Hello everyone, I am AnthonyBF2. I love to modify and upgrade any kind of old laptop. I've done so many times, and today I wanted to join the forum and show off one of my favorite and successful projects that I did from a year ago. I plan to share a lot more laptop mod threads in the future.
A few years ago I became fascinated with NVIDIA ION netbooks, something about them feels special or unique and they are good for running old games. Today we will install a USB hub inside of the ASUS EEE PC 1215N which allow us to permanently install any number of accessories inside of the computer. The primary advantage of doing this is to eliminate external clutter and keep the outside USB ports available for more important accessories.
Some of the possible accessories you can potentially use inside of the computer with this setup include:
- Modern Bluetooth Device
- Modern WIFI Device
- Xbox One Controller Receiver
- Xbox Series X/S Controller Receiver
- Other Controller Receivers (etc Logitech)
- USB Flash Drives
To begin, we will need the following, VERY specific items:
- Asus EEE PC 1215N
- Samsung 870 EVO SSD (1TB/500GB/250GB)
- Walmart Brand "ONN" USB Hub
- Screwdriver Kit
- Pliers
- mini-PCIE USB Card
This first photo shows everything we will be working with:
https://i.imgur.com/bQ7d7PY.jpeg
The first step is to disassemble the USB hub and separate the plastic shell away from the electronics, like this:
https://i.imgur.com/J3a6g3P.jpeg
The next step is to use pliers to remove a small plastic tab on the USB hub, like this:
https://i.imgur.com/VT4xg3W.jpeg
The next step is to disassemble the SSD and separate the protective shell away from the drive, like this:
https://i.imgur.com/hX9gzzz.jpeg
The next step is to tear down the 1215N and remove the palm rest, keyboard, metal mid frame, HDD, and unplug the flat cable:
https://i.imgur.com/gG5cEH1.jpeg
The next step is to use pliers to remove one of the "legs" from the mini-PCIE USB card, like this:
https://i.imgur.com/njAOLdD.jpeg
The next step is to carefully remove two little clips from laptop frame AND reposition the CMOS battery, like this:
Before:
https://i.imgur.com/Eb1tvVr.jpeg
After:
https://i.imgur.com/umDDYfB.jpeg
The next step is to connect everything and position everything in a very specific location, which includes:
- Replacing the WIFI card with the USB card
- Plugging the naked USB hub into the USB card
- Using double sided adhesive to hold the naked USB hub on the laptop frame
- Plugging the naked SSD into the SATA port
- Using *something* to hold the SSD in place so it doesn't fall out (I am using sticky rubber bumpers)
- Plugging the flat cable back into the computer
This next photo shows how everything should look at this point:
https://i.imgur.com/P4tdSVy.jpeg
As a test, I purchased a brand new USB WIFI device and 3X USB 32GB drives, like this:
https://i.imgur.com/dwJUa0C.jpeg
This photo shows the new accessories plugged in:
https://i.imgur.com/3JoIOxB.jpeg
This next photo shows that all of the new accessories are working in Windows 7:
https://i.imgur.com/jtOZC9t.jpeg
This last photo shows how I organized the sticky rubber bumpers to secure the SSD:
https://i.imgur.com/LvwrZIs.jpeg
And that is the end, now the 1215N can have a new life, depending on which accessories you want to add.
You may use another kind of SSD or USB hub but those devices must be very small and you will need to get creative with the positioning of those devices.
I cannot confirm if any of this works on the AMD variant 1215B model, but it should since it has the same guts. It took me a really long time to find a 1215N for sale, and to this day, I never saw a 1215B for sale.
Cheers and thanks for checking this out!
