[C.K.] passed along this impressive writeup on modding an eeePC for just about everything you can think to add. This one’s got two four port USB hubs, internal GPS, bluetooth, 56k modem, FM audio transmitter, 4gb USB flash drive and a 801.11a/b/g/n card with a spare antenna for full 802.11n support. The wiring job looks excellent - very clean and well done. The only thing missing is a touchscreen.
found it horribly slow, google cache worked for me:
btw incredible writeup
Posted at 7:26 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by jim
Nice mods, possibly the best documentation and pictures for any hack that I’ve ever seen.
Posted at 8:08 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by Alecks
freakin’ amazing!!!!!!!
fantastic workmanship!!!
Posted at 8:09 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by computerguru365
I agree with alecks, very nice hack and excellent documentation.
Posted at 8:20 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by Ailouros
and the ability to flip into tablet mode like the OLPC.
Posted at 8:52 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by ManOnFire
note to others: dont use so called “free hosts” for they break after a few hits and then no one can get the page
Posted at 8:59 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by ejonesss
Ok, here’s a link to add the touch screen.
http://jkkmobile.blogspot.com/2007/12/how-to-add-touch-panel-to-asus-eee-pc.html
Posted at 10:51 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by Craig Poirier
wait, so the EEE can run with no heatsink? it does in the video for adding the touchscreen.. or is there not a heatsink to begin with?
Posted at 12:12 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by erik
I think it uses the keyboard for the heat sink.
Posted at 12:14 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by Barry
it’s awesome, but i’m surprised there’s no detriment to the USB functionality or GPS with that sort of wiring–looks neat, but definitely not controlled impedance and not electrically sound with higher-speed signals. The only reason I’m emphasizing this is that I recently tried to extend the USB connector for an internal flash reader I got with some simple braided wiring, and it just refused to work until I redid it with some real USB cabling. The distance of these connections in the laptop is shorter, and the spacing is just right, I guess.
Posted at 12:19 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by threepointone
Is there any way to actually access the site posted? The google cache nor it work- they usually just time out.
Now I am actually considering an Eee PC, especially with the touchscreen+other mods.
Posted at 12:43 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by Amadeus
I also worry about cross talk and signal loss in those wires.
Posted at 3:19 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by BigD145
this is why i got me an eee. now alls i gotta do is save up to get all the goodies.
Posted at 3:22 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by dru
This mirror works: (and has all the images, unlike google cache)
http://beta.ivancover.com.nyud.net:8080/wiki/index.php/Eee_PC_Internal_Upgrades
(it takes ages to load, but will load eventually)
Posted at 6:41 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by O Mattos
The USB signals are differential so there isn’t really any trouble with cross talk between the pairs. the real thing you have to watch out for with USB is external EMI or RFI. Since the entire case of the laptop acts like a shield, it cuts most of the interference down to negligible levels.
The layout is incredibly neat. Very methodical. Very Clean. Makes me want one.
Posted at 8:17 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by tony
very nice workmanship on that!
only thing left is a touchscreen and a USB IO chip for switching power to the various devices+software to control it
Posted at 10:22 am on Jan 20th, 2008 by zigzagjoe
It will be fine if someone makes a torrent of this which is linked off a thinner version of the front page. It certainly counts as a ‘heavy page’ as it is.
It’s ridiculous to say his USB wiring is inadequate; USB is meant to be less-sensitive since it’s a serial port, for heavenssake. Get finicky in the case of InfiniBand (PCIe) connectors but worry more (on the case) about the antenna fields (the only thing missing in this writeup is per-antenna situation performance evaluations. Maybe USB airbags, SpaceORB joystick input….)
The laptop itself seems tolerable to use if one made several big virtual displays of it. The (mere 500:1 if I’m perceiving it right) contrast ratio kind of kills it as a pdf reader or other overliteral replacement for a ton of proper print.
Posted at 3:29 pm on Jan 20th, 2008 by Steve No_
Very nice, I’m getting one of these very soon, and you have just done many of the things I was thinking of. Ever since I see the tear downs that show the extra usb port I was thinking “You could add any Small USB device to the inside” and you have done an excellent job.
Posted at 10:52 pm on Jan 20th, 2008 by jeicrash
just remember that the 2g surf doesn’t allow for the 2gb memory upgrade so in other words spend the extra $50 ($350) and get the 4g surf..newegg has them
Posted at 10:38 pm on Jan 21st, 2008 by wellsfrago
wellsfrago is wrong. Wrong. The 2G surf is an identical motherboard, but without the cover to change the ram, if you are taking the cover off anyway, then just change the RAM while you are in there.
I really liked the Eeepc, I can’t get behind it at $300 though. I wanted the $200-$250/60 model to hack a Geforce 6200 into for TV/HDTV/multimonitor outputs, to turn it into a portable media player. (PCIe x1 is perfect, I already have the 6200 card modified to x1, just a few differential pairs and some power and we are good to go)
Posted at 1:12 pm on Jan 22nd, 2008 by Miles
I like the idea for the switch to turn the devices on or off but what about making a software controller? Nothing complex, just over serial and it could be mounted where the current switch is in the expansion bay.
Excellent tutorial and one of the best ive seen. I hope to get an eepc soon to start hacking…
Posted at 3:57 pm on Jan 24th, 2008 by jme
bizarre, most very good
Posted at 11:22 pm on Jan 27th, 2008 by Guiruru
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I want a eee with wimax
a wiii
Posted at 6:58 pm on Jan 19th, 2008 by thethirdmoose