1.8Zif or CFF Upgrade Instructions Please

That's it.

 

Correct. I used the 5mm size, and it fit without modification to the case. The 8mm will require you to remove a screw standoff. You will see when you open it.



You can see the screw standoff in this pic to the left of the ribbon cable's lower blue end. (Refer to the first page of this thread for more pics.) Again, this only needs to be removed if you are installing an 8mm drive.

 

Thanks! Prior to removal did that screw stand have a purpose?

 

I believe it was used to hold the original compact flash drive in place. If you ever wanted to restore it back to factory, the compact flash really won't need it. You can use double-sided foam tape, but since it is only double-sided tape with a sandwich of foam in between, I wouldn't trust it as far as I could throw a cinder block. Foam tape decays over time, and rips apart easily.

I prefer 3M Supermount tape, which comes in small squares. While it is a 3M product, the easiest place to get this stuff is RadioShack.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2103344

You get 4 strips in a package. This is what I used to secure the HDD inside the case, eliminating the need for screws. If you ever need to remove it, use of an X-Acto knife or regular razor blade works well. You will also find even after years it does not leave any residue; it simply peels off. When you mount your hard drive, I strongly suggest getting some of this stuff.

 

Hi, I have followed the instructions at the start of this thread to install a Toshiba MK3008GAL 30Gb ZIF drive. All seems fine, the drive is detected by the BIOS. However, when I boot up a live Ubuntu session from a USB drive and go into the partition manager (gparted), it doesn't see the new drive at all.

I tried running a Windows 7 RC installation disk and that DID see the drive (with free space 27.9 Gb), but it says that Windows 7 cannot be installed on that drive because it is not a bootable drive (cannot remember exact wording).

If I try to boot from the HDD it says no bootable device found. Obviously I'm not expecting it to boot because it doesn't have an OS on it, but it sounds like it's not reading from the device at all :?:

It is possible that I didn't sand the connector down correctly, or it is not inserted correctly, but as I said it is seen in the BIOS. So my question is, does it showing up in the BIOS mean that it is defintely connected properly, or can it be partially connected so that the BIOS sees it, but it doesn't work properly?

If it is connected properly, does anybody have any ideas as to what the issue can be?

Thanks in advance.

 

I've fixed the problem now. The zif cable had indeed been damaged. I managed to cut off a couple of milimetres of the cable, leaving enough good connector to go into the HD.

The HD is working fine now, I've already installed Ubuntu and Windows 7.

 

Hi there.
I bought a 110L last march. I installed XP on it, and the intel ssd is very slow, so i bought a toshiba MK3008GAL from ebay to do the mod. The bios doesnt recognize the drive, i can feel the hdd spinning but i see nothing in bios screen. Anyone with the same problem? I have tried with a lot of cables, i bought some new but still nothing.

A day the screen didnt light up. I was told from acer service to upgrade to the latest bios, 3305. Tried to install the hdd after fixing the screen problem, nothing. I bought a hitachi new 20GB drive. Again nothing. I am very dissapointed. I have two hdds working ok (tested them in a usb 1.8"case) but the bios doesnt recognise them. Any help please?

I forgot to mention that i upgrated to 3309 and then to 3310 bios version with a hope that i will install one of the hdds but...nothing
I see a lot of people with older bios versions 3114 etc. Is it the reason?

 

Hi,

I'm trying to install a Toshiba MK6008GAH in my Aspire One A110X. I want to use the cable that was used to connect the original SSD before. As stated many times before in this thread, the connector for the disk had to be made thinner in order to fit in, which I did.

When I turn on the system, I do NOT hear anything from the disk (don't know if it's just that silent or if it really does not start at all). Neither is it detected in the BIOS. I attached a few pictures of my setup. Picture 3 shows the connector inside the disk, in picture 4 it is actually above it, so you can compare and see how deep it is plugged in. Did I make any mistake connecting the disk to the board? Or might the disk be dead?

I also have a bad feeling about the big Intel chip below the battery connector (the one visible in picture 2) starting to develop a really bad smell only 10 or 15 seconds after pressing the power button, like it would be overheating. Any ideas?

Edit: I just noticed that my disk is a Samsung HS06THB, not a Toshiba MK6008GAH. o_o

 

Hello Im having a Similar Problems, like Katakana. I recently Bought a 30gb Hitachi C4K60 HDD and after i installed it with Acer's original Zif cable the drive wouldn't even turn on.

I flipped the HDD end of the cable to see if i was connecting it wrong and still Nothing, no life [of course BIOS cant detect it]. So is this normal behavior if i'm using the stock cable? because i thought even if i was using the wrong cable the drive would at least turn on.

Also i bought this Toshiba Flip Zif cable i found on ebay [I couldn't find a Hitachi flip zif cable at the time], do you think it will still work?

Link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350200114005&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

 

There is a lot of confusion about the "flip" cable, truth is you don't need one. The original cable will work fine. If you position your drive as in the photo posted just above your post (katakana) with the drive laying upside down and the cable folding over to the motherboard connector should work. If you still have trouble check the individual ribbon conductors especially near the edges of the cable. (pins 1 and 40) They are easily damaged with all the pushing in and out. If so it is possible to cut the bad area off (small amount) and re-insert it.
The flip cable is mostly needed when using Zif to IDE adapters coming out of HK. This makes it possible to put the zif drive in a larger computer for hacking, copy, etc.

If you still do not have success you might consider the SATA upgrade. I've done both the 1.8 zif upgrade which worked much better than the original ssd, but only lasted a year and the drive died. I replaced it with a SATA 7200rpm, 250gdrive, works even beter! The sata upgrade was easier than all that fussing with the zif connector. I'm 58 years old and can not see as well as I used to but still managed to do the soldering to the small pads in the Acer, and it worked on first boot up! Check this guy out. Good luck.
http://www.theacerguy.com/2009/01/aspir ... 0-25-sata/

 

Hey, I bought exactly the same hdd (C4K60 30GB) and have the same problems!!!
I just tried a bios update, but no change.

Did you find any solution???

 

Well, after about 2 months of fighting with my AAO 110 i have finally resolved my hard drive related issues.

So the ssd was an 8 gb and i wanted to load OSx on itbut the drive was too small. I bought a 30 gb toshiba (MK3008GAL) and the appropriate zif to lif cable.

The Problem i had was the damn netbook wouldnt recognise the hdd in bios.

fast forward 2 months and i decide to give it another go. I got a 3 pack of zif to lif connectors from ebay, a new 1.8" hdd (this time a toshiba 60 gb mk6028gal, and a wifi card to work with osx. I plug it in and low and behold, the drive is recognised.

I NOW KNOW WAT I DID WRONG: when i recieved the first drive (the 30 gb) i was trying to jam the lif side of the cable in WITHOUT lifting up that elusive black locking strip, which meant i ended up ruining the cable. needless to say i spent wayy too much money on this project and now have a 30 gb toshiba drive i dont need, along with 2 lif cables.

The moral of the story is that there is a logical solution to every hardware related problem, its just a matter of taking what you know and narrowing down the field of variables. so before you go and buy a second drive like i did, make sure you have the cable isnt the problem!

Well thats my two cents, I hope this helps someone out there struggling to get their hdd to recognise in bios