Hehe. I still can't get enough out of this netbook.

Anyways, I saw someone here who said they upgraded their HD to 500gb? Where/what kind should I buy? Could I possibly find a 1TB HD?

Also, I wanted to know what the best internal wifi card replacement would be for the atheros card. I want one that works both with Windows 7 and OS X, as well as is a lot better than the atheros (gives me more stable connections, higher bars, w/e) and also supports all 3 b/g/n as opposed to the b/g on the atheros card.

Thanks a lot!

I also plan on putting touch screen on this thing, hehehe. And a 9-cell battery... and... bluetooth. And I'm not sure what else but there has to be more! . Maybe even upgrade the GMA 950 to a much better video card. Not sure if that's possible, though.

The OCZ SSD is here ( delivered to my door )







Some XBench Numbers
Samsung HM120JI

PHP Code:

    Disk Test    30.58    
        Sequential    47.48    
            Uncached Write    58.85    36.13 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    58.32    33.00 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    28.87    8.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    64.71    32.52 MB/sec [256K blocks]
        Random    22.55    
            Uncached Write    7.51    0.79 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    71.63    22.93 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    56.02    0.40 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    80.94    15.02 MB/sec [256K blocks] 


OCZ SSD

PHP Code:

    Disk Test    166.39    
        Sequential    115.03    
            Uncached Write    116.57    71.57 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    189.24    107.07 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    60.47    17.70 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    228.60    114.89 MB/sec [256K blocks]
        Random    300.63    
            Uncached Write    121.05    12.81 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Write    348.42    111.54 MB/sec [256K blocks]
            Uncached Read    2328.82    16.50 MB/sec [4K blocks]
            Uncached Read    573.27    106.37 MB/sec [256K blocks] 


Some videos

Before SSD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeTOd7WkMrc

After SSD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYBZuKC0OnI

Had the chance to play around with SSD and here are my thoughts

1. silent - not that the stock hd is noisy but those times of kernel panic where you need to press the power button to power it off, you hear the click of the hard disk as the power goes off - now it's click no more
2. heat - for those around with computers long enough, you know how much heat a hard disk can generate .. the SSD is cool to the touch after running a few hours ( connected to the USB ), inside the unit itself, the hard disk is warm but that heat is due to aspire innards .. the fan does not kick in that often
3. speed - frankly it feels a little snappier launching/closing applications

The million dollar question is... is it worth the upgrade ? for the amount of money paid ( which is almost the cost of the aspire one itself ), frankly I would say no .. at the price, i would expect twice the performance ( like buying another unit since it costs as much and also contribute to the economy, hey everyone's cutting back and I am still spending on "luxury" items ) .. the main bottlenecks are the CPU and the crappy intel GMA950 and also it's on 1.5 GB SATA speed ( when it's rated at 3 GB )

Intel ICH7-M AHCI:

Vendor: Intel
Product: ICH7-M AHCI
Speed: 1.5 Gigabit
Description: AHCI Version 1.10 Supported

Interesting about the SticMAC audio.

I just updated to 10.5.7 after switching the System.kext and kernel back from Voodoo and booting with cpus=1. Everything is fine except video.

I wanted to try GFX strings this time using the laptop GMA option from OSX86Tools, but for some reason I can't see the dropdown menu.

So now I'm going to put back the old drivers...this bugs me since I hate the inevitable inconsistency!

As for the guy who asked, the Broadcom 5322, Atheros AR5008, and Atheros AR5008X all work fine. I ordered the Broadcom from the UK for 20 USD, but it hasn't arrived yet. The Atheros 5008X seems to have the proper firmware installed whereas the Atheros 5008 has an unidentified firmware. They both work, but I think the X has less PCB, is more integrated, gives off less heat, and uses less battery. Keep in mind, both Atheros chips use 3 antennas, so add a 3rd or don't connect the middle connector. You'll still get "300 Mbps". Mac seems to be switching to the Broadcom chips, so maybe they're best.

These chips are available through Dell and Lenovo in addition to eBay. However, eBay will more likely give you the newer X chipset. If you're really paranoid, you can opt to buy a pricier one that literally came out of a Mac.

If anyone has luck with GMA strings, let me know.

I installed them for the Ethernet connection, but I don't think they do anything. I too have the issue where the NIC has to be plugged in to get access on boot.

Hey guys,


A few more notes on the 10.5.7 update:

It did kill my GMA950 graphics. QE/CI and resolution change are unavailable. I re-installed the kexts, but I wonder if the NV* kexts are back as well. Also, I forgot to boot with -f at first reboot. Let me know if anyone succeeds...I don't have time to try again tonight.

If you can't boot, try booting into single user mode and doing kextload dsmos.kext and rebooting. I had to do this for 10.5.6 and didn't find that anywhere on the forums.


As for the "E" error when you boot, try being a little more patient with your F12 taps, and make sure the disc is in the drive and loaded when you select it to boot from it. Try a few more times. Then reset your BIOS, turn on F12 access, and try again. That's how it works. Hey, I bought a new external DVD drive because of this issue, so don't feel too bad for yourself.

because it will break your graphics.

I'm on vacation now, so I spent a couple days on and off trying to fix the graphics in 10.5.7, but there is no solution.

I tried:
GMA strings
Adding the 27ae device ID to the stock drivers
The MSI Wind 10.5.7 graphics installer updater
Restoring the 10.5.6 drivers

And none of this worked. So if you choose to update, you're stuck with 800x600 resolution. I wasn't even able to get SwitchResX to work properly. The paper-clip trick/external monitor might have gotten me further, but I didn't have anything with a VGA port on hand except a KVM, and that didn't help.

Apparently the blue screen I kept getting is often indicative of the drivers expecting a normal GMA 950 but then finding the 27ae model on most netbooks. At times I could "kextload" the kexts, but they still didn't show up as loaded in "About this Mac".

I can't really figure out why the Wind package works on a Wind and not on the AOD150. I think the AOA150 has the same problem. It might be BIOS-related. It seems all the 1337 OSx86ers prefer the Dell Mini 9, and consequently there are numerous, customized BIOSes and bootloaders just for the Mini 9.

It seems only noobs buy the AOD150, although I bought it for its second full MiniPCI-E slot.

PS: I did not try the Wind's GFX string, which looked a little weird, but used Netkas' guide to modify the plist. Google "netkas gfx sfx" or "gma efi strings" for more info.


AUDIO:

SticMAC's solution does NOT work on the AOD150. Whoever reported that in this thread must not have realized that this thread is for the 10" model. I tried SticMAC's kexts in 5.6 and 5.7, with and without SFX (EFI) strings. That shouldn't even matter since his solution uses HDAenabler.kext.

VoodooHDA seems to be the only way to go for the time being, unfortunately. I could make an HDA kext, but it's a very time-intensive process, and I plan on doing it for my Toshiba laptop first.


CPU:

I'm thinking about trying to figure out a way to enable hyper-threading after booting so that we have no need for the Voodoo kernel. I think there's something in CHUD tools, but I don't know if it will work while we're booting with "cpus=1".

I'm also thinking about switching to an OCZ Neutrino for my netbook, but it's only got a 3 cell battery. I'd do it for the easy implementation of a 3G modem inside. (on our netbook, using the second MiniPCI-E slot is an ordeal since you have to solder in a SIM card slot and figure out a way to shave down the radio switch to make it shift both ways, and then make sure the card is powered properly)

Was bored over the weekend and decided to rip apart the netbook was a little stumped for a while on how to remove the keyboard .. tnkgrl blog was for the 8.9 inch and this is build a little different ... no problems with the bottom of the netbook ... just remove 8 screws ( there are no "hidden" screws underneath the rubber legs ) all the 8 screws are exposed.

to remove the keyboard, there is just a single plastic catch above the F8. Just depress this and pry it up carefully and bend it a little so it'll clear the tabs on the left and right that is on the chassis itself. Some interesting stuff found



This is the overall view .. this side is where the keyboard sits and on the top right is space for the SIM I guess. There is a slot that is covered with tape hidden by the battery I guess for the SIM card



Surprise surprise, there is a mini PCIe connector already there ( it's underneath the right palm rest. Unfortunately it is not powered checked tnkgrl blog and she mentioned a jumper that needs to be connected but can't find it anywhere on this board. If can have it powered then can have another PCIe slot for what not ( a GPS module, an SSD, 3G stuff ).



Another view of the mini PCIe



and the bluetooth which is connected to an 8 pin header. Only 4 is used and if this is USB, means if I can use the other 4 can have an internal USB for what not

PS : I have upgraded to the 10.5.7 and yes initially have issues with the screen resolution but that is easily fixed by replacing the GMA950 driver and the FrameBuffer kext and got back the 1024x600 resolution

Hey could you guys tell me where and what kind of 500 GB hard drive I should get? What model is yours?

Hey Skateni,


I can't re-install Safari 4 Beta without 10.5.7...could you elaborate on how you got the graphics functional?

Did you download the combo or standalone update or use Software Update?

Was this on a 10.5.6 system using the kexts you provided?

Was it on a retail install? If not, what options did you choose on the installer disc?


As for stuff on the inside of the netbook, interesting to see your model has Bluetooth. I bought an after-market module on eBay...should come soon.

I'm planning on soldering in a SIM card holder, but the handful I've bought so far don't precisely fit. (It's OK, they're like $3 a piece) The proper one is available from mlelectronics.com, but minimum order is $50. Skateni, you wanna split a $50 order for 2?

As for enabling the second MiniPCI-E slot, since the connector is there, it might simply be a matter of filing down the wireless switch and pushing it in the opposite direction.

Allegedly Costco will start selling 3G versions in the US soon, but I don't believe there are any teardowns so that we could try to spot differences. I don't have a Costco membership, so I can't really verify, and would rather not spend the time....

It does bug me that the mouse buttons are on the motherboard, but I guess that's true for a lot of the cheaper laptops these days. You break a button, you gotta replace the whole mobo.

Hi at All, im italian, sorry for my english, but i want say thanks at creator on this post, i have a Acer d150 full work, (for wifi i have usb adatator) is very very cool

Now upgrade to 2gb ram