AOA110 AOA150 zg5, sata ssd AHCI, bcm70012 and usb wifi PCI-e trail and error

Learn from my mistakes...
Quick note of what I've found while modding my Aspire One aao110 .
Purchased new by me with the crappy 8gb ssd linux.
List of what I've done...and my mistakes/wasted time and money

1. PATA ssd 32gb upgrade
2. 1 gb addition.
3. XP and a tv tuner
4. bigger battery
5. Atheros wifi
6. SATA connector install to AAO110 board, and repair
7. 160gb Standard laptop drive then Win 7
8. New mb from a AAO 150 with SIM and pci-e underneath, switch slot mod
9. New 32gb SATA ssd and hacked bios to enable trim
10. Broadcom BCM70012 Crystal HD and Anatel Realtek RTL8191SU




What I've found so far...
1. Original upgrade was PATA 32gb "drop in" ssd. Performance was better but still crappy. Doubled the speed but still weak. (original Linux reinstalled)
2. Added 1gb more memory to 1.5 total. Helped more than anything else. Should have been step 1.
3. Decided Xp would run well on this. It ran much better . Installed a usb tv tuner. But TV playback with a Hauppauge 950Q was crappy at best.
4. Battery life weak. Upgraded to a much larger battery from EBay. Good investment.
5/ Atheros wifi module as an upgrade. No difference. Pulled it.
6. Here's where it gets interesting. I installed a SATA connector off a bigger Acer but did not support it properly. Do it right. See 7.
7a. I also managed to trim the case so a stock 2.5 laptop drive fit in nicely. If you do this , silicone the drive in place. The added weight of the drive broke the SATA off the board. Did a repair and glued it in more permanently.
7b. Installed windows 7 pro. This was also a worthwhile upgrade. Made watching tv with the 950Q usable. Backed up entire drive just in case.
8. Decided to play with accelerated video and decided a second pci-e slot would be a good addition. Can of worms, but once understood, works out fine. It was easier to just find a AOA150 board with the second slot on it for a 3g card and swap the board. While in there, I cut the switch slider to allow the wifi switch to operate in both directions.
9. I took another crack at the SSD. Being cheap, I put in the cheapest drive from a major manufacturer I could find in case the speed increase wasn;t worth it. It turned out to be a ReadyCache 32gb from SanDisk. Paid $45 . But to get ssd trim enabled to optimize the drive, I installed the hacked BIOS found elsewhere that enabled hidden menus such as AHCI mode. Microsoft FixIt 50470 allows enabling AHCI on an already installed win 7. AHCI enables trim. Made a HUGE increase in speed. Also worth it.
10. Here's where it gets interesting. I researched this, and found the lower PCI-e is USB only. So I did some more research and found a half height PCI-e realtek RTL8191SU on the PCI-e USB bus. It has a usb controller built in. I put it in the lower slot with an adapter, instantly recognized. Sliding the switch to the *left* now turns the Realtek WiFi on and off. Installed the Broadcom BCM70012 in the upper slot, installed their newest drivers, and had instant accelerated video in win 7, even in Windows media player. Also works well with MPC . Battery life is shorter, but ok.

 

Wow! Thanks for that 'third'
you might even have prompted me to get my original 8gbssd AAO110 back out of the cupboard and follow some of the Mods you have done - especially as you pointed out some of the 'do not do's'

You is the greatest.

 

I have a AOA110 like new would love to put 7 on it trim or no trim, I only use it for mail while traveling and doctors office waiting time.