Asus S56CA-WH31 15.6" Ultrabook Teardown, integrated SSD hack, and OS install hack

Have you managed to set ssd to original state?

 

would you be willing to replace it with SSD drive for me if i pay you? i have an asus ultrabook with the hybrid drive. i live in Lakewood, ca


Al

 

I just bought a ASUS S56CA-RSI5N24
Asus S56CA Ultrabook

Questions:
1. Can I just remove the 500GB HDD with a new 128 SSD? -- Currently only 33 GB is used out of 500GB
2. Does it have just one 4GB RAM or 2x 2GB memory Module? Can I just buy another 4GB memory and add in the end slot, if available.
3. Does it also have the 24GB mSATA SSD? I prefer not to touch the laptop's integrated drive.

Thanks MifuneT for sharing all your knowledge about this ASUS customizations/hacks!

Cheers!

 

First of all thanks you for this great thread. It helped me a lot to know and understand my laptop. I have the S56CM with 8GB RAM and Intel i7 and it runs really like a charm. But i have the same problem as i quoted. I installed Windows 7 and now i want to activate cache on the 24GB disk until i replace it with an 120 GB msata disk where i will install the OS. The Intel RST SOftware does not give me the option to activate the acceleration and the ASUS support is so useless - they tld me it would onlx work with the original OEM OS.

Any idea?

 

Unfortunately, no one seems to know the answer. Now, i'm submitting a request to asus support service - we'll what solution they can provide. Did you format your 24Gb cache partition?

 

There are two partitions on the 24GB SSD DIsk, one of them is 6GB and marked as OEM and the other is 18GB and i have access to it. I thought to maybe give it a letter and use it for the pagefile....Anyways, i found a howto activate cache
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums...y-step-guide-to-setting-up-SSD-caching-on-Z68

but the same issue...no raid option in bios. In a few days when my payday comes i will buy a msata disk and replace the 24gb ssd with a larger one and move the OS to it.

 

So, here is what Asus tech support advised me to do to restore ssd caching:

1. Update BIOS to the latest version
2. Install ATK drivers
3. Install CreateRSTDSK (this will repartition the SSD - in my case it made 4 and 18 gb partitions) See download link below.
4. Install Intel®Rapid Start Technology Driver
5. Install ExpressCache. See download link below.
6. Reboot and run as administrator the Command Line, enter "eccmd.exe –info" to check if everything worked out.

However in my case it did not help. Will try this again later on after reinstalling Windows.

Link to required software

 

how do I retrieve my OEM key from this laptop?

 

Third party utilities can show you the key found in the registry. However, the key in the registry is from a mass deployment install and not the same as the key embedded in the BIOS. Therefore, I don't believe there is any [simple] way to retrieve it.

 

Thanks for this thread. It proved useful for when I took apart my laptop the other night.

I had wanted to see if I could hack the case in order to use an external antenna that I had bought a few years ago with a 2Wire PCMCA wireless card. Unfortunately, the antenna wires are looped up into the monitor panel.

Anyone know if the internal antenna is good for wardriving?

 

Any other tips on how to remove the standoff? I tried using the bent noise pliers but the screw is very tight and the noise pliers slips off. Sometimes, I see that the pliers was chipping off the standoff so I stopped. Any other tips would be welcome? I hate to have a wasted Msata sitting in my desk, as i am unable to replace the factory one.

thanks in advanced

 

Well now i have a real strange problem. I bought myself a 128GB msata crucial SSD DISk and did as MfuneT wrote in his Thread. It worked real nice also with the superglue and i was very happy to see that the DIsk was recognized in BIOS. Then i used Acronis TruImage to put an Image on the SSD Disk and it worked fine. Everything was working now, the COmputer did bot from SSD DIsk with WIndows 7 on it and all fine
But now it comes.....
I went back to BIOS to change the boot options back to WIndows boot manager before Maa DVD and during this the BIOS freezed...i had to shut down the computer pushing power button and now NOTHING works.
No POST, no signal to display, no way to get back to BIOS. I push the power button, the light burns but thats it....bricked?
I dunno what to do, any idea?

Now i opened the laptop again to take out the cmos battery to reset the bios to default but could not find the battery anywhere....i mean there MUST be any option to reset the bios...

 

Try to tilt the standoff to one and the other site carefully, this will work. I did it the same way.

 

Hi, does anyone know is there any limitation in this msata slot?
I'm thinking of getting a Plextor msata ssd. Not sure whether can it be supported?

 

Thanks for the great write up. I'd love to give this a shot, but I'd hate to void the warranty since I just bought it a couple days ago! Has anyone found an mSATA that will fit without voiding the warranty? I currently have a 128 GB OCZ Vertex 4 I'm thinking about putting in where the 5400 RPM drive is, but I would like that additional storage so I don't need to carry around my external HDD with me. Has anyone found a caddy to replace the DVD-RW drive?

 

Hi! I have exactly the same idea as you about SSD and caddy
On teh internetz I found this. Have no idea whether this is any good or not... :/
Also came here for the pics of removing DVD drive but can't see any in the first post. Was it simple to remove? Can someone please share their experience?

Also. I wanted a clean install and in my stupidity formatted the 24GB SSD. Is there any possibility to restore it as a cache drive? Other Sandisk drives have ReadyCache and ExpressCache software. This U100 only has nCache and can't seem to find any software 'cause it *seems* OEM-only servicable. Any suggestions?

 

You need to download the Intel Software and enable "acceleration" on the Disk

But be careful guys, i lost ASUS warranty onlx for changing the 24GB SSD against a 128GB SSD. Of course i had to open the screw to insert the bigger SSD but ASUS means that to pen the notebook within the first 24 month makes the warranty void....big failure now i have a 700 euro brick at home.. thanks asus. this was for sure the last time i bought anything from ASUS.

 

Sorry for your loss
What exactly do you mean by "Download the Intel Software and enable "acceleration" on the Disk"? There is Intel Smart Response thingy but as far as I can tell it doesn't work on our laptops because there is no RAID option in BIOS. The other acceleration software is for servers... :/

 

That's the exact HDD caddy I bought on E-Bay and it works great. To pull the DVD drive out you need to remove a screw which is under a piece of tape. I had hard time finding the screw as the tape looked like part of the back cover. If you install an SSD, you wil not need the 24Gb mSATA drive anymore as the SSD is much faster

 

So my brother has a S56CA that is failing to POST and since I don't have physical access to mess around with it, I was hoping that someone on this thread could tell me if they know where the CMOS jumper is or how to reset the CMOS, I have had him try holding power for 1min+ with no power and battery, holding insert or tapping ctrl.

 

You may have to get into and physically disconnect the battery.

If there is a jumper point since it could be used to get round bios passwords it can't be described on this forum.

 

I don't see a battery in the pictures, so I am assuming that it is on the back side of the mobo. Is it possible to get to it without voiding the warranty?

 

Hello guys,

Thank you very much for this thread, it is extremely useful.

However, I still have one question that, as far as I can see, was not solved here.

Could one possibly specify, what transfer rate does the mSATA port on the motherboard have?

It would be perfect if one posts some benchmark of mSATA SSD on board of this laptop.

Any information regarding this question will be highly apreciated.

Thank you in advance.

 

It will either be SATA II or SATA III which will be fast enough for any day to day activity without any noticeable difference between the two.

 

Hello Meaker,

Thank you for your reply.

Actually, I think it is a pretty important to know, does mSATA work like SATAII or SATAIII, if one can not decide should he put the SSD instead HDD (for SATAIII) or in the mSATA slot, I have not dealt with SSD yet, however even if it does not have influence on the daily activity, it is much more pleasant to know that your SSDs transfer rate is not restricted with the slot transfer rate capacity,

 

Hey guys, New here and just bought myself the Asus S56CM with the i7 and so far I love it.

Planning on throwing in 8GB Corsair ram and an 120GB Samsung 840 series SSD

I just learned today (thanks to this thread) That I can swap out the mSata to a 128GB instead (which I might) I thought it would be soldered on

My biggest drawback is the non backlit keyboard and this is my real reason I'm posting this 'reply'

OP, while you had the cover off... did you notice if the KB was removable? I saw online you could get backlit keyboards with NO FRAME which is what this laptop has and even thought its not made for it, the LED Ribbon can be retrofitted and soldered on to the board its self or attach it to something like the CPU fan for the 5V power....

What do you guys think??

 

I also would like to mention (maybe it was said previously, I'm not sure)

But to install windows 8 from usb on your own ssd, this is what you need to do:

enter the BIOS and Switch to “Boot” and set “Launch CSM” to Enabled. Then switch to “Security” and set “Secure Boot Control” to Disabled. Press F10 to save and exit. Press and hold ESC key to launch boot menu when notebook restart

Worked like a charm for me!

EDIT: The OP mentioned in his post that was the work around to installing something besides windows 8 OEM...

This is not a work around. Just simply to install windows 8 on a different hard drive.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk 2

 

If you want SSD + HDD go with an mSATA drive, if you want just SSD go with a 2.5" ssd, it really should not impact your decision.

 

Disk,
I made no modifications to my notebook, one day just didn't boot anymore. Black screen, power light on, fan working... no way to get into bios.
Did you make any progress?

Regards

 

When you say no way to get into bios it just freezes on the splash screen?

 

Yes Meaker, the screen never shows anything, is always black, even using an external vga monitor.

 

Hi Mifune,

Thanks for the great guide, and sorry to be one of these people that are reviving such an old thread! But anyway, I am looking at picking one of these up myself and found your guide invaluable. I was wondering if you have been looking at alternate LCD's? I have had a quick trawl, and saw that similar models ( S56CA-DH51) are available with higher resolution 1920x1080 screens. Also, more to my taste, there is the possibility of matte screens.

Have you had a play with alternate screens? or have you had any experience with using non-standard parts?

Thanks again for the great guide.

 

Thanks for all the advices!
I would like to exchange the 24GB SSD with a 128 GB. Is it possible to reinstall the windows 8 OEM (bought with the laptop) on this new SSD (witch won't be a cache drive)? I need to compile all the threads to find the good way to do this! Clone the two SSD is a simple way to do this?

If someone do this, can he describe the different steps?

Best regards,
Nicolas C.

 

just a quick message to inform people that i installed the crucial ssd msata 128gb on my asus S56CA, it was not exactly the same model but everything looks the same and i'm currently installing windiws 7 without problems.

the only thing is getting the little screw glue nicely to the board, it's a toutchy task but with a thin pointer it went well to glue it.

sorry for my bad english haha
thank you for this tutorial

 

The key is on the bios so you should be able to do a clean install from a downloaded ISO or from a recovery disk.

 

Hi, this thread has been really helpful. Am thinking of getting a K56CA, which is identical to the s56ca, except it doesn't have an ssd, therefore isn't an ultra book and therefore you don't pay a premium for it. I was wondering if it would be possible to install an ssd into the k56ca. Presumably there would be space for it, because the k has the same chassis as the s. does anyone know if this is possible? Thanks

 

Hi, I have Asus K56CB and I checked my motheboard. This laptop has a mSATA interface, its the same like that:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...stall-hack-asus_s56ca-wh31_mlcssd_remove1.jpg

Unfortunately I don't have any SSD disk, so I can't check that interface.

 

One problem is the hole is positioned for a half height device which are quite rare.

 

Just wondering - my daughter purchased this about a month ago. Some of the keys stop working intermittently, particularly the Ctrl Alt Shift keys on the left side, as well as the some keys on the top right. I heard the Zenbook had this problem due to the keyboard connection not being fully inserted at the factory. As this has a grid over the keyboard, I'm not sure how to remove it and check. I have the sinking feeling the entire motherboard needs to be removed, but that would crazy - a keyboard is a common replacement item! I can't find a service manual or any guides online.

If you have an info on how this is done, I would greatly appreciate it. She would just return it, but she lives in Brooklyn without a car, and the store is out on Long Island. Thanks!

 

If anybody know that interface on Asus S56/K56 is Sata 2 or 3?

 

I am sorry to revive this thread, but can anyone tell me the dimensions of the ssd that came with the ultrabook? is it a half sized ssd(26.8 mm x 30 mm x 3.4 mm) or is it a nanossd(16mm x 20mm x 1.4mm), from my system, the disk management service tells me my ssd is a i100 sandisk series, which I found on the net, was in nanossd form factor. I would like to attempt to change the ssd without having to remove the standoff, so to find a suitable ssd form factor is one of my concerns. Thank you.

 

Hi Guys,

I am experiencing this problem now as well. Were you able to find a solution?

Thanks
Paul

 

Here some questions answered. Sorry for my bad english ;p

Yes, this is possible, I did this yesterday on an Asus R505CB, which is identical to laptops like the K56CA and the S56CA, although I have a variant with an i7-3517, GT740M, 6GB ram and no ssd.

I'm almost sure it's SATA III (SATA 600). Those are the benchmark results I got with my Plextor PX-128M5M 128GB mSATA ssd:

Having seen the pictures it's got to be a normal half-sized ssd. But I'm only sure for 99%.


About installing the ssd:
Although the R505CB doesn't have any ssd with it, the standoff is on the same place by default. I had some trouble getting it of, you really have to grab it firmly with some pliers. The rest went pretty easy, but you have to use some good instant glue, the two-component glue I used first came loose.

By the way, does someone have some experience replacing the display with a full-HD one?

 

Yeah with those speeds no doubt about it being SATA III

 

Hi Meaker,

Would you be able to show me how to reset the BIOS on this laptop? I cannot find the CMOS battery.

Thanks
Paul

 

Paul, the CMOS battery if not located on the bottom side (aka D side) then it's on the other side of main board (aka C side).
It is going to be troublesome to get to it. But if you really are going to do it then you will have to try.

 

Cheers Kevin. Doesn't look like it at the back to me but was just making sure there was not some silly I was missing. After looking at it, I do not see any easy way of accessing the front other than removing the motherboard which I am not overly keen on. Do you know this model Kevin? If so any other way of accessing it?

Thanks
Paul

 

Depending by design, some are easily accessible and some just aren't.
There's a design that although the battery sits underneath the keyboard but the cable connector is routed toward the back then you can just disconnect and reconnect it with ease.
But if it's entirely located at the C side then there's no other way.

 

User teardown here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...down-integrated-ssd-hack-os-install-hack.html

Looks like you need to totally remove the motherboard.

 

A couple of weeks ago I was fixing an Asus S56C laptop.
It was booting VERY slow, but after booted up it worked properly.
I narrowed the problem down to failing iSSD module. Instead of replacing the iSSD module I simply removed it from the laptop.
It's necessary to remove the top cover for that.



By the way, here's how to remove the top cover from Asus S56C laptop.