack! If I get one of these notebooks soon (I'm on the fence, but increasingly leaning towards buying one) I'll have to give this a shot. Although, I think one could do it cheaper by getting a drive off eBay and an enclosure for it.

[Haku]

SWEEEET!! excellent job! this is just the mod I've been thinking of doing, 4gb internally and lugging around an external drive isn't my cup of tea.

What's the battery life like with the HD spinning all the time?

Quote

If you are soldering on a motherboard and you unsolder something small, it can take hours to repair the damage,

Been there, unsoldered that, with my iRiver H140 I built from 3 broken ones bought off eBay. Whilst replacing the 5-way joystick I accidentally unsoldered 3 resistors right next to it, they're the resistors that enable the buttons to work, and they're literally the size of grains of sand. The repair job went well until I dropped one of the resistors on the carpet...:o but I found it by using sticky tape and a magnifying glass :) that was last year and after almost daily use it still works to this day

[MiL0]

what exactly did you dremel off and off what? The EEE motherboard or the HDD controller board?

great mod btw - will definitely be doing this myself =]


edit - and did it take 30 hours because you were working out what to remove? How long would it take you if you had to do it again?

Edited by MiL0, 10 November 2007 - 09:17 AM.

[mikelpn]

In reply to MiL0: I find that a Dremel tends to melt plastics more or less. I used a sharp cutting blade, cutting pliers and scissors to remove the Eee PC bar between the ram and the expansion slot. No further cutting was done on the computer. I did need to notch the hard drive controller board 3 places with scissors so it would fit around the computer's screw posts. I will upload a closer picture when I have time.
Thanks for reading my posts! Mike

[MiL0]

that's good - sounds like it would take a lot less than 30 hours if one knew what they were doing =]

good work! this, more than anything, has convinced me to buy an EEE... I'm sure plenty of other people will be interested in your work as well.

perhaps, if you have the time, you could take some new photos showing exactly what you cut... maybe even circling them in mspaint/photoshop for the really dumb among us (ie - me!).

[mikelpn]

In reply to MiL0: It took me about 30 hours to figure out how to do the mod. That includes fitting other components that didn't work out (like a USB hub), as well as finding the right drive. I wanted a 250 gig SATA, but the 2.5" drive didn't fit. I originally disconnected the left USB port and ran it to a hub. From the hub I ran the line back to the port and to the drive. I didn't use wires that were shielded and I think this caused my early efforts to be unsuccessful.
It takes a lot of tinkering, initially, to do a mod to anything, I think. If I had to do it over again? I think it would take me about an hour, from start to finish.
One note to potential modders: The internal 1.8" drive does not shut down with the computer if it is still plugged in to the USB port. It stays on. With that knowledge, I will probably put a small switch in the case instead of unplugging it like I do now. Otherwise, the BIOS may have a setting to power down the USB ports (no wake up interrupts, I think). I think this is still a great mod to do because you no longer need to carry around an external drive to plug in.
Mike

[MiL0]

Thanks for the update... I guess the power problem can temporarily be solved by simply unplugging the usb cable when you shut the EEE down? It also means that attaching the usb cable to an internal usb port might not be such a great idea! (unless someone can work out a way to power the hard disk down via software or something).

[Jon Bradbury]

Can you comment on the effect on battery life, please?

[rozojc]

Wouldn't this create a heat issue? normal hard drives get very warm, and you are taking away space for air circulation inside the EEE, and exchanging that space for something that actually generates heat. Have you noticed any increase in the EEE temperature?