How to add Bluetooth to your Timeline 3810T and other interesting tidbits with the machine

Disassembly, Bluetooth Install and other interesting findings:
A view from above find the tabs holding the keyboard in on the top edge above the F keys:



There are 5 of these tabs on the top row of the keyboard. Press in the middle one with a micro flat head, and use another to pry up the back of the keyboard. Press the rest of them in and they will bow the keyboard out. Only pry from the middle, as this will enable the keyboard to slip under the 2 tabs on the sides.



Once the keyboard is popped out, flip up the black tab to release the ribbon cable. Set the keyboard aside.



Remove the screws at the yellow dots, and disconnect the ribbon cables in the red squares. Simply stick your fingernail under the black tab and gently pull up. They are the same style as the keyboard connector.


Flip over the machine, and remove all screws at the yellow dots. The red dots are rubber stoppers that must be pulled out of their holes to expose the screws below. They come out fairly easily using a small micro flat head screwdriver to pry them out. There is double sided tape on the bottom to keep them in place, and it is good for more than one application, so you need not worry about them falling out later.



Take off the hard drive door and the memory cover and set them aside. To remove the hard drive itself, lift up the black plastic tab and gently pull on it. The whole unit will come out.


Remove the battery, and under the battery there are 2 smaller silver screws in plain sight. These must be removed also.

Flip the machine back over, and gently pull the top plastic piece off. This is one of the easiest laptops I've ever disassembled. DO NOT use a screwdriver to pry the pieces apart, you WILL mar the plastic and it will look bad. There is still 1 small pair of wires connecting the top to the motherboard, but there is enough slack to set the top off of the bottom, exposing the motherboard.



The highlighted areas are the interesting areas. The bottom most area is the bluetooth port and caddy, complete with 3M double sided tape.

The proper cable and correctly sized module can be purchased from this
eBay Auction Here.

The middle area is a SATA port with power. Likely used on the 14+" models with an optical drive. Unfortunately, there is not enough room to fit another hard drive, or an optical drive in the case at all. One possible use, however, is to connect an eSATA port to this internal port to facilitate a native full speed external drive.


The top area is a second mini PCI-E slot. This can be used for a TV card, or a WWAN card, or even a PCI-E SSD such as the ones used in netbooks.


Lastly is the build and spec screen on the PCB itself. It seems there are more options than we think, that may or may not end up being released.

Mine was built on 5/10/09 between 4 and 5am. I don't know what the JM stands for, or the HF. I have an SU3500 CPU with the GS45 chipset. Seemingly there was motherboards made with:

SU2700 (Pentium 1.3ghz)
SU3300 (Core 2 Solo 1.3ghz)
SU3500 (Core 2 Solo 1.4ghz)
SU9300 (Core 2 Duo 1.3ghz)
SU9400 (Core 2 Duo 1.4ghz)
SU9600 (Core 2 Duo 1.6ghz)

I do not know what the 723 means. Perhaps others can shed the light on these unknowns.

 

Not sure on the JM or HF either, but the 723 indicates a Celeron 723 LV processor.

http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SLGAS

 

Wait so I can easily buy a 3g wwan mini-pcie card like this one and install it on my 3810TZ?

http://tiny.cc/JDM8S

Edit: Also I'm guessing the bluetooth module cable connects to the port labeled CN8?

 

Yup. Just plug it in, get some proper antennas for it and run them someplace that they fit (theres plenty of room in the case, next to the spare sata connector for instance), and install the drivers and go.

 

Is the sim card slot where the battery is an already functioning one or do I have to get something to make it work?

Edit: Ordered the bluetooth module. Will let you guys know how it works out when I get it. Thanks for this thread icase. This thread definitely deserves a sticky!

 

I couldn't tell you. I do know I did not see any software installed for the SIM reader like my Dell D620 had even though it had no WWAN card in it, but that does not mean anything really.

 

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks so much icase81! Great stuff. Any pics of after you've installed the bluetooth module?

 

I only ordered my module yesterday, and as its coming from China, it will be a few weeks before it is here. The one you see on the table next to the motherboard is from my MSI wind. It is slightly bigger, and the cable is not the correct one. The module side of the cable fits into the motherboard plug on the 3810T, but the port on the MSI Wind motherboard is about 30% larger than the one on the module and on the 3810T. I will update the thread with more pictures once the module arrives and I install it.

 

does your timeline have a sim slot??

have you void your warranty by that disassembly? (where is the sticker located??)

 

There is a sim slot. I don't know if its actually connected to anything. There is NO STICKER! I was shocked. No warranty stickers of any kind at all.

 

Do you think you can add a graphics card to that PCI-E slot and have switchable graphics like some of the non-US models?

 

Does mini pci-e graphic card really exist?!

 

Good point. Most likely not.

 

Yeah I don't believe they do. Makes you wonder how they did the switchable ATI though... hmmm...

 

um.......
wait until someone opens up the 3810tg...and we'll see..

 

how to add gps or wifi or 3g antennas to it...??

 

More E-Bay Lovin!


$11 for the antenna, and it looks like it fits around the card. Plenty of room under the card as well in the case.

 

Any update to adding the bluetooth chip? This is the one thing that is missing from my 3810!

 

Not here yet. I REALLY need to stop ordering parts that ship from China. Takes a month to get here and by the time it does, I don't even care about it anymore. There will be more pictures/updates to this when it finally arrives, but its pretty simple. Just plug the cable into that white port above the caddy for the BT card. Re-assemble and start the machine up. Install the drivers from the Acer site and you're done.

 

Yea, the hook up seems simple enough. I just wanted to make sure that the card itself and the connector were all correct. Oh well, I went ahead and ordered it as well!

 

Module showed up today. Its the proper one after all. I just compared and it looks right. I will be updating the documentation with more pics tomorrow on how to actually install the module and install the drivers.

 

Nice... I ordered mine a while back and it still hasn't arrive yet. How long did it take for you to get it?

 

Ordered on the 16th of July. Came to Philadelphia PA today.

 

Hello,

I've been following this topic for some time after I received my 3810T. By the way I also ordered Bluetooth chip from the seller mentioned and it is already shipped (I think I'll have to wait like 20 days).

By the way I think I've found something to add empty SATA slot. SanDisk produces some pSSD drives up to 64 GB with half size of an 1,8 Inch drive. I Think they will fit to that opening.



Also I will try and get a WCDMA modem for secondary mini PCIe slot. But besides these I have a question:

Is processor replaceable? Previous ULV models had been soldered to motherboard so it was impossible to replace them. But AFAIK new CULV processors are not embedded (as Intel states at theit web site). Would you recommend that? What would be your suggestions for optimal dual-core replacement?

Thanks in advance.

 

was your bt a 4 pin in the mobo? just as the 4810t?

 

Its an 8 pin connector, but only 4 wires in it, yes.

 

Those SSD's look interesting. Are they available for sale as of yet?

Unfortunately the CPU is soldered on. No replacing unless you've got a hot air SMD repair station

 

but the cable was a 4 pin in one end and 8 pin (thoughb just 4 wires in it) right?

 

hm? i bought my 3810tg today, but unfortunately the second pci-e slot wont work (the card(s) will fit, but vista did not recognized the card(s). i've tested this with my ericsson f3507 umts and my old atheros AR5418 wifi. none of the cards will be recognized... can anyone of you confirm that this secondary pci-e slot will work?

greetings from germany,
fred

 

Correct.


I'm running into the same issue with the BT slot. Card is in, but Vista can't see the card to pick up the drivers... I'm not done futzing with it yet though.

 

BIOS settings or something similar? Maybe try hitting the Fn + bluetooth key? Just grabbing at straws here.

 

This showed up on ebay...not sure if there's a difference.

 

Module looks the same, might need the 8 pin cable after all.

 

Hej dude, i´ve testet an Qualcomm 3G HSDPA/HSUPA Mini PCIe Card (picked from my Aspire One A150X) in the empty Mini PCIe Slot, and it has worked, have you activated the slot, using the wireless switch?

 

@Fr3@k:

wireless-switch? did you mean the button that enables wifi? wifi is enabled. but wwan will never be fully functional, my 3810tg lacks of the simslot behind the battery... :-( what a bad day...

regards,

 

It'll work with CDMA (verizon and sprint) cards just fine

And there IS infact, a sim slot behind the battery. I just recorded this for you:



<object width='425' height='344'><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/f8WuuCI21Ew&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/f8WuuCI21Ew&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height='344'></embed></object>

 

my 4810t doesnt have the slot... (its a 4810tz-4969 which 3810t is yours??)

PS: any news regarding the bluetooth? have u tried using a linux live-cd to check if it comes up?

 

Nice thread OP, reminds me of all the crazy mods we did on the EEE, but you have 4" more of chassis to work with

I'll tell you a popular mod that you can use that empty space for. Internal GPS, also bluetooth is what I would use it for if your model doesnt have it.

 

There is already a dedicated spot for bluetooth.

And I've contacted the seller on eBay. The auction he pointed me to for the 3810T originally has a 4 pin cable, the one now has an 8 pin. I asked about exchanging the cables, as the module itself is the same and fits fine. Very upset about this, to be quite honest. I may end up just getting a small USB dongle, taking it apart and soldering it to the pins on the internal USB header and seeing how that works out if he won't let me exchange it.

I have a 3810T-8503.

 

Yeah when modding usb is one of the best interfaces to work with since its so compatible and simple.

The GPS mod and stuff all use USB headers.

Bluetooth is a must for me because of this:

<object width='425' height='344'>


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Fllo6F-UP5o&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width='425' height='344'></object>

Boring but educational

 

no slot on mine :-( maybe i have to drill a hole, but i bet there will be no cardholder.

model: AS3810TG-354G50N - LH1
Systemboard: 4.01
Manuf.: June, 25 2009 in any china fab

regards,


ps. now is time for dissection....

 

argh! there was a sticker over the f..... slot. perfect, but my ericsson f3507 wont be reconized at all... i have to do some research about pin tape the card .

 

ok, secondary pci-e slot works. setup an old 3945abg from intel and vista recognized the card. old sierra-wireless umts pci-e card will also NOT recognized. looks like acer does the same as hp and lenovo - blacklist cards. hate this!

regards,

ps: and i have to say thanks for the support of this board!

 

Here is the BT module installed. I head back from the e-bay seller who said that the card should still work even though its only 4 wires, and the 'official' one is 8. I told him it didn't, he asked for details, etc. I believe he's going to just send me the proper cable, but that doesn't help the other people here who ordered on my recommendation based on his statements. The module itself is proper, so all I need is the 8 pin wire. Its also a possibility that my module just happens to be DOA. It happens. We'll see how it plays out, but so far the seller has been very communicative (albeit his English isn't very good, but he's from Beijing, so I don't fault him for that since I can't speak ANY Chinese).




Note, I also noticed that the mobo the wires are on pin 5/6/7/8 and on the card 1/2/3/4. I have since moved the wires to 1/2/3/4 on the motherboard also without luck. Its either the cable, or the module thats bad (THANKS FOR THE AWESOME INSIGHT! :laugh: )

 

ok. wwan now working with old sierra-wireless card and pin 20 modification. ericsson f3507g with lenovo brand will never work in nb's exept lenovo t-series.

also booting from sdhc-card works perfect (cool feature).

regards,

 

Glad it worked out for you!
So you can confirm that the SIM reader actually works and goes somewhere?

Hopefully my BT situation gets worked out in short order. I'm debating getting a $25 Verizon WWAN card. I don't wanna pay for the data plan just yet, but I think I'd like to only have to take the laptop apart once more whe I do the BT swap.

 

yes. made some test with different sim-cards and dial-in software (some german prepaid-providers) with vista x64 and w7 x32. but beware: my 3810tg was produced for the european market - i'am not sure that worldwide 3810t models will have this feature too. maybe you have to modified the umts-card with a strip on pin20. without that mod, the 3810 did not found the card - and also with pin20 mod, the card stays always on and get some battery.

regards,

 

So now i´ve also tried, my Sierra Wireless 8775(pulled from an ASus R2E) in the Timeline and it also works

 

Hi Fr3@k

My Timeline 3810T has a sim card holder in the battery slot.

I have some questions since you had installed the Sierra 8775 by yourself:

1. Can you post some pics or video to demonstrate how to add the Sierra 8775 card in the mini pci-e slot in Timeline?

2. How to you connect the sim card holder to your Sierra 8775?

3. Where do you place the antenna?

4. Is there enough space to add the Broadcom HD accelerator?

Thanks.

 

Hej Dude,

so here a little tutorial for adding die 3G Module:


First you have to remove the keyboard,


to do that you have do remove the little clips which are holding the keyboard (sry i´ve no idea how i could explain this better, thanks to my bad english )

once you have done this you have to disconneted the keyboard


so right one the top we have the place for the 3G Module.



I will place the antennas for the 3G Module under the Module, but at this moment i`m still waiting for the antennas
so let us continue with installing the module


my Module is about 5cm long which is a standard size,
which is the maximum size that would fit in the slot,

so just plug in the card an fix it with screws, connect the antennas an you are done,


so connect the keyboard an just push it in an start your machine, then press the wireless button to enable the the slot, install drivers, plug in your sim card in the sim slot on the back behind the battery



you haven`t to connect the sim card reader to they card they are connected internaly over the PCIe interface.

I hope i could help you^^